Thinking about upsizing (1 Viewer)

[Malcyb]

Hi everyone,
New forum member here. Last year, as a present to ourselves for our early retirement, we bought a brand new VW Transporter T6 Kombi and had it professionally converted to a very high spec, more than equivalent to California ocean. It is a gorgeous van and we our very proud of it, however our experiences are suggesting to us it might not be the perfect vehicle for our needs. In particular we regret not having a proper on-board washroom (using a porta potti is a bit grim) and find the accommodation/storage just a bit too cramped sometimes even though there’s just 2 of us.
This has lately set us wondering whether we might cut our losses and consider trading it in for a slightly larger van. We’re constrained by space on our drive, so our only option would be a 5.4m camper van, most likely Fiat Ducato based. This certainly seems to narrow the field as plenty of manufacturers don’t seem to make vans below 6m, however an initial search has found a few options, and we’re especially drawn to the Globecar Summit or Summit Prime 540 - on paper, very impressed with how their washroom makes use of the limited space and, considering the spec, they seem good value compared with the likes of Westfalia and Malibu. Think we’ve got to go and look at one and see for ourselves whether it would really work for us though, as we’re both on the tall side (I’m just over 6’1’’) I’m not sure how comfortable a transverse bed will be.
The biggest deal-breaker will be what price we could sell the VW for as we can’t afford a large cost to change. Supposedly they’re very slow depreciators, and ironically the van and conversion cost us an awful lot more last year than we’re considering spending now. I read with interest on here about people’s experience with brokers and this is something we could look into, however would be interested in your thoughts.
Also, I’ve only read good things here on a few threads about Globecar, but if anyone has ownership experience of the Summit, that would be very interesting.
Finally, any other 5.4 metre van owners out there? What have you got?
Thanks

 

[Janine]

Hello and welcome to the Fun

I have an Autosleeper Nuevo which is just under 5.4m

 

[f6c]

Welcome aboard

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[mikebeaches]

Interesting intro!

You could do much worse than have a look at Dreamer vans, they have a few at 5.4 metres. They are made by, and in the same factory as, the renowned French Rapido brand. And the prices are reasonable too.

Vans DREAMER 2024 - Another idea of freedom

www.dreamer-van.co.uk

For example, this one (D42) has a longitudinal bed, rather than across the back.

Spécialiste du fourgon aménagé, le van de fabrication française accessible

www.dreamer-van.co.uk

Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[Littlewheels]

Have you looked at these it will feel massive compared to a PVC and offers great storage in garage.

Mercedes-based Hymer Van S motorhome promises a compact but comfy holiday

We've seen many a camper van designed to pull double duty, commuting around town during the week and venturing out to the forest or coast on weekends. Multipurpose campers like Hymer's own V-Class concept are typically built inside stock vans, but Hymer has taken a different route with its new…

newatlas.com

 

[Malcyb]

Ah... something I should have said. I think ideally we need to stick to a PVC as there’ll be occasions we want to use the van for carrying stuff in the back which would probably rule out coach built options. And we’d need a couple of rear belted seats; we’d probably never want to sleep more than 2 though the option for an occasional 3rd berth may come in handy.

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[Malcyb]

Hello and welcome to the Fun

I have an Autosleeper Nuevo which is just under 5.4m

Looking at their website, it says the Nuevo ES and EK are 5.75m, which is a tad too long unfortunately. Is there a shorter version somewhere?

 

[Malcyb]

Interesting intro!

You could do much worse than have a look at Dreamer vans, they have a few at 5.4 metres. They are made by and in the same factory as the renowned French Rapido brand. And the prices are reasonable too.

Vans DREAMER 2024 - Another idea of freedom

www.dreamer-van.co.uk

For example, this one (D42) has a longitudinal bed, rather than across the back.

Spécialiste du fourgon aménagé, le van de fabrication française accessible

www.dreamer-van.co.uk

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Thanks for the pointers. It’s hard to tell from pictures but these didn’t look quite as nice, moreover we’re not a big fan of shower curtains in washrooms and the Globecar appears to overcome this with some very clever design. But one to check out possibly.

