# New owner of a 2009 Dethleffs Esprit I7870L



## Hedg (Aug 16, 2012)

Mornin all. Mate of mine and I co-bought one of these y'day from Pullingers in Halstead, Essex.

First of all: what a fab piece of kit. Absolutely smitten by it. Exudes quality from front to back, top to bottom. We looked at a few and had narrowed it down to a Hymer but then this one came up. We did our research and we were sold. Two years ago it retailed at close to 100k (gulp) so it's shed a fair few quid since.

Just a word about Pullingers: they're excellent too. A small family run business who were so very different from many of the other dealers we'd dealt with, most of whom were comically wide. We'd recommend them in a heartbeat. Gave us a ton of goodies and good advice before sending us on our merry way.

Joined the DOC but it has no forum which seems a shame so we'll be spending our time on here learning our stuff. We're both complete newbies to this whole scene but we'll catch up soon enough.

We've already become complete Dethleffs snobs. Spotted some Autotrails and completely ignored them as they went past  

We're currently speccing the beast up with CAT locks, Wi-Fi, carbon monoxide detectors, kitchen utensils etc etc so the money continues to fly out of the wallet(s) at a giddy speed. Ace.

This is a wicked motor, love it.

Cheers all,
Hedge


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## JockandRita (Jun 1, 2005)

Hi Hedge, and welcome to the forums.

You and your mate have chosen well, and can look forward to several years of quality and reliable MH'ing with that marque.

Have some great times on your travels.

Cheers for now,

Jock & Rita.

P.S. Is it Hedg or Hedge? :wink:


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## Hedg (Aug 16, 2012)

It's Hedge. Someone else had already taken that up as a Username so I had to shorten it 
Cheers.


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## javea (Jun 8, 2007)

Welcome Hedge, lots of folks on here who can give you advice when you need it.

Enjoy!

Mike


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## Hedg (Aug 16, 2012)

Thanks Mike. I'm sure we'll be needing it 
Cheers, Hedge


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## nicaf (Mar 25, 2012)

Welcome. We too have the Dethleffs 7870 (in Azure Blue) albeit a 2007. As you say they exude quality. We live near Pullingers, but didn't get it from them. As you also say they do empty your wallet whilst you kit them out (1500w inverter, WiFi, Generator, kitchen stuff etc etc). We visited the MH show at Excel, and looked at the English Motorhomes and whilst nice they just didn't match up to the Germans. We were looking at Burstner but the Dethleffs turned up, we liked it, I did the research and we bought it. 

Where are you based? Be good to swap stories and plans with a fellow owner

Nick


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## nicaf (Mar 25, 2012)

Just looked at the Pullingers website. It looks a cracker! Its interesting how they differ inside in terms of finish. Yours is exactly the same colour as ours (now discontinued). Wherever we go people comment on how much they like the colour

Enjoy

Nick


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## Hedg (Aug 16, 2012)

Hi Nick,
Cool, so we've the same motor. What colour is it then?!
We had an inverter stuck in as part of the deal. Next on the list is a CAT lock and beef up the security generally. What Wi-Fi did you go for?

John + Lisa are off this weekend in it. Taken their mutt along (the sole reason for them getting the Dethleff - expensive dog! They're having a blast. 

I'm on an Italian campsite with mt twin girls this week. Wish I'd taken the MH, tons here. Some real cool old Dethleffs too. Tons of Germans here so naturally your amount of Dethleffs. Still not seen any as nice as ours though 

Both John and I are in N London, you?

Cheers, Hedge


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## nicaf (Mar 25, 2012)

Cheers Hedge

You sound you are going to get a lot of use out of this - you need to so you can realise the potential of your investment. Co ownership sounds like a good way forward. I think the colour is Azure Blue (Code 1997). 

What is the CAT A lock? We've got the iBoost from Motorhome WiFi - haven't given a test yet but on an initial set up at home seems easy to use. I also spoke to the owner of the company - Adam - and he was very helpful. After about 4 weekends away to learn what all the bits do we are off the Croatia through Germany and Austria. We tried to factor in a factory visit to Dethleffs but they seem to be on an August shut down, so we'll leave to another time

I'll be intrigued to know how the fifth bed is arranged. I thought our layout ie 7870l 2L is a 4 berth.

