C.I Cusona 656 (1 Viewer)

Plople

Free Member
May 22, 2013
10
0
Bolton
Funster No
26,138
MH
just looking
Exp
im a newbie
Hi,

we are very new to motorhomes and this site is helping me get to grips with it all.
last weekend we did a visit to a local place and fell for a C.I Cusona 656.
it was just under 30k but im not sure my budget will stretch to that maybe 25k.
anyway if anyone has owned or owns one of these can you let me know your experience.
we have a son (he lives at home) and two daughters and 4 grandkids so in a combination we can fill this no problem.
ive been searching the web and there are loads for sale all with differing years and costs.

what sort of mileage would i get out of this model.

one little question im concerned about is sideways seats, are they legal/safe to travel in?
a lot of MH's have these with high birth but dont seem to have belts so how can that work?

you can tell im new ::bigsmile:
 

haganap

LIFE MEMBER
Dec 5, 2007
12,711
25,974
planet earth
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974
MH
Carthago C Tourer
Exp
I'm an oldbie MH number 9
Hi
we owned a 656 as our first van when we our kids were young. If you look back through my Blog to the very beginning, you will see a report I done and had published in MMM.

in short,

Good sturdy, watch for damp through poorly sealed roof,

make sure you get a minimum of a 2.3 version the 2-0 is underpowered.

you should not have a problem getting a decent one for under £25k. They are a budget van and were not much more than 30k new. :Cool:
 

TheBig1

LIFE MEMBER
Nov 27, 2011
17,509
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A class
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many many years! since I was a kid
Never owned a CI, but they seem to be popular vans for the budget.

as for inward facing seats, they are ok to use in transit for adults but nowhere near safe in a collision. kids under I believe its 14 need to be in a seatbelted seat before any adult and obviously little ones need to be in a proper car seat or if bigger with a booster seat

its an age old argument that manufacturers build a 6 birth but only 4 seatbelts

ask yourself this question... who would you risk getting injured or worse in case of an accident from your family?

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DP+JAY

LIFE MEMBER
Mar 17, 2010
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Dalbeattie
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Laika 5009
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since 2007, 25 years tuggin before that.
We have a CI Riviera 181 & love it.I think it would be a better van for you as it has proper travel seats, it's available as either a rear lounge or rear garage version.

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Plople

Free Member
May 22, 2013
10
0
Bolton
Funster No
26,138
MH
just looking
Exp
im a newbie
We have a CI Riviera 181 & love it.I think it would be a better van for you as it has proper travel seats, it's available as either a rear lounge or rear garage version.

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you have got me thinking now as both of these look good.
ill have to find some to view (wife's approval needed)

thanks for the reply
 
OP
OP
P

Plople

Free Member
May 22, 2013
10
0
Bolton
Funster No
26,138
MH
just looking
Exp
im a newbie
Hi
we owned a 656 as our first van when we our kids were young. If you look back through my Blog to the very beginning, you will see a report I done and had published in MMM.

in short,

Good sturdy, watch for damp through poorly sealed roof,

make sure you get a minimum of a 2.3 version the 2-0 is underpowered.

you should not have a problem getting a decent one for under £25k. They are a budget van and were not much more than 30k new. :Cool:

thanks and wow what a blog and wow excellent review, thanks.

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magicsurfbus

Free Member
Oct 11, 2010
4,673
10,127
NW England
Funster No
14,057
MH
Bessacarr Coachbuilt
Exp
Since 1997
It looks just like our '05 CI Carioca 656 but with a swivelling front passenger seat and a smarter internal finish. The interior layout is identical.

The overhead TV locker is probably redundant now, and tends to give you a crick in the neck if you use it. If you've got a telly you might want to think carefully about where else you could put it. Our rear-facing seats don't have head rests so we put ours on a custom-built shelf on the top of the seat. Hanging it from the bottom of the TV locker might be one option.

We had lap belts fitted to the rear facing seats - no problem.

Definitely get the roof damp-checked - ours has had problems with ingress of water due to a design defect in the roof trim, but to be fair it's an earlier model. As others have said, anything less than a 2.3 engine would probably feel underpowered. The rear window is small but a definite advantage over no rear window at all.

We're happy with ours, but even though it has 6 seats and six beds we've found it quite crowded with only four adults living in it. We liked the idea of the two bunks and the overcab being permanently available so we didn't have to make a bed out of the table. I think we'd struggle with 6 in there if the weather turned bad.
 
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