Coachbuilt to panel van...is it painful?

[Camper634]

Next move for us will be to downsize but what to?I would like something like a panel van conversion but not sure of all the pros and cons.After a 7 metre motorhome will we be able to adapt?

 

[WillH]

Why do it, we thought about but decided we liked our coachbuilt and it's space.

 

[Nasher]

How about hiring one & seeing how you get on?

 

[Carolyn and Kev]

I'm for the Why brigade? Then again...I want an RV !

 

[sonny]

Why not a smaller coach built?

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[busby]

We did it,,First van 7.5 mtr, now 5.2 mtr,,,Best thing we ever did..Decent lounge, excellent kitchen but only a small shower and loo..Can get anywhere a large car goes.BUSBY

 

[maison]

Plenty of threads on here r3garding “downsizing”.

We have never regretted it...........





.....but, there again, we are biased.

Use the search facility to read all about it. You may be surprised.

 

[mikebeaches]

We downsized from coachbuilts to a van conversion a couple of years ago

No regrets so far. We were able to get exactly the layout we wanted - twin fixed beds in a 6.4-metre van (Rapido V68).

Yes, there is a slight mindset change required to adjust to the narrower living space. But we find there's plenty of storage for all of our paraphernalia, including relaxer chairs, outdoor table etc etc.

Interestingly, when we started 10 years ago, Mrs mikebeaches dismissed the idea of a van conversion out of hand - said she couldn't live with one. Now she's a complete convert and doesn't want to go back to a coachbuilt.

The 'go anywhere' characteristics, the extra sure-footedness on the motorway, the easier parking, more relaxed driving (being about a foot narrower than a typical coachbuilt) are all useful advantages for us.

But more than that, the ability to let the outside in through the huge sliding side door is a real boon. And in the hottest weather, opening the rear barn doors too, just let's the air breeze right through. It really is different to being in a coachbuilt in hot weather; or even when it's not quite warm enough to sit outside, but just let the sun flood in through the sliding door.

Final point, from my perspective, PVCs are less likely to suffer from water ingress or damp.

 

[Nigel L]

Went from a 7-5mtr burstner, to a 6-36mtr Van conversion.
Have no regrets at all, so much easier for getting about on the smaller B roads and generally getting to places.
Yes, a bit less space, but we found that with the coachbuild, that we were just taking stuff all round the country and never actually using it. You just think a bit harder about what you pack.

 

[maison]

@mikebeaches
Agree 100%.

After 30 years of Coachbuilt, we switched to a PVC at the end of 2017.

We would never go back.

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[tuscancouple]

We went from eleven years with a 33' RV with three slides to a PVC six months ago. Change of where we want to visit and what we want to see.

Mick

 

[hilldweller]

After a 7 metre motorhome will we be able to adapt?

Pain ?

Think childbirth.

 

[nicholsong]

Because we want a king-sized fixed bed and a garage, plus a forward lounge with a panoramic view I cannot imagine downsizing from an 'A' Class to a coachbuilt, never mind a PVC.

I could just imagine downsizing to a Low-profile 'A' Class if we needed to get under 3500kg.

Horses for courses.

Geoff

 

[two]

I think you'll need to get rid of 'stuff'.
But think of the freedom!

 

[tuscancouple]

I think you'll need to get rid of 'stuff'.
But think of the freedom!

We have a garage full of "stuff" from the RV . Amazing what we found when we cleared the RV out, stuff we hadn't seen for eleven years but was always going to come in useful

Mick

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[busby]

Because we want a king-sized fixed bed and a garage, plus a forward lounge with a panoramic view I cannot imagine downsizing from an 'A' Class to a coachbuilt, never mind a PVC.

I could just imagine downsizing to a Low-profile 'A' Class if we needed to get under 3500kg.

Horses for courses.

Geoff

Like to think outside the van is my lounge,,Envy you your fixed king sized bed but i would have to carry it around,,Good job we are all different,, BUSBY.

 

[Richard Stainthorpe]

We switched from a c class to a PVC two years ago and for us it has been a mistake we are going back to a c class in April. Its horses for courses though we are keen walkers and cyclists so tend to move on every two or three days but don’t need to move the van in between. Would admit though we are in the minority and downsizing seems to work for many people. For us though the extra space in the van and the ability to keep bikes etc secure in a garage is more important.

