Choices for new van

Lenny HB said:
The CB Malibu's are on the Fiat Camping Car chassis so single floor, cheaper furnishing. Pretty good vans they look cheap until you spec the necessary extras, once you have done that not much difference in price to a Carthago C-Tourer, so you would be better off with the Tourer.
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The ones Todd’s have for sale have double floor according to their website, I was looking at the t model, the have the i which says is entry level and the t high spec. Will be worth a look when down that way.
 
We looked at the same Carthago 2 weeks ago and it was exactly the same as this one, will need to see it in person to see the difference and compare spec
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lorger said:
We looked at the same Carthago 2 weeks ago and it was exactly the same as this one, will need to see it in person to see the difference and compare spec
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I think the floor it only double skinned & not a true double floor, plus the weight would worry me as we don't travel light.
DP
 
lorger said:
The ones Todd’s have for sale have double floor according to their website, I was looking at the t model, the have the i which says is entry level and the t high spec. Will be worth a look when down that way.
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I think it's a partial double not a full one like you get on an Al-Ko chassis.
 
DP+JAY said:
I think the floor it only double skinned & not a true double floor, plus the weight would worry me as we don't travel light.
DP
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Yes that was one thing I did notice and you’re probably correct about the double skin although the Carthago we view two weeks ago was the exact same. It had one deep hatch and the rest where 4 or 5 inches. I’ll look at both to see the difference.

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Lenny HB said:
I think it's a partial double not a full one like you get on an Al-Ko chassis.
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I think I need to see them side by side to see the difference, although if I’m honest I probably don’t need a double floor as my last 3 vans didn’t have one and I coped in all weathers down to -13 in glenshee.

What your opinion on the Hymer exsis range.
 
lorger said:
We looked at the same Carthago 2 weeks ago and it was exactly the same as this one, will need to see it in person to see the difference and compare spec
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Looks nice but is it constructed exactly the same as a Carthago, regarding wall material , roof, floor etc and same type of insulation?
 
CazPaul said:
Looks nice but is it constructed exactly the same as a Carthago, regarding wall material , roof, floor etc and same type of insulation?
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Thats what I'm trying to find out.
 
lorger said:
I think I need to see them side by side to see the difference, although if I’m honest I probably don’t need a double floor
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Agreed but I'm liking the extra storage the double floor has given us.
 
No, it's not the same. Have a look for example at the roof/sidewall junction, completely different. Having said all that, it's very good and, by appearance, far from an entry level 'van

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CazPaul said:
Looks nice but is it constructed exactly the same as a Carthago, regarding wall material , roof, floor etc and same type of insulation?
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Yes inner & out walls Alloy, GRP roof, same insulation.
As I said not really worth the money (certainly not at silly UK prices), as they are very basic so by the time you have speed them might as well buy a C Tourer.
 
lorger said:
What your opinion on the Hymer exsis range.
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Last van was an Exsis i-678 not a bad van just not as plush as the DL we have now.
New ones are much better and have the alloy internal walls. Nowhere near as well built as Carthagos but they are cheap.
Watch the rear axle loading on the Exsis a lot of them have the water tank behind the rear axle.
 
Euro330 said:
Slightly off subject but are you thinking buying new or used?
My own thoughts are buy an as new, used. There are plenty out there. The amount of peops who think its a great idea to retire/sell up and buy an expensive MoHo and set sail into the sun. 6 Months later they dont like it and the MoHo is up for sale, 500miles on the clock and £1000s of pounds reduced compared to new.
One of my brothers being 1, I bought it of him at a year old as his wife didnt like MoHo`ming (Bailey Approach Autograph 750) then 18mths later he went and bought a Burstner with more or less same layout!
Sounds a bit brutal but let someone else take the initial hit of losing thousands.
Having said that, my last 2 cars I have bought new but only because of the 0% finance that was offered at the time, Ford then Jaguar.
Unfortunately I dont see many Leisure vehicle companies offering 0%, but even so, if you are buying outright you would save a huge amount if buying privately, as not everyone is in the position to buy without going through a dealer and anyone selling privately has a limited amount of potential buyers.
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We're not dead set on new and would take one a couple of years old if looked after and the right price, the problem with some private sellers is they think their vans worth the same as a dealers. If buying private it would have to be a good bit cheaper then dealer price, also have a few folk who bought in Germany asking UK prices for their used van. I bought in Germany and sold on at adjusted price to take this in to account.
 
lorger said:
also have a few folk who bought in Germany asking UK prices for their used van. I boughot in Germany and sold on at adjusted price to take this in to account.
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Shouldn't make any difference where the van was bought it's still worth £xxx. 1st van I brought in Belgium I sold at UK prices, 2nd one I trader in Belgium as I could get more for it as a trade in than selling privately in the UK.
 
Lenny HB said:
Shouldn't make any difference where the van was bought it's still worth £xxx. 1st van I brought in Belgium I sold at UK prices, 2nd one I trader in Belgium as I could get more for it as a trade in than selling privately in the UK.
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I agree to an extent but if you buy a van new at say £55k and keep it 2 years you shouldn't expect to get more for it, you might get the same you paid for it but shouldn't really go up in price.

