fiat sea new life ? (1 Viewer)

dodge1029

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Jul 6, 2010
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hi me and my wife have always decided to buy a motor home when we retire but after looking around we are thinking why wait , we have two children but i work alot , even so the job is not a problem as you learn to work round this , we saw a beautiful motor home which is a fiat sea new life 48 2009 with 3200 miles it ticked all my boxes in my non expierenced knowledge of MH , at £29000 this is a big investment so if anybody could advise me on my potential purchase then i would be very grateful thanks :Smile:
 

Stuart bromhead

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Jul 6, 2010
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hi me and my wife have always decided to buy a motor home when we retire but after looking around we are thinking why wait , we have two children but i work alot , even so the job is not a problem as you learn to work round this , we saw a beautiful motor home which is a fiat sea new life 48 2009 with 3200 miles it ticked all my boxes in my non expierenced knowledge of MH , at £29000 this is a big investment so if anybody could advise me on my potential purchase then i would be very grateful thanks :Smile:
Hi There, I also did exactly the same with two kids, why wait until i retire, Just bought my sea life ( Ducato ) and love it as its my first Motor Home, been away in the Uk three times since it arrived in March paid 29K and had 1200 Mls on the clock but I think you get a lot for your cash, and enjoy while you still have the kids that will still come on hols with you.
 
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Airdrie Scotland
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YOU don't have the model we we're talking about. The 3l auto is as rare as hens teeth and probably has quite different ratios to the manual box. You may as well be driving a Mercedes for all the relevance it has to the high reverse gear manual box with soft engine mounts.

You may suffer the same water leak on the the engine which did a lot of damage to a FUNsters motor during freezing weather. But this is just hearsay so I can't warn you of a possible defect.

Brian i beg to differ it was just 3/4 months ago that you stated that it was the full range all engines (If like you stated quote Fiat has a major design Fault with the x250) then why is it that it only affects some models.I thought if there was a fault at assembly all models would be affected Also it is a matter of opinion The org i work for had Merc comp vans and they had so many faults with them they are no longer on the fleet list Also most of the vech that the emergency services use are Fiat based.Regarding the water ingress there was a recall and a cover was fitted and sealed PS i don't know where you herd that my mh is Auto it is a 3lt Man

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haganap

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Ok Ok Ok,,,, stop stop stop...


Hello Mr Original Poster. Seems like you have been taken well off topic by Juddergate, so back to your question.

Ignore what Brian (hilldweller) says about the layout, when he had kids there were still dinosaurs roaming the earth. :winky:

We have a similar layout as does ralph and Bev who has already posted. Side bunks, are ace for families and you have a fair ammount of lounging space in there too. Its very similar to the rollerteam 700 (i think its the 700) which might also be worth a look. If you have kids Im positive the layout will work for you, or should I say it certainly does for us.

SO the model, is the Sea (new life) this is an Italian brand building to the same sort of workmanship as the CI, Rollerteam bunch. They are not Hymers, but they are said to be rock solid motorhomes with out the flashness. We had a similar CI when we done exactly what you are thinking about and went for it. We loved it and it never let us down, solid and reliable especially with young children whom have to slam a door as oppose to shut it:Eeek:

My only advice would be if you can afford to do it, then go for it, no point in wondering what might happen and better to sit back and say at least we tried .

AS for the Judder thing? don't worry about it, it has a warranty and its died down a lot now anyway, if its a problem get it fixed. Make sure when you get it you spend the £12 on here to join us all and enhance your fun:thumb:
 
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Hi There, I also did exactly the same with two kids, why wait until i retire, Just bought my sea life ( Ducato ) and love it as its my first Motor Home, been away in the Uk three times since it arrived in March paid 29K and had 1200 Mls on the clock but I think you get a lot for your cash, and enjoy while you still have the kids that will still come on hols with you.

Thanks for getting it back on track :Blush:

Dont ever mention Judder , its like war n politics :ROFLMAO:

As for what equipment you will need , as asked in another post swallowed by the Judder ones :Doh:....
If you have already camped , as you say, was it with tents or caravans?
If caravans its more or less the same things. We just swapped everything over . Getting rid of things that we didn't really need and had been in cupboards for months:Blush:
If you've tented , well it depends on how you did it.
You may have carried everything on your backs , or had a massive trailer to keep everything in like we did.
If you kept everything in a trailer , then most of your equipment , i guess would be normal stuff.
We already had a cadac gas BBQ , Windbreakers , leveling blocks from the caravan. We still use lots of things from our tenting days too.
Plastic plates , cups , glasses etc keep the weight down in a MH if your a family. With everything else you manage to drag along.
We used quilts in our caravan , not sleeping bags , as we find them more comfortable.

If you have had a caravan , the change isn't that different. You will also know which layout suits you the best:winky:

If you had a tent , depending on how big the tent was , you may find the MH quite cramped. Especially on a wet day .
BUT warmer, dryer , easier and a lot more comfortable too.
Bev


Its so much easier turning up at your destination, swiveling your cab seats round , switching on a couple of switches, and putting the kettle on. :Cool:
Go for it , you wont regret it.
Bev
 
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hilldweller

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Ignore what Brian (hilldweller) says about the layout, when he had kids there were still dinosaurs roaming the earth. :winky:

Not completely I hope. That vehicle has railway seating like ours and it's the one thing that lets us down. It's difficult to impossible to lounge and relax on those seats. What seems to make it worse is it's got an extra pair of railway seats, now that takes up a considerable amount of room relative to the available area so something else has been sacrificed.

