LordThornber Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 This year we upsized from 5.5 m to 7.5 m and received a few pm queries asking how we were going on. Well after 5 months, 50 nights away and 2600 miles we're a bit more qualified to bleat on the subject, bit being the word.. Of course the internal space hasn't really shone as bright as it will in winter when we're in the van more but what time we have had inside has been smashing. The fixed bed, separate shower, larger fridge and superb kitchen are exactly what we wanted from the purchase. In terms of driving, pitching, well of course it's got easier as the extra 2m has 'shrunk' with experience and miles. You certainly benefit from having a banksman, when I clear off alone and Lady T joins me later, (work commitments), it's a greater challenge to pitch accurately. The worst element of the extra length for us so far has been some of the ridiculously tight twists and turns on French filling stations, just a minor grouse really, nothing in the bigger scheme of things. This I hope is helpful to anyone considering up sizing, it's not an advert for the Bailey, merely to allay some potential buyers concerns. Martyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 Great news Martyn as changing vans is always a worry. To put any fears some might have about buying Blitish in perspective has it been reliable and is it well made? We too are finding our Warwick a bit tight on space, particularly the interior width and tight storage space, and may well revert to a coachbuilt but we think between 6 and 6.5 mtrs will do us. Hope you have many years of good clean fun with her - and the van! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Had Enough Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 Started at 6 metres and thought it enormous! Then I bought the Hobby at 6.75 metres and by than was having no problems with the length. My next 'van, whichever of the two on the short list I choose, will be a bug's whisker over seven metres. Obviously, the smaller the better for parking etc. but even with six metres you're still on the lookout in supermarkets and other car parks for two spaces in line. My biggest worry is width, as my new 'van will be 2.35 metres, but most motorhomes are that wide, narrower CBs are a minority, so I'm thinking: "What the hell, if everyone else can do it so can I." I shouldn't have said that, I'm bound to scrape the bugger now! (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Had Enough Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 Tracker - 2014-10-06 11:29 AM To put any fears some might have about buying Blitish in perspective has it been reliable and is it well made? Are these the ones mainly made in China but badged for the UK market? ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 Having had a wide van the width is less of an issue that the protruding wing mirrors on most coachbuilts which in my view stick out far more than they need to to get a good view are are very prone to clouting some things and to being clouted by others in passing. On the other hand if the mirrors go through a gap the rest of the van will follow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordThornber Posted October 6, 2014 Author Share Posted October 6, 2014 Hello Richard, the worst bit so far was the handover, it was poor to say the least. To be fair they explained some staff sickness had contributed and they offered year 1, s hab check as a sweetener. The Peugeot side? Well of course coming ftom an 11 year old van to a brand new one was always going to flatter, but the most satisfying bit is the mpg, it is quite astonishing. I'm not a great mpg anorak, but it's already hitting 30mpg, even allowing for everyones different driving styles, I think that's pretty good. The air con and cruise control, well I don't know how we survived without 'em.. The Bailey side? A twisted water pipe resulting in poor water pressure was sorted, a tiny bit of silicone missed on the shower tray I fixed myself, it was allowing a dribble of water on to the floor. The build quality overall is what we expected from a Manufacturer of 50 + years. So far everything feels robust enough to do the job. It was a fear coming from an Autosleeper with which we'd had excellent service, but so far so good. It's very easy to fall into the 'it's the best van on the market' trap, but having owned 4 now since 1999, 3 of which have been new, we're very happy. It's doing so far, what we wanted from the change of van. What I will say though with some certainty, I think it's excellent value for money, something I know dear to your heart Rich :) Martyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 Cheers Martyn - I'm afraid VFM goes out of the window when it comes to a motorhome but as long as we all get more pleasure than pain I guess it works for us all! Out of interest, is your MPG from the average mpg dash readout or actual calculated as our Peugeot 2.2 always shows between 34 and 36 mpg but very rarely ever works out at more than 30 mpg? I can live with 30 mpg but it is a little disappointing when the computer misleads me so much. I have noted the same wild variation on the previous Fiat X250 2.3 based van that I had and I wonder if it is a design 'feature' ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordThornber Posted October 6, 2014 Author Share Posted October 6, 2014 Just realised I've done an Ed Milliband, I forgot the width.. At 2.41 it's wide, and upon taking ownership I dont mind admitting to some breathing in. But we'd chose a traffic friendly route and the air con cooled me off, it was just a case of taking my time and allowing that bit more room here and there. It soon shrunk enough to be confident about driving on all road and traffic situations. Martyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordThornber Posted October 6, 2014 Author Share Posted October 6, 2014 Richard, the dashboard mpg swings from 19 to 38, my figure so far is a back of a ' fag packet' calculation but I've measured it 3 times now and it's not gone below 28 and as high as 33. When I said value for money, I should have explained, I was making reference to what else we saw on the market for about £45k. To be truthful for us there was no comparison. I'm not having dig at any other manufacturers, just a huge deciding factor for us in making the choice. Martyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pampam Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 Heyup lord thornber ,am sure youll have a lovely winter ,with all that extra space ,we ended up with 8.73m and loved it it was so comfy with no "cabin fever" and never a cross word ; my husband loved driving it ,am sure yours will give you loads of pleasure pp:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 We went up to 7.2m I was a bit worried at first, but have found as the new van is only 2.2m wide (old one 2.35m) found it much easier to maneuver in tight situations, a couple of times ended up in the middle of French medieval villages and managed to get through unscathed. Being an A Class with the mirrors close to the body makes it easier and having flat sides reversing is a doddle. AS for French filling stations we always use the 24hr card payment pumps, they nearly always have a less tortuous route out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 I've been contemplating up-sizing, from 