What To Expect.... (1 Viewer)

[Just smiffy]

Hi All
only joined last week and have already learnt so much as reading the forum is addictive...!
Any way I have had various caravans over the years and mainly stayed in England.
We have had a small 2 berth abbey for the past year which we are now selling as we have now bought a Autocruise Stargazer 2 berth on a Peugeot Boxer 2lt 2006 mk2, we intend to use it for weekends and the odd week away and this year a two week holiday in France. Next year my partner hopes to retire early and we plan to do Europe for possibly a month or two at a time.! and intend to wild camp for 3-5 days at a time.

As far as I can tell the Stargazer is as standard, bar a tv where the cocktail cabinet was.
Now, my question is..... will I need to do anything to it, to make our lives more comfortable and for it to be as reliable as possible, i.e. solar, battery...? any engine mods..?

I am very hands on with mechanics and builds but not too good on electrics ....

I would appreciate any advise, views and comments... thanks

by the way we have been to France many times but only hotels, gites and camping site.

Garry and Sue

 

[PaulyP]

If your going wild then a solar panel would be good and extra battery, just remember that everything you add decreases your payload and it's easy to become overweight.

 

[SomeoneElse]

Hi, welcome to fun.
A solar panel 100W plus ia a must for wilding, also consider a refillable gas system for outside of the UK.
I also would suggest that on your way off to your next trip you spend a few quid at your local weighbridge so you know what you have to play with, weight wise.

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[MattR]

It really depends on your power usage and leisure battery capacity. We have a 90 amph battery and, during cold wet evenings, will watch TV for a couple of hours in addition to having led lights on. We never run out of battery power including two weeks in Scotland over Easter when we wild camped for 13 nights and watched about 8 hrs of TV while storms were going on outside. Solar panels are nice if you are using lots of power and not moving at all for 4/5 days at a time but, IMHO, are unnecessary for most situations.

I would use your van for a couple of weeks before spent lots of money on buying things.

 

[highwayman]

Re-fillable gas would be first on my shopping list.
We have two leisure batterys and have never needed solar even when not moving for a week, however we don't watch much TV and all our lights are LEDs.
But take your time before you buy, lots of us have bought 'essentials' we've never used.

Cheers. Nige

 

[Shrimp]

We have a solar, on the roof, 2x 110 batts, LEDs all round, watch TV every night, charge iPads, MiFi, phones, and have lasted about 6 weeks with no EHU! That was in the summer in UK!

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[gibbon]

Solar, good quality batteries, refillable gas system, spare toilet cassette just in case(not needed abroad as they're geared up for it, handy in Blighty tho)

 

[scotjimland]

wild camp for 3-5 days at a time.

do you mean proper wild camping .. ?

If so, you may need an extra toilet cassette ..

if you plan to use campingcar aires.. forget my suggestion, you can dump and get fresh water at all of them .. some have EHU

 

[Just smiffy]

Thanks funsters.... I have defiantly realised that we would need to fit a refillable gas system before next year and most of the other upgrades will be a "suck it and see" situation but an extra battery will be on the cards.

Has anyone got any thoughts on the cab side of things... What are these Peugeot Boxers like...? I have the 2lt, what sort of mpg can I expect and is their any common issues with them that I could sort out..?

It appears I'm spending most of my day on here ...! It's very addictive..!

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[GeebeeJaybee]

We have been having similar thoughts prior to collecting our first motorhome. We are spending 10 days in france, mostly on aires but moving every day except for a couple on top of a mountain in the Pyrenees waiting for the race to come past.

We considered a solar panel but as we will be moving most days we just went for an additional leisure battery that the dealer is fitting for us. Hopefully this will suffice if we change the bulbs to LED. The TV we have bought is 12V (essential for the race the other days).

Jen

 

[Stealaway]

I have defiantly realised that we would need to fit a refillable gas system before next year

Or - Why not just get a free French bottle in France and buy a French regulator?
You really don't need to wild camp in France, there are so many great free Aires.

 

[MattR]

As @Stealaway said or @Sas r us , what size are your existing gas bottles?

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[cliffanger]

Welcome to Fun. You will find all the info you need on here and much more! As far as extras - we have solar panels, an inverter, refillable gas bottles and most importantly....

 

[Just smiffy]

do you mean proper wild camping .. ?

If so, you may need an extra toilet cassette ..

if you plan to use campingcar aires.. forget my suggestion, you can dump and get fresh water at all of them .. some have EHU

yes Jim..., I am learning.... we will be staying on Aires.... although reading some stuff on here I like the idea of wild camping..

 

[Just smiffy]

As @Stealaway said or @Sas r us , what size are your existing gas bottles?

2 6kg... was looking at trying to get one 11kg in there.....
as for weight I cant see me going anywhere near the limit as I'm a diesel miser and I travel light...lol
oh besides all the red wine...

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[TerryL]

My suggestion? Don't buy anything until you've been on a Funster "meet" either at one of the shows or something organised reasonably close to you. You can then chat to your hearts content about others experiences, and probably save tyourself a fortune! It's all too easy to splash straight out on stuff you use once and then "store" it in the shed, never again to see the light of day.

Oh yes, too.

 

[MattR]

2 6kg... was looking at trying to get one 11kg in there.....
as for weight I cant see me going anywhere near the limit as I'm a diesel miser and I travel light...lol
oh besides all the red wine...

Based on what you've written so far, the only big thing that I would consider is gas bottles and refilled kit if a) you can get and install them cheap enough, b) you are going to use your van more than a month or so a year for several years without electrical hookup and c) you are willing to wait for quite a long payback period. I installed two bottles recently and guess that it will take around 10 years to payback - we got it for the convenience of being able to top up rather than worrying that a bottle would run out soon.

I would, however, invest in good outdoor chairs and a table to sit outside when you have your adventures.

 

[mpdcymru]

Agree,good outside chairs absolutely essential and, as has been said above, use your van for several weeks first and see what (if anything) does not work for you, then talk about it, ask questions, and decide if you want the alternative or if you can now live without what you thought you wanted!

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[mitzimad]

for us solar is peace of mind and saves on ehu fees keeps the batteries full over winter as well