We have had our lovely Vantage Neo called Krystal for 5 years now. Are we beginning to start a search for a new van? Absolutely nothing wrong with Krystal and she is good for many more years. However, we have begun to hanker after something slightly smaller and from a more local dealer. The annual pilgrimage journey to Leeds for a habitation check up is becoming slightly more onerous. We have had brilliant service from Vantage but perhaps a change is due!
We decided to do a "recce" visit and with the NEC show coming up a perfect opportunity for a trip. As we now live in Somerset, there and back in a day is a bit of a stretch so we booked a two night stopover at the Camping and Caravanning Site, Kingsbury Waterpark. Right by the motorway, so slightly noisy, but only 7.5 miles from the NEC.
We had booked tickets for a Wednesday and as it turned out this was perfect and the halls were not too busy. Being rather sad people we had shortlisted loads of van ( 29 in all) which we wanted to look at, with hall numbers in order. This actually worked very well, just make sure you enter at the right hall.
It took 30 minutes to drive from Kingsley, beware the horrendous road works on the M42!! We arrived just before opening and parked in the North car park a five minute walk from the halls.
A few hours later we emerged from the halls. I guess we had looked at dozens of vans, but only PVC's. Our favourites were:
The Kaktus Nomad.
A Vanworx custom built van.
Sadly our favourite before the show, the new Eriba Camper didn't really pass muster for us on the day! A little too old fashioned we thought and not quite what we wanted. Therein, lies the dilemma😕😕😕
Do we go custom built at an eye watering cost and not QUITE what we want, or mass produced and nearer to what we really want, as well as more reasonably priced??
Food for thought.
We spent a long evening after the show back at Kingsbury Water Park and over a very nice meal at The Dog & Doublet again thinking about vans. We were becoming regulars.
Over the next week or so we pondered over brochures and looked at loads of videos and thought about our two number ones, Kaktus and Vanworx. Kaktus finally ruled itself out, too fussy ( not mad keen on all the soft furnishings ) Also a deal breaker was the bike rack being so high up ( we could have got round this) and lack of storage inside the van. Vanworx was becoming the favourite.
Fate always intervenes.
There was a Vanworx open day at the Bridgwater factory. Off we went armed with our questions. To be fair to Vanworx all our questions were answered and they were very helpful, we were still on the cusp of a decision!! One sticking point was the fact that they did not do part exchange, so we would have to sell privately. They did in fact put us in touch with a dealer but the price he offered was well off beam. We were still hesitating over, inside lack of storage in lockers and the deal breaker was how the toilet cassette was emptied which was from inside the van, meaning loads of stuff at the back, would have to be moved first. We did like the fact that it was all electric with a very nice induction hob and good standard of workmanship overall.
Once again, fate was waiting with open hands.
We decided to see what the mass produced market had to offer. From brochures we had collected from the show we looked at local dealers and decided to see what they could offer. Our favourites came out as the Rapido Dreamer, we liked the huge internal space and loads of storage and the Knaus Boxlife MQ with the front diner and moveable bed. Both on a Fiat Ducato auto 6m chassis. We also looked long and hard at the Globebus Traveller. We looked at all of those vans again and talked to the dealers at length.
And the winner is....THE KNAUS BOXLIFE MQ!!
6m Auto Fiat with a rising rear bed, front dinette, so four belted seats and loads of storage in lockers and under the bed. We travel light, but there is a reasonable payload. Bikes will go on the towbar with a Thule Velo Swing. We have configurated the van with all we need and will have a few extras fitted by the dealer.
Ordered from Davan Caravans in Weston Super Mare, just up the road.
Loads of options are available from Knaus. We did a test drive first, as Den thought he needed a 180bhp engine but settled on the 140bhp, which was lovely to drive and performed really well in very heavy traffic and up hills. We will keep the gas for some cooking. There is a two burner hob but heating will be on diesel. We have ordered two lithium batteries and a solar panel will be retro fitted. No oven, so we will have to find a new home for the tea towels.
The dealers seem really good and it's a family firm which for us is always a bonus. We have been offered a fair part exchange deal which means we get to keep our van until the new one arrives which should be around May 2025. This fits in well with our plans, as we will have a farewell trip to Spain in April with Krystal and if there is a delay it won't matter too much. So, exciting times ahead. We can now relax as we have made a decision and look forward to our new family addition.
Now what shall we call it????
