candapack Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Noticed that Autotrail punt their Tracker RS - 6.1m. by 2.35 m. - as a vehicle many of their customers use as the family car as well. Seems a bit optimistic to me, but do any of you use something like that for general tootling about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 easier with a panel van I should think or a narrow CB. I live in London and did use my 6 metre van as a 2nd vehicle..but as a car replacement? BS i'm afraid. There were places I would not take it as parking difficult even with a car. Just ordered a 636 van and I guess I will loose some of that flexibility now :-S but you do see long wheelbase vans in parking areas.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muswell Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 My van is a Transit, just under 5m. I do use it instead of the car at times but it can be a problem finding a parking spot in busy areas because spaces tend to be the size of a medium to small car. I wouldn't consider 6m to be usable as a family car if you are going to use it around town. I know the delivery vans are this long but they only stop for a short while and double park if necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogerC Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Friends ofours have a McLouis Tandy...it is their only vehicle and they use it as the 'family' car. I suppose it all depends on where you live if it is going to be a 'practical' solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJay Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 RogerC - 2014-02-10 10:38 AM Friends ofours have a McLouis Tandy...it is their only vehicle and they use it as the 'family' car. I suppose it all depends on where you live if it is going to be a 'practical' solution. Have to agree if you live in a rural area fine In a town forget it. Having said that it is fairley rural here, but our local Waste disposal (Dump) has a height restriction of from memory about 1.6 mtrs. I know when my OH had a hire car for use it was a Hyundi Santa Fe 4x4 that would not go under the bar, so I don't think even a normal High car would Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyT5 Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Hi I have a Bilbos Lezan as my only vehicle we use our bus to travel locally or go on my Bicycle works well for me and the good lady DavyT5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 First question I have is whether it is desirable as a motorhome. Having had a quick look at the spec, I doubt it would be suitable as a family motorhome unless the children slept in tents. I'm also wary of the loading capacity of Auto Trails and if the chassis has to be uprated, that would bring in other issues. In the mid 90's we ditched the family car and used a 6m coachbuilt plus public transport for all our needs. Changed up to a 6.3m coachbuilt, then a 6m A-class [kids sleeping in tent by then] followed by a 6.37m A-class]. My son bought a car in the mid noughties and my missus did by a small car in 2010. Now I use our 6m, 2.35m wide A-class as my sole vehicle. I did a small amount of insured business use in the 90's but I have never used a motorhome for commuting. We've always chosen to live close to good public transport links, schools and shops etc. For example, within a mile, I have 4 big supermarkets - I can get the van in one of the car parks at peak times whilst the others are fine off peak, a hospital with ambulances, fire station, police station, railways station [poor service though] and buses every 10 minutes into Liverpool on two routes and every 5 minutes into Birkenhead on three routes. And the motorway is a less than a mile away. Taxis are plentiful. I walk. In the last 12m, the only lifts I've needed is from my wife to the local Refuse Centre at peak times on a handful of occasions. The staff will lift the height barrier to let in the motorhome off peak. It's doable if you live in the right place as Roger says. A pvc would be more practical as a day vehicle now the boys are too old to come away with us for more than a day but my wife absolutely forbids me to buy one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Forbids?.........Get a new wife me thinks.... ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duetto owner Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 we have used our transit duetto as our only vehicle for 5 years now, would not go back to driving a car. Its easy to park and drives like a car too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubyExsis Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 candapack - 2014-02-09 11:30 PM Noticed that Autotrail punt their Tracker RS - 6.1m. by 2.35 m. - as a vehicle many of their customers use as the family car as well. Seems a bit optimistic to me, but do any of you use something like that for general tootling about? It would be optimistic and inconvenient most of the time, as tootling about would usually involve parking. From experience anything larger than a T5/Vito would always cause some inconvenience. I upsized to a the original Hymer Exsis in 2007 and at 5.45 m long that is the max that can guarantee no hassle in normal parking bays - the van is also narrower than almost all other coachbuilts at just over 2m wide. The tracker and all other coachbuilts at 2.3+m wide also makes it extremely tight in parking spaces. Spaces for larger vans can usually be found in car parks, but often involves driving around, a fair bit of shunting or waiting for a suitable spot, therefore not really practical for everyday. However on holiday or on the odd day it's better than no van at all. Fred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mel wood Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Since November 2008 we have had an Auto-Sleepers Symbol ES as our only vehicle. Including the rear step it is 5.65 metres. We have covered 48000 miles and for us it is the ideal dual purpose vehicle. The longest we have been away in it on a single trip is 10 weeks and we have used it on campsites in all months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will86 Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Brock, The wife drives. Why not have a his and hers camping vehicle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