All I can say is do the full test - get in that vehicle for an hour or more, and play living in it, go through cooking a meal. Assume it's raining, where are you going to sit, what are you going to do ? Hang up your clothes, shoes. It's amazing how much space shoes take.

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scotjimland

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£29000 this is a big investment so if anybody could advise me on my potential purchase then i would be very grateful thanks :Smile:

. Seems like you have been taken well off topic by Juddergate, so back to your question.

:

Sorry Paul, but I disagree, that was the question... to inform the OP about potential problems with reverse judder on X250 Fiats WAS giving advice .. in fact, probably the most important advice and information given.

That it developed into a 'juddergate debate was unfortunate and inevitable but the OP is now better informed before shelling out £29k
 
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hilldweller

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Sorry Paul, but I disagree, that was the question.

I think that you are both right. I do get carried away when I see X250 because I've read the threads where early owners paid a fortune out of their own pockets because it was "bad driving". Now Fiat are on the run we need to make sure no-other owners get screwed.

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haganap

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Sorry Paul, but I disagree, that was the question... to inform the OP about potential problems with reverse judder on X250 Fiats WAS giving advice .. in fact, probably the most important advice and information given.

That it developed into a 'juddergate debate was unfortunate and inevitable but the OP is now better informed before shelling out £29k


Not quite, its okl to point out a potential problem but why then let it run in to 10 thread debate on if it exists or not!!!!


I agree, we had a van with this layout, it's impossible to lounge comfortably in a Pullman dinette .. So bad in fact that I use to lie in the luton bed to watch TV ..

Lounging is what the bunks are for, you stick your kids in there with there books, and game consoles and let them think they are in a submarine.
The small dinnette makes up in to a sort of long sofa as well, and then you can also lounge on the cab bed, Perfect I say.
so whats bad about using the luto n ot lounge and watch tv? its about utilising space available, when I had a bedsit I would lie on my bed and watch TV.
 
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Not completely I hope. That vehicle has railway seating like ours and it's the one thing that lets us down. It's difficult to impossible to lounge and relax on those seats. What seems to make it worse is it's got an extra pair of railway seats, now that takes up a considerable amount of room relative to the available area so something else has been sacrificed.

All I can say is do the full test - get in that vehicle for an hour or more, and play living in it, go through cooking a meal. Assume it's raining, where are you going to sit, what are you going to do ? Hang up your clothes, shoes. It's amazing how much space shoes take.

I agree with Brian about the layout. Make sure it suits.

The reason we bought ours was cos it had bunks , a large luton ( above cab bed :winky: ) and an open plan lounge area. They are hard to find in newer models. Thats why we got a 2006 .
We didn't want the train style seating and fixed table type. Personal choice.

Ours has an L shape at one side and normal sofa style at the other . and the passenger and driver seats both swivel round. The rear end is very much like the one you like, on the link.
So we have plenty room to lay out and lounge .
If we are feeling really lazy and loungey ( :ROFLMAO: ) we even make the L shape up into the double bed.
But that doesn't happen very often only in really grotty weather , then we all snuggle up and have a movie and popcorn afternoon.
We paid £30 k for our 2006 model last Nov with 14k on the clock and have seen the same model for a bit more and a bit less , since. Our model is very solid well built and fully winterized , with diesel heating . This means the whole MH is warm when traveling , not just the cab. Ideal for all round year use and kids !
Bev
 
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haganap

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so there you go,, a wealth of information from all with differing vans.

In answer to what I think was your initial question, sea Motorhomes, imported from Italy budget vans that appear good value great to get you started.

Layout? oh dear, I did actually get rid of my last van based on what Brian notifies you of and its a valid point,,,,, however not before I had been sucked in to the world of motorhoming by being able to afford one on a budget and had spent loads on upgrading it with loads of lovely extras for the person I sold it too. However for a good few years it served our family excellently, but kids do grow....
The only way you will know if this layout works for you is by trying it, try it as much as you can, but whatever the layout, you can always MAKE it work with a bit of imagination.

As Bev says, it will all come down to personal choice, so if you think it will work for you, go for it,,,,,

but make sure it goes backwards,:Blush:

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Alisoncam

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I have just taken the step to move from a caravan to a MH 2 months ago and love it - much more freedom witht he MH - you can go park in places that I wouldnt get in with the caravan - plus you can wild camp which helps off set the extra running cost of the MH. Only problems I ahve found are no one wanted to go when I had the caravan other than my grandkids - now I am inundated with family wanting to go in MH. Just make sure you put any beds out and try night positions. You will also find that you only spend a few nights in one place rather that the week on site as you would with a caravan. I hope you get it and enjoy it. Maybe I will be one of those motorhomes who pass you and wave!!
 
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