Vantage Vans (1 Viewer)

[Mark and Mindy]

Having done lots of research online and at the Shepton Mallet show, we went to the NEC last Saturday and had a look at 4 PVC which were the right layout for us - rear lounge which converts into 2 singles or 1 king size, 2 seat belts and a small table to go in front of the swivelled driver and passenger seats.

We tried them all out for size including sitting on the toilet (the lid was down!), standing and moving around in the shower, opening oven doors and lying down on the settees to check for length/width.

We ended up with the Vantage Sol being the one that works best for us and is all round exactly right.

Does anybody else have a Vantage, and if so have there been any problems or issues which we should know about?

We aren't in the position to buy a van yet due to finances and probably won't be doing anything for another year, but now that I've got a serious case of van-itus I'm trying to do as much research as possible about all things vans/motorhomes and especially Vantage!

 

[CazPaul]

Vantage are a nice conversion. The company changed hands about a year ago or so although the previous owner was kept on. The prices are on the high side for PVC vans. Fresh and waste both underslung so need to be careful in below freezing temps.
Nice conversion but expensive, have you looked at any others, East Neuk and Shire also do the layout you like.

 

[Waveski]

Hi, I purchased a Vantage Med in March and have done over 5000 miles around UK and France. As a Solo traveller the Med, at 5.4 metres long, has been a stunning purchase. I chose the Vantage because of it beautiful detailed design and fantastic build quality. The back-up from the workshop in Leeds has been first class. I have had only one problem; with a misbehaving water pump. They immediately posted a replacement part to me and talked me through the installation. I was up and running the next day...not bad as I was 2 miles from Lands End (some 400 miles away)!!!
They may seem a a little expensive to purchase, but make sure you do all the sums, other vans soon add up to a similar price with all the extras. A lot of continental PVC conversions have front lounges which I think are a waste of space; with the MED the front seats turn around and with the supplied table it makes a very nice front lounge for 2. Of course layout is a personal opinion, but Vantage do create a very spacious feel to a van. In my view, detailed design, quality and backup make it it a fantastic purchase.

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[Mark and Mindy]

Vantage are a nice conversion. The company changed hands about a year ago or so although the previous owner was kept on. The prices are on the high side for PVC vans. Fresh and waste both underslung so need to be careful in below freezing temps.
Nice conversion but expensive, have you looked at any others, East Neuk and Shire also do the layout you like.

Thanks very much for that! We did check out the Shire vans but they don't work for us. The East Neuk Touring L really fits our requirements, although the main compromise we'll have to make is that Mark may have to bend his legs a tiny bit when he sleeps, I'll be fine on the 6ft 5in bed though

 

[Mark and Mindy]

Hi, I purchased a Vantage Med in March and have done over 5000 miles around UK and France. As a Solo traveller the Med, at 5.4 metres long, has been a stunning purchase. I chose the Vantage because of it beautiful detailed design and fantastic build quality. The back-up from the workshop in Leeds has been first class. I have had only one problem; with a misbehaving water pump. They immediately posted a replacement part to me and talked me through the installation. I was up and running the next day...not bad as I was 2 miles from Lands End (some 400 miles away)!!!
They may seem a a little expensive to purchase, but make sure you do all the sums, other vans soon add up to a similar price with all the extras. A lot of continental PVC conversions have front lounges which I think are a waste of space; with the MED the front seats turn around and with the supplied table it makes a very nice front lounge for 2. Of course layout is a personal opinion, but Vantage do create a very spacious feel to a van. In my view, detailed design, quality and backup make it it a fantastic purchase.

I still do like the Vantage Sol, but I've now seen that East Neuk do put a lot of things as standard into the vans which we'd have to pay for if we went with the Sol then it does make a difference.

We did see the Sol at the NEC last weekend and have yet to see the Touring L so can only go by the differences on paper. We'll have to travel regardless of which one we buy as we're in Berkshire, and going up to East Neuk makes a nice mini-break for us.

I really don't like the front lounge vans either, with 2 dogs a rear lounge makes sense particularly at night when the beds can be made up before the dogs go out last thing, with a front lounge we wouldn't be able to make up the bed in front of the door until after they'd been out, plus if one needed to go out in the night I don't think either of us wants to be unmaking and remaking the bed to get to the door. Plus we'd lose the "second lounge", if one gets up earlier than the other then they can sit up at the cab end with a cup of tea without the other being overly disturbed.