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The Bailey 750 I mentioned above, I sold for what I paid for it then sold about £1500 of extras that came with it originally. I reckon I saved about £6500 - £7000 compared to dealer prices.
The Bailey Advance 640 I bought, again privately I guess I saved about £2500 - £3500 going by dealer prices.
All a dealer is doing is puting a chunk of cash on for their part.
All manufacturer warranties are transferrable on year old vehicles, provided you do the necessary checks, service/habitaion records, so the dealer is offering nothing extra.
And regard entry level MoHo`s which the 640 Advance is classed as, as it is a newer vehicle to the 750 we had, it is a far superior build quality and compared to some of the dozens of other makes/vehicles we looked at, leaves them standing.
Ultimately as we all know, reading is not enough, phsically inspecting a van and a bit of research re-engine and habitation construction/layout/build quality are all a must.
 
lorger said:
What your opinion on the Hymer exsis range.
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We originally had a PVC for four years, as retirement approached we decided we wanted a bit more luxury and space. We drew up a wishlist similar to yours - fixed single beds with large garage below (big enough for two bikes assembled, together with awning and kayak kit). We also wanted low profile as it needed to fit in our home garage with kayaks on the roof (under 3.5m height with boats on). We also wanted a good sized loo and shower, one you can pull your trousers up without turning the shower on.

After a trip to Dusseldorf and useful contributions on here regarding various benefits of coachbuilt / A class, a Exsis T588 became top of our shortlist, primarily as Hymer were the only company that would guarantee the water ingress warranty with a roof rails fitted. I then sent a email with a minimum specification, any extras being a bonus but not essential, to all the Hymer dealers asking for a price based on a trade in against our Moto-Trek. Travelworld came in with the best quote but before driving down to them I got them to agree a couple of extras being included within their price.

We've had the Exsis since September 2018 and so far so good, it works well for us. Only warranty issues have been a couple of habitation light bulbs. Its certainly warmer than the PVC, the layout works well for us, its not my department but the galley work surfaces are bigger than some much larger van's - consequently the outputs have been at the same high standard as at home.

It has a good initial payload which Travelworld upgraded to 3850 foc.

It is early days but so far good, it may be built to a price point, but it seems properly put together. If we didn't have the height constraints of our garage and the need to fit a roof rack I might have looked at some of the others on your shortlist, but the Exsis gets a thumbs up from us.
 
Hi, did you see the ad in the Fun Magazine Feruary edition. According to the ad £1000s of Burstner and Cathargo`s.
I dont know the cost of these machines but if you are searching it might be of interest.
 
First day of looking over and have to say very impressed with the Malibu, view like for like model with a Carthago and hard to tell the difference and they have the exact same double floor on each van. I think the Carthago has slightly better insulation but considering we don’t plan on being out in -25 ? it won’t make a big difference.
Off to see Knaus, euramobil and Hymer today
 
lorger said:
First day of looking over and have to say very impressed with the Malibu, view like for like model with a Carthago and hard to tell the difference and they have the exact same double floor on each van. I think the Carthago has slightly better insulation but considering we don’t plan on being out in -25 ? it won’t make a big difference.
Off to see Knaus, euramobil and Hymer today
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That Sounds like a good start Gerry.

I would be interested to hear your thoughts on the five marks when compared against each other. It'll be like having our very own FUN comparison test for the day.

Good luck,

Andrew

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There are some good deals in the Hymer range at the moment as the B class Dynamic Line is discontinued and the Exsis range is moving down from the Alko chassis to the basic Fiat one. So if you can find any old stock you could be on to a winner (Our friends just got a new, well optioned DL588 for under £70k from Germany). The BDL is typically a bit flashier, but a well specced Exsis will feel pretty much the same. BDL has the true double floor but is taller and heavier - probably impossible to run at 3500kg. The Exsis is the best van if you want to stick to the limit - we run at 3500 easily (ish).
 
Just viewed a Knaus and euramobil have to say very impressed with the Knaus will give some more details later off to Hymer now
 
Wagoneer said:
A member of Carthago owners UK is selling his immaculate C-Tourer Sport 144, 7m long.

Bought new in January 2017, 16k miles, 150 engine, automatic, VB air suspension, island bed, chassis 3850kg. Yours for £73k. PM me for details if interested.
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An island bed at 7m is going to squeeze things up somewhat.

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Enjoy your new motorhome :cool:
 
weekenders said:
which one have you decided on Gerry?
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We’ve decided on the Knaus Sun TI 650 Meg platinum range, really liked it and reviews are very good also being the platinum it’s quite good spec. Our choice wasn’t easy as loads of good vans out there, we got it down to the Malibu and the Knaus, few things swayed it for the Knaus. It has heavier chassis, auto box and bigger engine amongst other things.
 
lorger said:
We’ve decided on the Knaus Sun TI 650 Meg platinum range, really liked it and reviews are very good also being the platinum it’s quite good spec. Our choice wasn’t easy as loads of good vans out there, we got it down to the Malibu and the Knaus, few things swayed it for the Knaus. It has heavier chassis, auto box and bigger engine amongst other things.
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Nice one, is the Knaus built well with no wood in the construction, gave you looked at the build quality construction of each brand and was that also influencing your final decision?
 

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