The Rise of the Panel Van (1 Viewer)

[Fragle]

We're currently on our 5th van in 9 years. We've had a C class Autocruise, C class Autotrail, A class Pilote, A class Frankia and now a Auto-sleeper Warwick XL PVC. We downsized last year because, due to a change in our circumstances (husband's health), we decided we would not be doing the 3 month European tours again and to buy a little apartment in Greece but we still wanted to be able to go touring, albeit for shorter periods. We have 2 dogs so I do find the PVC quite a challenge particularly with floor space (lots of stepping over sleeping dogs) but as far as ease of touring is concerned it's fantastic. When we had the big vans the journey to where-ever was not particularly relaxing due to the size of the vans but now it's a dream. Husband says it's the best motorhome we've ever owned and he absolutely loves it and I've managed to come up with a few ways to maximise the available space and I can drive this one whereas I wouldn't drive the others. Surprisingly I find the kitchen in our PVC is much better than the one in the Frankia and the Pilote. The van my husband hated the most was the Autotrail ("drives like a brick") however the van that for me was the best internal layout was the Autotrail Savannah - so swings and roundabouts really, however I'm very happy with the decision we made.

Our first van was the Adria Coral big garage etc. But we found this a waste of space for us we seemed to be dragging a lot of space not used. Probably just the layout was wrong for us and after 3 years we changed to the Warwick XL

Very underrated van. No issues whilst we had it. Has everything you need and an excellent layout. you do need to be strict with what you carry and for extended trips would be a little tight. The bathroom was just sufficient but the shower was used for storage rather than washing. Absolutely loved this van and it could double up as you could do without a second car. I would also recommend an auto box as the driving position is tight for tall people although I'm 6'2"and drove ok. We agree with you and we probably will go back to the XL in a few years

We traded the XL in upsizing to the Adria Coral 670slt. Better layout and will be our van for extended trips to Europe mainly for the extra space due to health reasons I'm thinking it now doubles as a mobile pharmacy.

Looking forward to downsizing when we have done the longer trips and will defiantly be the Warwick XL top of the list

 

[chaser]

We started off with a converted ldv van, and loved it but rust caught up with it so thought we would go the whole hog and go for a bigger c class, it was ok but could never feel the same love for it as the old van , always afraid of scratching it or drilling holes in it, and we couldn't get in the same places we did before, so we are back to the lowest of the low now, self converted ambulance, love it wouldn't dream of ever changing back.
With us it's only somewhere to sleep cook and shower, no need for anymore room , we are either driving or exploring on foot, no need for any daytime stuff and just wasted space.
But saying that it's down to what people need, everyone is different but for what we do there's no going back.

 

[GMLS]

Jim
We've had motorhomes of between 7.5m and 8.5m. Now it is just the 2 of us, we started looking at down sizing. Our preferences were for a fixed bed and a rear lounge.
We started focussing on PVC' s but quickly discovered there was both a limited choice that met our requirements but also we were making a big compromise on space.
We then found the new Rapido 854F and having viewed it, found it immediately ticked all our boxes and one was immediately ordered. Sitting along side a long wheelbase PVC it really wasn't much bigger externally but internally it was like chalk and cheese. I share this, as within the article, it might be worth pointing out that a compact A class or compact coach built are still worth considering alongside a PVC particularly if downsizing.

We also found there wasn't a huge price difference between a compact and a quality PVC. Considering how many of the base vehicles are made, they still seem v expensive.

We are fortunately enough to also have a classic Type 2 VW so can always swoosh bang if we feel like it

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[ontheroadagain]

it might be worth pointing out that a compact A class or compact coach built are still worth considering alongside a PVC

This is exactly what we have done having recently purchased an Adria Compact SC.
It is a coach built but only 2.12m wide which is only slightly wider than a PVC.
(It also has the short arm mirrors so the overall width including mirrors is the same as a PVC).
Ours is 7m long so longer than a PVC, but 6M models are also available.
I see that Rapido also do a compact range now.

 

[busby]

Started with a 7.5 mtr Dethleff and slowly shrunk..Now on our second Auto Sleeper 5.2 mtr Boxer panel van,,Absolutely love them..Once you throw all that gear out that may be handy but never gets used there is loads of living and storage space..Can virtually go anywhere that a car can go..BUSBY.

 

[SpeedyDux]

We upsized from a VW T4 Westy California (10 years ownership) to the current Rapido Van V43 now in its 5th year, so I guess we are outliers regarding this topic. At 5.4m it fits our drive and has a tight turning circle.

