What have we done ? !!

Suda

Suda

Free Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2015
Posts
13
Likes collected
34
Location
Stoke on Trent
Funster No
34,810
MH
Rapido V 56
Exp
Since the 70's with a VW T 2, then an Autoquest, a Burstner and now the Rapido
Well it has been a little costly, but our downsizing experience to a panel van, has failed!!
We survived Morocco because it suited at the time, but by the Autumn, in France, it was apparent that , great though they are to drive and park, extended periods of time living in them was not for us. Our Burstner Delfin t700 had been our dream machine and we have regretted giving her up. However she was 3850 tonnes and a 3500 would suite us for our remaining years travelling. So what to do next as we have a ferry booked to head off to Greece in 3 days?
Research uncovered a Burstner Travel Van t620. Would you believe it, but it's a mini Delfin with single beds, a garage, the works!! Finding one for sale was another story. Like hens teeth unless you want to break the bank buying new.
Saturday we found one and Sunday we bought it.
We will still have to use the PVC for Greece but our new, best friend will be waiting for us when we return.
Thanks for reading but we wanted to share our joy!
 
Oh well put it down to experience we all get it wrong sometimes.:eek:
Good luck with the new van.(y)
Panel vans sound great in theory but every time we look its a big no ok for a weekend but no more.
See them down in Spain with massive awnings attached which defeats the whole point of a panel van I think.:confused:
But we're all different thank god.:)
 
I tried to convince myself that a PVC would do, but it will not. The ability to go down narrow streets and generally make driving more car like is not in any doubt, but prolonged use even if the Grand-sprogs weren't with us and it was just the two of us, we would demand more room.. Best of luck... Griff
 
I find my panel van is great for me and 2 dogs---couldn't fit in another person or pet! Not sure I could full time in it but not planning on doing that anytime soon.

Congrats on your new vehicle. And I think PVCs sell easily so that's a plus.
 
Best of luck with the new van and enjoy Greece (y)
 
I was actually advised not to switch to a PV by a salesman at my local dealers, he said we would be mad to lose the space we have now in our Bolero Compact, and we would lose all the money we had spent upgrading it since purchasing it from them!.
 
We love our PVC there's enough room for the two of us + our Staffie ,as long as you are tidy and well organised there's no problem.

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Glad you've got a van that suits your needs, would love to hear more about your travels, deeply envious of your trip to Greece, pics please?
 
Hi Mousey. We have a blog and if you type Daf and Sue into your Google search engine you can see what a couple of pensioner ladies get up to.
 
@Suda
I tried to find your blog but nothing came up in Google with Daf and Sue
Have you got a link?
 
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Yes that's us. Just begun the blog for this year's Spring trip. Thanks Janine and here is our beautiful Burstner. Never put a pic on the Forum before. Feeling well pleased with life!!
 
Wonderful reading, that's me getting nothing done all week thank you. Safe travels.
 
Get it on a weighbridge! Soonest possible! My experience of Burstners is they tend to the heavy side. Weigh it as soon as you can!

D.

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Interesting to read about your van experience. We have a fairly small PvP and are going to France for five weeks soon.

We have only done 2 weeks at a time previously so we will find out! There are only 2 of us and the pictured Jack Russell. Of course we are not used to the luxury of space.

Looking forward to reading how you get on in Greece.

Alex + Sandra
 
I often crave the space inside a coach built, a fixed bed would be heaven, but a PVC is so versatile and easy for everthing to do with parking , maneuvering etc, plus with the right sort of pvc you can be a bit stealth like ,
But for full timing or long trips ie months on end i would think they get a bit crowded, for a few weeks to a couple of months pvc's are perfect
pete
 
Hi, we did the same a couple of years ago bought a "Kemerton" PVC with all the bells and whistles fitted used it for three months, turned out it was a big mistake, it was ok for a weekend but no use to us for longer trips.
Not enough room or storage, we both felt "hemmed in"
Did a deal with the suppliers on a Bailey 740 which have just recently traded for an Elddis Autoquest 175 which suits us both very well, when wild camping use the singles and onsite we use the double bed.
It is fitted with everything that you can want and the big fridge/freezer is excellent.
Upgraded to 3 x 110 batteries and a 120 watt solar panel to keep them topped up.
Do not think that we will be changing any time soon as we love it.
When we go to Spain for our longer trips we take our Mx5 on a trailer as a runabout, brilliant driving around the area with roof down. Bonus is its light too.
 
