Down-sized? How did you get on?

[Retread24800]

double clicked!!!

[Guest JudgeMental]

This thread is about those who have downsized? and as for a garage being a fashion item what garbage, why do you think you have to strap a large ugly box on the back and have the bike on there as well? because you have not got a very useful garage..... *-) The only things I miss are the double floor with underfloor heating and the garage for carrying our expensive E bikes and junk. But I am over the moon with our decision to get a PVC and so happy to get away from a big lumbering coachbuilt :-D

[Mel B]

Hi Retread, welcome to the mad house! :->

 

Retread24800 - 2011-04-21 4:40 PM

 

Surely the'garage' is a total waste of space and having a vast load space at the extremities cant help in the stability stakes.. how long before this fashion statement hits the rocks?

 

I disagree regarding the garage, we have a Chausson Flash 04 with a fixed transverse bed, good sized washroom and very good shower, opposite is the kitchen, and a half dinette with small transverse seat opposite.

 

We find the extra storage space provided by having a fixed rear bed invaluable - we store our bicycles, BBQ, chairs, table ... basically all the usual paraphernalia people take, PLUS 2 inflatable canoes, life jackets, pump, paddles and the dog's trailer buggy. Try getting all that in a motorhome without a garage of some sort ...

 

We had a longitudinal fixed bed 5.5m Rapido with massive storage underneath, then a large 7.14m Rimor with a massive transverse garage, and now have a 6.0m Chausson.

 

I too would love to have the width of a panel van as well as the length we have, but I know our limitations and that would be a step too 'small' for us.

 

 

[twooks]

we started with an Aclass - brilliant on site - but .. .. .. ..

 

went to PVC and have replaced with more PVC getting smaller each time

 

we enjoy driving / visiting

Scotland, Lake District, Dales, Cornwall, Brittany, French countryside, Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium

 

if we decide to visit USA.Canada Oz then we'd must likely rent an appropriate vehicle

 

 

like camping, sitting outside, meeting other campers/travellers

 

never ever regretted decision to down size

 

you will ALWAYS fill any available space with clutter

 

so ditch the available space, how much junk do you really need in your lives

[twooks]

good to see the DELETE option is now available for double posts :$ *-)

[Guest 1footinthegrave]

We had an Elnagh fixed bed, with the appropriate huge space underneath. Downsized to an IH tio imagining all the gear we would have to bin, but too our amazement we have space to spare. U shape end lounge that makes up to a large bed, with the IH full rear panel with "boot" that replaced the factory fitted rear doors. Much more of a relaxed drive being LWB, hardly a rattle to be heard, unlike both coach builts we had ( except the missus ), but I do still miss the fixed bed, sometimes leaving the bed made up compensates, but love every other aspect of our downsize. :-)

[Retread24800]

JudgeMental - 2011-04-21 7:55 PM

 

This thread is about those who have downsized? and as for a garage being a fashion item what garbage, why do you think you have to strap a large ugly box on the back and have the bike on there as well? because you have not got a very useful garage..... *-) The only things I miss are the double floor with underfloor heating and the garage for carrying our expensive E bikes and junk. But I am over the moon with our decision to get a PVC and so happy to get away from a big lumbering coachbuilt :-D

 

But with the back box you have the option of not taking it with you :-D and so I end up with an A class with superior inside space in the body length of a LWB PVC ( and as an aside at under 1/3rd the cost :D how's that for a down size?)

[Guest 1footinthegrave]

With respect this thread is mainly about the economics and usabilty of PVCs for people coming from A class, or contemplating it. Everyone knows about the physical space of an A class, been there done it, twice over.

 

This is not a debate about what is best, A class or PVC, just how guys who have made the change to PVCs are getting on with it, good bad or indifferent ;-)

[Retread24800]

1footinthegrave - 2011-04-22 12:29 AM

 

With respect this thread is mainly about the economics and usabilty of PVCs for people coming from A class, or contemplating it. Everyone knows about the physical space of an A class, been there done it, twice over.

 

This is not a debate about what is best, A class or PVC, just how guys who have made the change to PVCs are getting on with it, good bad or indifferent ;-)

 

Again 'with the greatest respect' the op was about downsizing, which I have. I missed the part where it said that we were only to congratulate people who had downsized to PVC's.

Downsizing can mean looking at what you need and buying a van that suits your requirements, leavins out the salesmans frills and obtaining a vehicule that is easily managed on site and on the road, .

[grahamw]

It seems so far that peoples experience of downsizing to a PVC is a very positive one. Probably of interest also is that all contributions as far as I can see are from well seasoned travellers who have the experience to find a workable solution.

