White rose Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 Having bought firstly the right caravan for our family of three, then totally the wrong caravan for our family of four, I think I know what our next van needs - but the shortlist that I've identified doesn't match this year's budget as all the vans on there are too new for my pocket. That's not too big a problem as I can live with the wrong van for another year, but I'm surprised I've found no older vans for the list and wonder if I've missed some obvious candidates? The criteria are MTPLM 5000 or below Single axle Fixed double bunk (not triple) pref with windows Separate shower, not wetroom Front seating that can be used as two adult singles And my shortlist says Bailey Olympus 540/5 Elddis Avante 554 Bailey Pegasus II Ancona - no, triple bunks :-( Sterling Europa 565 2005 sprite musketeer - but toilet beyond shower, not separate and ?no window for bottom bunk Swift challenger sport/sterling Eccles sport 565 Swift charisma 565 2011 onwards for double bunks not triple All suggestions of what I'm missing will be very welcome!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griff Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 . .....MTPLM 5000 or below. ....Might need correcting WR? Quote Living the dream, well more of a nightmare ~ Griff Wheels at the front ~ Discovery 4 Towing Machine Wheels at the back ~ 4 of ‘em Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White rose Posted March 8, 2014 Author Share Posted March 8, 2014 You could be right there - thanks griff! That's early morning posting with one arm round a grumpy toddler - could I try for MTPLM of 1500kg or below as I do not drive a tank! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEG55 Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 5000KG! I did wonder what you were towing it with, lol. Quote 2015 ABI ASHCROFT EXCL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suandjas Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 (edited) Bailey Pegasus 534 mk1 front seats for childrens singles beds will struggle to find front seat to be used for adult singles Edited March 8, 2014 by suandjas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
o2fly Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 Go for the Ancona (triple bunk version) the third bunk when not in use becomes a den. Kids store and play with all their junk and when it's bed time there's little tidying up of beds to do :-) How ever it does become a problem when the oldest (now 16) decides it's either too cold or wet for his tent and wants to be in the Van. Then there's lots of tidying up before bed. Quote <p>Ford Galaxy Auto (powershift)AWD Towing An Elddis Avante 866 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gellyneck Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 A twin lounge layout might be an option for you (similar to suandjas post)? Our Lunar Lexon TL has 4 x 6ft singles but doesn't meet your criteria of 1500kg (1680kg) and is a twin axle. Only mentioning as "something similar" layout might be worthwhile as opposed to bunks as kids do get bigger! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White rose Posted March 8, 2014 Author Share Posted March 8, 2014 Thank you all for your thoughts! A twin lounge layout might be an option for you (similar to suandjas post)? Our Lunar Lexon TL has 4 x 6ft singles but doesn't meet your criteria of 1500kg (1680kg) and is a twin axle. Only mentioning as "something similar" layout might be worthwhile as opposed to bunks as kids do get bigger! I had started to ponder on single beds as an option last night (I'd seen a twin bed Swift 510 which had sparked the thought) but wondered whether we might feel we'd lost space as a consequence. Will go have a look again at that layout now and see what comes up at what weight. We're now towing with an S-Max and don't want to go much over 90% (though I have seen them pulling twin axle vans before). I definitely don't want a rear dinette - we have a boy and a girl so they'll not share a double for long, and most of the overbed bunks have restricted headroom. Go for the Ancona (triple bunk version) the third bunk when not in use becomes a den. Kids store and play with all their junk and when it's bed time there's little tidying up of beds to do :-) How ever it does become a problem when the oldest (now 16) decides it's either too cold or wet for his tent and wants to be in the Van. Then there's lots of tidying up before bed. I had originally thought when I saw it combined bunks and that fab bathroom that the Ancona had ticked all our boxes, but that triple bunk looked a bit too claustrophobic to me (not enough headspace) and I wasn't sure that the children would be happy in it for long. I perhaps need to have a good look at it again as I didn't think it was possible for our 7 year old to sit up and read in it, which is her favourite thing to do in her current bunk. . I do agree about the den potential of that bottom bunk though Bailey Pegasus 534 mk1 front seats for childrens singles beds will struggle to find front seat to be used for adult singles Fortunately, we've both been OK on our front seat singles in both vans so far, no doubt helped by the fact that neither of us are on the tall side :-) Whilst I do love the idea of having a fixed bed, I love "grown up time" sitting up and drinking wine once the children are in bed even more We don't usually put up an awning for a short weekend away, so would end up retreating to bed ourselves for lack of anywhere else to sit - and although I'd probably benefit from sharing a bedtime with our two year old (at least in terms of reduced wine consumption!), it's probably not the best idea long term. Just out of curiosity, where do people with fixed beds sit in the evenings, if the children are asleep in the front? Is everyone less lazy than us about putting up the awning on a short stay? All suggestions welcome, please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gellyneck Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 "Just out of curiosity, where do people with fixed beds sit in the evenings, if the children are asleep in the front?" Eh, wine + double bed + kids asleep. C'mon, even we won't believe your that naive!!! How's that for a suggestion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White rose Posted March 8, 2014 Author Share Posted March 8, 2014 "Just out of curiosity, where do people with fixed beds sit in the evenings, if the children are asleep in the front?" Eh, wine + double bed + kids asleep. C'mon, even we won't believe your that naive!!! How's that for a suggestion? What, and risk spilling my wine and dropping my peanuts - no ta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White rose Posted March 12, 2014 Author Share Posted March 12, 2014 Just bumping to see if anyone has further suggestions for me (not that Gellyneck !!