Mel B Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 For anyone who's interested I thought I'd mention that we've now got our new camper van - a Globecar FamilyScout L based on the X250 but registered new this month. We've now had it just over 3 weeks and I'm busy fettling it! We loved our Autocruise Accent PVC but this gives us just that little bit more space being on the XLWB chassis (Accent 5.99m, Globecar 6.36m). It was a bit of a nightmare on the day (took nearly 6 hours to swap things over and for the 'handover' when it should have taken no more than 2) and we weren't happy at all with how we were dealt with ... plus is cost us another £300!!! We've had some major messing about with getting an alarm fitted and in the end had to kick the original fitter into touch and go elsewhere which cost us too ... but the van's great so we don't regret getting it. :-D I've done various bits and bobs already including making some removable covers for the L-shaped sofa cushions which look very nice if I do say so myself ... so at least I don't need to worry about the dogs spoiling the original covers! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry1956 Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 Very well done. Around 6 months ago we went from an auto trail to a globecar campscout. To start with it was alway in the back of my mind that it was a mistake.but after a three week trip to italy the van made good. The strong points being the two single beds.the ground we could cover in a day.a far better drive then the auto trail.the abilty to carfy my steam trains in the back.downside was the god rock hard drivers seat,which was just plain painful after a long drive. Anyway the seats have been replaced and now all is good.do i miss the larger van.in a word NO. Michael Ps.have a lot at the globecar forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 don't worry Terry Mel has :D covers look good girl! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave225 Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 Many thanks for submitting this item The FAMILY SCOUT is very much on our wishlist if I can persuade the 'boss' to go for it. We originally looked at the Campsout due to the single beds etc but on examining one at a Show, we did realise that it is vey cramped in the passageway. Plus my better half was less than impressed with the loo arrangement. However, time is a great healer and now I have introduced the Familyscout idea with the larger lounge, I have approval to take her to see one. Fortunately there is a main dealer not far from home in Scotland. One of the things that appeals to me re Globecar is that the body layout is EU handed although it is RHD. This means thst it is the passenger seat that revolves to meet the table, not the driver's, something I feel is better. Plus as we would use this 50% or more in Europe, it is a better deal for us. One thing your pics have confirmed is that the side seat will fit an adult, I was a bit concerned it may have been made child size, to look better in advertising. Also, did it come with an oven, not that we really want one, but it seems that us UK people often get little choice in the matter. In our own case this would be in addition to our caravan, which we will 'park' in Spain permanently, so to speak, and just fly down to use it. So, although not really a swop for the car, it will be a reasonable compromise. Of course the price is always a issue, and we need to make full use of it to justify buying it, but we have high hopes. I guess the waiting list is about 3 months from date of order, especially as we need a Comfortmatic. Plus as we are currently in sunny Spain until August, it will be autumn before we get to do anything serious. Please continue to post your thoughts, opinions, complaints etc, as it is all good help to us, and thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry1956 Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 Hi.we went with the campscout as it allows the van to be used as a load carrier if need be which it is carrying live steam trains around.i dont find it narrow at all and i am a big old boy.as i said the seats are a let down.i swaped out the fiat radio for a kenwood double din unit connected to the rear view camera.the original speakers have also been dumped.i think that the globecars are overpriced for what they are but so our most if not all motorhomes,campers.i use the van weekly and apart from replacing the useless soft close catches for normal ones so alls been ok. Its an improvement on our last van which just blocked the drive unused most of the year.michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will86 Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 Pardon me for asking dear lady MelB. Is that number 5 van and are you still residing at the riverside Mobile Home as well ? You may have provided info on other distant forums but I only visit this one so apologies for the intrusion if I'm lagging behind. Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted May 30, 2015 Author Share Posted May 30, 2015 Hi Will Actually it's van number 9! Since 1996 we've had: Commer Autosleeper pop-top (used) Converted an ambulance (obviously used!) Elddis Autoquest 320 (used) Swift Suntor 590RS (new - discounted as previous year's model) Rapido 709F (new model out) Rimor Sailer 645TC (new - discounted as previous year's model) Chausson Flash 04 (new model out) Autocruise Accent (just over 2 months old) ... and now this one which is 'new' but used as a demonstrator by the dealer and on the X250 base. We still live at our bungalow in Cottingham but also have our static at Chapel Hill in Lincolnshire too which we are currently refurbishing/rejigging as the interior hasn't really been touched since it was originally made - although double glazed UPVC windows had been installed plus a UPVC conservatory and decking added nothing had really been done to the inside so we've currently knocked out a wall between 2 of the bedrooms (boarded up the unused door) to make one large master bedroom and have also taken out the dividing wall between the shower room and the toilet to make a single larger washroom, we've got a new toilet and sink 'suite' to go in which will bring it up to modern standards too instead of the peachy/pink colour it is at present! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted May 30, 2015 Author Share Posted May 30, 2015 terry1956 - 2015-05-30 12:56 PM Very well done. Around 6 months ago we went from an auto trail to a globecar campscout. To start with it was alway in the back of my mind that it was a mistake.but after a three week trip to italy the van made good. The strong points being the two single beds.the ground we could cover in a day.a far better drive then the auto trail.the abilty to carfy my steam trains in the back.downside was the god rock hard drivers seat,which was just plain painful after a long drive. Anyway the seats have been replaced and now all is good.do i miss the larger van.in a word NO. Michael Ps.have a lot at the globecar forum. We have found out seats are very comfortable so whether they have changed them to a different type/make I don't know. I'm already on the Globecar forum ... Eddie has 'spotted' me over there already! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry1956 Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 know they are the same seats in all the fiat vans and they are all rock hard. michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted May 30, 2015 Author Share Posted May 30, 2015 Dave We first saw the Familyscout L last year as a friend on another forum had one and though it was great but at the time we weren't really seriously looking to change, however our holiday earlier this year in France/Spain showed that a little bit more lounging space would be nice (especially with 3 dogs in tow) and make for a more relaxing time, so we decided to look at changing but discounted the Familyscout L for various reasons, some more sensible than others! However once at Peterborough show we viewed another MH that hubby wanted to see as a possible contender but it was no good at all with abysmal storage. We then met up with our friends again and they'd got a new Familyscout L (they loved their old one so much so had got a newer version) and they were able to take us through the 'fun and games' of owning one, answer a lot of our queries and put our minds are rest regarding a lot of our concerns, so we decided to have another look. To cut a long story short we were able to confirm that it would suit us better than our Accent and also better than any other MHs or PVCs on the market so we decided to go ahead and 'negotiated' hard so got it for a very, very good price indeed! We weren't afraid to haggle ... we did our homework and found out that there was at least one other available which was quite a bit cheaper (and we were more than willing to travel to see it) so were able to use that as a bargaining tool to get the price down. One thing I'd better mention though - a little birdie tells me that they are discontinuing the Familyscout L so might be worth investigating if they are actually building any more to order seeing as you want a comfortmatic one. I agree about the passenger seat being the one that has to be swivelled for the table - much easier than swivelling the driver's seat so that's a definite bonus. The L-sofa is more than sufficient for an adult to sit at - when we were chatting to our friends before buying ours we were in his van for about 2 hours and were very comfy! There is still a bit of a narrow point in the centre as you go from the lounge to the rear but it's still more than wide enough to get through - I must admit though that I'm more than happy with this as it means that the fridge has been raised to waist height which makes it much easier to retrieve stuff rather than having to bend down and ferreting around at floor level as is usual. We had concerns regarding the smaller fridge as it only has a corner freezer box rather than a full width one, but to be honest most of the frozen stuff we used to take away with us had a lovely 'holiday' and came back home again, so this is a compromise we decided we'll live with. We were also concerned that the hob would be too small to use with our existing pans and cook as we already did (it appeared to be a little bit smaller than our previous one) however when we put the large frying pans on they fitted without a problem so that's one thing we don't need to compromise on thankfully. One thing to be aware of is that they don't normally come with a bulkhead mounted regulator as standard, instead they have the cylinder top type, so make sure you specify that you want it changing to a bulkhead one as part of the deal - as I was installing our twin bottle Gaslow system this is what I needed and fortunately, due to the aggro we'd had, the dealer sent me one in the post FOC. We love the side soft-close door however it did cause problems with the van not locking properly, I found that when the soft-close pulled the rear of the sliding door in tight beyond the level of the body panel line it would lock, but not once it had gone into it's final 'resting' point level with the panels - I've found a temporary fix though, sticking a small felt blob on the inside of the door where the locking sensor/switch pushes against the door it locked down perfectly every time ... the proper fix is for the sensor to be adjusted which the dealer will do but at present it works so no desperate urgency. Ours doesn't have an oven (and we wouldn't want on anyway!) so no additional expense for that but we did have to pay £300 more for a new awning as our old one, which was going to be transferred from our Accent, wouldn't fit due to the new van being a bit longer ... annoying but at least we got it sorted in the end. This is a link to the web ad for our actual van: http://www.smcmotorhomes.co.uk/details.asp?id=185 And this link has some good pictures on: http://www.southdownsmotorcaravans.co.uk/stock/3037/pixindex.