 

I downsized from a coachbuilt to a 6.0m Vantage Sol PVC. The key issues for me were ensuring that you remained completely comfortable despite the weather - hot, cold, dry or wet. A long wet day in Britain can be an ordeal if you are not comfortable in any MH. For that reason I've found a PVC with a rear U shaped lounge an ideal design for me. To be honest the comfort I have is as good as anything I've had before, including some 8m caravans I've tugged. The U shaped lounge provides two sizeable singles or a giant double bed with the means still to get in and out without disturbing your partner. In good weather we have the option of leaving the single/double bed made up and breakfast at the cab seats with the small but adequate table that slots in there. The internal tables can then be simply transferred outside with the supplied tripod for use. 90 litre compressor fridge with 80w solar panel, twin leisure batteries, good acoustic and thermal insulation and gas or electric heating and hot water make it very workable. Storage space is obviously much tighter than I'm used to and you tend to need to establish a sequence for getting things into the right position under the rear lounge seats but after a little use you quickly establish the best way to organise this. Whilst we have two collapsible relaxing chairs stored under the lounge seats but extracted via the rear doors we also carry two upright chairs for dining outside and the use of guests. These are stored in a waterproof bag on the tow bar mounted cycle carrier along with the bikes.

 

The 3.0L engine and Comfortmatic box make it a pleasure to drive just about anywhere. When I ask myself what do I miss from previous vans the only thing I can think of is an external BBQ point but that is in hand now.

 

Graham

[Mel B]

When we were seriously considering a van conversion last year before settling on our Chausson Flash 04, a couple of things that were a bit of a concern with a van conversion were:

 

1) Heat - how hot would it get in a tin box if the dogs were left in it on a hot day?

 

2) Cold - how cold would it be in the middle of winter when camping 'off-site'?

 

I think there were more, but without searching the forum, I can't remember what they were!

:D

[oldlowie]

Mel B - 2011-04-22 9:41 PM

 

1) Heat - how hot would it get in a tin box if the dogs were left in it on a hot day?

 

2) Cold - how cold would it be in the middle of winter when camping 'off-site'?

 

:D

 

Not sure about 1), as our dog goes everywhere with us. No dogs allowed: no oldlowies money will be forthcoming!

 

As for 2), we got our camper in Nov 2010, just as the biggest freeze in recent history kicked in 8-)

 

On two trips out, we couldn't even contemplate filling the water tanks as our house hose-pipe was frozen solid! We used CC sites, so really didn't need water, so went without.

 

On two BITTERLY COLD weekends, we were as warm as as toast in the PVC :-D

 

Not sure about sans electricity though - sounds a bit masochistic for winter trips :-(

[Guest 1footinthegrave]

We found that because our second ( current) PVC dies not have rear doors, if anything this PVC is better than our fully winterized coach built we had for warmth in the cooler months of the year. As for performance in very hot weather, the coach-built had the edge, mainly I think because it did not have one of the huge Heki roof lights our present van has, cannot figure why the manufacturer of these roof lights tell you to never have the black out blind fully closed in hot sunshine, and our couch built did have a powered roof vent that would extract, or blow. Mind you if left with all windows closed in hot weather it was still approaching unbearable on re-entry, as is the PVC, the outside "silver screen" helps to minimize this to a degree, shame there are so many chancers about to prevent you leaving a window or two open, oh well.

[JamesFrance]

Mel B - 2011-04-22 10:41 PM

 

1) Heat - how hot would it get in a tin box if the dogs were left in it on a hot day?

 

2) Cold - how cold would it be in the middle of winter when camping 'off-site'?

 

I notice that a lot of UK panel van conversions are painted in dark or metallic colours, whereas in France Adria for example only offer white. I think that colour has more to do with heat absorption than type of material. I know of a grp Sunseeker yacht with a black hull in Spain, whose owner complains of hot water in his cold water tank.

 

A smaller internal volume is more easily warmed and a modern blown air system should keep the internal tank from freezing, you could leave the waste open to drain into a bucket if the waste tank is not heated.

 

Unlike some British built coachbuilts we have had, I think our Adria has water and gas pipes running internally, so no problem there.

[Guest machra]

Very interested in this thread as we visited the Boat and Caravan Show at the NEC in Feb, just for the day out and to have a look around we said, and the upshot is that we have ended up trading in our Hobby Siesta T600FC for a Timberland Destiny. Though the decision was not as quick and easy as it sounds. We sat in the Destiny at the show for nearly 2 hours thinking of what we take away with us, where everything will go in the Destiny and the immediately downsides to the change, like lack of fixed bed and separate shower compartment. Mike at Timberland was great and let us crawl all over the van and discussed changes to the standard van that the factory could provide for us including changing position of power sockets (including extra sockets as required), providing heating duct into the toilet compartment, and the possibility of fitting a Truma Combi 4 boiler rather than the mix of Truma and Eberspacher. We left the show deep in thought but had not made the decision. The next weekend we visited Timberland at Forever Leisure and spent the best part of a day measuring and debating what would go where and whether there would be enough room for all our needs. In the end we took the plunge and placed the order and will not take delivery until Aug/Sep – such is the demand for PVCs these days.