 

[CazPaul]

I still do like the Vantage Sol, but I've now seen that East Neuk do put a lot of things as standard into the vans which we'd have to pay for if we went with the Sol then it does make a difference.

We did see the Sol at the NEC last weekend and have yet to see the Touring L so can only go by the differences on paper. We'll have to travel regardless of which one we buy as we're in Berkshire, and going up to East Neuk makes a nice mini-break for us.

I really don't like the front lounge vans either, with 2 dogs a rear lounge makes sense particularly at night when the beds can be made up before the dogs go out last thing, with a front lounge we wouldn't be able to make up the bed in front of the door until after they'd been out, plus if one needed to go out in the night I don't think either of us wants to be unmaking and remaking the bed to get to the door. Plus we'd lose the "second lounge", if one gets up earlier than the other then they can sit up at the cab end with a cup of tea without the other being overly disturbed.

Yes agree, the Est Neuk are a nice van, the GRP bathroom is quality. Again both fresh and waste underslung, fridge is small as well in the East Neuk. We are having a bespoke one done by Shire, who are very accommodating where as Vantage and East Neuk are a bit more rigid.
We like the rear lounge, separate area sleeping area fully partitioned off, as I can get up and take the dogs out and wife can still sleep in peace.

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[Ranger]

As the above posts show everybody has different ideas as to what is the perfect layout for them which just goes to show what a diverse bunch of individuals we are but if you design it yourself you can't blame anybody if it does not suit you.

 

[Mark and Mindy]

As the above posts show everybody has different ideas as to what is the perfect layout for them which just goes to show what a diverse bunch of individuals we are but if you design it yourself you can't blame anybody if it does not suit you.

We decided that we're not at the right point of our campervan life to design our own, we'd rather have one for a few years and work out what, if anything, we don't like before going the bespoke route.

If I could have everything on my wish list then it definitely wouldn't fit in a 6m van

 

[Ranger]

We decided that we're not at the right point of our campervan life to design our own, we'd rather have one for a few years and work out what, if anything, we don't like before going the bespoke route.

If I could have everything on my wish list then it definitely wouldn't fit in a 6m van

After 40 plus years of campers we have recently gone down the bespoke route and despite having to have a few compromises during the build we are very pleased that we seem to have got it about right for us.

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[Langtoftlad]

Have a look to see if anything by Wildax suits... they are open to customising their standard layouts, are fairly well winterised and include a lot of things others charge as options.
The only real negative is that they are built to order [hence the above] which means a lengthy lead time [which means more time to save].

 

[CazPaul]

After 40 plus years of campers we have recently gone down the bespoke route and despite having to have a few compromises during the build we are very pleased that we seem to have got it about right for us.

Same as we are just doing, any tips appreciated, things you wish you had and hadn't done?

 

[Mousy]

Have you thought about second hand? This Neo is the layout you want but slightly longer and might just scratch your vantage vantiuiss itch?

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[CazPaul]

Nice van that Neo, seems a tad expensive for a 2009 plate though.

 

[Mark and Mindy]

We did look at the Wildax vans at the NEC but we want to stay with the 5.9m length and the 2 we have brochures for aren't right in different ways - transverse beds, extra seatbelts or a front lounge. We also looked at:
Swift Select 122
Auto-Sleepers Warwick Duo
Auto-Trail V Line 610 SE - the payload on this one was 389kg and the lowest of any van
Vantage Sol - thanks to the suggestions above the cost of this one is high and a lot of what are on their options list are standard on other vans

The lounge which converts into a double bed works well for us as long as it isn't a transverse bed because I go to bed early but get up early whereas Mark's a night owl and we can't be doing with the climbing across the other person.

So many variations on a theme, but it seems to be picking the things which are most important and compromising on those with lesser importance.

We have the funds organised, no saving required luckily, but we aren't at the right point in our lives to go off and order this minute, so we have time to work out exactly which one is the best for us.

 

[Mark and Mindy]

I did look at that second hand Neo, we still wanted to stay with the 5.9m van and I thought this might be a gas bottle:

its the last of the photos

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[Ranger]

Same as we are just doing, any tips appreciated, things you wish you had and hadn't done?