It would be good to catch up when we have returned from our various trips and share some of experiences and decide what else needs to go on the shopping list

We live near Chelmsford so not a million miles way

In the meantime enjoy

Regards

Nick and Cathy


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## Hedg (Aug 16, 2012)

Yup it's deffo gonna get a ton of use. J+L+Mutt are off to Italy in it soon (coming back via the Dethleffs factory). Then I'm off to Cornwall for a week, surfing. Plus some more random weekends before and after. 
We're going for that Wi-Fi set up, shall be interesting to see how it shapes up. Only 150 squids so pretty cheap next to some other outlays!
The CAT lock is to help prevent or deter pikeys from lifting the Catalytic converter off, seems this happens a lot and they're eye wateringly expensive to replace (over a grand). The locks cost 120. 
The fifth bed sprouts from the L-shaped sofa; for kids only really, albeit John reckons he can snooze fine on it..
Cheers, Hedge


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## nicaf (Mar 25, 2012)

CAT lock sounds a good idea I will look into that. Mind you our MH's are pretty low so there's not much room. But still for £120 sounds like a good investment Thanks for the tip.

Nick


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## Smartvan (Aug 16, 2012)

*Parts*

The van has been brilliant all week....no real issues other than the bloody wipers don't stop at the bottom the screen, but in the middle......annoying but no biggie. I need to get hold of the catches that hold the rear garage door open, as a stone has bounced up and broken both the clip on the door and the bit it secures into. Any idea where we can get parts? Cheers. John (co-owner)


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## Smartvan (Aug 16, 2012)

Hedg said:


> John reckons he can snooze fine on it..
> Cheers, Hedge


Given the amount of Whisky I got through on Skye, I could have slept on a bed of nails in relative comfort


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## TIM57 (Feb 11, 2012)

*A fix for wipers*

Just fitted a new wiper motor to my Dethleffs, old one burnt out in the Alps. At first it would only stop in the centre of the screen.
What you need to do is open the bonnet, locate the wiper motor, undo the nut in the centre of the motor that holds the wiper mechanism in place, remove the nut, prize the wiper gear free (you may need a chisel), switch the wipers on let the motor do a pass, switch them off, move the wipers to the bottom of the screen, replace wiper mechanism and replace nut, tighten.
Tim


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## nicaf (Mar 25, 2012)

Smartvan

Glad you are enjoying your new acquisition. We too are enjoying ours and are in Croatia. We had a great journey through Belgium, Luxembourg ( cheap diesel at just over a £ a litre), Germany and into Austria and then Croatia through Italy. We used the French aires and German Stellplatz. The German one was in Karslruhe right next to the Rhine. We met a Norwegian couple with and 8.6 metre Niesmann and Bischoff - very nice. The Dethleffs has been getting some looks. Mind you they are the dogs.....!!! No real problems out here although we need our cab air con pump replacing (plus regas) which we knew about before we left - there wasn't time to get the parts. It is apparently a common issue in MH/campers because they don't get used, except when the weather requires it. The tip is ( when ours is repaired) to make sure you switch it on for every outing to keep the oil circulating. Also ensure that the pipes are not secured to the bodywork so as to prevent any chaffing. 

It has been a real pleasure living in it. Shame it is only for 2 weeks this time!


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## les_val (Nov 28, 2012)

Hi Hedge
We too have bought a Dethleffs (Advantage I5841) nearly two years ago now, from Pullingers, great bunch of people, couldn't be more helpful - when our windscreen wipers fell off on our first trip out! The nuts hadn't been tightened.
Regarding cat locks, we have fitted the 'Armacat' cage to our NEW catalytic converter - the first one was stolen off our drive last year. Yes you can get underneath it and be gone in ten minutes! We too live near Chelmsford! Insurance paid £1200 for a new one. It is now padlocked, wheel clamped and has a wooden pallet underneath!
Regards
Les&Val


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## rosalan (Aug 24, 2009)

I just caught sight of this thread and would like to add that we bought our Dethleffs from Pullingers and after a year during which nothing failed or went wrong other than the toilet flush button, I am now able to say that not only is the Dethleffs well built but Pullingers have demonstrated just how good a dealer can be. We should have recognised this from the beginning when we were sitting in a van, thinking about it when Mrs Pullinger came inside with tea and biscuits. It was a magic moment... she left us with our refreshments and it gave us a moment of reality. Sitting in "our" van and having a drink... We bought it.
They already sport one MMM medal for best dealer and deserve more.

Alan


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