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 bought one of these for long haul flights..it now lives in the van. many truckers use them. can drive all day...air suspension for your bum http://www.amazon.com/Roho-Cushion-removable-Charcoal-Fabric/dp/B000OXDJ1U Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 Dave225, I'm a bit puzzled that you found the gangway cramped, it's one of the widest for a 'twin' derivative. The washroom is a Marmite thing, in use we find it a great idea, plenty of room when in use, takes up minimum room when not in use. Also can divide front from rear, this morning I had entire rear to wash and dress in whilst gf was in front with sld open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCC Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 Way too much information - we don't want to hear about you washing your rear! Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave225 Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 colin - 2015-05-31 4:09 PM Dave225, I'm a bit puzzled that you found the gangway cramped, it's one of the widest for a 'twin' derivative. The washroom is a Marmite thing, in use we find it a great idea, plenty of room when in use, takes up minimum room when not in use. Also can divide front from rear, this morning I had entire rear to wash and dress in whilst gf was in front with sld open. You have to take my comment in perspective. When you compare the pasageway in a Globecar to what we have in the caravan then there is a big dfifference. Of course the extra width in the caravan helps but although we recognise the difference, there is still the necessity of getting used to it, and accepting it. Our current caravan is the same length as the Globecar and that includes the A frame but the 2.3 meter width makes a H..l of a difference in internal space. We are fully aware of this and are just getting used to it. My wife was happy with the fridge at eye level but less about her 'rear' being in the loo to get into it., and dare I suggest she is a small lady. Again we recognise there is difference in expectations and the Globecar ticks a lot of boxes. But for the same price I can get a Chausson 628 which I am sure you will agree offers a lot of space. But then again, it is not really the thing for an ASDA car park on a regular basis. We are still at the 'humming and hawing' stage but as we are currently sunning on the Costa's, it is a matter for future decision time. If Globecar ditch the Familyscout then somehting else will trun up. Our big problem is ensuring we can make the use of it. If we plan on using it in the Uk mostly, then the bigger space of a coachbuilt would probably pay. As we would still have the caravan for Mediterranean use for 3 months a year we are just worried it would sit in storage too long. Plus of course the 'wide ball' is that apartments in Spain are at rock bottom prices and..................who knows. Wemay spend some money and go the NEC and see what is available and think about it. I like the Globecar idea very much but £50k is a lot of money Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave225 Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 colin - 2015-05-31 4:09 PM Dave225, I'm a bit puzzled that you found the gangway cramped, it's one of the widest for a 'twin' derivative. The washroom is a Marmite thing, in use we find it a great idea, plenty of room when in use, takes up minimum room when not in use. Also can divide front from rear, this morning I had entire rear to wash and dress in whilst gf was in front with sld open. You have to take my comment in perspective. When you compare the pasageway in a Globecar to what we have in the caravan then there is a big dfifference. Of course the extra width in the caravan helps but although we recognise the difference, there is still the necessity of getting used to it, and accepting it. Our current caravan is the same length as the Globecar and that includes the A frame but the 2.3 meter width makes a H..l of a difference in internal space. We are fully aware of this and are just getting used to it. My wife was happy with the fridge at eye level but less about her 'rear' being in the loo to get into it., and dare I suggest she is a small lady. Again we recognise there is difference in expectations and the Globecar ticks a lot of boxes. But for the same price I can get a Chausson 628 which I am sure you will agree offers a lot of space. But then again, it is not really the thing for an ASDA car park on a regular basis. We are still at the 'humming and hawing' stage but as we are currently sunning on the Costa's, it is a matter for future decision time. If Globecar ditch the Familyscout then somehting else will trun up. Our big problem is ensuring we can make the use of it. If we plan on using it in the Uk mostly, then the bigger space of a coachbuilt would probably pay. As we would still have the caravan for Mediterranean use for 3 months a year we are just worried it would sit in storage too long. Plus of course the 'wide ball' is that apartments in Spain are at rock bottom prices and..................who knows. Wemay spend some money and go the NEC and see what is available and think about it. I like the Globecar idea very much but £50k is a lot of money Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertandjean Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 Your new van sounds great Mel, as PVC's become longer then the more space they offer might even make us consider one at sometime! Seriously Mel certain you will enjoy your new van, you seem to change vans almost as often as us!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.