Currently considering changing to one of the longer PVCs to increase interior living space when pitched up. A possible further upsize! I would rule out a coachbuilt for us because I don't fancy driving one of those along the traffic-choked narrow country lanes of Somerset that have been jokingly designated as A-Roads. Even in a PVC it can be buttock-clenching when an oncoming HGV veers into your side of the road.

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[AndyB57]

We started off with an old VW T5 and absolutely loved it but decided that we needed more space so sold it and bought a Globecar Globescout (6m long) which we actually full-timed in for 12 months before trading this in for an Adria Coral 670SL. Whilst this was a great van to live in, at 7.5m long it was too big to go to the places we like so after two years we decided to move back in to bricks & mortar, sold the Adria (too big for the drive) and went back to a VW - this time in California guise. Big mistake! Definitely a step down too far so we quickly sold it (for more than we paid!) and ordered a 5.4m Consort Kite which we’re due to collect any day now. Time will tell but we feel that this will be our Goldilocks van and get us back to touring for both long and short periods.

So, having had both PVC and coachbuilt I’ll always be a PVC advocate.

 

[Riverbankannie]

We started with an Autosleeper Topaz (VW) and loved the freedom it gave us to drive anywhere.
Sadly we decided that making the bed up every night was getting too much for us as one of us had to go outside with the dog while the other scrawped about with the numerous cushions.

We moved up to a small coachbuilt, just under 6metres and it’s much roomier with great storage but it feels very wide and awkward driving it down country lanes.

Next step will be a return to a panel van but a 6 metre one with a rear lounge as we think this will give us the best of both worlds - and it will allow us to annoy others on site when we whoosh/bang the door every 15 minutes . Just have to find the money, and the van.

A coincidence from another Annie, we had the VW T4 based Topaz but without a dog! Don’t know how you managed. Anyway we traded up to a rear lounge PVC and so no issues with space for us or carrying things as we travelled so lightly anyway,
I think that all the pros and cons have been mentioned. We did try out a larger MH by hiring a 4 berth for a NZ tour, large overcab bed and fixed rear bed, but it drove like a removal van and the dinette was so uncomfortable to sit at that we had to eat in bed at the back !
Our normal style is to tour, 1,2 or 3 nights max in one place.
Quackers has made us stay still and rally !

 

[iandsm]

We change from a Rapido A class to an Autosleeper Warwick XL last April. We miss the big view out of the front windscreen but we are compensated by the huge barn doors that give a great view at the back, also the side door is great for making the inside light and airy. The beds are very comfortable and a good size and as in the A class we have a separate shower in the washroom which is essential for us. Storage is plentiful and all out gear fits neatly. The van is easy to drive and being slightly narrower Is better in country lanes. The only downside of that the gap between the kitchen and the wardrobe opposite is small so we cannot pass each other, but with a little thought it’s ok. We were concerned that we might find the change to a smaller vehicle a challenge but overall we are pleased with our choice although a smaller PVC would probably not be as good.

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[twerly]

We had a Hymer B 578 A LHD manual Class for 8 years, Son left for Uni so no longer needed as much space, so after long deliberation and discussion we devised on a PVC - 6.4m rear lounge and drop down bed. Main compromise we knew was the storage. Won't bore everyone with the long sad story, but after 3 months of ownership we rejected the VAN as had huge amount of defects that should not have passed any factory inspection, culminating is diesel spurting all over the Truma heater. We then re-evaluated what we wanted, while the PVC was exactly what we expected, we could not live with the drop down bed, too awkward for loo visit and also bit claustrophobic for us. Make up her lounge to bed was OK, but I hated the excess cushions cluttering the VAN, biggest miss for us was the space. We really missed the rear garage, did have a bike rack fitted but that extended the length to nearly 7m. Driving was great and did notice the width, also loved the whoosh bang bringing in light. Weird draw back for us was the extremely high swivel toilet.
Result - we spotted a Hymer MLT 570 Coach built - 6.7m , 2.12 so shorter and narrower than the A Class, but with great rear bed and garage. Driving I hardly notice the difference to the PVC, in the Hymer I left like I was miles from the front of the MH, however the new MH feels to me just like the PVC. I do miss the sliding door, but the internal space to us is night and day, bikes go in the garage, along with chairs, bbq, table, and blow up boat and oars. In summary in our experience we was seduced by the idea of a PVC, but in practice it did not fully meet our lifestyle.

 

[Dorwyn]

My wife was happy that we could get a full size fence panel in ours after high winds took one down. And I can get my big ladders inside, without having to mess with roof racks. It's a very useful vehicle !

