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A few new panel vans


Guest JudgeMental

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Our van is catering for 6 at moment, myself and 5 females :-S

Only the two of us sleeping in it, but has to carry all of the camping gear, do any cooking that is needed, tv 'baby sitting', make up room, games and drawing room if it rains, etc.

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colin - 2014-08-29 2:06 PM

 

Our van is catering for 6 at moment, myself and 5 females :-S

Only the two of us sleeping in it, but has to carry all of the camping gear, do any cooking that is needed, tv 'baby sitting', make up room, games and drawing room if it rains, etc.

 

Afternoon folks,

 

Well Colin, that sounds pretty well organised. In such a situation myself I would be hoping for good weather a comfy chair and a big glass of something pleasant. cheers.

 

norm

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goldi - 2014-08-29 2:40 PM

 

colin - 2014-08-29 2:06 PM

 

Our van is catering for 6 at moment, myself and 5 females :-S

Only the two of us sleeping in it, but has to carry all of the camping gear, do any cooking that is needed, tv 'baby sitting', make up room, games and drawing room if it rains, etc.

 

Afternoon folks,

 

Well Colin, that sounds pretty well organised. In such a situation myself I would be hoping for good weather a comfy chair and a big glass of something pleasant. cheers.

 

norm

 

...Pub?.... (lol)

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pepe63 - 2014-08-29 5:02 PM

 

goldi - 2014-08-29 2:40 PM

 

colin - 2014-08-29 2:06 PM

 

Our van is catering for 6 at moment, myself and 5 females :-S

Only the two of us sleeping in it, but has to carry all of the camping gear, do any cooking that is needed, tv 'baby sitting', make up room, games and drawing room if it rains, etc.

 

Afternoon folks,

 

Well Colin, that sounds pretty well organised. In such a situation myself I would be hoping for good weather a comfy chair and a big glass of something pleasant. cheers.

 

norm

 

...Pub?.... (lol)

 

 

Evening all,

 

Might be champagne or that fizzy wine stuff but can,nt sup too much as we are packing tomorrow for a trip on sunday . sorry to go so much off topic but you know how it is. Have a good weekend everyone.

 

 

norm

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snowie - 2014-08-29 11:11 AM

 

...There are some nice PVCs around now Judge, butmost are just scaled down versions of the usual layouts.

Many seem to pretend that they are suitable for a family, but really, seriously, a PVC is for 2!...

 

Regards

alan b

 

Although the overall narrowness of a PVC (Surely one of the more convincing reasons to choose one?) must impact on interior space, there are models that are specifically designed for more-than-two-people usage.

 

A couple of examples are the Adria Twin 640 SHX shown in the following youtube video-clip

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGeeyaqNDZQ

 

with a neat sleeping arrangement where a ‘longways’ double bed folds down from the roof-space above a rear ‘crossways’ double bed, and the Roller Team Livingstone 5 shown here

 

 

that has a pair of crossways double beds at the back.

 

It’s obviously simpler to make a family-oriented coachbuilt motorthome than a family-oriented PVC. With the former, length, width and height dimensions are under the designer’s control and and a massive overcab sleeping bulge can be added. With a PVC the designer will normally retain the base-vehicle’s original overall dimensions and will need to be cleverer where the interior is concerned.

 

Nowadays there is a handful of genuine 'couples-only’ PVC models, but such designs are risky for manufacturers and buyers alike due to the Grandkids Syndrome that demands dinette seating and cushion-constructed small beds so that small children can be carried safely and sleep (probably uncomfortably) in the vehicle. This philosophy applies as much to coachbuilt motorhomes as PVCs though.

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Derek Uzzell - 2014-08-30 8:32 AM

 

Nowadays there is a handful of genuine 'couples-only’ PVC models, but such designs are risky for manufacturers and buyers alike due to the Grandkids Syndrome that demands dinette seating and cushion-constructed small beds so that small children can be carried safely and sleep (probably uncomfortably) in the vehicle. This philosophy applies as much to coachbuilt motorhomes as PVCs though.

 

I had forgotten about the Grandkids, as we don't have any.

I wonder how many 4 berth PVCs have been sold? the Livingstone 5 you provide a link to would be pretty uncomfortable for 2 adults to use for any length of time I think: I would look at the extra beds as wasted space if just 2 of us were using it as we use our current van.

I guess that pre-school size grandkids can be an issue for 52 weeks of the year, not just school holidays.

Interesting.

regards

alan b

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Guest JudgeMental

a french manufacturer campereve mentioned earlier but don't remember a link. They have a french bed model as well...They have models with their own hightop by the look of it.....

 

http://www.campereve.fr/vans_index.php

 

 

video: a family of 4 with young kids, we managed happily with a smaller pop top Westphalia VW for 7 years when kids were young.....

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Campereve is part of the Rapido Group and (I believe) Campereve PVCs are built nowadays close by Rapido’s main factory in Mayenne. They are marketed in the UK by Highbridge Caravans in Somerset..

