MoHo interiors - what's your favourite, best for you and how??

[tonyidle]

My last van was an ancient Tabbert FFB Classic 570. That had the entrance door immediately behind the driver. To the left of the door was all kitchen that continued down the off-side and across two-thirds of the rear. Opposite the entrance door was L-shape seating with the short leg of the L towards the rear. Behind that was the wardrobe then bathroom. I slept in the drop-down & wife on the L with the back cushions removed. Two dogs on the floor. Cab seats swivelled so the lounge area was pretty cosy.

My must-haves for the replacement were (in priority order): A class (for the drop-down); entrance door at the rear away from the lounge; a decent side seat for single bed; separate shower cubicle; no rear bed; max 24 feet long. What I bought was a Hymer B584 that ticks all the boxes.

Mine isn't that colour! I've hinged the table so it folds down. What I like about front lounges is the use of the cab seats - normally the most comfortable - & with this van there's a third cab seat as a bonus. We like the two seats opposite each other across the table for reading, browsing, eating, and with the table folded it's good for visitors. I don't carry anything loose inside the van. When we take an awning it goes in the car on the trailer. There's a full width locker under the rear that takes chairs & windbreak and a standard 'Beenybox-type' drawer for smaller stuff.

 

[maz]

interesting.. why do you say that ?

Because as a fulltimer I was always aware that if I lost the windscreen I could be stuck at the side of a road somewhere waiting 2 or 3 weeks for a Burstner windscreen to be shipped in from Germany. Also the glass limit with Comfort Insurance is £3000, which is pushing it for an A-class screen.

 

[maz]

Ah Maz! Our Pilote is a similar layout though we looked at Hobbys amongst all sorts of others.

Trouble with that kitchen configuration is if you are half a couple (or have old enough children) and one is washing up, the other can't dry at the same time. Also MoHo draining boards are not famous for being capacious so it's virtually impossible after eg a meat, spuds + veg plus gravy dinner to get all of it on the drainer, so the drying up needs to be done as the other washes. If you had a pud and a cup of coffee after, before doing the washing up - impossible.

Think you must be thinking of a different Hobby to mine. There is certainly plenty of room for one to wash up and the other to dry. The van doesn't have a draining board - we just put a terry tea towel on the worktop so the 'draining' area can be as large as we like. That way we have plenty of smooth worktop area to use when we're not washing up.

 

[scotjimland]

Because as a fulltimer I was always aware that if I lost the windscreen I could be stuck at the side of a road somewhere waiting 2 or 3 weeks for a Burstner windscreen to be shipped in from Germany. Also the glass limit with Comfort Insurance is £3000, which is pushing it for an A-class screen.

that is a fair point.. and one I used to worry about with my RV while full time. .luckily it was never an issue ..

just reading on the Autoglass site .. they now specialise in motorhome screens .. so perhaps not such a wait..
no idea on costs.. but no doubt more expensive than a Ducato screen..

Q. Do I have to go to Germany to have my Burstner repaired?
A. Not at all, we are familiar with all brands and the finished job would be to the same high standard in the UK.

 

[maz]

Q. Do I have to go to Germany to have my Burstner repaired?
A. Not at all, we are familiar with all brands and the finished job would be to the same high standard in the UK.

It would be a bit difficult to get the van to Germany with a broken windscreen ..........

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[scotjimland]

It would be a bit difficult to get the van to Germany with a broken windscreen ..........

yes, a daft sort of question.. but the point they are making is they can replace a German made van windscreen in the UK.

 

[Lenny HB]

For us it has to have a fixed bed and a fixed table, wasted too many years putting together jigsaw beds (which are never comfortable) and dragging tables out of wardrobes when we had caravans. To us U shaped lounges are a hang over from caravans and just don't work in a Motorhome seems to be a British thing.
Current van is an A Class with twin beds above a garage with front drop down double. Providing the cab seats are good quality captains seats & not the standard Fiat ones they are most comfortable seats in the house. The only downside on our current van is the kitchen area is a bit small, but we have learnt to live with it, we were limited to 7.2m, could possible just get a 7.5m van on the drive.
This is our first A Class would not consider any other type of van now, car like quiet to drive and so easy to reverse with the flat sides, also as we are thinking of getting e-bikes a garage is a must don't want over 5 grands worth of bikes sitting on a rack.

