Carthago option

[Just us on Tour]

Hi All
I am seeking your advice yet again. Having just returned from the show ( like hundreds of others ) we are seriously considering ordering a new van . After much searching we have decided on a Carthago Chic C line A Class. This will be our first A class and our first European van . We have always had Autotrail.
The options list for Carthago is huge and can be very costly . I am interested to get your opinions as to which options are desirable and would be essential and those which are not . For example a coffee machine and inverter is £1800. Carpet set £600 ish , silver paint £3500 ish ……full leather £3500 ish.
Advice please as to which options you would consider are key to retain good resale value.
Thank you

 

[Wh05apk]

Good old Hymer - doesn't have central locking.

Mine does, works perfectly

 

[1090alex]

Hi All
I am seeking your advice yet again. Having just returned from the show ( like hundreds of others ) we are seriously considering ordering a new van . After much searching we have decided on a Carthago Chic C line A Class. This will be our first A class and our first European van . We have always had Autotrail.
The options list for Carthago is huge and can be very costly . I am interested to get your opinions as to which options are desirable and would be essential and those which are not . For example a coffee machine and inverter is £1800. Carpet set £600 ish , silver paint £3500 ish ……full leather £3500 ish.
Advice please as to which options you would consider are key to retain good resale value.
Thank you

Hi,
Exciting times!
These are some of the things we have which I'm led to believe are desirable.
My van has a coffee machine and inverter. The inverter is wired to all the 13amp sockets so it's a good thing to have. Silver paint definitely, leather ditto. We tend to lay the carpets in the winter . However we find they constantly need vacuumed!But they do protect the floor from winter mud etc.
Habitation ac is a must,
The engine preheat arrangement for the Alde heating is also very handy.

 

[AdrianChen]

Hi,
I've a Liner for Two which I bought in 2022 from a dealer already fitted with a coffee machine and inverter.
Just wondered if you'd had any issues with the inverter.

On our previous van we had the Carthago pack - the Dometic (Prev Weaco?) 1800w inverter - it had to be reset a couple of times with the switch on the unit itself, not the remote panel, but didn't fail as such. We only had it for 2 years. Researching the topic on the Web came up with a few instances where the auto transfer switch would pack up, so I decided if/when it broke we would replace with an alternative make. That van had 3 X 80AH Gel batteries, which I think is a little ambitious for the inverter at full power, so I doubt the batts would have lasted the 10years or so they should.

The new van was dealer stock and had no inverter, but the slide/lift and electrical socket for the coffee machine was all in place, god knows why since the space was then useless. We added a Victron inverter/charger (a bit of extra 240v wiring and an additional switch in the consumer unit) and the Krupps Essenzo Mini machine set to turn off quickly after use which I think is the only modification made by Carthago. That was part of adding Lithium batts, and extra solar, so I think now the battery/inverter system is more able to cope with the loads.

The little machine needed the settings altered to produce decent coffee, but with 2 decent brand capsules (only 5g of coffee each) per small cup it's OK for us and gets used quite a bit.

 

[cyberyacht]

Performance leather- yes

What's that? Black and white checkered along the van?

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[G1969]

What's that? Black and white checkered along the van?

It makes us drink faster sat on it

 

[Just us on Tour]

Hi All
I am seeking your advice yet again. Having just returned from the show ( like hundreds of others ) we are seriously considering ordering a new van . After much searching we have decided on a Carthago Chic C line A Class. This will be our first A class and our first European van . We have always had Autotrail.
The options list for Carthago is huge and can be very costly . I am interested to get your opinions as to which options are desirable and would be essential and those which are not . For example a coffee machine and inverter is £1800. Carpet set £600 ish , silver paint £3500 ish ……full leather £3500 ish.
Advice please as to which options you would consider are key to retain good resale value.
Thank you

I thought about starting another post on this , however I am sure with the wonderful response I have had from this post someone on here will put me right . Ok my dealer is suggesting I do include the coffee package within my build. The reason for this is it has an inverter included . From the response I have had on here many of you say the inverter that Carthago supply is not particularly powerful or very good . However my dealer says the key thing is the factory put all the wiring in . If I were to go for a dealer fit they would have to install the wiring which would be costly and time consuming . I must confess I don’t really understand electrics so wouldn’t want to install myself .Being a novice and not that technical my limited understanding is an inverter converts 12 volt DC battery power into 230 volt AC power. So that being the case does the inverter not drain Hab batteries very quickly ? So am I right in assuming the bigger power output the inverter the quicker the drain . Can any one put me straight please ? Thanks chaps