Don't want to go off topic so will keep it short. It is important to make sure everyone involved is thinking the same thing, more toys and fancy woodwork decreases payload, insulation is important as a lot of converters use rockwool type products which can break down and hold moisture, we insisted on Thinsulate although it is expensive. We wished we had insisted on having access panels in the roof to enable extra cables to be strung from back to front as we have already started to add extra lighting etc. Beware the "we do it this way" converters.That's a start anyway.

 

[CazPaul]

We did look at the Wildax vans at the NEC but we want to stay with the 5.9m length and the 2 we have brochures for aren't right in different ways - transverse beds, extra seatbelts or a front lounge. We also looked at:
Swift Select 122
Auto-Sleepers Warwick Duo
Auto-Trail V Line 610 SE - the payload on this one was 389kg and the lowest of any van
Vantage Sol - thanks to the suggestions above the cost of this one is high and a lot of what are on their options list are standard on other vans

The lounge which converts into a double bed works well for us as long as it isn't a transverse bed because I go to bed early but get up early whereas Mark's a night owl and we can't be doing with the climbing across the other person.

So many variations on a theme, but it seems to be picking the things which are most important and compromising on those with lesser importance.

We have the funds organised, no saving required luckily, but we aren't at the right point in our lives to go off and order this minute, so we have time to work out exactly which one is the best for us.

Some good points, the reason that east neuk offer a good base options is because the Citroen they use comes with these as standard on the professional version, if you want a Fiat it costs another few grand as the Citroen is cheaper.

 

[CazPaul]

Don't want to go off topic so will keep it short. It is important to make sure everyone involved is thinking the same thing, more toys and fancy woodwork decreases payload, insulation is important as a lot of converters use rockwool type products which can break down and hold moisture, we insisted on Thinsulate although it is expensive. We wished we had insisted on having access panels in the roof to enable extra cables to be strung from back to front as we have already started to add extra lighting etc. Beware the "we do it this way" converters.That's a start anyway.

The best insulation is spray foam, but you would have to get it done and take it to the converter then.

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[bobandjanie]

I seem to remember @quickweh had a vantage, and we met a couple from the lake district in spain that had one, built was good but when they looked at our rapido v53 van they pointed out that we a lot more storage.
Having an end lounge you loose it, for a start your bedding has to go somewhere.
We have a transverse bed and under the bed is two large gas bottles a table two reclining chairs and leg supports, a small chair a full size spin dryer two airers a big builders bucket a small builders bucket for waste, a bucket with a lid ( some may call it a fire bucket being red ) a 25m and 15m hookup leads, a 20m hose on a reel and a 6m hose, two windbreaks a groundsheet, a posser hammer pegs broom soft brush sileer screens and so on.
Just something to think about, because we know a few people that have made the bed up and left it up. Bob.

 

[Mark and Mindy]

Some good points, the reason that east neuk offer a good base options is because the Citroen they use comes with these as standard on the professional version, if you want a Fiat it costs another few grand as the Citroen is cheaper.

I saw that and because we were thinking about having automatic then we can only get it with Comfort-Matic on the Fiat chassis, however the Sol would cost £2500 for the C-matic and Touring L would cost £2500 for the Fiat Chassis plus another £1000 for the C-matic. With the options that we want on both the Sol comes out at £8000 more expensive which is a lot I feel - it does look as if the Touring L has more storage but until we actually go and see it then can't say for sure. Its very definitely gone to the top of our list!

I made a spreadsheet for all the vans we looked at, and added in the Touring L, put in all the options that we would like added and overall the Sol comes out the most expensive. There were another couple which were cheaper than the Touring L but one had a transverse bed and one had a payload of less than 400kg.

I seem to remember @quickweh had a vantage, and we met a couple from the lake district in spain that had one, built was good but when they looked at our rapido v53 van they pointed out that we a lot more storage.
Having an end lounge you loose it, for a start your bedding has to go somewhere.
We have a transverse bed and under the bed is two large gas bottles a table two reclining chairs and leg supports, a small chair a full size spin dryer two airers a big builders bucket a small builders bucket for waste, a bucket with a lid ( some may call it a fire bucket being red ) a 25m and 15m hookup leads, a 20m hose on a reel and a 6m hose, two windbreaks a groundsheet, a posser hammer pegs broom soft brush sileer screens and so on.
Just something to think about, because we know a few people that have made the bed up and left it up. Bob.

A transverse bed is 100% out for us, and indeed any bed that would necessitate one of us having to climb over the other because sometimes I have mobility issues and the pain that kind of movement by either of us would cause doesn't bear thinking about.