 

[Malcyb]

Have you looked at these it will feel massive compared to a PVC and offers great storage in garage.

Mercedes-based Hymer Van S motorhome promises a compact but comfy holiday

We've seen many a camper van designed to pull double duty, commuting around town during the week and venturing out to the forest or coast on weekends. Multipurpose campers like Hymer's own V-Class concept are typically built inside stock vans, but Hymer has taken a different route with its new…

newatlas.com

Looks very smart but is it actually for sale in the UK now? Didn’t look like it. And I found some 2017 web page showing a price well over £70k... gulp.

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[Janine]

Looking at their website, it says the Nuevo ES and EK are 5.75m, which is a tad too long unfortunately. Is there a shorter version somewhere?

They must be making them longer nowadays. Mine is a 2006 model and is 5.2m without the bike rack.

 

[davidbaldam]

Hi and welcome to FUN.

 

[In a Pickle]

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[Peterd]

Started out with a 2008 Adria Twin 6m version last July. Now put it up for sale on Gumtree as the layout is not quite right. We think a Chausson Suite Mini or Maxi will be our next van for two main reasons, the end bathroom and electric raising bed. Got to sell the Adria first but will be looking closely at the Chaussons to make sure their layout is an improvement. We just made the beginners mistake

 

[mikebeaches]

Started out with a 2008 Adria Twin 6m version last July. Now put it up for sale on Gumtree as the layout is not quite right.

Have you tried listing it in the free classified section on here?

 

[rod_vw]

Malcyb welcome to the forum and join the club, we are pondering exactly the same thing.

Currently we have two VW campers, a T5 and a T6, the T5 having been used for general transport (and not much of it) in recent years but it must now go. See the ad on here Broken Link Removed

Maybe selling both campers will prompt us into looking at a New Crafter conversion.

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[Minxy]

Hi Malcyb, welcome to the fun house.

Unfortunately I think you might be in for a bit of a shock if you try to trade in your existing vehicle as you'll get nowhere near what its cost you as a PX, you might be lucky and get most back as a private sale though. Put an advert in the forum's classifieds and see if you get any interest.

As for a replacement for it, there aren't that many of the size you want but having had 2 x Globecars (6.36m) I can confirm they are very robust vehicles.

 

[mikebeaches]

Thanks for the pointers. It’s hard to tell from pictures but these didn’t look quite as nice, moreover we’re not a big fan of shower curtains in washrooms and the Globecar appears to overcome this with some very clever design. But one to check out possibly.

I think you mentioned you were looking at a Globecar - a Roadscout R I presume?
As you probably know, Globecars are popular on here.

Roadscout R Elegance | Globecar UK

globecar.co.uk

You mentioned you are tall. I am just 6', but found the headroom limiting in and around the bathroom, including the gangway in the middle. And had to rule out the Globecars with that design.

The Dreamer D42 I linked to has a reasonably decent sized bathroom, but the double bed width is 'cosy'. I think the length is OK. I take your point about the shower curtain, however.

 

[Minxy]

Another thought, if the converter does stuff like this normally would they be interested in having your vehicle for a customer?

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[Nasher]

Hi & welcome

I had a VW T5 and also found it too small

Looking around at vans, the most popular 'Sevel' vans Ducato/Relay/Boxer are widest (enough for a transverse bed) and their boxy shape lends itself to give more interior space

I initially looked at the (L3 H2) 6 metre van, but decided on the (L2H2) 5.4 metre as mine is also my 'daily drive'

I wanted a van that would also carry a motorcycle, so used a local conversion company to convert a van to my spec - it worked brilliantly and was very cost effective

Because the the VW 'scene tax' I was able to sell the T5 that I had driven for two & a half years for a 30% profit

Good luck with your search and I can definitely recommend getting a bigger van

 

[DBK]

Murvi do a couple of 5.5m models. They are offering a 3 year old one for £47K.