 

[G1969]

I thought about starting another post on this , however I am sure with the wonderful response I have had from this post someone on here will put me right . Ok my dealer is suggesting I do include the coffee package within my build. The reason for this is it has an inverter included . From the response I have had on here many of you say the inverter that Carthago supply is not particularly powerful or very good . However my dealer says the key thing is the factory put all the wiring in . If I were to go for a dealer fit they would have to install the wiring which would be costly and time consuming . I must confess I don’t really understand electrics so wouldn’t want to install myself .Being a novice and not that technical my limited understanding is an inverter converts 12 volt DC battery power into 230 volt AC power. So that being the case does the inverter not drain Hab batteries very quickly ? So am I right in assuming the bigger power output the inverter the quicker the drain . Can any one put me straight please ? Thanks chaps

We initially were going to buy a new C Class but purchased our current van instead. As part of our new spec build we did tick the inverter box, as you say pre- wired on all sockets etc. We had the Carthago inverter initially on this one, with 3 gel batteries and nothing wrong with it, just 1800w-but I think even that is over the limit for the batteries?. It depends on your usage?
We choose to upgrade to lithium and multiplus which is 3000w, and has other advantages, but as with anything you have to weigh up the cost against the benefits.

 

[LostInSpace]

However my dealer says the key thing is the factory put all the wiring in

I think the dealer has a very good point there.

So am I right in assuming the bigger power output the inverter the quicker the drain . Can any one put me straight please

Only if you actually use that available power.

If the inverter is switched off, it uses nothing.

Once switched on the battery drain is (almost) directly related to the power being used.
(after you allow a small drain just for it being left switched on)

 

[AdrianChen]

I thought about starting another post on this , however I am sure with the wonderful response I have had from this post someone on here will put me right . Ok my dealer is suggesting I do include the coffee package within my build. The reason for this is it has an inverter included . From the response I have had on here many of you say the inverter that Carthago supply is not particularly powerful or very good . However my dealer says the key thing is the factory put all the wiring in . If I were to go for a dealer fit they would have to install the wiring which would be costly and time consuming . I must confess I don’t really understand electrics so wouldn’t want to install myself .Being a novice and not that technical my limited understanding is an inverter converts 12 volt DC battery power into 230 volt AC power. So that being the case does the inverter not drain Hab batteries very quickly ? So am I right in assuming the bigger power output the inverter the quicker the drain . Can any one put me straight please ? Thanks chaps

I would firstly decide what 240v equipment you are going to use on the van - In our case we wanted domestic type kettle hair dryer etc, and albeit we can't switch everything on at once, we don't have to use low power camping gear. We charge our e bikes on DC chargers, and our laptop, pad and phones are all 12v, but for haircare/coffee it has to be 240v, and the bikes charge quicker on the 240v chargers, as does the tyre pump. So it's convenient.

Next if you are going to use sites with EHU all the time, you won't need an inverter, since you will just use EHU.

If you are going to use 240v kit, and expect to be off grid/without EHU, then an inverter will be needed.

Yes the Inverter will use battery power, a lot if you use the full 1800w, so its good to have a decent size battery bank. The Carthago options will work of course, but two 80ah gels is a bit low in my view. Having said that they'll still last a few years I'd guess before needing replacement

So if you want 1800w or more, it is likely you will also want the bigger capacity battery options, or one of the lithium options, which are now much better than when we ordered, but they are expensive.

The bigger battery will need recharging, so you may want to add solar, again Carthago can do this

If you cost all of this from Carthago (with the dealers input), then talk to someone like Offgrid/Vanbitz about the options you have for aftermarket kit, there maybe a useful saving, or improved performance/capacity. The inverter wiring on it's own is not a huge job or cost compared to some of the kit costs, but the best advice will come from Offgrid/Vanbitz or other supplier with a good reputation, and not an old fool like me!

This stuff sits in the background on the van, so it doesn't look like stuff that's been added in an amateur fashion - it'll mostly be in the garage. In our van you wouldn't know it was there until you look in the garage, and the main hab panel works normally, the only difference we have in the van is there is no Dometic inverter panel, and we use phone or pad to turn on the inverter, we do also have a separate screen to control it all (Solar, B2b, EHU charger Inverter, battery Monitor), but the phone is quicker!

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[Just us on Tour]

I think the dealer has a very good point there.

Only if you actually use that available power.

If the inverter is switched off, it uses nothing.