Broken Link Removed

 

[Abacist]

We have a 3 litre Autotrail Savannah which has fixed single beds in the back with a pretty large garage.

We aspire to a something like a Rapido 10000 with a fixed island bed with capacity to sleep 4 and have 4 seat belts although it will sleep and seat 6 again with a 3 litre engine.

We also like the layouts of the Mercedes based Hymer 690 Starline S and the equivalent Iveco based Niemann & Bischoff Flair 8000 but the garages are too tall making the bedrooms too high with steps up to the beds and reducing the height of the bedrooms. Carthago's also look very nice inside!

Got to find something wrong with them as they are too dear in any event! Always good to dream about the impending lottery win!

 

[Popeye]

Broken Link Removed
This was the layout of our last van and it was great all the time that the Boss had the berth nearest the loo, then a couple of years ago when I needed to get up once per night the novelty of the transverse bed wore pretty thin.

Our first foray into larger Motorhomes started with a sneaking admiration for the Scout and her big brother the Arapaho, so we rented one and decided that although we liked the lounge we couldn't be faffed to make up beds each morning and put them away each night. That's when we purchased the Geist 700 Spirit which we've just sold.

Our new van looks like this....... enough room to seat eight in the lounge, two singles or one humungous bed at the rear with doors that will shut the front and the bathroom off and still big enough for my new Trike in the garage away from prying eyes. Then there is another huge electric bed over the driver and front passenger seats.

 

[maz]

yes, a daft sort of question.. but the point they are making is they can replace a German made van windscreen in the UK.

They don't mention, though, whether they keep all types of A-class screen in stock in the UK. As they're a minority item and expensive too, I somehow doubt it.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Mack100]

We chose a u-shaped lounge because of our caravanning days and don't regret it. I fully understand about the faff of making up a bed at night so we simply roll out the Duvalays on each side and that's it.
There is a slight faff stowing the unwanted back cushions each night and also reversing the procedure next morning but that's outweighed by the speed of using Duvalays.

 

[mjltigger]

We chose a u-shaped lounge because of our caravanning days and don't regret it. I fully understand about the faff of making up a bed at night so we simply roll out the Duvalays on each side and that's it.
There is a slight faff stowing the unwanted back cushions each night and also reversing the procedure next morning but that's outweighed by the speed of using Duvalays.

Right now we have a front dinette opposite the door (pvc) with swivel captains seats. This also turns into the bed at night. Behind this we have the bathroom one side and the kitchen the other.

It is a great use of the space but the biggest pita and the reason we are looking to find a slightly bigger van is that in the morning we have to get up together and put the bed away before we do anything else. What we really want is to be able to get up and have a coffee, bit of brekky, go to the loo etc and then one of us pack up while one of us washed up. It seems to add an hour to our snore to door time the way it is. (I bet it is actually nowhere near an hour but it feels like it, especially if we are staying put that night )

 

[funflair]

As you know we have very similar vans. Last year we met a Frenchman with the same van who had cupboards instead of a pulldown bed and wished he had a bed. The more cupboards you have the more you put in them. Would be good to meet sometime and compare notes. We are going to the Weymouth Bagwell farm rally in June, how about you ?
Phil

Hi Phil

No plans for Weymouth, sounds a long way for us.

Going to Norfolk MH show with N+B owners club and planning on Stratford show rally with FUN I was going to post it on N+B owners forum as most are now in FUN as well, see if we can get a sub section going.

Sure our paths will cross sometime.

Martin

 

[funflair]

The sc

It would be a bit difficult to get the van to Germany with a broken windscreen ..........

The screens only crack rather than shatter now that they are laminated, you could ruin a set of wipers though if you drove in the rain with it cracked, personally I would take the risk as I like the A class and our insurance covers the full cost (about £6k in the UK less if you go back to the factory).

 

[Ralph-n-Bev]

Sounds like the ultimate layout that suits us too - only wish we had it

She's yours if you want her ! Save us advertising !
We need to Get our finger out and put her up for sale . Totally refoamed and upholstered by careavan. 2006 top class model . 30 k on clock loads of extras , Man gadgets ! , new camping agilis tyres, breaks discs, cambelt done etc. £25k Ono.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[cruiser]

we have the elddis 400, it has the halve rear . which we turn into a rear bed when we on our own. we have had this one for 25 years. it works for us. and it under 6 mtrs and 3.5 tons. and it fits on my drive.