<Broken link removed>

We have a 6m one but the 5.5s have the same size kitchen and bathroom. The missing half metre is the loss of a cupboard and no full length wardrobe.

 

[Mark and Mindy]

We have a 5.4m Hymercar Ayers Rock - just the right size to fit on our drive and even with the rear doors opened they don't protrude into the road.
<Broken link removed>
I'm 6ft and it hasn't caused a problem, the transverse bed is fine for me (being the taller of us). We travel as 2 adults and 2 dogs, but have also had 4 people travelling in the van with the bed up to accommodate 2 bicycles. There is no third bed option but we wouldn't ever have the need for one. Ours doesn't have the elevating roof.

There is a partial shower curtain which just covers the storage area behind the toilet and is secured at both sides so nothing to flap around or stick onto a wet body!

We took it to France last year, and have had lots of shorter breaks in the UK (just returned from a trip this weekend and off again next weekend).

We did have a different van with a front lounge which needed to be converted into a bed at night but we never found it completely comfortable as either a bed or a settee, we've now swapped the lounge for a fixed bed and it suits us much better.

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[Malcyb]

Hi Malcyb, welcome to the fun house.

Unfortunately I think you might be in for a bit of a shock if you try to trade in your existing vehicle as you'll get nowhere near what its cost you as a PX, you might be lucky and get most back as a private sale though. Put an advert in the forum's classifieds and see if you get any interest.

As for a replacement for it, there aren't that many of the size you want but having had 2 x Globecars (6.36m) I can confirm they are very robust vehicles.

Yes I imagine you’re right about a Part Ex price. Obviously we’d get the best price selling privately however selling something of such high value privately is faintly terrifying, I’ve tried and failed to privately sell cars for around £15k before and my one success selling a car for a 4 figure sum was a stressful experience. Have people on this forum had positive experiences selling Motorhomes privately? I read with interest posts here about brokers, in particular Motorhome Depot, and this seemed like an attractive compromise. I’ve made contact with them to see what price they’d recommend, and might try a couple of dealers too.

 

[Malcyb]

I think you mentioned you were looking at a Globecar - a Roadscout R I presume?
As you probably know, Globecars are popular on here.

Roadscout R Elegance | Globecar UK

globecar.co.uk

You mentioned you are tall. I am just 6', but found the headroom limiting in and around the bathroom, including the gangway in the middle. And had to rule out the Globecars with that design.

The Dreamer D42 I linked to has a reasonably decent sized bathroom, but the double bed width is 'cosy'. I think the length is OK. I take your point about the shower curtain, however.

It was the Roadscout R that first caught our attention, however the Summit and Summit Prime looked even better. Take your point about the headroom in the bathroom, think we’d need to try for ourselves to see if that was just too much of an inconvenience - isn’t that going to be an issue with pretty much every 5.4m van, even the Dreamer?

 

[Malcyb]

Another thought, if the converter does stuff like this normally would they be interested in having your vehicle for a customer?

Good point, however unfortunately our converter has since stopped doing conversions and just selling parts now so pretty sure he wouldn’t be interested. I’ll try anyway.

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[Grianan]

Thoroughly recommend Globecar. I would look at Roadscout rather than Summit assuming Summit made in H factory. A lot of people here and on continent have had issues with H line models but I’m sure there are happy punters too!
My hubby is well over 6’ so we have longitudinal beds ... best check bed length on individual models out as depends on your sleeping position ... and don’t forget the pillow makes you sleep several inches down from the end of the mattress ...

