New van ordered

[martxer]

After much searching and opening/closing of cupboard doors we have today ordered our 1st motor home. We have picked an adria choral, dealer had it on order and was discounted we are told delivery from factory in 2-4 weeks.
Question is what dealer fit options we should pick/need. We are going to van blitz for alarm and tracker but what to go for from the dealer? Solar panel £600, tv £650, refill gas and 2 bottles £800 looks like the cost soon gets out of control. So what do I need from the dealer and what is best to add later?

 

[Deadloss]

Vanbitz can do the solar and gas as well. It will be cheaper and better quality fitting than getting the dealer to do it. I’d certainly get the solar done straight away, but wait for the refillable gas until you know how you’re using the van. That’s what we’ve done and have not yet felt the need to go down the refillable gas route. Very pleased with the Vanbitz service by the way. TV at £650 also sounds expensive.

 

[Lenny HB]

Solar panel £600, tv £650, refill gas and 2 bottles £800 looks like the cost soon gets out of control. So what do I need from the dealer and what is best to add later?

You can do ll those yourself but if you would rather have it done for electrical work contact our own RogerIvy of Off Grid Power Solutions, they do excellant work at competitive prices and you get a Funster discount.

Offgrid Power Solutions

Offgrid Power Solutions We are specialists in LiFePO4 batteries & Victron Energy systems. We’re here to help build the best offgrid electrical systems so you can focus on your adventure without stressing about how much power you have left! Get in touch with us about how we can help

offgridpower.solutions

 

[martxer]

You can do ll those yourself but if you would rather have it done for electrical work contact our own RogerIvy of Off Grid Power Solutions, they do excellant work at competitive prices and you get a Funster discount.

Offgrid Power Solutions

Offgrid Power Solutions We are specialists in LiFePO4 batteries & Victron Energy systems. We’re here to help build the best offgrid electrical systems so you can focus on your adventure without stressing about how much power you have left! Get in touch with us about how we can help

offgridpower.solutions

I converted a vw transporter and did the electrics with the experience gained I have learned it’s probably best to get someone else to do that side of things

 

[LithiumConvert]

Assuming you are reasonably handy:-

Gas - Truma Duo Control CS and two pigtails for Calor or Safefill (same pigtail)
easy DIY just change the regulator on end of factory pipe.

Batteries - a new van should come with a B2B fitted as standard - so get LiFePO4 batteries.
Do it Yourself. - just change a few dip Switches
Certainly don't let dealer sell you a second AGM (or even a first!)

Personally, we went for dealer Solar panel as any roof water ingress problems go back to dealer.
(and the B2B does the heavy lifting for charging - maybe even fit a second B2B, later)
Again easy DIP switches for battery type

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TV - are you going to Europe? - Do you need Satellite? Do you prefer streaming?
Decisions, decisions. - Later!

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[IRHP]

Don't get the dealer to fit solar unless they are fitting something worthwhile with a decent mppt controller. Dealers usually fit the cheapest 120 or 140 watt panel. You'll be wanting more very quickly. The price for a TV sounds expensive considering they are prepared for power and Aerial.

 

[angusboy]

Vanbitz

 

[TinaLes]

Best Advice for all new purchasers.
Please, Please, don't fall into the trap that many, especially 1st timers do, check out the payload (MIRA) net weight before handing over your dosh.
Reason: looking at The Adria Coral its a nice looking C Class van, but its 7.48 mtrs long on a standard Fiat Chassis, unless its the Mercedes at loads more money of course.
Any 7.48 Mtr van with 2X 100amp/hour leisure AGM batteries, spare wheel, Full Side awning, with full diesel tank, even only 25% fresh water for travelling, 2x 11Kg Gas Bottles, One Driver at 75Kgs it will be hard pushed to offer a usable payload at a max weight of 3650Kgs as standard.
It can be uprated to 3850 taking the rear axel from 2000Kgs to 2250Kgs by having Semi Air suspension fitted on the rear axel, hopefully it has 16" Alloy wheels with tyres above 116 weight loading, ideally 118/121.
You will need to use companies like SV tech/or Van Eight Engineering to do the re-plating and paperwork for the DVLA to uprate the V5 log book to max weight of 3850Kgs, this 200Kgs upgrade will cost you time & money even fitting the semi air yourself which many have done.