 

[Deleted member 29692]

I think we've got our best layout now. Both of us hated using an overcab bed and tend to get up at different times in the night and I don't like the idea of making up a bed so an island bed it had to be. When Joseph is with us he uses the drop down. We find the front lounge area is plenty big enough and comfortable enough for the three of us and two dogs. I suppose it would be nice if the kitchen area was a bit bigger but that's just an observation, not a problem as we can use it perfectly well. If we had more "worktop" space we (me!) would just make more mess. We're 7.4m so not excessively long.

 

[Trikeman]

I think we've got our best layout now. Both of us hated using an overcab bed and tend to get up at different times in the night and I don't like the idea of making up a bed so an island bed it had to be. When Joseph is with us he uses the drop down. We find the front lounge area is plenty big enough and comfortable enough for the three of us and two dogs. I suppose it would be nice if the kitchen area was a bit bigger but that's just an observation, not a problem as we can use it perfectly well. If we had more "worktop" space we (me!) would just make more mess. We're 7.4m so not excessively long.

View attachment 57414

Nice - What is it @NickNic ?

Regards,

Trikeman.

 

[Deleted member 29692]

Nice - What is it @NickNic ?

Regards,

Trikeman.

Rapido 9090dF

 

[SMB]

My Swift Sundance 630L has a similar layout to the OP - Large OHC, rear U shaped lounge and half-dinette. It was the first MH I looked at, having researched online what I was looking for as a solo fulltimer - namely a vehicle large enough to live and with the minimum of shuffling things around when I wanted to use them. I sleep in the OHC unless its too hot then I make up the rear bed, the bedding is already in place in the OHC and the dinette is ideal for eating when its raining. In other words I'm a lazy bugger. It is belted for six but in reality it would be for four adults and two kids, the dinette area converted into a bed is too small unless fully extended and it also means that whoever is in the OHC is stranded. The filler cushions therefore have been left at home. I love the rear lounge (see lazy bugger comment) but the van has drawbacks: No garage, no full-size fridge and no individual shower. These would be major considerations if I buy another van, although the only items I have that are too big to store are a coolbox (in bathroom when traveling if not in use) and a zero-gravity chair (told you I was a lazy bugger, on the floor at the rear lounge). Got (almost) all my toys fitted though so I'm happy

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Lenny HB]

The sc

The screens only crack rather than shatter now that they are laminated, you could ruin a set of wipers though if you drove in the rain with it cracked, personally I would take the risk as I like the A class and our insurance covers the full cost (about £6k in the UK less if you go back to the factory).

Our A Class screen is only £1200, if the cost of the screen is more that your windscreen cover the insurance company will treat it as a normal accident claim.
Autoglass can get custom made screens in 2 or 3 days, but I have heard a couple of horror stories about poor fit, where as I have heard glowing reports about Autoglass in Germany I expect they are sourcing genuine screens from the manufacturers.

 

[Petrol_headz]

Autotrail apache 700
Sleep over cab (bedroom), cook and eat dinette (dining room) u shaped lounge . Its like having a bungalow on wheels. No beds to make up or faff love it

 

[Trikeman]

Autotrail apache 700
Sleep over cab (bedroom), cook and eat dinette (dining room) u shaped lounge . Its like having a bungalow on wheels. No beds to make up or faff love it

Same here - bungalow, like it.

Trikeman.

 

[Reallyretired]

Our layout is almost ideal for us. Priorities were a fixed bed and a large separate washroom. The only improvement we would like is an island bed, but the layout of old Mo's wouldn't suit us as I am quite tall and like to stick my feet (which get hot) out of the bottom of the bed.
The drop down bed at the front (A-class) is usually only used for storage. The seats in the lounge/diner area do not make a bed in this model. If SWMBO wants to watch TV, then one of us lies on the bed while the other stretches out in the lounge area. Personally I prefer to lie on the bed to read but sit at the front if on computer. The TV rotates so can be viewed from either, but not both ends. I never watch TV.