 

Campereve’s “Family Van” model has 5 'travel seats’ and up to 6 sleeping berths, with twin crossways bunk-beds at the rear, a roof-mounted fold-down double-bed at the front and a crossways double-bed that can be contructed from the lounge seating. All in a 5.99m-long PVC...

 

http://www.campereve.fr/fourgon_gamme-premium_family-van.phtml

 

 

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Derek Uzzell - 2014-08-30 2:05 PM

 

Campereve’s “Family Van” model has 5 'travel seats’ and up to 6 sleeping berths, with twin crossways bunk-beds at the rear, a roof-mounted fold-down double-bed at the front and a crossways double-bed that can be contructed from the lounge seating. All in a 5.99m-long PVC...

 

http://www.campereve.fr/fourgon_gamme-premium_family-van.phtml

 

[/quote

 

Wow! six people of varying sizes all eating, sleeping etc in a van the size of a large boxroom! now that's appealling............not!

regards

alan b

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Guest Had Enough

Thank you to Derek Uzzell and AliB for their informative responses above. I've been travelling and haven't had any wi-fi for a while.

 

Now sitting on a prom outside private houses getting a brilliant wi-fi service from someone who, like me, has signed up for the FON system.

 

My wife has now vetoed a PVC. Questions such as: "So whilst you're using the toilet compartment or showering I can't get out of the bedroom?" left me without an answer.

 

So it's a new coach built next year or an A Class. And that's another quandary for another thread as I don't want to divert this one.

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Had Enough - 2014-08-30 6:17 PM

 

My wife has now vetoed a PVC. Questions such as: "So whilst you're using the toilet compartment or showering I can't get out of the bedroom?" left me without an answer.

 

.

 

You can on some Frank - like the A/S Warwick fr example and some of the Autocruise models?

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Tracker - 2014-08-30 6:19 PM

 

Had Enough - 2014-08-30 6:17 PM

 

My wife has now vetoed a PVC. Questions such as: "So whilst you're using the toilet compartment or showering I can't get out of the bedroom?" left me without an answer.

 

.

 

You can on some Frank - like the A/S Warwick fr example and some of the Autocruise models?

 

Thanks, but I don't think they're the type I want, which is twin fixed beds at rear and half-dinette.

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Had Enough - 2014-08-30 7:07 PM

 

Tracker - 2014-08-30 6:19 PM

 

Had Enough - 2014-08-30 6:17 PM

 

My wife has now vetoed a PVC. Questions such as: "So whilst you're using the toilet compartment or showering I can't get out of the bedroom?" left me without an answer.

 

.

 

You can on some Frank - like the A/S Warwick fr example and some of the Autocruise models?

 

Thanks, but I don't think they're the type I want, which is twin fixed beds at rear and half-dinette.

 

Fair enough but that and a separate shower is a big ask in a panel van!

 

Good luck!

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Guest Had Enough
Tracker - 2014-08-30 7:18 PM

 

Had Enough - 2014-08-30 7:07 PM

 

Tracker - 2014-08-30 6:19 PM

 

Had Enough - 2014-08-30 6:17 PM

 

My wife has now vetoed a PVC. Questions such as: "So whilst you're using the toilet compartment or showering I can't get out of the bedroom?" left me without an answer.

 

.

 

You can on some Frank - like the A/S Warwick fr example and some of the Autocruise models?

 

Thanks, but I don't think they're the type I want, which is twin fixed beds at rear and half-dinette.

 

Fair enough but that and a separate shower is a big ask in a panel van!

 

Good luck!

 

There are loads of them but because a PVC is much narrower the washroom expands into the passageway to the rear beds thus blocking the passage to and from the sleeping area.

 

If I were a single traveler I'd have the larger Possl tomorrow but for two people it's a bit tight I'm afraid.

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Guest JudgeMental

I think you are worrying over nothing, everything's a compromise...So what if someones in the shower for 10 minutes!lol if desperate to get to bed can climb in through back doors but cant imagine the need. The only thing is if i'm in lounge and shower being occupied I cant get a beer out of the fridge!:-S (think ahead!)

 

Do you think owning, running, driving an A class comes without issues. From our perspective far more off putting then touring in a panel van...

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JudgeMental - 2014-08-30 8:10 PM

 

I think you are worrying over nothing, everything's a compromise...So what if someones in the shower for 10 minutes!lol if desperate to get to bed can climb in through back doors but cant imagine the need. The only thing is if i'm in lounge and shower being occupied I cant get a beer out of the fridge!:-S (think ahead!)

 

Do you think owning, running, driving an A class comes without issues. From our perspective far more off putting then touring in a panel van...

 

All points I've considered in depth but I'm happily married and want to stay that way. :-D

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Guest JudgeMental

Karmann have a few new model panel vans out including a Ford based model the Dexter Go... the jurys out on the new nose to be honest :-D

 

http://tinyurl.com/k9kwaxv

 

edit: they still use the webasto heating in some models...have had bad reports re maintenance/warrenty issues with these.

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