Once switched on the battery drain is (almost) directly related to the power being used.
(after you allow a small drain just for it being left switched on)

Yes , I can see where the dealer is coming from . Can you put things into perspective for me please . For example if I were to boil a 800 watt kettle and I had two 90 amp Hab batteries how many times do you think I could boil the kettle before killing the batteries ? Can it be estimated roughly ? Please forgive my ignorance only we have only ever used sites and been on EHU so I just don’t understand battery use.

 

[G7UXG]

Ok my dealer is suggesting I do include the coffee package within my build. The reason for this is it has an inverter included . From the response I have had on here many of you say the inverter that Carthago supply is not particularly powerful or very good . However my dealer says the key thing is the factory put all the wiring in . If I were to go for a dealer fit they would have to install the wiring which would be costly and time consuming .

I’ve previously fitted a large inverter to a Carthago C-Line that didn’t have one as a factory option. It’s really not that difficult to do, including wiring it to all of the van’s sockets. A competent technician would do it in an afternoon I’d guess.

That said, current van has the Carthago option of a Dometic inverter and coffee machine. Don’t use the coffee machine much because our mokka pot makes better coffee for less money.

More than happy with the 1800 watt inverter, the heaviest electrical item we run is the wife’s hairdryer and it handles that no problem.

We have upgraded to 300ah of lithium and a better charging system, but whilst LPG is still easily available in Europe, and not too expensive, we’ll keep on using gas to cook and heat water etc., so no real need for me at the moment to upgrade to more fancy electronics to handle high power drain electrical appliances.

It really depends how you intend to use your van. The Carthago option of an inverter will suffice for basic requirements like mine. Although it’s a little expensive, it’s an easy option.

 

[Just us on Tour]

I’ve previously fitted a large inverter to a Carthago C-Line that didn’t have one as a factory option. It’s really not that difficult to do, including wiring it to all of the van’s sockets. A competent technician would do it in an afternoon I’d guess.

That said, current van has the Carthago option of a Dometic inverter and coffee machine. Don’t use the coffee machine much because our mokka pot makes better coffee for less money.

More than happy with the 1800 watt inverter, the heaviest electrical item we run is the wife’s hairdryer and it handles that no problem.

We have upgraded to 300ah of lithium and a better charging system, but whilst LPG is still easily available in Europe, and not too expensive, we’ll keep on using gas to cook and heat water etc., so no real need for me at the moment to upgrade to more fancy electronics to handle high power drain electrical appliances.

It really depends how you intend to use your van. The Carthago option of an inverter will suffice for basic requirements like mine. Although it’s a little expensive, it’s an easy option.

Thank you

 

[Jwats]

In the simplest terms a standard Carthago has 1 circuit and the boiler sockets and fridge, including socket for the coffee machine. If you have the Carthago factory inverter (quite a lot fail on the transfer switch) then they have 2 circuits, 1 for the boiler fridge charger and a seperate circuit with a dedicated rcbo for the the inverter circuit. This is where the cost comes in in labour as a retrofit you have to seperate the appliances from the sockets and run through a new rcbo. For someone who is very good and familiar with Carthago wiring this could all be done in a day but for a novice who isn’t used to Carthagos it could take a while longer

 

[Al n Val]

I thought about starting another post on this , however I am sure with the wonderful response I have had from this post someone on here will put me right . Ok my dealer is suggesting I do include the coffee package within my build. The reason for this is it has an inverter included . From the response I have had on here many of you say the inverter that Carthago supply is not particularly powerful or very good . However my dealer says the key thing is the factory put all the wiring in . If I were to go for a dealer fit they would have to install the wiring which would be costly and time consuming . I must confess I don’t really understand electrics so wouldn’t want to install myself .Being a novice and not that technical my limited understanding is an inverter converts 12 volt DC battery power into 230 volt AC power. So that being the case does the inverter not drain Hab batteries very quickly ? So am I right in assuming the bigger power output the inverter the quicker the drain . Can any one put me straight please ? Thanks chaps

Steve

whatever Carthago can do, Offgrid Power Solutions can do it better, neater and a lot cheaper, seriously you need to trust me/us on that.

They’ll fit a crap inverter with shit wiring which will fail, Offgrid will spec a Victron Multiplus II and I can say from experience it’s a game changer.

Just ask WESTY66 who has a Carthago, he’s had Victron and thinks it’s fantastic as I do

Don’t worry about the wiring as they’ll run better quality and neater, you cannot see my wiring at all and they’ve done a lot in our motorhome

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[Just us on Tour]

Steve

whatever Carthago can do, Offgrid Power Solutions can do it better, neater and a lot cheaper, seriously you need to trust me/us on that.

