Biggerthanbefore
Free Member
Hi there, I have taken the plunge after years of lurking around. I have used this site for answers to many problems I have encountered over the last few years and wanted to start posting myself on various topics.
I am a member of other MH forums (not Fact) and feel this place has a good vibe so, hello!
Our journey started back in the early 90's in the VW scene with an early 68 Bay window Dormobile camper (TWP 196F) and we thoroughly enjoyed time away, including chipping ice off the inside of the windows camping in Avimore one winter with no heating.
We sold that van in about 2000 and had a few years off (when kids came along) then decided to rent a VW van to see how easy it would be with a 6 year old daughter and a 1 year old son. It wasn't easy but it was fun so we purchased a beautiful 1968 Danbury VW Camper from a friend (who I think is on Fun) and never looked back until the Cornish floods of 2008 which saw 4 of us sat inside a VW camper for 3 weeks whilst the rain and wind battered our awning, we moved from site to site hoping for a break in the weather. It was so wet I put my swimming trunks on to set up camp and break camp, we had no dry clothes and morale was at an all time low.
We had a single day of sunshine on the last day at the VW Jamboree in Cornwall and managed a BBQ which felt like a result.
Anyhoo not long after that we decided to rethink our holidays and in 2010 we bought an Elddis Autoquest 600 (2005) after hiring a similar motorhome to test the water, we found it to be ideal and travelled around the UK and NW europe during the following 5 years and enjoyed every minute of it. We eventually decided to sell the Autoquest and to look for a different layout. The Autoquest had a double bed in the luton, a double in the dinette area and 2 slightly short bunks in the rear, the bottom of which lifted up to form a small garage/shed.
We sold the Autoquest quickly as it was a beautiful clean van and started the search seriously for our next van.
We wanted twin singles and a double, useable shower and proper garage.
We looked at maybe 30 vans before we saw the one which suited. Travelled good distances in some cases only to find damp, bodged jobs, wonky bike racks crushing the rear panel, dirty, hard used, unloved and so on. We looked at Rapidos with 300kg payloads and Hymers with dents in every panel and others with broken blinds and windows.
Now with a second hand MH you can expect to have to fix stuff and the price can be adjusted to reflect this but everything we saw was priced as a mint specimen and with little room for negotiation so we walked away from them all.
Eventually we found a Niesmann + Bischoff Arto 69E for sale privately through a motor dealer via Ebay (an elderly chap who didn't 'do' Ebay) we went to look at the van, liked it, drove it and bought it after making an offer we were happy with.
It is a really clean well loved van with no wear to speak of inside and not much in the way of wear on the exterior. It is a 2007 plate and 4000kgs gross weight giving us about 800kg payload. Super insulation and great heating makes it quite cosy.
There are jobs to do and jobs have already been done to get it how I like it but so far so good.
So anyone who has stayed with me here, I would like to say hi.
Bodge
I am a member of other MH forums (not Fact) and feel this place has a good vibe so, hello!
Our journey started back in the early 90's in the VW scene with an early 68 Bay window Dormobile camper (TWP 196F) and we thoroughly enjoyed time away, including chipping ice off the inside of the windows camping in Avimore one winter with no heating.
We sold that van in about 2000 and had a few years off (when kids came along) then decided to rent a VW van to see how easy it would be with a 6 year old daughter and a 1 year old son. It wasn't easy but it was fun so we purchased a beautiful 1968 Danbury VW Camper from a friend (who I think is on Fun) and never looked back until the Cornish floods of 2008 which saw 4 of us sat inside a VW camper for 3 weeks whilst the rain and wind battered our awning, we moved from site to site hoping for a break in the weather. It was so wet I put my swimming trunks on to set up camp and break camp, we had no dry clothes and morale was at an all time low.
We had a single day of sunshine on the last day at the VW Jamboree in Cornwall and managed a BBQ which felt like a result.
Anyhoo not long after that we decided to rethink our holidays and in 2010 we bought an Elddis Autoquest 600 (2005) after hiring a similar motorhome to test the water, we found it to be ideal and travelled around the UK and NW europe during the following 5 years and enjoyed every minute of it. We eventually decided to sell the Autoquest and to look for a different layout. The Autoquest had a double bed in the luton, a double in the dinette area and 2 slightly short bunks in the rear, the bottom of which lifted up to form a small garage/shed.
We sold the Autoquest quickly as it was a beautiful clean van and started the search seriously for our next van.
We wanted twin singles and a double, useable shower and proper garage.
We looked at maybe 30 vans before we saw the one which suited. Travelled good distances in some cases only to find damp, bodged jobs, wonky bike racks crushing the rear panel, dirty, hard used, unloved and so on. We looked at Rapidos with 300kg payloads and Hymers with dents in every panel and others with broken blinds and windows.
Now with a second hand MH you can expect to have to fix stuff and the price can be adjusted to reflect this but everything we saw was priced as a mint specimen and with little room for negotiation so we walked away from them all.
Eventually we found a Niesmann + Bischoff Arto 69E for sale privately through a motor dealer via Ebay (an elderly chap who didn't 'do' Ebay) we went to look at the van, liked it, drove it and bought it after making an offer we were happy with.
It is a really clean well loved van with no wear to speak of inside and not much in the way of wear on the exterior. It is a 2007 plate and 4000kgs gross weight giving us about 800kg payload. Super insulation and great heating makes it quite cosy.
There are jobs to do and jobs have already been done to get it how I like it but so far so good.
So anyone who has stayed with me here, I would like to say hi.
Bodge