Where do I start?

[JoannaLesley]

Last weekend we were away in our van. It is a 1993 Lunar Premiere and beginning to show signs of age. We started thinking that we should be looking to update soon. We are nearing retirement and want something that will last us a while. We had been rather spoiled by our first van, which dated from 1983 and which we had for 10 trouble-free years. We also want a little more comfort for sleeping. We like to use the front end as a sitting area and have been leaving the rear dinette permanently made up as a double bed, but it is only 3' 11" wide and makes up like a jigsaw (it feels that way, anyway). Also when it is made up we can't get at two cupboards that end, so they are wasted.
I've looked on the PC website and am totally confused about layout. Can anyone suggest some models which would be worth investigating? We don't want much, of course:
4 berth
Rear dinette which we can leave permanently made up and which is reasonably comfortable and of an acceptable size (or even fixed bed)
No side dinette
Front seats long enough for a daytime snooze, or a 3rd occupant to sleep on
Not too heavy - we like to be able to move it about by hand if we have to, although our current towcar is an X5 and will pull a van heavier than we have been used to to date
Not too big. Our current van is 16' and stores easily on our drive
We don't use the on-board shower (or never have, so far)
We haven't really decided on budget, as it would depend on what is out there, but somewhere in the £5k region I guess.

Any ideas, anyone?

Jo

 

[Sproket]

Is this the sort of size & layout that you are after ?

 

[Dustydog]

Hi Jo
It took us three attempts before we finally got what we wanted. So you are not alone.
Trawl around as many dealers as you can and see what's on offer.
A lot of people pick a layout thinking their grand children will be joining them so they go for extra beds , bunks etc. They find the kids don't want to go or prefer a pup tent so the whole layout becomes a waste of space.
Some think a 2 berth will do where in fact as you say , I think, you'd like a fixed bed . As the shower is not an essential then Sir Sproket's suggestion is a good and also popular one.
There will be a lot of 2nd hand ones out there in the 5K region but make sure you have it fully damp tested and that al the appliances work perfectly.
Good luck

 

[Martin24]

If you end up looking at single axle fixed beds then you will possibly have to look quite hard to get a full length lounge at the front, but you would probably have enough lounging space and could make it up to a double for anyone to sleep on. If you are having a third party they will have to pop through to you for any nocturnal visits. Your initial idea of using a rear lounge area at the rear as a leave it up double is something a lot of people do because then any guests will be able to use the central washroom in the night without disturbing you. What you would find in the UK market is that these will be marketed as a five berth with a cantilever bunk across the rear, or be larger 6 berths with a cantilever bunk each side. If you're planning on keeping this van until it drops you could always remove that all together to save on a bit of unnecesary weight. Try looking on caravan finder for ideas on layouts. As our King says of course make sure anything you find is damp free and everything is working. There are plenty of good ones out there to choose from.

Oh and as an aside when we've got an empty nest, a long way off yet! we're having a 2 berth so we can't have guests, especially Grandchildren along to stay!!!

5K without looking at trade in values should get you roughly 10 years newer.

 

[otherclive]

A Series 5 Bordeaux has full length lounge with a usable but slightly tight shower, fixed bed and all within a low mass in running order. Bailey will do a weight upgrade to allow 250kg payload with a reasonable MTPLM of 1400kg. Cost about £80 plus new higher load tyres at say £160 depending on manufactuer.

 

[JoannaLesley]

Thank you Sprocket - yes, I think that's the general idea, but at a much lower price!
Thank you all for your suggestions and advice. We will have a look around a large dealer near us at the weekend and see what's what. From looking on line it seems that most people like an end bathroom and side dinette.
In our price range I think it's unlikely we would get a fixed bed, but if we note some models, we might come across something being sold privately. Dealer's mark-up seems huge, but I guess they tie their cash up for long periods. I did see a van identical to ours which cost more than we paid 3 years ago - we bought privately and this was a dealer.

Once again, thanks all.

Jo

 

[Martin24]

Not all dealer mark ups are huge! When we last changed in 2010 the dealer marked up our 3yr old 6 berth Coachman by £500 above the trde in price we got. Sold it in three days.

 

[JoannaLesley]

Well, we spent Saturday touring 5 dealerships in Gloucestershire & Herefordshire and have found 3 models which seem to suit us - Bailey Auvergne; Bailey Ranger 500/5 and, possibly, the Lunar Quaser (we only got to peer through the windows). So, a good start. The only trouble is, that everything suitable was out of our price range, which got us thinking.... What happens to the lower end models that people give in partX? Surely, there must be places where vans of, say, £3k - £5k are sold other than on EBay?
We're going to view one next week which is on EBay, but the "buy it now" price (it's a private sale) seems a little more like a dealer price - it had better be really good!

Jo

 

[Sproket]

Jo
Have a look at this Hymer layout......Lot of van here

 

[JoannaLesley]

Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions. We've found it! We never thought we would get all of our wish list at the price we were able to pay, but we've found a Compass Encore with it all! We pick it up in a couple of weeks and will have a trial weekend in July in Wiltshire before we're off to the South of France in August. I am SO excited!

Jo

 

[Sproket]

I am SO excited!
Jo