So even acting as your "Best Mate" Please get a weigh Bridge certificate showing nett weight before you buy it and then you will know what the useable legal payload really is, stand by to be astonished as we were.
Don't let the dealer tell you that your shiny new van is fine it has a 350/400Kgs Payload, we were told that, Its sometimes in the Brochure, but after weighing on a weigh bridge, it ended up being 150Kgs not 500Kgs, needing to spend another load of dosh getting it uprated to 3850Kgs which is still very tight for two of us on a long trip.
Good Luck, please read the new purchase advice link on this forum, Payload is one of the most important issues covered up by many manufacturers, many vans cannot be fit for purpose or indeed legal at 3500/3650Kgs especially over 7Mtrs long.
The Law needs to change to protect us all, but nothing is done.
LES

 

[Parrot Face]

If you go to vanbitz contact mirrorguard to get protectors fitted, its only an extra short drive to his workshop and if you ask him nicely you can get him to fit them for you.

 

[DandG5515]

Personally I wouldn’t have any fitted by the dealer prior to using the van, I would use the van for 6 months and then conclude what you need to upgrade. For example we did 4 years on single leisure battery and no solar because at the time was we did short weekend trips with long drives or longer holidays on electric hook up. Only when we started staying longer stationary did we upgrade to twin battery and solar.

Gas I have one refillable 11kg bottle (cost £200) and a calor back up. I have friends that have only used 1x6kg calor bottle in 2 years (only cook with it) A refillable system would be a waste of money for them. Totally depends on how you use your van, just go and enjoy.

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[hja]

I think the weight issue is really important. With those weights, do you have a C1 license.
Wherever you decide to go for fitting, I wouldn’t be without our refillable gaslow cylinders.

 

[Dickyb]

We looked at the Adria Coral at the motorhome show last month, we loved it and the shower was excellent for my height of 6ft 4, unfortunately we had to rule it out for all the reasons above that LES said, the dealer selling didn’t see it as a problem we chose the Burstner TD 736 instead with a 4400kg gross, our current hymer is about 700kg payload and wouldn’t consider anything any less.

 

[Burge]

After much searching and opening/closing of cupboard doors we have today ordered our 1st motor home. We have picked an adria choral, dealer had it on order and was discounted we are told delivery from factory in 2-4 weeks.
Question is what dealer fit options we should pick/need. We are going to van blitz for alarm and tracker but what to go for from the dealer? Solar panel £600, tv £650, refill gas and 2 bottles £800 looks like the cost soon gets out of control. So what do I need from the dealer and what is best to add later?

£650 for a TV .... Just bought a 2nd TV for watching in Bed from Argos Smart TV 22 ins £109

 

[VXman]

Don't get the dealer to fit solar unless they are fitting something worthwhile with a decent mppt controller. Dealers usually fit the cheapest 120 or 140 watt panel. You'll be wanting more very quickly. The price for a TV sounds expensive considering they are prepared for power and Aerial.

Careful with getting stuff like solar panels fitted by non dealer. It can invalidate the warranty should you get any water ingress/damp that can be connected to the installation. Of course you might have some comeback on the fitter but it's a risk.

Talkin from experience.

 

[clonkel]

Careful with getting stuff like solar panels fitted by non dealer. It can invalidate the warranty should you get any water ingress/damp that can be connected to the installation. Of course you might have some comeback on the fitter but it's a risk.

We had solar panels fitted by OffGrid. They used the existing cabling route and the two added panels are glued to the roof. I would 'guess' that would not invalidate the warranty as the hole was already existing and nothing had been done to the cable.

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[martxer]

Thanks everyone for your replies.
We mainly stream tv so will sort our own out.
I have a c1 dealer said we should have 600kg payload more than enough “his words”
It does make sense to use the van and then see what we need.
We are planning on trips around uk so solar is a waste . With a few European trips thrown in later next year.
I have an eco flow delta so for now I could get away with just a Wi-Fi router and the van blitz alarm/ immobiliser and see what is needed later.

 

[DandG5515]

Thanks everyone for your replies.
We mainly stream tv so will sort our own out.
I have a c1 dealer said we should have 600kg payload more than enough “his words”
It does make sense to use the van and then see what we need.
We are planning on trips around uk so solar is a waste . With a few European trips thrown in later next year.
I have an eco flow delta so for now I could get away with just a Wi-Fi router and the van blitz alarm/ immobiliser and see what is needed later.

