aandy Posted January 31, 2016 Posted January 31, 2016 After months of searching for a van it seems my quest may be reaching an end. I have two likely prospects, a 2010 Carado T135 and a 2011 Dethleffs Eurostyle. They are the same layout and base vehicle - 2.2 Transit - with the only apparent difference being that the Carado is Euro 4 and the Dethleffs Euro 5. They are also both with the same dealer (SMC at Newark). I am planning to have look at them next week (I am 200 miles from Newark) but on paper there seems little to choose between them. I'm posting this in the hope that someone has experience of either make that might help me decide which to go for. Andy
Zydeco Joe Posted January 31, 2016 Posted January 31, 2016 Hi Andy, Not easy is it finding what you think is the right van. What fits one person or couple that is won't fit the next people .... We use our van for 20 or so weeks a year over the channel plus a good few weeks in the UK and find its the after evening meal time till bed time that we get the best out of our Auto Trail Tracker i.e by using the bench seats to relax on before we make up the large double bed.It only takes max 2 mins to make the bed so this style of van works for us.Both the vans you have picked look good but not sure of the two black go faster stripes at the back...LOL .Just make sure when you get your van that you use it loads and make sure its not parked up on the drive for long. Have fun B-)
Randonneur Posted January 31, 2016 Posted January 31, 2016 Must admit that our first two vans were fixed French bed types and then we bought a van with fixed singles, this was a great van but when we came back to the UK after living in France we wanted something smaller. My Husband didn't want to change this van but I eventually persuaded him and now we have an Auto-Trail Tracker which as the previous poster says is very easy to make the bed. OH has now come to like this van. The problem we had with the fixed beds were the obvious one were if the person who sleeps next to the wall has to disturb the other one if needing to get up in the night. It just depends what your needs are re travelling seats and sleeping berths. As there are only two of us the tracker is ideal. Both of the vans you have looked at look fine if the layout is right for you. They are very similar in layout, mileage and price.
hallii Posted January 31, 2016 Posted January 31, 2016 The Transit Euro 5 is more likely to have the 6 speed gearbox. Whilst the 5 speed box is OK (I have one) the lower 1st and reverse of the 6 speed should be considered. If they are both 6 speed then flip a coin :-D H
aandy Posted January 31, 2016 Author Posted January 31, 2016 Not easy finding the right van. An understatement if ever there was one. I've been looking seriously since early last summer, and every time I think I've settled on the ideal layout I see something else that changes my mind. Initially wanted a PVC but soon realised none had all the features I wanted. Having settled on a coachbuilt the biggest difficulty has been deciding between fixed bed and comfortable lounge, which as I am restricted to 6.5m in length are mutually exclusive. Even now, having decided on the fixed bed, there is every chance that will change before I get to Newark. Probably best just to flip a coin. However, one thing of which I am sure is that whatever it is it will get plenty of use.
flicka Posted January 31, 2016 Posted January 31, 2016 IIRC the Dethleffs Eurostyle & the Htmer Carado both come out of the same factory. They are both their respective badge budget range. So all things being equal except for the Euro class &r minor model year changes & upholstery.
gasgas Posted January 31, 2016 Posted January 31, 2016 aandy - 2016-01-31 1:42 PM Not easy finding the right van. An understatement if ever there was one. I've been looking seriously since early last summer, and every time I think I've settled on the ideal layout I see something else that changes my mind. Initially wanted a PVC but soon realised none had all the features I wanted. Having settled on a coachbuilt the biggest difficulty has been deciding between fixed bed and comfortable lounge, which as I am restricted to 6.5m in length are mutually exclusive. Even now, having decided on the fixed bed, there is every chance that will change before I get to Newark. Probably best just to flip a coin. However, one thing of which I am sure is that whatever it is it will get plenty of use. I have recently bought a 2014 Rapido 640 which is 6.48 metres in length. It has a fixed island queen sized bed so you can get round both sides of it - just, but you are not going to dance in a ballroom gown, are you? Euro 5 engine - time will tell if that is any good or a liability. This was the MMM 2014 Motorhome of the Year. Whatever you do, avoid an electric rising bed. We wanted one because of the advantage of a shorter body length, and bought a new 2015 one. For the ten months we owned it, it did not function correctly for any five day period. Once we had to abandon our cousin's wedding where we were hoping to stay overnight in the camper because the bed would not work. In fact nothing electric would work, so we had to drive 150 miles home starting at 11pm. We looked at four in various dealers before buying it, and only one of them actually worked when we asked for a demonstration, and that was at the Feb 15 NEC show. We bought it and the end result was we lost £8000 because it was so faulty we had to trade it back to the place we got it from. It was clearly not fit for purpose but our solicitor wanted £20,000 to get as far as the first day in court so it was cheaper to suffer the loss. The very last straw was when a supporting shaft of the bed came out of a bearing at one end causing the bed to collapse in that corner. We are not overweight I should add. These things are computerised, would you believe, and you have to program 5 different stop positions into the memory. What on earth is wrong with a button for 'up' and another button for 'down'? Why does everything have to have a computer to make it work?