Funny you should say that, I've just concluded that ... (fence panels). It's also useful for going down to the dump with garden waste etc. The garden centre is also used to piling gravel sacks etc in for us. Useful! It also means we don't need a car at all, plus we park it on the drive, plugged in whenever ....

 

[nicholsong]

We had a Hymer B 578 A LHD manual Class for 8 years, Son left for Uni so no longer needed as much space, so after long deliberation and discussion we devised on a PVC - 6.4m rear lounge and drop down bed. Main compromise we knew was the storage. Won't bore everyone with the long sad story, but after 3 months of ownership we rejected the VAN as had huge amount of defects that should not have passed any factory inspection, culminating is diesel spurting all over the Truma heater. We then re-evaluated what we wanted, while the PVC was exactly what we expected, we could not live with the drop down bed, too awkward for loo visit and also bit claustrophobic for us. Make up her lounge to bed was OK, but I hated the excess cushions cluttering the VAN, biggest miss for us was the space. We really missed the rear garage, did have a bike rack fitted but that extended the length to nearly 7m. Driving was great and did notice the width, also loved the whoosh bang bringing in light. Weird draw back for us was the extremely high swivel toilet.
Result - we spotted a Hymer MLT 570 Coach built - 6.7m , 2.12 so shorter and narrower than the A Class, but with great rear bed and garage. Driving I hardly notice the difference to the PVC, in the Hymer I left like I was miles from the front of the MH, however the new MH feels to me just like the PVC. I do miss the sliding door, but the internal space to us is night and day, bikes go in the garage, along with chairs, bbq, table, and blow up boat and oars. In summary in our experience we was seduced by the idea of a PVC, but in practice it did not fully meet our lifestyle.

I imagine my reaction to a PVC would be the same as yours, so I am not going to risk it.

Geoff

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[rnb100]

I went the other way. I started with a VW Crafter LWB conversion. It was fantastic and ticked most of my boxes, but the bed was an issue. It was quite close to the roof and a pain to go to the toilet for the early hours pee. It was great for driving though, and I didn't need to worry for ferry's and suchlike.

I've now bought a Swift Bessacarr 599 with a massive overhang. I'm loving the extra space and all the extras that comes with it, but I'm a little concerned about ferry's and suchlike. I'm sure it'll be fine and it won't put me off at least trying to see how we go with boarding ferry's, single track roads, etc. I'm currently spending a fortune on a Victron set up to make it a bit more off grid friendly. There's 160 amp/hour lithium battery, 3 x 115 watt solar panels, charger and inverter getting fitted as we speak.

 

[Jamesh]

Funny you should say that, I've just concluded that ... (fence panels). It's also useful for going down to the dump with garden waste etc. The garden centre is also used to piling gravel sacks etc in for us. Useful! It also means we don't need a car at all, plus we park it on the drive, plugged in whenever ....

I did a shed clearance with my pvc, then put bikes in it this morning, then some cabinets later on, finally going to visit my parents on the weekend, only a pvc could do all these things tbh.

Within 30mins I can have a completely empty van...

 

[Ivory55]

I did a shed clearance with my pvc, then put bikes in it this morning, then some cabinets later on, finally going to visit my parents on the weekend, only a pvc could do all these things tbh.

Within 30mins I can have a completely empty van...

I guess it depends if your local dump has height barriers on it. I can see all the pluses but I just don’t think that there would be enough room as my Mrs says, I am very clumsy and would be no good in a small space. Haha

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[Jim]

've now bought a Swift Bessacarr 599

We had a Bessie with a similar overhang. You will definitely have fun getting on Ferries

And remember, every Kilo you put in the overhang locker adds more than a kilo to your rear axle load. Be careful.

 

[Theonlysue]

Hymer visionventure.
Great idea. Hopefully they'll bring it on the market.

 

[Fragle]

We were on our way home great holiday when this pulled up behind us. We then thought we needed more room

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[sciac2001]

We went up the size scale whilst still working from a 5m pvc via a couple of mid-sized coachbuilts to a 7m A-class to cater for our extended/fulltiming 7 year European adventure.
We now have a 6m pvc because we want to visit the smaller and less accessible villages around Europe that we found on our travels and which would not suit our A-class vehicle.

 

[Mrjenben]

Our first van was a Vantage PVC. It was fine for internal space but we had two main issues with it.
Firstly, like all PVCs insulation is a problem (despite the claims they can never come close to a proper alu-foam sandwich construction). It was too hot in summer and too cold in winter.
Second -the only sensible place to keep bikes was on an external rack. Not good if you have expensive bikes.