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlfaEuropa Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Just out of curiosity, where do people with fixed beds sit in the evenings, if the children are asleep in the front? Is everyone less lazy than us about putting up the awning on a short stay? All suggestions welcome, please! We just have the one 22 month old toddler (or tornado) and a fixed bed tourer. The tornado gets the full size double bed while we get the less comfy front lounge (especially as we don't ususally drop the chest of drawers to the floor for extra width!). This actually worked really well when she was really young as we were able to fence her into the bed (biggest cot ever) and up til 6 months one of us might have to spend time with her (it's still really good for bed time stories!). We hardly ever put the awning up (most of our trips have been outside of summer anyway). We are now looking at getting a layout similar to what you seek, though in no rush. The assumption is that she will love bunks once old enough, and we will get extra space. We toyed with idea of a middle dinette that converts to a bunk, and a fixed fixed double bed to the rear (Baliey Orion, Adria Adora, Sprite Quattro) but we are finally accepting that we may not get our fixed double as that layout would put the little one too close to us once she's asleep. Maybe consider these, though depends how long those front singles need to be I guess): The Sprite Major 6 (TD most likely) Swift Freestyle 6 ADRIA ALTEA SPORTLINE DK Eldis Avante 576 Swift Corniche 18/6 (there is a 2011 one on ebay that has tranvers twin bunks as opposed to a 2012 one on autotrader with longitudinal triple bunks!) http://www. ebay. co. uk/itm/2013-REGISTERED-2011-MODEL-SWIFT-CORNICHE-18-6-6-BERTH-CARAVAN-/111293177513?pt=UK_Campers_Caravans_Motorhomes&hash=item19e9971ea9#ht_1471wt_1399 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre19 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Just out of curiosity, where do people with fixed beds sit in the evenings, if the children are asleep in the front? Is everyone less lazy than us about putting up the awning on a short stay? All suggestions welcome, please! Children . ... heaven forbid . ..... we just have a sofa each . .... with a dog curled up . .... . .... thence to bed . .... Cheers Pete Quote Mine : Land Rover Defender 90, big, black and shiney. Polly's : Land Rover Discovery Sport, HSE in Scotia Grey . ....... Towing : A 2011 Coachman Pastiche 545, on the driveway . ....... and now a CT Ninja, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirk Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 We have had a fixed bunk along back of van before but no separate shower, a twin axle that we could use as 4 singles two up front and two up back (spectrum 620) but this was too big and heavy. The layout we opted for in the end was a lunar lexon ds (1450kg) kids use the single's at front and we make the rear double up at night for us. its been the best layout that suits us we have found. Quote LUNAR LEXON DS ROYAL HERCULES MOVER, 2017 Seat Alhambra 184 se lux & SSANGYONG REXTON 2. 9 RUNNING ON VEG OIL. 1982 HONDA CX500EC. YAMAHA XJ600S. 2006 FORD KA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coldog Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 We have a Bailey Bretagne, Series 6 with twin transverse bunks and convertible side dinette, as opposed to the Series 7 with triple side bunks and dinette. MTPLM of 1420kg, single axle, windows to both rear bunks, front seats can be used as 2 adult singles but we tend to make up as a double, wetroom rather than separate shower, but with 2 kids (age 14 and 10) we tend not to use the van anyway. There are other makes of similar layout from around the same era (2007-8) but I don't recall names etc, but CaravanFinder. co. uk should help. Quote Cruzer, aka ColinGrowing old is unavoidable, growing up is optional. .. Hyundai Santa Fe & Bailey Pegeant Bretagne. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hells9369 Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 (edited) Go for the Ancona (triple bunk version) the third bunk when not in use becomes a den. Kids store and play with all their junk and when it's bed time there's little tidying up of beds to do :-) How ever it does become a problem when the oldest (now 16) decides it's either too cold or wet for his tent and wants to be in the Van. Then there's lots of tidying up before bed. Our problem was our 16 year old outgrew the bunks hes already 6"3 so had to sell our ACe award and got the Verona so when its too wet for him in his tent he sleeps at the front with it made up to oversize double him at one side and his little sister at the other although she goes in the tent if he doesnt want to Edited March 14, 2014 by Hells9369 Quote Cleaning the House while the kids are at home is like clearing snow with it still snowing VW Touareg + Bailey Verona = Happy Family Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lcurr Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 We have just bought older lunar ultima. Teenager has larger double at rear ( converted from dinette, 8 year old has bunk across top of it) she sits on that too. Can screen that area off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White rose Posted March 16, 2014 Author Share Posted March 16, 2014 Thank you all again. After a week of deliberating, the answer is that I need to change my requirements (or redefine my concept of caravaning providing a cheaper holiday option for our family!). I think it's the fixed bunk element that will have to go, in favour of an end dinette - and the Lunar Ultima DS looks like the best match. All suggestions of more with this layout and the all-important separate shower and long single-bed length front seats welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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