They’ll fit a crap inverter with shit wiring which will fail, Offgrid will spec a Victron Multiplus II and I can say from experience it’s a game changer.

Just ask WESTY66 who has a Carthago, he’s had Victron and thinks it’s fantastic as I do

Don’t worry about the wiring as they’ll run better quality and neater, you cannot see my wiring at all and they’ve done a lot in our motorhome

Thanks Al , I will give him a call tomorrow. I am out of my depth on electrics !

 

[Al n Val]

Thanks Al , I will give him a call tomorrow. I am out of my depth on electrics !

Seriously any dealer or manufacturer will do you no favours when it comes to addons and upgrades

Go to an independent who’s recommended by us lot who have used them

and i’m not on commission

I honestly will never go to anyone else

PS. not sure if this is correct but if you only get 2 x 80ah lead batteries, well that is disgustingl for a premium motorhome

Go lithium as big as you can, plenty of solar and a decent (Victron) B2B

 

[Lenny HB]

For example if I were to boil a 800 watt kettle and I had two 90 amp Hab batteries how many times do you think I could boil the kettle before killing the batteries ?

Carthago fit 80ah gel batteries so based on two of them.
We use a 800 watt kettle and normally fill enough for 2 mugs which is about ½ full and it takes 5½ min to boil. I could boil it approx 20 times before the batteries would be at 20% which is minimum you would take Gels to.

The big but is you are taking far too higher current out out the batteries approx 72 amp current draw.
You shouldn't draw more than the C5 rate which for 2 x 80 ah batteries is 32 amps.

 

[Jwats]

At least Carthago are listening to what people are doing so have added a mastervolt system with 3000va inverter charger with 300amp lithium and remote monitoring etc, probably seeing everyone adding victron and wanted to offer something although still a lot more pricey than aftermarket

 

[LostInSpace]

Can you put things into perspective for me please

Lenny has given you some figures, but my perspective is that battery/inverter technology iis not the way to go for the size of vans which we have..

A bottle of LPG has far, far more stored energy than any batteries. And it is quicker than electric, so we use the LPG for anything which requires real energy (cooking. hot drinks, heating, hot water etc)

We do have a pure sine wave inverter, but we use it things which in our van gas cannot do - charge the laptop, toothbrushes and other small electricals without USB,

Our lithium leisure batteries then easily last for the times which we are off-grid.

We prefer filter coffee rather than any coffee machine, but do like coffee shops when out and about. (and other people do the work)

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[AdrianChen]

At least Carthago are listening to what people are doing so have added a mastervolt system with 3000va inverter charger with 300amp lithium and remote monitoring etc, probably seeing everyone adding victron and wanted to offer something although still a lot more pricey than aftermarket

Mastervolt is good quality kit as well, albeit expensive. Would be pleased to have it, and it was a close call vs Victron when we did the upgrades on ours.

 

[Just us on Tour]

Lenny has given you some figures, but my perspective is that battery/inverter technology iis not the way to go for the size of vans which we have..

A bottle of LPG has far, far more stored energy than any batteries. And it is quicker than electric, so we use the LPG for anything which requires real energy (cooking. hot drinks, heating, hot water etc)

We do have a pure sine wave inverter, but we use it things which in our van gas cannot do - charge the laptop, toothbrushes and other small electricals without USB,

Our lithium leisure batteries then easily last for the times which we are off-grid.

We prefer filter coffee rather than any coffee machine, but do like coffee shops when out and about. (and other people do the work)

Yes , I think that’s a valid point we need to consider . At the moment we do not have an inverter on our existing van . If I am honest we only generally use campsites with hard standing and EHU . It think there has only been one occasion where we parked on an industrial estate overnight whilst waiting for the garage to open that fitted our tow bar. I suppose the question begs is will we actually use an inverter…..or is it the case once you have one it will open up more opportunities. I don’t think we will ever “wild camp” due to the size of our van . We are over 8m long now and the new van will be 8.7m .

 

[AdrianChen]

Yes , I think that’s a valid point we need to consider . At the moment we do not have an inverter on our existing van . If I am honest we only generally use campsites with hard standing and EHU . It think there has only been one occasion where we parked on an industrial estate overnight whilst waiting for the garage to open that fitted our tow bar. I suppose the question begs is will we actually use an inverter…..or is it the case once you have one it will open up more opportunities. I don’t think we will ever “wild camp” due to the size of our van . We are over 8m long now and the new van will be 8.7m .

