PCC Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 If George Osborne fails to come up with any plans for growth in the next budget (other than more shops) you may want to think about pre-buying your Euros. We could be heading for parity between the Pound and the Euro... And petrol will have gone way over £1.50 a litre... And the forests will have been sold... You might as well stay on the Continent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike88 Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Judge .........................Given that your research into a new vehicle has been very thorough it seems to me that the only possible mistake you MAY make is believing that you will use a panel van more frequently than a coachbuilt. That is a common misconception. You will not be alone in believing they can substitute a panel van for a car or use a panel van as a second vehicle. Some do of course but in my book there are almost as many impracticalities with parking and manoeuvering through and around traffic with a panel van as there are with a marginally wider vehicle. Much depends on where you live and where you want to go. At the end of the day a 6m panel van is only a few inches narrower than a 6m coachbuilt/low profile; there is not a lot between them so believing you may use a panel van more than a coachbuilt may be an aspiration rather than a reality. Having said that I'm a committed panel van owner myself because it is more neighbourly friendly on my drive, suits the very narrow approach roads to my property, avoids the kind of water issues I have experienced with caravans and is more pleasant to drive as you don't have the wallowing affect you have with those coachbuilts with large overhangs. A panel van is also far less obtrusive when wildcamping. And of course I see no reason to have the extra space as I use my van to sleep and not sit around in. If its not raining I'm outside. None of the above reasons for panel van ownership necessarily equates with your decision to change so be careful to weigh up the pros and cons before you finally decide. In practice, you MAY find that a panel van will remain on your drive as much as your coachbuilt! These are my observations and are not intended in any way to be critical of your decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 One of the main reasons is similar to yours, neighbours. we are trying to downsize house as well at the moment and will probably have to park on a drive at front of house. I have a large hard stand, next to garage at back of property reached by access road so no problems where we are. while a lot of what you say is probably true, I just want to do this as like you it seems I am not a motorhomer at heart. not interested in ovens and sitting about for days on end in camper living in exactly the same manner as at home with roast dinners etc...still a boy scout at heart I think :D also my wife wont drive coach built but happily drove our VW camper in the past, and as I have health issues this is a consideration as well.......The only reason we bought one was because of our adult sized teenagers who have other interests now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Mike88 - 2011-01-30 2:00 PM ............. At the end of the day a 6m panel van is only a few inches narrower than a 6m coachbuilt/low profile; there is not a lot between them so believing you may use a panel van more than a coachbuilt may be an aspiration rather than a reality. ................ This is not necessarily the case. The great majority of vans produced in Germany, France, and Italy are now 2.3, or 2.35, metres wide (as are a lot of those produced in UK), whereas panel vans, even the Ducato, are only around 2.0 to 2.07 metres wide. The difference: roughly 300mm, is approximately 12 inches and, in relative terms, that is quite a lot of inches! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike88 Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Brian ......This is a bit of a side issue. In an earlier thread Judge said he wanted a panel van because he envisaged that he would use it more than his coachbuilt. Perhaps I should have said that a coachbuilt was wider by a few inches either side. But my point was that owning a panel van does not necessarily equate to greater use. Judge has since explained why he needs a panel van and his reasons seem pretty good to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 I have a LWB work van, which is the standard fodder for most converters nowdays, but my camper is a coachbuilt...........but........its short wheelbase :-D and I am more than sure that I can... and have got! my camper in places I would think twice about with the works van :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Mike88 - 2011-01-30 7:45 PM Brian ......This is a bit of a side issue. In an earlier thread Judge said he wanted a panel van because he envisaged that he would use it more than his coachbuilt. Perhaps I should have said that a coachbuilt was wider by a few inches either side. But my point was that owning a panel van does not necessarily equate to greater use. Judge has since explained why he needs a panel van and his reasons seem pretty good to me. Agreed Mike, but my purpose, for those who may not already appreciate this, was to point out that your "few inches" amounts to more like 12, and not merely 2 or 3, as they may have construed. A 2.3 metre wide van, through a 2.3 metre wide gap, will not go - but mine will! :-) That's all. On width, inches count, and 12 of them count quite a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ekka Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 All very valid points, and one can only speak from personal experience. We have without doubt used our LWB panel van conversion ( IH Savanna tio ) far more that our previous but one coachbuilt that used to taunt me just sitting there for weeks on end. We now often just make a day of going to fairly local shops, she goes to shops, I have a brew and read the paper, and being LWB gives an excellent ride quality as well. As a once past HGV and PSV driver to my mind at least the narrower the vehicle the less stressful for me to drive in my dotage, plus less likely to find myself boxed in from ridiculous car parking marked out bays, with the ever present threat of being taken out and shot if you stray over your lines or needing a can opener to get back in when some idiot gives you three inches clearance, as the previous poster said those few inches can be a hell of a difference sometimes. But I still hanker for the extra space of my old coachbuilt Elnagh marlin, swings and roundabouts, Oh well..............you pays your money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 In defence of a 6m coachbuilt ... it has a better turning circle than the equivalent 6m van conversion! Our van feels like it turns on a sixpence compared to a 6m Merc we hired last year which was a pig to turn round. Also, whilst the van itself may be narrower, don't forget the mirrors, they can still make the overall width the same as some coachbuilt motorhomes. Only Eddie can make the final decision as to how much he's going to use a van conversion over his current, or any other, coachbuilt motorhome, but since we got our 6m long and 2.3m wide coachbuilt, changing from a 7.14m long one which was narrower, hubby loves to drive it around, he thinks nothing about jumping in it and tootling off on errands and prefers driving it to the car. We have given serious thought to not having a car at all and just using our 6m coachbuilt, even a 'chubby' one like ours, along with our scooters, and it would certainly work for us but whilst I'm still working it's not a practical proposition as I certainly wouldn't want to leave it there all day, especially with some of the idiots who 'park' there. *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ekka Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Our last coachbuilt was based on a LWB chassis, so the turning circle was the same as our present van, but did have the big sticky out mirrors common to a lot of the coach builts, most panel van versions don't have them. Everyone comes to their own conclusion of course, what suits one does not suit another. All I can say is driving around here is far less stressful without that extra width as you meet an Arriva bus over the white line driving like a mad man around blind bends, or the Coop artic, even though its only a matter of a few inches less. Just my personal opinion, not an attack on the coachbuilts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
art338 Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Judge, Eddie, Why are you changing anyway? or did you say many moons ago! PS Just looked at your reasons why a change and they do not seem logical at all especially from you you being well known for straight talking in your comments over the years, my thought now are a larger WHY. I doubt you are the show off type as you cycle a lot, so what makes you think new is better, if you had a new bike would you ride it more, and then what, another? and so on. If it was somewone else asking you would soon put them right so its still WHY art Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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