Touchwood
Free Member
- Aug 23, 2011
- 772
- 733
- Funster No
- 17,874
- MH
- Compass Avantgarde 140
- Exp
- 5 years and learning
The time has come for us to think seriously about changing out much loved Compass Avantgarde 400RL for a 'van that better suits our needs - somewhat belatedly I've just read the excellent buyer's guide available free to subscribers to this site, and am now heaving a great sigh of relief. I'll explain.....
On Saturday we were returning from a lovely three day trip to Keswick, and I suggested that we call in to a local dealer on our way home "just to have a look" - having discussed and agreed that maybe now was the time to consider a change. We know pretty well what we want, but had not really researched prices and I wanted to see if my expectations as to what we'd get in part ex. and what we'd need to pay were realistic (they weren't!)
Sure enough, the dealer had just received into stock exactly what we were looking for! (I shouldn't be too cynical, it clearly hadn't even been washed so I guess he was being truthful in this at least. It is a very reputable dealer and it seems his asking price and part ex. offer were pretty fair)
The 'van on offer was a Compass Avantgarde 140, '07 reg., less than 20k miles, with a screen price of 27k.
Problem was, the gap was way more than I'd thought we might need to pay. However, we were very tempted, and of course got the usual pressure to do the deal - "it's going down to Lincoln next week, it will sell for sure" - "this layout doesn't come in too often, we rarely have them" As I say, we were sorely tempted, but resisted.
Having now read Jim's guide, I am immensely reassured that we made the right decision - we'll now start to do our research properly and hopefully be able to find our new 'van in due course.
To that end, where better to start than to ask for advice from your goodselves?
Basically, we don't want to change much. The biggest drawback with our current 'van is the sleeping arrangement - the "L" shaped lounge permits only a double bed, with the usual hassle of nocturnal clamberings to visit the loo for whoever is on the inside. We want twin bunks - that's the most important thing on the list. Everything else, really, is just a case of refinements on what we already have in "Rosie" - like a more up-to-date cab (Rosie is an '02, so getting a bit long in the tooth, like me)
There's lots of things that are on the "nice to have" list - but basically it can be summarised as a 'van that's about 5 years younger.
So - an Avantgarde 1500 is on my list - what else might I consider? One point I should clarify - we do like the rear lounge as we spend a lot of time, well, "lounging" and we feel other layouts won't offer the same level of comfort - am I wrong in this?
All advice, as usual, gratefully received.
On Saturday we were returning from a lovely three day trip to Keswick, and I suggested that we call in to a local dealer on our way home "just to have a look" - having discussed and agreed that maybe now was the time to consider a change. We know pretty well what we want, but had not really researched prices and I wanted to see if my expectations as to what we'd get in part ex. and what we'd need to pay were realistic (they weren't!)
Sure enough, the dealer had just received into stock exactly what we were looking for! (I shouldn't be too cynical, it clearly hadn't even been washed so I guess he was being truthful in this at least. It is a very reputable dealer and it seems his asking price and part ex. offer were pretty fair)
The 'van on offer was a Compass Avantgarde 140, '07 reg., less than 20k miles, with a screen price of 27k.
Problem was, the gap was way more than I'd thought we might need to pay. However, we were very tempted, and of course got the usual pressure to do the deal - "it's going down to Lincoln next week, it will sell for sure" - "this layout doesn't come in too often, we rarely have them" As I say, we were sorely tempted, but resisted.
Having now read Jim's guide, I am immensely reassured that we made the right decision - we'll now start to do our research properly and hopefully be able to find our new 'van in due course.
To that end, where better to start than to ask for advice from your goodselves?
Basically, we don't want to change much. The biggest drawback with our current 'van is the sleeping arrangement - the "L" shaped lounge permits only a double bed, with the usual hassle of nocturnal clamberings to visit the loo for whoever is on the inside. We want twin bunks - that's the most important thing on the list. Everything else, really, is just a case of refinements on what we already have in "Rosie" - like a more up-to-date cab (Rosie is an '02, so getting a bit long in the tooth, like me)
There's lots of things that are on the "nice to have" list - but basically it can be summarised as a 'van that's about 5 years younger.
So - an Avantgarde 1500 is on my list - what else might I consider? One point I should clarify - we do like the rear lounge as we spend a lot of time, well, "lounging" and we feel other layouts won't offer the same level of comfort - am I wrong in this?
All advice, as usual, gratefully received.
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