Which Van To Buy (Updated)

[Paul M Who]

Well the deal is done.

 And it's not the MH we had originally planned on buying. After spending the day at the NEC sitting and stooping and rifling through every nook and cranny Mrs Who plonked herself down in the WildAx Aurora and said "This is the one". 

But it's got a full dinette - Don't care

But the bathroom has a tambour door - I like it, no stupid door to get in the way

But there are only two burners on the cooktop - don't need any more

But the oven is tiny - we'll probably never use it. It's got a griller and that's what matters.

After I pulled the dagger from my ego I began to realise this van had more pluses than minuses.

100lt fresh and waste water tanks, fully winterised, huge amounts of space under both bench seats in the rear lounge, plenty of overhead cupboard space, a small but practical (for us) bathroom and and most of the options we wanted came as standard. 

We added an extra leisure battery, solar panel charging all the onboard batteries, awning, bike rack and larger fuel tank. 

And there is something classy about the front end of the Citroen , especially with the colour coded bumpers, that just doesn't translate to the Fiat and Renault varients.

The quality of the conversion was better than I expected and a lot better than some we had on our list. The Vantage was exceptional but they have recently updated their pricing and a lot of things that were standard are now extra cost options - who charges extra for a set of draws and swivel front seats? 

There were some compromises. The citroen doesn't come with an Auto option and we chose the standard 130bhp engine. But those are thing we can live with. What really impressed me about the WildAx were the people, Duncan and his team came across as genuine, unlike some of the major players we visited. 

The Globecar stand was rather embarassing. I don't think they were impressed when Mrs Who couldn't stop laughing at the 'dunny in the dining room' - that's the toilet and shower that takes up the whole of the centre of the interior, which blocks access to the front and rear and the fridge. Though it's great if you want to have a beer on the bog. 

And I don't get the problem some people have with carpet on the walls. It's a lot more aesthetically pleasing than plastic panels like the ones on the Karman we toured in earlier this year. It had plain interior rear doors, no double glazing just standard rear windows and a stupid curtain that was too long and kept getting caught in the door lock.

Time will tell if we made the right choice. But till then we look forward to our next adventure.

[whiskers]

Hi, I am sure that you will be happy with your Wildax. I have had an Aurora Leisure for 3 years and it has performed well. Duncan is always approachable and helpful.

[crinklystarfish]

Decent choice I think, my mate has one but specifically had them convert on Fiat for 3.0l and auto.

Build quality seems right enough and he's had no grief in over two years of ownership.

I like some of the touches on Wildax stuff - they don't just follow the herd. Indeed I swiped their tambour overhead locker door idea for my self-build. Lightweight and no knobs / sprung hinges / rams to fail after 10 seconds' worth of use.

[Mike88]

If you are buying a vehicle with the 130bhp engine then this has been replaced on Fiat's(unsure about Citroen) with the 150bhp engine. Are you being sold an old stock chassis. On a Fiat the 150bhp 2.3 engine now comes with an auto (Comfortmatic) gearbox if that is what you prefer. Wildax can convert on a Fiat.

[Guest JudgeMental]

Always thought Citroen 120bhp.

 

Van I am considering the Fiat 1000 euro more then Citroen base. Fiat have painted bumper option and I have one. Fiat comes in 130 or 150bhp on 2.3 litre or 170bhp on 3 litre . All have auto option now

[Tracker]

Having followed Wildax's growth in stature as a converter over the last 8 years or so I too agree that they have come on in leaps and bounds and that when we eventually downsize to a panel van I would be proud to own one of theirs as they seem well thought out, designed, built and finished - so a good choice I feel.

 

My only reservation would be when it comes to trade in or resell time as I don't know whether prices for Wildax models appear in the dealers bible (Glass's Guide)?

 

This might mean that many dealers - most of which have no understanding of motorhomes and see it only as a commodity with a 'book' value - would either not be able to value it properly or would be afraid of it - neither of which can be good for getting a fair price?

[Robinhood]

Mike88 - 2012-10-28 9:17 AM

 

If you are buying a vehicle with the 130bhp engine then this has been replaced on Fiat's(unsure about Citroen) with the 150bhp engine. Are you being sold an old stock chassis. On a Fiat the 150bhp 2.3 engine now comes with an auto (Comfortmatic) gearbox if that is what you prefer. Wildax can convert on a Fiat.

 

AFAIK, both the Fiat and Citroen in their current guises come with 110, 130 or 150 (Euro V) engines. (the Fiat on a 2.3, and the Citroen on a 2.2).

 

So probably not old stock. ;-)

[colin]

We hired a newly converted Wildax Aurora in 2009, it was on our short list, but glad we hired first, it showed up gf's claustrophobia, which is why we chose the Campscout layout, and also the build quality was appalling, hope it's better now.

[Brian Kirby]

Robinhood - 2012-10-28 11:29 AM

 

Mike88 - 2012-10-28 9:17 AM

 

If you are buying a vehicle with the 130bhp engine then this has been replaced on Fiat's(unsure about Citroen) with the 150bhp engine. Are you being sold an old stock chassis. On a Fiat the 150bhp 2.3 engine now comes with an auto (Comfortmatic) gearbox if that is what you prefer. Wildax can convert on a Fiat.