 

[Blue Knight]

Next move for us will be to downsize but what to?I would like something like a panel van conversion but not sure of all the pros and cons.After a 7 metre motorhome will we be able to adapt?

I hope you don't mind me asking but what's your main reason for downsizing as it's not clear in your post.

In our case we felt that we couldn't access some of the places that we wanted to see in our wide 7.5m coachbuilt so we moved to a 6.36m PVC instead.

Our coachbuilt Pilote was a fantatsic van and we miss it a bit but even so we still wouldn't want to lose our new found freedoms that a PVC has brought.

Regards,

Andrew

 

[Minxy]

Next move for us will be to downsize but what to?I would like something like a panel van conversion but not sure of all the pros and cons.After a 7 metre motorhome will we be able to adapt?

We have never regretted downsizing to PVCs, or even upsizing as our final coachbuilt was 6m, our last 2 PVCs have been 6.36m!

If you want to come and have a shuftie at ours and have a chinwag you are more than welcome as we're only in Cottingham.

 

[busby]

I think you'll need to get rid of 'stuff'.
But think of the freedom!

We found we were carrying stuff in our coach built we never used..so had a good sort out. We still carry two bikes,and two reclining chairs on the back of our van above the rear storage boxes..so although the interior is small it is not cluttered with stuff..BUSBY.

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[Cheshirecat57]

I'm for the Why brigade? Then again...I want an RV !

WHY

 

[Foxy1956]

Pain ?

Think childbirth.

Or Kidney stones. Ouch.

 

[funflair]

When we go to shows we usually look in a few PVC's and Mrs funflair usually comments "no way" well to be fair we are finding it looking for a van at 8 metres that does what our 8.5 metres does.

End of the day though I think it comes back to what is the driving force behind the decision and if it is strong enough anything is possible, we used to sleep in a one and a half man tent because that is what we could carry as we cycle toured.

So to summarise, WHY ?

Martin

 

[jezport]

Pros and cons,
But if you are an outdoors person a PVC is far better. Wide sliding door and wide rear opening doors mean that you can sit in the van and have all the benefits of the outdoors.
Plus the outdoors is the same no matter what van you have

 

[Gromett]

Fulltiming for 10 years now. Almost 9 of them in a 6M self build panel van.. Perfectly doable...

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[MikeD]

We down sized from a 7 meter motorhome to the 6.35 meter PVC. We tend to tour twice a year for three months at a time.

The length and loss of storage is not really a problem for us but we do notice the lack of width when moving around the van.

The best thing - it is so much more manoeuvrable and allows us to comfortably visit places we might not want to have gone in the Motorhome.

 

[Nigel Tate]

We did it,,First van 7.5 mtr, now 5.2 mtr,,,Best thing we ever did..Decent lounge, excellent kitchen but only a small shower and loo..Can get anywhere a large car goes.BUSBY

I’m intrigued where you want to go that’s coach built can’t?

 

[mitzimad]

I’m intrigued where you want to go that’s coach built can’t?

anywhere narrow?

 

[jezport]

Theres a big difference with width and the slight curve in at the sides, narrow roads and roads with overgrown trees that would cause major hassle for a coachbuilt are no problem in a PVC. Barte in mind my PVC is as tall as a coachbuilt, so lower height PVCs are even easier on overgrown narrow roads.

 

[Camper634]

I hope you don't mind me asking but what's your main reason for downsizing as it's not clear in your post.

In our case we felt that we couldn't access some of the places that we wanted to see in our wide 7.5m coachbuilt so we moved to a 6.36m PVC instead.

Our coachbuilt Pilote was a fantatsic van and we miss it a bit but even so we still wouldn't want to lose our new found freedoms that a PVC has brought.

Regards,

Andrew

Unfortunately due to having my mother in law who suffers from dimencia living with us most of the time,our trips have been severely restricted.We have a 7m coachbuilt Just sat deprecating in the back garden.My thinking is if we had something smaller I could escape for the odd weekend when my nerves are shredded.Anyone who has cared for someone with this horrible desease will know what I mean.We don’t know how long this situation will go on,and I don’t want to give up altogether.

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