Well we too are changing our PVC ... for another PVC! We love our Accent but when doing our recent 6 week trip to France/Spain/Portugal we decided that a bit more space would be nice especially since there are us 2 and 3 dogs, plus 2 electric folding bikes, 2 inflatable canoes, paddles, life jackets etc not to mention all the dog's bits and bobs!

Previously we only had 2 normal folding bikes and being smaller they both went under the rear bed, but the electric ones are a bit wider when folded so only one could go underneath, and the other one had to go on the bed when travelling and on the passenger seat when pitched up/at night, so it was a hassle to keep moving it around. Whilst we have a bike rack we didn't want to leave one on it all the time. I was considering altering our rear bed to accommodate both underneath it but it would still have been a bit of a chore getting them out and putting them away again with all the other stuff under there too.

We have done 7 and 5 week holidays previously in it and managed fine, however seeing as there are more PVC conversions now on the slightly longer base (6.34m) we perused some of them and found one that gives us that bit more space in the front lounge but with virtually the same layout as we have now which works well for us overall. We did have a very brief 'daliance' with changing to a narrow coachbuilt but apart from the lack of stoage in some of them, I just feel so closed-in even with the habitation door wide open, that I really didn't want to go down that route - I love our side sliding door (I know others hate them!) and sitting having lunch or tea with it wide open enjoying the view even if its too chilly to actually sit out is great ... and the rear opening doors are wonderful too and I enjoy slobbing on the bed reading or doing my puzzle book with them wide open on a warm night ... pure bliss.

A PVC can have downsides but for us at least the benefits faaaaaarrrrrr outweigh them!
 
An excellent choice of motorhome. We graduated from a Burstner Elegance to a 2009 Burstner Travel Van followed by a 2012 Travel Van.

The primary reason for the Travel Van was its narrow width – almost as narrow as a panel van but without panel van limitations. The advantage of the narrow Travel Van is the ability to fit panel van wing mirrors, a huge bonus on narrow roads.

The reason for the change to the 2012 version was purely for the improved bathroom.

Extras I have added have been a second leisure battery and all LED lighting. We can now go away for long periods without hook-up. In addition I have a reverse polarity switch and a surge protection unit. In the garage we now have a spare wheel sitting vertically on top of a two and a half ton jack. No messing about with that scissor thing. Can’t imagine driving around without a spare wheel!

We miss the Elegance of course but the convenience of the Travel Van more than makes up. Enjoy yours.
 
One other thing to add to the above is the rear of the 2009 Travel Van is quite low and the rear plastic skirt is below the chassis and liable to ‘ground’ before any protection from the chassis. I rectified it by adding a couple of ‘skids’ to rear of the chassis and also drilling the rear skirt in several places and pulling it above the bottom of the chassis.



The 2012 Travel Van does not suffer from this and is actually quite high off the ground.
 
Well we have a wildax constellation and we did spain, morocco,portugal over 9 wks and managed quite well for room and storage. We throught motorhoming is about sitting out in the
daytime and evening not being sat inside like the french
 
I'm with you MinxyGirl. We have just downsized from a Bailey 740SE to an IH630RL PVC and we love it. So far we have only done weekends but are off to France soon so we'll have to see how we get on. We found de cluttering fairly easy and everything fits in well with space and two bikes on the back instead of a Smart on tow! Hopefully we'll feel the same after two weeks in France!

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