 

[Coolcats]

Hi everyone,
New forum member here. Last year, as a present to ourselves for our early retirement, we bought a brand new VW Transporter T6 Kombi and had it professionally converted to a very high spec, more than equivalent to California ocean. It is a gorgeous van and we our very proud of it, however our experiences are suggesting to us it might not be the perfect vehicle for our needs. In particular we regret not having a proper on-board washroom (using a porta potti is a bit grim) and find the accommodation/storage just a bit too cramped sometimes even though there’s just 2 of us.
This has lately set us wondering whether we might cut our losses and consider trading it in for a slightly larger van. We’re constrained by space on our drive, so our only option would be a 5.4m camper van, most likely Fiat Ducato based. This certainly seems to narrow the field as plenty of manufacturers don’t seem to make vans below 6m, however an initial search has found a few options, and we’re especially drawn to the Globecar Summit or Summit Prime 540 - on paper, very impressed with how their washroom makes use of the limited space and, considering the spec, they seem good value compared with the likes of Westfalia and Malibu. Think we’ve got to go and look at one and see for ourselves whether it would really work for us though, as we’re both on the tall side (I’m just over 6’1’’) I’m not sure how comfortable a transverse bed will be.
The biggest deal-breaker will be what price we could sell the VW for as we can’t afford a large cost to change. Supposedly they’re very slow depreciators, and ironically the van and conversion cost us an awful lot more last year than we’re considering spending now. I read with interest on here about people’s experience with brokers and this is something we could look into, however would be interested in your thoughts.
Also, I’ve only read good things here on a few threads about Globecar, but if anyone has ownership experience of the Summit, that would be very interesting.
Finally, any other 5.4 metre van owners out there? What have you got?
Thanks

We had a T5 and upsized to a HymerCar Ayres Rock with a Metal roof rather than a PoP top, really please with it, then there is the HymerCar Free its slightly less well fitted out, and of course the Sunlight which is a Hymer Brand.

Regarding Height and the bed, the Ayres rock has the sprung system rather than the curved boards and a memory foam mattress, I am 6'2 and no problem with the transverse bed set up neither my head or feet touch either side if I lay straight.

 

[Malcyb]

Hi & welcome

I had a VW T5 and also found it too small

Looking around at vans, the most popular 'Sevel' vans Ducato/Relay/Boxer are widest (enough for a transverse bed) and their boxy shape lends itself to give more interior space

I initially looked at the (L3 H2) 6 metre van, but decided on the (L2H2) 5.4 metre as mine is also my 'daily drive'

I wanted a van that would also carry a motorcycle, so used a local conversion company to convert a van to my spec - it worked brilliantly and was very cost effective

Because the the VW 'scene tax' I was able to sell the T5 that I had driven for two & a half years for a 30% profit

Good luck with your search and I can definitely recommend getting a bigger van

Ha, would be nice to get any profit at all, however I’ve seen used T6 conversions with a lower spec than ours up for sale by dealers for around £55k which gives me some hope that I might be able to sell for mid/high 40s by using a broker.

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[mikebeaches]

It was the Roadscout R that first caught our attention, however the Summit and Summit Prime looked even better. Take your point about the headroom in the bathroom, think we’d need to try for ourselves to see if that was just too much of an inconvenience - isn’t that going to be an issue with pretty much every 5.4m van, even the Dreamer?

If you have a look at the images in this link, you'll see how the ceiling is lowered slightly for, what is admittedly, the innovative bathroom design. It comes out over the central walk way. And at ground level, you're sort of needing to step over the shower tray lip in the gangway.

Roadscout R Elegance | Globecar UK

globecar.co.uk

Many folk absolutely love the design, because you get a bigger bathroom in a compact van. But the height issue was just too much of a compromise for me and having the shower tray right by the sink too, as I recall.

It might be slightly different on the Summit models? As you say, no substitute for getting inside your preferred designs and models.

 

[ambulancekidd]

 

[PhilMary]

Ah... something I should have said. I think ideally we need to stick to a PVC as there’ll be occasions we want to use the van for carrying stuff in the back which would probably rule out coach built options. And we’d need a couple of rear belted seats; we’d probably never want to sleep more than 2 though the option for an occasional 3rd berth may come in handy.

I'm using an Autocruise Select 144, sounds like just what you described at s touch under 6mtr. As for your "old" van, expect to get more than you paid for it originally.
Phil

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