We could leave the double bed made up and still be able to use the small dinette made by the swivelling front seats on days that we were doing a lot of dining, but we're planning to put the bedding away most nights.

When we looked at the Sol at the NEC we were worried about storage space, but until we could find out from seasoned motorhomers we didn't know if it was just us or if it was true.

Our plans are for shorter UK breaks with the dogs and longer European breaks without the dogs, so hopefully the storage would work for both

 

[bobandjanie]

I know what your saying about having to climb over, it would not be good if I did the climbing because I get up in the night but Janie doesn't so it works OK, if we could go to 6.36m we could have two singles that we would love, but we are restricted to 6m otherwise we would not be able to park at our apartment in spain and it's our car when we are there 6 months a year.
Just though I would point out about storage, because until you start putting things in you tend to be focused on ' love this end lounge ' forgetting that's your bed and where do we put our chairs. Bob.

Ps I should add our first motorhome was the wrong one " for us " it had a lovely big end bathroom and you made the bed up, we soon found out storage was a problem.

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[CazPaul]

I saw that and because we were thinking about having automatic then we can only get it with Comfort-Matic on the Fiat chassis, however the Sol would cost £2500 for the C-matic and Touring L would cost £2500 for the Fiat Chassis plus another £1000 for the C-matic. With the options that we want on both the Sol comes out at £8000 more expensive which is a lot I feel - it does look as if the Touring L has more storage but until we actually go and see it then can't say for sure. Its very definitely gone to the top of our list!

I made a spreadsheet for all the vans we looked at, and added in the Touring L, put in all the options that we would like added and overall the Sol comes out the most expensive. There were another couple which were cheaper than the Touring L but one had a transverse bed and one had a payload of less than 400kg.

A transverse bed is 100% out for us, and indeed any bed that would necessitate one of us having to climb over the other because sometimes I have mobility issues and the pain that kind of movement by either of us would cause doesn't bear thinking about.

We could leave the double bed made up and still be able to use the small dinette made by the swivelling front seats on days that we were doing a lot of dining, but we're planning to put the bedding away most nights.

When we looked at the Sol at the NEC we were worried about storage space, but until we could find out from seasoned motorhomers we didn't know if it was just us or if it was true.

Our plans are for shorter UK breaks with the dogs and longer European breaks without the dogs, so hopefully the storage would work for both

Yes good thinking, the thing about bespoke though which I am choosing is you choose you van size, layout, type/size of fridge, amount of insulation, winterisation.
The van we will be going for has a whole host of options, much more than both east neuk and vantage and comes in thousands cheaper than both of them. That is with a programmable webasto heater for the cab/engine, super large fridge, pneumatic rear air self adjusting suspension, grip control, heavy 4 tonne chassis, auto cab air, cruise, mudflaps all round, uprated tyres, air suspended driver seat, engine undertray protection, twin skinned waste and fresh tanks fed by a pipe from the Truma 6 heating, engine undertray protection, triple insulation, etc etc, full works.
Still a professional conversion.

 

[Mark and Mindy]

Yes good thinking, the thing about bespoke though which I am choosing is you choose you van size, layout, type/size of fridge, amount of insulation, winterisation.
The van we will be going for has a whole host of options, much more than both east neuk and vantage and comes in thousands cheaper than both of them. That is with a programmable webasto heater for the cab/engine, super large fridge, pneumatic rear air self adjusting suspension, grip control, heavy 4 tonne chassis, auto cab air, cruise, mudflaps all round, uprated tyres, air suspended driver seat, engine undertray protection, twin skinned waste and fresh tanks fed by a pipe from the Truma 6 heating, engine undertray protection, triple insulation, etc etc, full works.
Still a professional conversion.

I'm guessing this isn't your first van though and you've got here via the process of having previous van/s where you can work out which bits are best for you, whereas this is our first dip into the waters and we've tried to make it work for all eventualities.

We are planning to hire a van around May next year, hopefully the weather will be warm-ish then but not into the full on summer time, if we hire a PVC with a rear lounge then we'll be able to see if it really does work for us or if actually we've gone down the road of "we think this is what we want".

 

[Ranger]

The best insulation is spray foam, but you would have to get it done and take it to the converter then.

You are correct but I do wonder what happens if you need bodywork repairs in the future, wouldn't think it would take too kindly to a welder.