Given that it is so easy to upgrade later, then I would just use the van with standard battery and charging, it should easily manage one night. The Carthago optional inverter/Coffee pack if not used much because you are on EHU will do no harm to the batteries, and then you have an simple upgrade path if you find you need/want more in the future.

At least that's how I saw it on the E Line which we changed because of other reasons, not the battery/charging etc.

 

[Spara4042]

Given that it is so easy to upgrade later, then I would just use the van with standard battery and charging, it should easily manage one night. The Carthago optional inverter/Coffee pack if not used much because you are on EHU will do no harm to the batteries, and then you have an simple upgrade path if you find you need/want more in the future.

At least that's how I saw it on the E Line which we changed because of other reasons, not the battery/charging etc.

Can I be so bold as to ask why you changed your E line?
We're thinking of buying one & any advice/comments would be gratefully received.

 

[Deadloss]

You can buy the coffee machine without the inverter, which is what we did. We like the slide out system that the Nespresso machine sits on and are happy with the Nespresso coffee (I really hope this statement doesn't start another debate!). Agree with others, that for electrical options there are much better quality and value upgrades from third parties - which is also what we've done.

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[AntonyA]

Mercedes sit front down more and we were advised if we do have levellers fitted you would nearly always have to use manual.mode rather than auto. Also Merc very narrow track so body sticks out more from wheels. Reliability probably about the same, you hear more issues with Fiat cos probably 90% MH built on them.

Hi Michael, we are just in the process of adding the auto leveller's to our new carthago, you are saying with the Merc, using auto level most of the time would not be possible, why is that? The dealer has not said anything about this. Thanks for your help. Would this issue depend on the brand and model of leveller's used?

 

[Deadloss]

you are saying with the Merc, using auto level most of the time would not be possible

Our C-Line is on a Merc and we've had E&P levelling fitting. Auto-level has worked on every pitch we've been on. It's only on our drive (which has a significant slope) where it has said we need to manually level it.

 

[MichaelT]

Hi Michael, we are just in the process of adding the auto leveller's to our new carthago, you are saying with the Merc, using auto level most of the time would not be possible, why is that? The dealer has not said anything about this. Thanks for your help. Would this issue depend on the brand and model of leveller's used?

That's what I was told by SAP regarding E&P, maybe have a chat with them.

 

[optimus-prime]

Hi,
I've a Liner for Two which I bought in 2022 from a dealer already fitted with a coffee machine and inverter.
Just wondered if you'd had any issues with the inverter.

No issues so far. We use the inverter daily for the kettle and dishwasher, and weekly for the washing machine

 

[AdrianChen]

Can I be so bold as to ask why you changed your E line?
We're thinking of buying one & any advice/comments would be gratefully received.

We only really changed to get more payload, and possibly wouldn't have done at all except for the larger shower area on the new 61XL vs the old 51QB E. I also liked the way the 210hp engine was quite lazy compared to the Merc which could be noisy when on hills etc - We had also slid around a bit on wet grass, and scrabbled up some unmade field entrances with FWD so the RWD and difflock on the Iveco was a bonus.

Our E Line was a 51QB tag axle, and taken up to 5.5 ton if I remember with 2.3 on the front axle, it was enough but we were getting steadily closer, and I thought at some point we'd need to clear the junk out, but we do at times have full tanks, and all our stuff is heavy domestic, not light camping etc, The S Plus just added more headroom before we hit max - but the cost is fuel economy (18-19mpg ish at 6.3 tons), and the quality of the Merc systems like the cruise control, cross wind system and auto wipers which just seem to work better/more accurately on the Merc.

The Merc did have quite soft suspension on the front (being a Tag it was incredibly stable on motorways etc), but it did hobbyhorse a few times on undulating surfaces, once was quite unnerving, and I think it needed stronger springs and better dampers, but at that time these weren't available from anyone, although I think perhaps VB can do it now (they have been saying they will for a while now). The Iveco solved that, but the ride was a bit too harsh - so I had to adjust the suspension and add some stronger dampers.

We did have the 170hp engine option which I would say is important if your getting up to the max weight - 24/25mpg loaded if I remember.

We compared the Splus to an E line XL that was in the showroom at the same time, there's no difference - except for the base vehicle payload and if you're going to tow then towing/train weight is better on the S. Height is also a bit more on the S, but haven't taken the roof off yet.