candapack Posted February 10, 2014 Author Share Posted February 10, 2014 The responses are pretty much what I was expecting. A smallish PVC can work well as a dual purpose vehicle. Anything much bigger will cause hassle. Ours is only very slightly smaller than the Tracker, and I would never have considered popping down to the shops with it, so was surprised at Autotrail's comments/sales pitch. Cheers all! :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Star55 Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 We have a Murvi Pimento which is 5.41 and is my only vehicle (OH has others - classic sports car and scooter). It is perfect for what I want, and I can park OK at the gym, main supermarket, NT properties etc. We have found occasional places where the car parks have height restrictions which is a nuisance, and some car parks don't have enough room to be able to back straight out if hemmed in either side. If it looks as though parking is going to be stressful - I find somewhere that isn't. I love the diesel heating which means I can be out all day walking - pop back for lunch to a warm van with all facilities. It doesn't look too motorhomey (if that makes sense) if we are shopping or visiting people. It's a shame a couple of accessories have had to be replaced - both Dometic - Smev oven and water pump - but fingers crossed the replacements will be OK, although water pump replaced with another make! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 I don't think you can realistically use a 6.1m x 2.35m motorhome as 'realistic' daily transport in place of a car ... can you imaging commuting to/from work every day in it, and then parking it. We did consider using our PVC and a Smart car as our only vehicles but found that it just wasn't practical (and we don't work so no commuting!), so we now have a 'normal' car too ... I can't bear to part with my lovely Smart! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikejkay Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Me for one. Having had a motorhome for many years and gone through the expense of replacing tyres that had only done a few thousand miles, heavy duty batteriies that only lasted a year etc etc. I got a smaller (5.99m) coachbuilt MH and dispensed with the car. Fuel consumtion is marginally worse (compared with a Volvo XC70!), finding suitable parking places is a bit more difficult. I avoid parking in narrow streets which would be OK for a car. Numerous advantages - mainly only one set of bills, service, MOT, insurance etc. No worries about batteries tyres etc. For us "old" men having ones own WC can sometimes be a lifesaver! One intense irritation is that insurance companies have, of late, started to charge for insurance based on annual mileage which means that one has to estimate/guess this when taking out insurance. If the guess is wrong the additional charge for another thousand miles is disproportionate/exorbitant. Another problem, which is not really to do with having a MH as ones' only vehicle, is the width of my X250 van. However, I would argue that driving the MH in all conditions results in more experience and an enhanced ability to judge the width of the van. Not that this helps when faced with white van man steaming towards you at high speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Eddie, she thawed a little with a when she saw an Adria 640. But as we know, motorhoming is about compromise so I compromised. Three cooked square meals a day for an A-class. Will, Caravan Club probably has a rule against two motorhomes on one pitch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cervantes Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Definitely - we came to live in Spain with two cars, bought a motorhome, then sold the two cars. Our means of transport, depending on distance and time, are walking, cycling ( with a trailer), public transport and the motorhome (6m x 2.35m) We retired to the sun so have no commute to work. 90% of our shopping is by foot or cycling locally, and anything too big or heavy we collect in the motorhome. Parking doesn't seem to be a problem in Spain, but local knowledge does help. We now know where to park safely in Cartagena and Murcia for free, and supermarket carparks are always an option if we are somewhere new. It does of course depend on your circumstances if you can use your motorhome as your only transport - luckily we can, but I can see the problems others would face. If you can I would thoroughly recommend it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muswell Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 I think the parking issue depends on where you intend to use the vehicle. Going places where there are supermarkets with car parks is very different from trying to find a space on the street. Mikejkay raised a point about insurance but I found when insuring our Golf through VW that they increased the premium for low mileage. They said that was based on their claims history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breakaleg Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 I used to go to work in an auto sleeper clubman and well everyday travel, we have a auto sleeper Lancashire now, but I do use a car as well now, we have to park the van on the road in a fairly narrow and busy street. its surprising how small a space you can get into if you have to. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vindiboy Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 For several years we used our tag axle Hymer 8 metres nearly ,as our only vehicle,we went to local Supermarkets, into Southampton centre ,around the New Forest etc and had no problems anywhere,we got to know where we could park and the best times of day to go places,it was great to have our toilet and cooking facilities available at all times, so it is do able,how do you think real full timers manage? When I traded the Hymer it had 80,000 miles on it and ran like a dream,we have downsized slightly now and also have a car, more expense but hey ho you cant spend your money when you are dead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 duetto owner - 2014-02-10 11:54 AM we have used our transit duetto as our only vehicle for 5 years now, would not go back to driving a car. Its easy to park and drives like a car too. Another Duetto owner here too. At 5.368m (just over 17ft) it will drive anywhere a car will. Only thing i do differently is on Supermarket carparks i always park up where there is plenty of space either side so i don't get some clot head wanging their doors open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike88 Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Bulletguy - 2014-02-13 5:55 AM duetto owner - 2014-02-10 11:54 AM we have used our transit duetto as our only vehicle for 5 years now, would not go back to driving a car. Its easy to park and drives like a car too. Another Duetto owner here too. At 5.368m (just over 17ft) it will drive anywhere a car will. Only thing i do differently is on Supermarket carparks i always park up where there is plenty of space either side so i don't get some clot head wanging their doors open. I had a Duetto for 7 years. Great vehicle. But using it as a car .............not for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duetto owner Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 its amazing useing the duetto for everyday use how often we use the toilet, kitchen area etc. do not go to from work as retired when we bought it. but it goes everywhere hosp appointments, supermarkets, trips up to london. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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