Forgot to mention we have 2 phones on different networks and hotspot our iPad on the best signal to stream TV, haven’t carried a TV for 4 years. Love going abroad and not watching TV with depressing news. I always find there is more than one way to do everything, it’s finding what best for you before spending the money. Just enjoy the journey.

 

[TinaLes]

Thanks everyone for your replies.
We mainly stream tv so will sort our own out.
I have a c1 dealer said we should have 600kg payload more than enough “his words”
It does make sense to use the van and then see what we need.
We are planning on trips around uk so solar is a waste . With a few European trips thrown in later next year.
I have an eco flow delta so for now I could get away with just a Wi-Fi router and the van blitz alarm/ immobiliser and see what is needed later.

I would bet my bottom dollar that an Adria Coral at 7.47mtrs has 600 Kgs Payload even before the awning is fitted & any dealer extras.
The Net weight Mira Rules are that the van has 90% full Fuel Tank, 25lts of water, I Gas Cylinder, 1 Leisure battery, Plus driver @ 75Kgs, only then can the remaining Payload after weighing be accurate.

Hopefully others on here and elsewhere will tell you that there isn't a 7.47 coach built motor home on the market with 600KGs Usable Payload even at 3650Kgs.
Our van at 3650Kgs is the same size as yours, payload quoted at 525KGS, had awning fitted, full diesel tank, 50% fresh water, 2 Gas bottles refillable, 2 leisure batteries, I Pair of ramps in rear garage, me in driving seat @80 Kgs, nothing else, weigh bridge cert read 3480 so only 120Kgs left for wife and anything else.
I had to fork out another 2K to have semi air suspension on rear axel, plus 4 new higher loaded tyres, the get the van re-plated to 4000Kgs to make it half way usable, and give me enough headroom to carry an aluminium spare wheel & tyre in the rear.
Please get your van weighed, or there will be tears at what you cannot carry, but feel you need for a decent trip.
LES

 

[LithiumConvert]

martxer Just ignore us all and enjoy your new motorhome.

 

[martxer]

I would bet my bottom dollar that an Adria Coral at 7.47mtrs has 600 Kgs Payload even before the awning is fitted & any dealer extras.
The Net weight Mira Rules are that the van has 90% full Fuel Tank, 25lts of water, I Gas Cylinder, 1 Leisure battery, Plus driver @ 75Kgs, only then can the remaining Payload after weighing be accurate.

Hopefully others on here and elsewhere will tell you that there isn't a 7.47 coach built motor home on the market with 600KGs Usable Payload even at 3650Kgs.
Our van at 3650Kgs is the same size as yours, payload quoted at 525KGS, had awning fitted, full diesel tank, 50% fresh water, 2 Gas bottles refillable, 2 leisure batteries, I Pair of ramps in rear garage, me in driving seat @80 Kgs, nothing else, weigh bridge cert read 3480 so only 120Kgs left for wife and anything else.
I had to fork out another 2K to have semi air suspension on rear axel, plus 4 new higher loaded tyres, the get the van re-plated to 4000Kgs to make it half way usable, and give me enough headroom to carry an aluminium spare wheel & tyre in the rear.
Please get your van weighed, or there will be tears at what you cannot carry, but feel you need for a decent trip.
LES

Saw this before ordering
Adria Compact with the 9 speed auto comes from Fiat as a base vehicle plated at 3650kg. Adria sell it as either a 3500kg van for obvious licence/marketing reasons, or with a ‘free’ ‘Upgrade’ back to 3650kg for those with a C1 licence wanting to save on the RFL.

It has all the heavy duty items already fitted - wheels, tyres, hubs, brakes and front suspension - to make an up plating exercise to 4250kg with 2400kg on the rear axle, relatively painless by just fitting rear air.

I believe semi air makes the handling so much better and an item I have factored in adding at some point

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[TinaLes]

Saw this before ordering
Adria Compact with the 9 speed auto comes from Fiat as a base vehicle plated at 3650kg. Adria sell it as either a 3500kg van for obvious licence/marketing reasons, or with a ‘free’ ‘Upgrade’ back to 3650kg for those with a C1 licence wanting to save on the RFL.

