# Did Something I Always Said I Wouldnt Do



## MeFeinMcCabe (Mar 28, 2009)

..and thats buy a brand new van.

Pick up a Warwick XL this Thursday.

Strangely not excited as much as I thiought I would be


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Good luck with it.


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## MeFeinMcCabe (Mar 28, 2009)

erneboy said:


> Good luck with it.


Cheers

Going from a Bessacarr E540 with loads of space to a more snug panel van will be a bit strange


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

Brave man, I think now is possibly the worst ever time to buy a van at all, prices are stupid, we wouldn't have but we really missed having one on the drive.


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## dghr272 (Jun 14, 2012)

Pudsey_Bear said:


> Brave man, I think now is possibly the worst ever time to buy a van at all, prices are stupid, we wouldn't have but we really missed having one on the drive.


No pockets in a shroud Kev.

Not that I'd need them, my good lady sees to that. :grin2:

Terry


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

Very true, bugger all money in mine either.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Nice one. Let us know know how you get on Down sizing. I like the idea of a PVC for racing around the Alps and ease of parkING on our cramped drive but I think I'll miss the space and storage of a 7m coach build. I also assume rightly or wrongly a PVC with a short overhang might have enough payload to take our rack and scooter.


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## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

MeFeinMcCabe said:


> Cheers
> 
> Going from a Bessacarr E540 with loads of space to a more snug panel van will be a bit strange


How did you come to choose that model new MH over others?


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

Saw this in Moffat last week Barry, looked to be in really good nick, Talbot base, I have always liked the look of these, modern vans all look the same, no character at all.


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

That E540 was a very nice van.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Pudsey_Bear said:


> Saw this in Moffat last week Barry, looked to be in really good nick, Talbot base, I have always liked the look of these, modern vans all look the same, no character at all.


Blimey! That's older than mine. Same coach build as mine though I think just an older base vehicle. I would keep mine now it's fettled but I just don't have the confidence in it to hammer it across Europe. Plus it's probably banned in most places due to emissions


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

Well you're getting too old and feeble to be going at it like you used to, may as well keep the old bus now anyway.


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## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

barryd said:


> ... Plus it's probably banned in most places due to emissions


Probably a bit like you should be with your music Barry :grin2:


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

Oh dear, he'll get you for that G.


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## MeFeinMcCabe (Mar 28, 2009)

GMJ said:


> How did you come to choose that model new MH over others?


The wife demanded , well politely suggested , that she wanted a van with a separate shower rather than one over the WC. Also liked the fact that it's two singles or a double. For longer trips in Europe we wanted an underslung has tank rather than bottles.

We did a load of research and kept changing our minds but the die is cast now


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

I looked at a load of PVCs when I was changing but they all seemed to have 2 rather than 3 gas rings - a deal breaker for me.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Pudsey_Bear said:


> Oh dear, he'll get you for that G.


Both your cards are marked!


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

I don't like it when that happens.


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## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

Yeh...Im off up north in September so id best keep my eyes open for marauding scooter riders!


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

Nah, I don't think he actually has one, it'll be Michelle on her pushbike with a helmet camera and he overdubs it with put put sounds later.


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## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

You could be on to something there mate...


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## MeFeinMcCabe (Mar 28, 2009)

Picked him up this evening. Happy enough, will spend tomorrow getting acquainted with the van


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Pudsey_Bear said:


> Nah, I don't think he actually has one, it'll be Michelle on her pushbike with a helmet camera and he overdubs it with put put sounds later.


I have two! A stealth one that you won't hear coming and one so loud it will scare you rigid!!


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

I fear the lad is suffering from delusions of adequacy.


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## MeFeinMcCabe (Mar 28, 2009)

The Warwick has three rings


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Did you hear that Jean?

After we changed to our Fifth Wheeler, which we love and would not want to be without for long stays, we looked around at panel vans. We just want one for day trips so a kitchen and toilet would be fine. Never did find one and given up now.


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

Not an easy thing to find Pat, it'd be easier to build your own to be honest, plenty of abandoned projects out there on eBay from £6k ish


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

MeFeinMcCabe said:


> The Warwick has three rings


Good to know. I did most of my searching at the Nantes MH show which might explain why there weren't too many autosleepers, if any.

I'm now reminded of 2 other concerns with PVCs - that noisy sliding door, and insulation. But maybe those issues have been entirely addressed by now.


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

We never use the hab door except to load and unload.


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## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

Noisy PVC slidey doors are a pita on sites. If given a choice we always try and park away from them. 

I'm sure I read somewhere that there are soft close ones around now so hopefully these will catch on.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

What annoys me is the people who are arriving late and/or leaving early and see fit to open and close the hab door fifty million times!


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

GMJ said:


> I'm sure I read somewhere that there are soft close ones around now so hopefully these will catch on.


That's true Graham but a few early ones I saw a few years ago seemed to get stuck on the just-before-final-close bit which left you with a massive gap.


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## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

Ah I see Jean, ta.

Hopefully they'll improve on the design then so that they work


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## MeFeinMcCabe (Mar 28, 2009)

When we picked the van up, there was some damage to the bathroom acrylic surround which was noted on the handover documentation. I was told this would be sorted under warranty. Nearly six months on still not repaired as they are having difficulty sourcing the replacement.

I was hoping this would be done before February half term as we ramp up the use of the van from then.

More disappointed than angry


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

Is it usable? Still very annoying tho.


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## Glandwr (Jun 12, 2006)

What is the damage? Acrylic can be very forgiving, deep scratches can be smoothed and polished and in many cases even chips can be greatly improved with a bit of elbow grease.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Pity you didn't keep a retainer to be paid on completion of the job


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## MeFeinMcCabe (Mar 28, 2009)

It's usable and in fact we have been using the van since July.

The acrylic is crazed above the sink and over the months its started to increase in size. The deal was when we picked it up they would replace the panel. Spoke to Marquis last week and they said Autosleeper aren't responding to them on a number of issues including my own. Suggesting I contact Autosleeper myself to try and move it forward.


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

Buck passing.


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## MeFeinMcCabe (Mar 28, 2009)

Exactly a year since we picked up the van and Marquis carried out the warranty work yesterday. To be fair to them they reckon the issue is with Auto Sleeper. Nevertheless no big deal really. Surprisingly their site in Golden Cross is devoid of vans. They only have about half a dozen for sale, the rest in the yard all sold.
The prices are eye watering.
In a year they have went up dramatically


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