 

[Neckender]

We are on our 5th motorhome in 10 years which is an Auto Sleeper Broadway end bathroom with separate large shower, wardrobe large chest of drawers, vanity unit and bench wc. the Kitchen is fitted with full size cooker, fridge, microwave, extractor fan and more worktop than any van we've ever owned. Twin settee's that convert to large double bed or two long singles. Underslung gas tank, outside barbi point and outside 240 socket, this is the most luxurious of any other van we've owned too.

Broken Link Removed

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[tonyidle]

that is a fair point.. and one I used to worry about with my RV while full time. .luckily it was never an issue ..

just reading on the Autoglass site .. they now specialise in motorhome screens .. so perhaps not such a wait..
no idea on costs.. but no doubt more expensive than a Ducato screen..

Q. Do I have to go to Germany to have my Burstner repaired?
A. Not at all, we are familiar with all brands and the finished job would be to the same high standard in the UK.

I had a screen replaced in my last MH a couple of years ago (Tabbert FFB570). The screen was approximately Hymer-size. It was ordered by Autoglass from Germany, arrived after 10 days, and cost £2300 in all. Paid for by insurance windscreen cover.

 

[Cal54]

I have had numerous MH's over the years (7 I think!) from PVC's, to coachbuilt and low profile vans. My current PVC was the only one bought new and I did give a lot of thought into what I wanted. For me the first consideration was a fixed bed, then a toilet compartment that was roomy enough to 'sit' without having my knees in my ears! After that I wanted something no more than 6 meters in length (parking at home a problem) and finally I wanted heating/water to be both gas and electric. Oh and the TV point had to be in a position that was comfortable viewing. Really happy with what I have even if it is built by Swift!!!!

 

[s7ev0]

There was an interesting article I happened to see in what I think was a special edition of the German Reisemobile magazine. It went through all the different types of layouts for different sections of the van - kitchens (galley, L-shaped, end, etc.), bedrooms (over cab, drop down, French, etc.), lounge area and dining area, and gave pros and cons for each. Looked like a very useful piece.

Thing is, I guess each area impacts on the others, so for instance a drop down bed can impact on the dinette/lounge area and an end bathroom normally means a large garage is out of the question. Still an interesting article though (well, what I could understand of it!)

Steve

 

[robnchris]

Hi All,
cracking replies so far and the subject, almost a forum on its own I bet. Interesting to hear the differences in requirements/drivers for layouts (must be a bloody nightmare for manufacturers). Once I thought it was 'fashions' changing that led to differing interiors, however true demands seem to be leading the market - which is good.

We are off today to look at more (for some reason the other half likes looking and 'pawing' vans) so off we go - she's already asked if I have my wallet with me.

Even with the slightly higher running costs of an Arapaho, if one had the same interior, reliability and all the gadgets (solar/air) and in as good condition as ours I think I could sell one of my, (currently) functioning, kidneys to buy it.

Keep em coming.

Thanks,

Trikeman.

We now have an Apache, U shaped lounge every time for us, can`t get our head around the fixed bed idea, (just a wasted space in the daytime), unless of course you struggle to either make up a bed or get up into the over cab bed.

Our last motorhome was the Arapaho, just the perfect layout, large U shaped lounge, with separate dinning area and a large over the cab bed.
Interesting point with the 3 litre engine it was better on fuel consumption, (we did have the engine remapped) than the 2.3litre Apache.

We have been told by almost every dealer we have been to that the U shaped lounge is the most popular design, odd we think as hardly any european motorhomes use this layout.

 

[muddywellies]

Enjoyed reading this post and it just goes to show the incredible variation. Present lifestyle has a big input on final choice with everyone. I came to my Excis by way of a circuitous route. I was looking to get a motor bike and a tent! I arrived in the UK to earn my license and camped in a field a mile from the bike school. 'Living in a tent' at 55 felt a lot different than it did at 25 and 35! A shower-in-a-bag is one thing in the summer but in January quite another! I needed some home comforts. I looked at van converting and gave it a miss. I'm thrilled with my 6m 'shoebox' and it is SO quiet when it becomes a 'bolthole' at night. No TV, no grill, no oven. Have not used these for over a decade so they're not missed by me. I am a fan of alfresco suppers around a BBQ! So I go through a lot of alu foil. I enjoy being able to up-sticks and leave when I want. If I need more space I'll be under the awning! Which reminds me, I need a nice pair of chairs for a tipple under the yard arm of an evening! The final choice of vehicle layout is all about personal lifestyle choice.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}