npinks wrote:

Something else to think about is the kids sleeping areas

Can you separte them from the caravan, and by what means a curtain or a sliding door.

There is some vans that have a table at the rear, which converts to beds, normally 2 singles or a double, sometimes with a bunk above. These areas can be usefull as a kids area where they can draw and colour in and do the things kids love to do like make noise.

But they are at the other side of the van, doing this, give you space when needed.

But then again so does a awning.

Blimey guys, I can't get a word in edgeways!!!! makes a change The van we were thinking of is 6 berth dble bed at front via the main seats; mid way is the kitchen and tv area, behind that the permanent made up bunks with curtains around which are opposite the door and the two seats and a table (which converts into the 5 & 6th beds) then washroom at the back. There is loads of room as the washroom doubles as a changing area and has two wardrobes The shower is in its own cubicle within the washroom and we feel the layout suits our needs just fine. The dealer was quite honest and said vans are very personal thing, seek advice from others, consider the advice and reflect on what you need as a family, as everybody likes different things from their van.

All this info you are giving is of great help and is very interesting in your opinions.

We shall be up to the Caravan show in October as many suggest to see vans and try and get a great deal, so my next month will be spent researching vans and viewing your advice and comments.

Just keep your potential new purchase OFF the A507 between Shefford and the M1 except between the hours of 1:00am and 7:00am. OK, Carl?

DEAL!!

We have a custom built Fleetwood Heritage TA, we've found that having the washroomin the middle of the van means we don't have to go past the kids at night, yet with both doors shut we have as much room as an end bathroom yet that space isn't wasted. We started with a Abbey Expression (A Michael Jordan dealer special) which was great value and let us see what we wanted in our next van.

The German vans do have a great reputation, but there spec is often very low and we haven't had any issues with either van we've had in 4 years. For us we wanted a side diner, 2 permanent bunks, roomfor 2 kids and 5 dogs and Alde heating was a must as my son got burnt (through no fault of his own) on the trauma space heater. We visited Earls Court and spoke to all manufactueres and only 2 could do what we wanted Vanmaster didn't think we could afford one and the Fleetwood boss and sales manager sat down and worked out a plan.

We caravan for about 6-8 weeks per year and if you are staying on CLs we pay around £5pn often including our electricity. I do second the views on pay load it is very important and Isabella are worth the extra. D4 HSE Lux for me
FL2 HSE Zermatt & Alpacca for the wife now gone
Skoda Yeti L&K for the wife.

If you intend to tour Europe it may be worth bearing in mind that a caravan with overall length greater than 7 metres incurs an extra fee on most ferries and also on many sites in ,for example Switzerland, there are very limited numbers of pitch available for vans over 6.8 metres.I have a reich motor mover on my 2007 van which i bought new in 1999 and have had moved from van to van I would not be without it .It makes hitching up and maneuvering on a lot of very tight for space European sites a doddle.

Directive 6679B/07 Taste and Decency

Isn`t there a new European Directive stating that nobody shall be allowed to hitch such a hideous contraption as a caravan to the back of such a classy graceful rugged stylish vehicle as the FL2 !

Obviously honda CRV`s and X-trails are exempt as the caravan makes those vehicles look slightly more upmarket

Apparantly yachts and horse boxes may be accepted on appeal

.

I seem to be remembering stating something similar to you GS69, not long after joining the forum, I think I compared it to painting a pot noodle on the Mona Lisa, and 'elephant' came back with a picture of a pot noodle pasted onthe Mona Lisa's lap Now I am considering a caravan, that pot noodle seems to suit the Mona Lisa quite nicely:whistle:

Mona lisa with a pot noodle tasting it would wipe the enigmatic smile off her face

Maybe landrover should bring out its own range of caravans ..colour coded of course ! the tambora flame would look spectacular!!

Goldstone69 wrote:

Directive 6679B/07 Taste and Decency

Isn`t there a new European Directive stating that nobody shall be allowed to hitch such a hideous contraption as a caravan to the back of such a classy graceful rugged stylish vehicle as the FL2 !

Obviously honda CRV`s and X-trails are exempt as the caravan makes those vehicles look slightly more upmarket

Apparantly yachts and horse boxes may be accepted on appeal

.

Since the FL2 looks slightly like a X-Trail went your squinting , you can purchase the Nissan badges to put on it whilst towing and then remove when your at the destination.

Or we can travel by night

Nice try npinks but i think you would have to spin me round ten times squirt a genorous amount of pepper spray in my face then make me drink enough plonk for my beer goggles to activate before i begin to think the x-trail could possibly resemble the FL2


Traveling by night now thats a cracking idea

Goldstone69 wrote:

Nice try npinks but i think you would have to spin me round ten times squirt a genorous amount of pepper spray in my face then make me drink enough plonk for my beer goggles to activate before i begin to think the x-trail could possibly resemble the FL2


Traveling by night now thats a cracking idea

you and your pikey mates are more than welcome to camp out on the front lawn ..can offer very reasonable rates for a fellow FL2 owner ..might have trouble with the neighbours though

A long time ago I hated those lazy caravans on the road. The solution came when I bought one myself. Suddenly I thought "Hey, where are all those caravans gone ? I've seen only 3 the last 1000 Km. One that ovetook me and 2 others I overtook myself. I never saw all the others driving at same snail's pace.