It has all the heavy duty items already fitted - wheels, tyres, hubs, brakes and front suspension - to make an up plating exercise to 4250kg with 2400kg on the rear axle, relatively painless by just fitting rear air.

I believe semi air makes the handling so much better and an item I have factored in adding at some point

If that is the case, then great news as it was obvious that the van would not work at 3500 Kgs without C1, let alone 3650Kgs with a C1.
As you have a C1 then I would ask the dealer to up plate the van to its maximum whilst registering it with The DVLA, with semi air as part of the negotiation...you only get one chance when you purchase, maybe even offer to fund 50% of the semi air cost to get it to 4250Kgs.
Good luck, let us know what happens.
Les

 

[IRHP]

If your dealer says you have 600kg payload get them to weigh it. Even at 3650kg there is no way the base van is 3050kg no matter what Adria say.

 

[Coolcats]

After much searching and opening/closing of cupboard doors we have today ordered our 1st motor home. We have picked an adria choral, dealer had it on order and was discounted we are told delivery from factory in 2-4 weeks.
Question is what dealer fit options we should pick/need. We are going to van blitz for alarm and tracker but what to go for from the dealer? Solar panel £600, tv £650, refill gas and 2 bottles £800 looks like the cost soon gets out of control. So what do I need from the dealer and what is best to add later?

Just a thought around the TV do t get a ‘smart’ TV maybe something like an Avtex and just use an Apple TV or Firestick.

 

[Eug]

I think the weight issue is really important. With those weights, do you have a C1 license.
Wherever you decide to go for fitting, I wouldn’t be without our refillable gaslow cylinders.

Eug
I Iive in SW London would love to hear where you can refill Gaslow as I am having no luck.

 

[KASPAR]

Eug
I Iive in SW London would love to hear where you can refill Gaslow as I am having no luck.

Use the myLPG.eu App on your phone or the website.

Herds Garage
404 Staines Rd West, Ashford TW15 1RZ
Staines

Hounslow Service Station
A4 Great West Rd or A3006 Bath Road,TW5 9AN
Hounslow

Addlestone Service Station
Chertsey Rd, KT15 2ED
Addlestone

En route to wherever you are going there'll be availability. We normally fill on way home as there is an Autogas place that fills for you near home.

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[Ber090]

After much searching and opening/closing of cupboard doors we have today ordered our 1st motor home. We have picked an adria choral, dealer had it on order and was discounted we are told delivery from factory in 2-4 weeks.
Question is what dealer fit options we should pick/need. We are going to van blitz for alarm and tracker but what to go for from the dealer? Solar panel £600, tv £650, refill gas and 2 bottles £800 looks like the cost soon gets out of control. So what do I need from the dealer and what is best to add later?

I would definitely let Van Blitz quote for all the items you have listed. You will get quality work and save hassle. No connection with Van Bitz, just a happy customer.
Cheers
Bernie

 

[Peter Clark]

Best Advice for all new purchasers.
Please, Please, don't fall into the trap that many, especially 1st timers do, check out the payload (MIRA) net weight before handing over your dosh.
Reason: looking at The Adria Coral its a nice looking C Class van, but its 7.48 mtrs long on a standard Fiat Chassis, unless its the Mercedes at loads more money of course.
Any 7.48 Mtr van with 2X 100amp/hour leisure AGM batteries, spare wheel, Full Side awning, with full diesel tank, even only 25% fresh water for travelling, 2x 11Kg Gas Bottles, One Driver at 75Kgs it will be hard pushed to offer a usable payload at a max weight of 3650Kgs as standard.
It can be uprated to 3850 taking the rear axel from 2000Kgs to 2250Kgs by having Semi Air suspension fitted on the rear axel, hopefully it has 16" Alloy wheels with tyres above 116 weight loading, ideally 118/121.
You will need to use companies like SV tech/or Van Eight Engineering to do the re-plating and paperwork for the DVLA to uprate the V5 log book to max weight of 3850Kgs, this 200Kgs upgrade will cost you time & money even fitting the semi air yourself which many have done.