So after much investigation we changed to a Hymer Exsis.
This is a compact A-Class so only a few cm wider than a PVC and at 6.75 m long is the same length as a PVC with a bike rack. The insulation is fantastic - we regularly go skiing and have used it at temps down to -20c. Storage is great with a large garage. With its Alko chassis the wheelbase is shorter than a PVC so easier to manoeuvre and better ride due to independent rear suspension.

We still love the look of a PVC but we won’t be going back to one anytime soon.

 

[uzsnowdrop]

The same for us . Had a pvc for 2 years ,thinking it was a good move, tried to like it but its just not worked out, more evident on an 8 week trip to spain , hated every thing about it apart from the driving, we to are losing loads to change back to a bigger van. Never been so uncomfortable in a bed even with duvalays on.

This just shows how we are all alike, but so different. Best move we ever made was to Pvc after 2 bigger coachbuilts. We rarely sit in our van and dont need an oven or even shower really. We did the long Spain trip and the van was used as our car and a bed.
The original beds were rubbish so we had a new sliding thing fitted and new mattresses which give us a great sleep.

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[dna]

I like my PVC as I'm travelling alone these days. I think the external colours being anything but brilliant white is an advantage for blending in when parked. I do regret buying a van where the rear couches are about 6 inches too short to sleep on, I should have gone for a layout with single beds! Having more secure bike storage would be good although its no worse than most other vans.

Two things I personally would avoid are the pop tops appearing on PVCs and the models where the rear barn doors are replaced by a fixed panel. PVCs "should" be less prone to water leaks so taking a tin opener to almost all the roof feels wrong. The rear doors allow the garden centre, rubbish tip trips people have mentioned and on a good weather day I love having those doors open.

 

[the1andonly]

We upsized from a Bongo(7 years ownership) to the current Rapido 6m low profile now in its 4th year. We were well versed with tiny van living with different awnings and storage systems for different periods (even towing a Pennine folding caper), we could see no advantage to having a PVC other than onboard shower (our bongo had an hotwater system and an external shower (juggling more space is till juggling space. Using the Rapido requires a different mindset and ocassionaly a Toad.

 

[solaris]

Have had both in past. Currently have a Kingham pvc which is longer than the previous coachbuilt. It’s really a question of deciding priorities. We wanted a fixed, comfortable, bed. The mattress was too thin in the coachbuilt. That meant we had to compromise on storage areas. Driving either is easy but there is the comfort that you can get anywhere delivery vans go. How you like to tour is another factor and the amount of essential junk you need to transport. We’ve been away for 10 weeks in one go and not found the pvc anymore restricted than coachbuilts spacewise, when you’re somewhere warm you spend the time outside

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[Otter Spotter]

Not sure if I qualify for this discussion but here goes, I hired a 6 berth Maui A class Motorhome in 2004 for a month travelling around New Zealand but even though there was only two of us using it, it had little room, too many beds and no where to swing a cat.
Then in 2018 we hired A chusson Flash, hated it, rattled, bed was too high up so you banged your head in bed, big garage wasted space for us.
So we went away and and view multiple vans and layouts, very quickly deciding that we wanted a PVC, but in 2018 most the PVC layouts had high beds with garages for bikes and most had very narrow gaps between the toilet and kitchen, so decided to buy a brand new van and have it converted to our design and spec and so far except for alterations to make it easier to use we are very happy and wouldn’t go any bigger.

 

[Andy1954]

We started with a CI with over cab bed and quickly changed to a
Hymer B574 with french bed and pull down bed at front. It was kak handed Sandra hated the suicide seat so after 18 months we upgraded to another Hymer a B774 7.5 mtr tag axel had it for 9 years loved the space but was difficult to find parking especially when touring UK. 2 years ago we decided to down size. Looked at lots of PVC’s, loved the Adria Twins and Globecar. We eventually bought a Burstner Brevio, the back door swings up. We love it, it’s coach built but same size as a PVC, well insulated, clever bathroom. We have set it up as a permanent bed in the back giving plenty a space below for storage. The front area is more restricted than the A Class we have had before. But as we are retiring we expect to be heading for warmer climates and hope to spend most of the daylight outside

The van is more manoeuvrable and very good on fuel. For us this was the right decision

 

[AnnieB]

Another advantage with a van conversion is you can do this…

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[Nirvanauk]

We were on our way home great holiday when this pulled up behind us. We then thought we needed more room


View attachment 577079

hmmm, I think I’d rather have the one in front.