6.9m to 8.3m, to over 3m in height and an extra 10cm to 2.38m wide. We tow a car on a trailer too, so that's another 6m or so to be manoeuvred and parked. Not bothered about driving a bigger one but our recent holiday (France) reminded me that there are places where you go where extra size means extra problems or restrictions. Fortunately "All the Aires" includes an indication of whether a big MH can be accomodated, but even so, size will sometimes mean you have to plan differently or even turn up somewhere and find you can;t get in. You might even get stuck somewhere too; that's happened to us. The advantages of more room inside the MH reaches a point of diminishing returns - differently for all of us but ultimately it does become less attractive to have a bigger and bigger MH at some point. For us the potential gain is limited to more payload and marginally better kitchen/lounge space. So we're close to our point of diminishing returns by going bigger. We've more or less decided not to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poppy Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 Hope you have many more years of pleasure with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertandjean Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 Martyn to , glad all going well, we are also enjoying having upsized and as yet very few problems as Rapido build seems very good. Must say really think island bed excellent and would recommend this layout to everyone and not only for ease of getting up in night(well we are in France!!!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynneroy Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 very interesting to know you are getting on so well, we are considering doing the same, could I ask what enigine in your peugeot as the fule consumption appeals to me. Many thanls Lynneroy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 lynneroy - 2014-10-08 12:44 PM very interesting to know you are getting on so well, we are considering doing the same, could I ask what enigine in your peugeot as the fule consumption appeals to me. Many thanls Lynneroy Maybe - but does the capital outlay and the depreciation? Not a knock at anyone who has bought a new van - but changing vans, new or used, just to gain a few mpg is financial suicide! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Hi Martyn, pleased to hear you're enjoying your new toy! After having a MH that was 2.3 wide we found that it was the width that made driving it much more 'annoying' than our current PVC which is 2.05 wide - that 25cm (9.8 inches) does make a heck of a difference - certainly in the places we like to go such as small villages, country roads and out of the way places. On our last holiday in Scotland and Northumberland there were some places that we would NOT have been able to get to if we'd been just a few inches wider ... I can't see us ever going back to a 'chubby' MH as although it would be nice at times to have the extra space inside, the downsides that the extra width would cause are completely unacceptable to us. Having been to the Lincoln show for the day there wasn't anything we would have changed our PVC for, not at any price! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Welcome back Mel -where have you been hiding? Agree width is far more noticeable we have gone up in length from 6.8 to 7.2m and down in width from 2.35 to 2.21m that tiny bit narrower makes a bit difference found it far easier in towns with tight narrow roads mainly French Medieval villages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan D Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Hi Lenny, we are off to france next week and have always avoided non kiosk fuel stations, as this will be the norm , any chance you can run through the procedure using a card.? I had no luck last time. Do you insert your card and then retrieve it before the pump will work? I hope most cards are now accepted. Thanks Alan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertandjean Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Alan D - 2014-10-11 8:33 AM Hi Lenny, we are off to france next week and have always avoided non kiosk fuel stations, as this will be the norm , any chance you can run through the procedure using a card.? I had no luck last time. Do you insert your card and then retrieve it before the pump will work? I hope most cards are now accepted. Thanks Alan. We are in France now and using supermarket card pumps all the time. Basic procedure is insert card then follow prompts, often first asks to confirm which fuel you want followed by entering your pin number etc.When prompted you then remove your card and fill with fuel. We use a Nationwide Visa card with no problems except at a couple of older intermache pumps which would not accept this card or our Mastercard. But we do find it much easier than having to drive past kiosk many of which are rather tight, but all comes back to van width again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan D Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Thanks R&J, we shall be using n/wide & master card also. Alan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Just to add to RoberandJeans post, try one near the channel ports they usually come up with English instructions when you put a UK card in. The only difference to using a UK pay at pump is you have to select they type of fuel and you can only fill with what you have selected, if you get it wrong and can't cancel it, just leave it a couple of minutes it will time out and debit your CC with €0.00, then you can start again. On our last trip last month at one new supermarket & one with a new filling station (at a supermarket) there was no kiosk only pay at the pump - could this be the way they will all go? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 robertandjean - 2014-10-11 9:11 AM . But we do find it much easier than having to drive past kiosk many of which are rather tight, but all comes back to van width again. Quite a few years ago I managed to get a caravan jammed in the exit by the kiosk blocking the whole filling station, it was around 6:00pm on a Friday probably busiest time, I don't think I was very popular. (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan D Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Thanks Lenny, My first stop usually is the Auchan fuel station in Calais, any idea if it is still kiosk operated on Saturdays? Can you get fuel there also on Sundays with a card on my way back? I expect most stations will go un-manned in time. I have`nt been over for a while but the last time a pump would not accept my card, an obliging Frenchman ( Yes there is one ) used his card for me and accepted my cash payment, which was very kind of him I thought. Should be ok for the Dartford crossing also as the new procedure has not kicked in yet, Alan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Not used the Auchan at Calais for a few years always use either Boulogne or Dunkirk depending on which way we are going, not had a card not work in Franch for over 6 or 7 years as R&J say could happen at very old filling stations. Hypermarkets do not open on Sunday so it's pay at pump only then, also smaller ones the kiosk often closes for lunch 12:00 - 2:00/2:30. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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