So even acting as your "Best Mate" Please get a weigh Bridge certificate showing nett weight before you buy it and then you will know what the useable legal payload really is, stand by to be astonished as we were.
Don't let the dealer tell you that your shiny new van is fine it has a 350/400Kgs Payload, we were told that, Its sometimes in the Brochure, but after weighing on a weigh bridge, it ended up being 150Kgs not 500Kgs, needing to spend another load of dosh getting it uprated to 3850Kgs which is still very tight for two of us on a long trip.
Good Luck, please read the new purchase advice link on this forum, Payload is one of the most important issues covered up by many manufacturers, many vans cannot be fit for purpose or indeed legal at 3500/3650Kgs especially over 7Mtrs long.
The Law needs to change to protect us all, but nothing is done.
LES

Agreed Les - manufacturers and dealers should be prosecuted for fraud, selling vehicles that are not fit for purpose - particularly in regard to payload.
Example: I was seriously considering buying a Hymer CROSSOVER - until I did some basic arithmetic.
With a tow bar fitted, four people of 75kgs seated, water and fuel tanks full - it is 2kgs OVER its max permitted load - that’s with NO luggage, equipment, food & drink etc.
Pointed this out to Hymer dealers and factory representatives at the NEC - their solution “take fewer people”.
Pointed out that part of my spec was 4 belted seats - shrugs and no interest.
As Hymer have other Mercedes based vehicle rated at 4430 kgs I asked if I could specify this at the factory - “ No, if you want to increase rating you will have to arrange that yourself”
Of course when you look at the spec of the Autonomy so called off grid electrical system - that is also a bit of a joke - 320 Ah lithium - 1800 watt inverter that will not run continuously above 1600 watts - 190 watts solar - Hymer blurb says you can operate off grid for up to 10 days, presumably because the batteries go flat even if you are just using the lights and basic utilities, if you actually plugged something into 230 v presumably you would need EHU within 48 hours.

As a parting shot, the level of ignorance and apathy displayed by the majority of Hymer stand staff at the NEC was quite shocking - probably the most embarrassingly ignorant were from Travelworld/Erwin Hymer.

PS: ref OP - personally I would always go for Gaslow, so convenient to be able to fill a 1/3 or 1/4 full bottle.
However my current plan is buy an MLT and have a proper off grid elec system installed - and replace the gas hob with elec induction - Goodbye Gas!

 

[Fragle]

Thanks everyone for your replies.
We mainly stream tv so will sort our own out.
I have a c1 dealer said we should have 600kg payload more than enough “his words”
It does make sense to use the van and then see what we need.
We are planning on trips around uk so solar is a waste . With a few European trips thrown in later next year.
I have an eco flow delta so for now I could get away with just a Wi-Fi router and the van blitz alarm/ immobiliser and see what is needed later.

As we have not long ago sold our Adria coral I Would seriously make a trip to the weigh bridge. Or better still get them to supply the ticket with the 3 weights for your van (front, rear and total)

We found we had very little payload that we had no choice but to up plate to 3.9t to make it usable. (max for our chassis)

I've just seen your post about uprating. I fitted the rear air myself. Very easy to do also once above 3.5t go as high as you can.
3.65t is a waste of time as axle weights stay the same so you will easily go over.

On the Ecoflow. Get the alternator charger. No need for huge solar then. Plug from Ecoflow into mains hook up point and the whole van is 240v. Cheaper than getting full lithium for now.

 

[Adeydub]

Thanks everyone for your replies.
We mainly stream tv so will sort our own out.
I have a c1 dealer said we should have 600kg payload more than enough “his words”
It does make sense to use the van and then see what we need.
We are planning on trips around uk so solar is a waste . With a few European trips thrown in later next year.
I have an eco flow delta so for now I could get away with just a Wi-Fi router and the van blitz alarm/ immobiliser and see what is needed later.

Some great advice here, one thing to add - enjoy, maybe see you around sometime

 

[lorger]

We looked at the Adria Coral at the motorhome show last month, we loved it and the shower was excellent for my height of 6ft 4, unfortunately we had to rule it out for all the reasons above that LES said, the dealer selling didn’t see it as a problem we chose the Burstner TD 736 instead with a 4400kg gross, our current hymer is about 700kg payload and wouldn’t consider anything any less.

You kept that a secret nice looking van and should give you a lot more room.