 

AFAIK, both the Fiat and Citroen in their current guises come with 110, 130 or 150 (Euro V) engines. (the Fiat on a 2.3, and the Citroen on a 2.2).

 

So probably not old stock. ;-)

Yes, and the "Continental" 2013 2.3L, 130HP, models - at least on the Fiat - are also available with the 6 speed comfortmatic gearbox.

[Guest JudgeMental]

All Fiats have the auto option now (as previously explained*-))

[colin]

Paul M Who - 2012-10-28 1:38 AM

 

The Globecar stand was rather embarassing. I don't think they were impressed when Mrs Who couldn't stop laughing at the 'dunny in the dining room' - that's the toilet and shower that takes up the whole of the centre of the interior, which blocks access to the front and rear and the fridge. Though it's great if you want to have a beer on the bog. 

 

Yes I think it's probably the thing Globecar have most trouble in selling the Campscout, people just don't get it. Not helped by the salesmen not having used one. When we ordered our van I was a bit sceptical about the washroom, but decided we would have to accept it as a compromise to get the rest of the layout we wanted. On actually using the van we have found it to be much better than we ever imagined, we no longer view it as a compromise but as a plus compared to the average wooden box washroom.

[Brian Kirby]

JudgeMental - 2012-10-28 12:49 PM

 

All Fiats have the auto option now (as previously explained*-))

But not, AFAIK, the 115 HP versions, which I believe are not imported to UK? I bin lookin', innit? :-)

[Paul M Who]

The Citroen van base (35 L3H2) comes with the 130bhp engine with the 150bhp as an option. To get WildAx to build on a Fiat was £1000 more with the Auto box another grand.

 

The van on top of the list was the Shire but they didn't have the Phoenix or XL there. Both have the config I was interested in and the two models they had didn't match the quality of Vantage or WildAx.

The Vantage was excellent but their new pricing regime means thing that were standard are now extra cost options. My config blew the budget by more than £3000. The water tanks are much smaller, it's not fully winterised, and the step, LPG tank, TV & Aerial, Reversing Sensor, SatNav, Swivel Seats and Draws are cost extra.

 

The WildAx has more usable storage than the Vantage, even with the full front dinette and the most important thing is that Mrs Who likes it. And after weighing up all the pros and cons I do too.

[colin]

The 35L is IMO the best of the L3's to drive, decent payload and not too stiff suspension, also do WildAx still include as standard the underslung gas tank? great for long term euro touring.

Couple of things to look out for, the one we hired had truma under dinette seat, this had short heat duct runs for dinette and washroom heating, this is not to Truma spec, look at increasing length and getting a downward 'dip' to stop the thing smelling whilst on water heating. If you get rattles from the upper cupboards whilst driving look at fitting a 'friction devise' (even if it's a bit of tape) to stop the tambour doors ratling. If you get choise of different coloured LED strip above dinette window go for white, do not have the blue that they fitted to van we hired, might be good for sales gimmick but useless in practice.

[Paul M Who]

colin - 2012-10-29 6:29 AMThe 35L is IMO the best of the L3's to drive, decent payload and not too stiff suspension, also do WildAx still include as standard the underslung gas tank? great for long term euro touring.Couple of things to look out for, the one we hired had truma under dinette seat, this had short heat duct runs for dinette and washroom heating, this is not to Truma spec, look at increasing length and getting a downward 'dip' to stop the thing smelling whilst on water heating. If you get rattles from the upper cupboards whilst driving look at fitting a 'friction devise' (even if it's a bit of tape) to stop the tambour doors ratling. If you get choise of different coloured LED strip above dinette window go for white, do not have the blue that they fitted to van we hired, might be good for sales gimmick but useless in practice.

 

The underslung LPG tank is still standard. The only thing under the lounge seats is the leisure battery on the offfside at the bathroom end the rest of the area is free space. It's all free space under the nearside seat. Both sides have rear access doors. The overhead cupboard have fridge magnet style latches. And all the LEDs are white light.

 

[Paul M Who]

Tracker - 2012-10-28 8:11 PM

My only reservation would be when it comes to trade in or resell time as I don't know whether prices for Wildax models appear in the dealers bible (Glass's Guide)?

This might mean that many dealers - most of which have no understanding of motorhomes and see it only as a commodity with a 'book' value - would either not be able to value it properly or would be afraid of it - neither of which can be good for getting a fair price?

 

Point taken.

But for us this is a five year plan at present with an open ended option. Even if the nominal depreciation was  £10,000 over that period that works out at  £2,000 a year for accommodation and transport. Where in the world can you spend 6 month on holidays for that?

 

It cost nearly Three Grand just to hire a MH for 5 weeks earlier this year.

 

[Guest JudgeMental]

Brian Kirby - 2012-10-28 5:45 PM

 

JudgeMental - 2012-10-28 12:49 PM

 

All Fiats have the auto option now (as previously explained*-))

But not, AFAIK, the 115 HP versions, which I believe are not imported to UK? I bin lookin', innit? :-)

 

Oh come on Kirbys..who buys the 115bhp.....it dont exist in moi's finking

 

I think the globecar/Possl bathroom, which has now been taken up by adria and hymer and others as well, is the only way to get a decent sized shower in a panel van.....don't find it odd at all

 

Agree with Tracker regards resale value....The prices laughable anyway when you can a well spec'ed Euro van for early 30K's and for 45K I could get a La Strada! *-)