Observations that stick in my mind:
The only real criticism of our 51QB was the sliding dividers at the back, were a pain and we would have removed them, and the size of the living area table which seems to be a Carthago thing - they like to put in banqueting tables, very easy to replace though so on the S we had a smaller one made up, and screwed that to the existing leg.

The garage floor antislip was a bit rough it reminded me of old fashioned deck paint on a boat where you just threw in some sand to normal paint, so needs a covering - we used some sheet rubber "checkerplate" that worked very well the new van came with aluminium which is slippy but looks the part and hasn't taken any more of the finish off our outside furniture.

The E had VB leveling fitted, it worked very well with no trouble, but the main pump was fitted under the van chassis, it was very neatly done with a nicely made cover, but less accessible than if it were inbetween the floors as our S Plus is (although a bit too close to the waterpump in my view). We had to reset the S Plus system when it was new which involved accessing and pulling a fuse on the pump unit - would have been a pain on the E.

The Merc did get through the starter battery quickly when not in use - Most makes do I think so not related to being an E Line - definitely fit a battery master or similar - ours had a CBE CSB2 fitted by the dealer when I moaned - it worked, but I think over the winter a Battery Master would have been better.

So it comes down to the extra length over our previous E, and the payload/RWD of the Iveco.

P.S. - the Merc used around half as much addblue, which I don't understand!

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[Just us on Tour]

We only really changed to get more payload, and possibly wouldn't have done at all except for the larger shower area on the new 61XL vs the old 51QB E. I also liked the way the 210hp engine was quite lazy compared to the Merc which could be noisy when on hills etc - We had also slid around a bit on wet grass, and scrabbled up some unmade field entrances with FWD so the RWD and difflock on the Iveco was a bonus.

Our E Line was a 51QB tag axle, and taken up to 5.5 ton if I remember with 2.3 on the front axle, it was enough but we were getting steadily closer, and I thought at some point we'd need to clear the junk out, but we do at times have full tanks, and all our stuff is heavy domestic, not light camping etc, The S Plus just added more headroom before we hit max - but the cost is fuel economy (18-19mpg ish at 6.3 tons), and the quality of the Merc systems like the cruise control, cross wind system and auto wipers which just seem to work better/more accurately on the Merc.

The Merc did have quite soft suspension on the front (being a Tag it was incredibly stable on motorways etc), but it did hobbyhorse a few times on undulating surfaces, once was quite unnerving, and I think it needed stronger springs and better dampers, but at that time these weren't available from anyone, although I think perhaps VB can do it now (they have been saying they will for a while now). The Iveco solved that, but the ride was a bit too harsh - so I had to adjust the suspension and add some stronger dampers.

We did have the 170hp engine option which I would say is important if your getting up to the max weight - 24/25mpg loaded if I remember.

We compared the Splus to an E line XL that was in the showroom at the same time, there's no difference - except for the base vehicle payload and if you're going to tow then towing/train weight is better on the S. Height is also a bit more on the S, but haven't taken the roof off yet.

Observations that stick in my mind:
The only real criticism of our 51QB was the sliding dividers at the back, were a pain and we would have removed them, and the size of the living area table which seems to be a Carthago thing - they like to put in banqueting tables, very easy to replace though so on the S we had a smaller one made up, and screwed that to the existing leg.

The garage floor antislip was a bit rough it reminded me of old fashioned deck paint on a boat where you just threw in some sand to normal paint, so needs a covering - we used some sheet rubber "checkerplate" that worked very well the new van came with aluminium which is slippy but looks the part and hasn't taken any more of the finish off our outside furniture.

The E had VB leveling fitted, it worked very well with no trouble, but the main pump was fitted under the van chassis, it was very neatly done with a nicely made cover, but less accessible than if it were inbetween the floors as our S Plus is (although a bit too close to the waterpump in my view). We had to reset the S Plus system when it was new which involved accessing and pulling a fuse on the pump unit - would have been a pain on the E.

The Merc did get through the starter battery quickly when not in use - Most makes do I think so not related to being an E Line - definitely fit a battery master or similar - ours had a CBE CSB2 fitted by the dealer when I moaned - it worked, but I think over the winter a Battery Master would have been better.

So it comes down to the extra length over our previous E, and the payload/RWD of the Iveco.

P.S. - the Merc used around half as much addblue, which I don't understand!

We are thinking of the 5400kg 6.2 c Line which is a tag . I believe it has the same layout as your Iveco . We thought we may go fiat due to the slightly increased train weight . Do you think the fiat will be underpowered pulling a tag and towing a small car ?