Like most on this forum we have had numerous vans during our time camping including:

 

PVC - a VW Type 2.5 home conversion and an AS Symbol;

Coachbuilt – Swift Royale, AS Talisman and the Hobby Siesta.

 

We HOPE we have made the right choice this time. No doubt the Destiny will not fulfil our every need but there isn’t a van out there that does we realise it is all about compromise. I will report back once we have had chance to test our new acquisition and are able to give a subjective for and against argument. Hopefully more in the for category than the against!!

 

[Guest JudgeMental]

You will be fine I am sure! Like I said earlier I spent a sleepless night before exchanging our Euramobil for a Adria SP last week. Best decision we ever made, and you will be surprised how easy the transition is........IMO the positives by far outweigh the negatives :-D

[Don Madge]

machra - 2011-04-23 9:45 AM

We HOPE we have made the right choice this time. No doubt the Destiny will not fulfil our every need but there isn’t a van out there that does we realise it is all about compromise. I will report back once we have had chance to test our new acquisition and are able to give a subjective for and against argument. Hopefully more in the for category than the against!!

 

Hi welcome to the club. :-D

 

We downsized 8 years ago and have never looked back. :-D If you are adventurous you will be able to visit places you only dreamed about with the larger van.

 

We have spent up to 5 months away in the van on a single trip, we survived OK.

 

With the EU now taking in most of Eastern Europe you can roam far and wide. It is possible now to drive overland to Turkey without leaving the EU. :-D

 

We do have an advantage over most other PVC's with our back box. The person who made the box has now retired so don't anybody ask. We have a payload of 600 kgs but not a lot of room to store things.

 

Buying the Kindles did free up quite a lot of space that the library took up.

 

Safe travelling.

 

Don

[Guest Tracker]

We too have contemplated down sizing but it still seems a step too far from our medium sized coachbuilt at the moment - but always keeping an open mind you never know?

 

One of the reasons is that a good sized panelvan is not significantly smaller and certainly not small enough to let me explore anywhere I can't take my low profile coachbuilt.

 

It is always sad when the discussion is stiffled because someone deems that a posting is 'off topic' as conversations and discussions in the real world do tend to duck and dive with new thoughts being introduced and I wouldn't want anyone to feel afraid of posting their own point of view for fear of censure.

 

As for 'we did it and you will be fine'? How can anyone say that when what they really mean is 'we did it and we are fine'! Nobody can predict how someone else will fare.

 

There are also those who have downsized and then upsized again and is a very expensive route to travel so let's have balanced views from all sides of the discussion please.

 

As ever, different points of view politely posted are always welcome.

[Clive]

We downsized from a Duple Coach I converted myself back in 1985 to an Autotrail Scout. Much improved economy but never the same magnificance or weight carrying capabilities of the old coach. So we up-sized again to a nearly new Concorde Charisma. No regrets. It will only be health/license or cash shortage that will force us back down sizing again.

 

C.

 

[cyclops2]

Don, thats some back box. It reminds me of my army locker ( except that had 2 doors). Even the colour is the same ( Admiralty Grey)

Pete

 

[Guest 1footinthegrave]

One of the major considerations for us was that we now use our PVC as our only form of transport, which obviously saved all the duplicated fixed costs of vehicle ownership when we dumped the car, as I have recently retired I do not have the commute thing any more, otherwise I think it would not have been practical. Mind you if fuel costs continue to escalate I'll probably be downsizing to a Romahome next year, and leave the missus at home to save on space ( WHY does she need four different hair brushes, and slippers ! !) :'(

[Guest Tracker]

1footinthegrave - 2011-04-23 3:25 PM

( WHY does she need four different hair brushes, and slippers ! !) :'(

 

Have you ever tried brushing your hair with slippers or wearing shoe brushes on your feet?

 

Perhaps Mrs 1foot has fetishes you never even dreamed about!

[Poppy]

The first part of our touring life was with caravans, single axle, we then bought a twin axle with all the be lls and whistles and used it as a static for about 3 years.Tried returning to the touring life with said twin and hated it.Downsized to a 6 metre motorhome.Still miss the twin once we are actually pitched up, partiicularly the lovely kitchen.However I wouldn't go back.We can keep the motorhome at home which is a huge plus.Its so much easier to pitch/unpitch and we can move on so much more easily.We have gone places with this that we would never have dared with the twin.We decided on what we MUST have and what we could compromise on.We still have our fixed bed which we personally like,an adequate lounge and a workable (just!) kitchen and love the garage.We wouldn't go back at the moment.