Derek Uzzell Posted February 1, 2016 Posted February 1, 2016 gasgas - 2016-01-31 10:28 PM I have recently bought a 2014 Rapido 640 which is 6.48 metres in length. It has a fixed island queen sized bed so you can get round both sides of it... It would be nice if the Rapido 640 had a queen-sized bed... A queen-sized mattress is generally defined as 152cm(Wide) x 203cm (Long), while a standard-double mattress is 137cm(W) x 191cm(L). A Rapido 640’s mattress is 135cm(W) x 191cm(L) - same length as a standard-double mattress, but a bit narrower and with both bottom corners well rounded off. The 2016 640’s bed has a significantly revamped underframe that allows the mattress to be raised (manually) at the headboard end and (so I understand) gain some clearance space around the bed’s foot end. Not sure how easy it would be to raise the bed in practice though. Odd design the 640, as many of the features that apparently resulted in it winning the 2014 Motorhome of the Year award are (in my view) ill-conceived. This didn’t stop me buying a 640, but there are things about it that I think are daft.
aandy Posted February 1, 2016 Author Posted February 1, 2016 Thanks for the replies. The vans are so similar I had wondered whether they were essentially different badges on the same vehicle (bit like BMC 50 years ago). Interesting to hear of problems with the drop down bed, as that is something I had seriously considered but had more or less discounted because of the unnecessary complication and potential for problems. The Rapido sounds good, but I'm not sure I've ever seen that model advertised. My budget is £30k (possibly a bit more for something really exceptional), so it may be too new. Though I thought I had made my mind up, I'm still not entirely decided on layout (fixed bed or not). Anyone want to call heads or tails?
bolero boy Posted February 1, 2016 Posted February 1, 2016 aandy - 2016-01-31 1:42 PM Not easy finding the right van. An understatement if ever there was one. I've been looking seriously since early last summer, and every time I think I've settled on the ideal layout I see something else that changes my mind. Initially wanted a PVC but soon realised none had all the features I wanted. Having settled on a coachbuilt the biggest difficulty has been deciding between fixed bed and comfortable lounge, which as I am restricted to 6.5m in length are mutually exclusive. Even now, having decided on the fixed bed, there is every chance that will change before I get to Newark. Probably best just to flip a coin. However, one thing of which I am sure is that whatever it is it will get plenty of use. andy, these two things are not mutually exclusive these days.... with the use of drop down beds you can have the best of both worlds.....a hymer b544 is the classic example of a 6.5 m van with a huge lounge and really usable kitchen and washroom.... another a-class but smaller/cheaper is the pilote g600l (or the bigger 650). other coachbuilts also use lounge drop down beds to acheive the same result.....a ready made bed that just parks out of the way....
Robbo Posted February 1, 2016 Posted February 1, 2016 For what it's worth - I've always thought of the Carado brand as being aimed at the budget end of the market. The Dethleff is a more well known brand, in my eyes. Looking at the long term ownership, you might find that the Dethleff suffers less depreciation and is possibly easier to sell, when the time comes. It may also be worth looking at the number of dealers in your area who sell these two brands. You'll probably have to keep up the annual damp check (and possibly hab service) and these can only be carried out by an authorised dealer.
Robbo Posted February 1, 2016 Posted February 1, 2016 bolero boy - 2016-02-01 11:36 AM aandy - 2016-01-31 1:42 PM Not easy finding the right van. An understatement if ever there was one. I've been looking seriously since early last summer, and every time I think I've settled on the ideal layout I see something else that changes my mind. Initially wanted a PVC but soon realised none had all the features I wanted. Having settled on a coachbuilt the biggest difficulty has been deciding between fixed bed and comfortable lounge, which as I am restricted to 6.5m in length are mutually exclusive. Even now, having decided on the fixed bed, there is every chance that will change before I get to Newark. Probably best just to flip a coin. However, one thing of which I am sure is that whatever it is it will get plenty of use. andy, these two things are not mutually exclusive these days.... with the use of drop down beds you can have the best of both worlds.....a hymer b544 is the classic example of a 6.5 m van with a huge lounge and really usable kitchen and washroom.... another a-class but smaller/cheaper is the pilote g600l (or the bigger 650). other coachbuilts also use lounge drop down beds to acheive the same result.....a ready made bed that just parks out of the way.... I would agree with Bolero Boy. Perhaps widen your search to include A class MH's with drop down bed over the cab. I had a 2002 Hymer B544, bags of lounging space with drop-down bed and only 6m long. Later one's are 6.5m long. Only problem if you want RHD, the drivers door is on the nearside (mine was LHD so not a problem). We were very happy with it and had it for 10 years. Only reason we sold it was because we needed a vehicle with more payload. If we'd known at the time of original purchase, we would have opted for the Maxi chassis which gives more payload. This model of Hymer is only available on the Fiat chassis.
lennyhb Posted February 1, 2016 Posted February 1, 2016 Just had a look on the SMC site can't believe the crazy prices they want for a 5 year old van, if your are prepared to travel a few more miles you can buy a brand new Carado in Belgium or Germany for the same money.
Brock Posted February 1, 2016 Posted February 1, 2016 I've had drop down cab beds in my last three motorhomes over 16 years. Two were manual, and never gave any problem whatsoever, the current one is electric and I had one slight fault [bed didn't drop down fully on one side - less than an inch short] and that was fixed under warranty. A-class beds do come with their own compromises so bear this in mind. We like them because they give us more space in a motorhome and we need something less than 6.5m. Wouldn't have a drop down bed if I could get comfortable single beds in a 6.3m van and still be able to swing the cat. I had a 2005 Hymer 544. Brilliant van, fault free [apart from wear and tear] over 8 years and as dry as a bone when damp tested.
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