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 Topic: Is this the place to say hello?...
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23/11/2024 at 10:02am
Location: Derby.
Outfit: Karsten 350+Awnings
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Let's hope so...
Hello!
  
Counting down the days until our new to us (Used!) campervan gets delivered. (Due 6th December).
It's been quite the search (as we're rather fussy/specific/limited in our needs/wants!), but we got there in the end!
Quite rare(ish). Certainly very hard to find what we wanted without going brand new and spec'd up... and that was never happening!
£$£$£$£$! 😲
It's got ALL our "Deal Breakers", and most preferences*... VW T6 Highline - SWB - Auto DSG - Tailgate - High Top (Not Pop-Top) 2 berth (with no additional high bed for kids!, and no built in/permanent loo/shower) - Our preferred RIB seats/bed - Fitted out to our preferred layout (inc high level cupboards) - Diesel heater... And the bonus that the required awning and tow bar (for bikes) are already fitted... and all bang on our admittedly rather low budget! (Scrub that, it's embarrassingly low, for this sort of thing, but we some how got away with it!)
FSH, and low mileage for a 66 plate (Just shy of 50k miles... with replacement belt and pump already done!), and it's been very, very well looked after, if appearances are anything to go by. (I ain't no mechanic!). Drives and sounds no worse than my current 12 month old T6.1 Highline Company van.
Dealer is servicing/MOT/Titivating a few vehicle bits as we speak. Then once delivered, I'll get a local converter to spruce a few bits (Add Extra plug sockets + Add arm rests to (single front passenger swivel) seat + a few minor bits).
It's took about 3 months of dreaming/browsing, then a full on 6 weeks of intensive searching every god damn evening, and we took a 6 hour last minute return trip to Weston Super Mare (plus 3 hours on site) last Saturday to check it out (It was only listed on the day before afternoon!) and subsequently sealed the deal, before it got snapped up. (It had 2 telephone enquiries whilst we were there, and countless other enquiries during the week since, according to the dealer!)
*No heated seats, and no Car Play... I'll look into those, and will probably get both retro-fitted in due time, but neither are critical.
Space at home is tight... The High top means I'll have to raise the front door overhead porch thingy a foot or so.
The chosen SWB (4.9m) means I can still shut my drive gates, (as I can with my current company van).
A 5.4m LWB (Preferred but not a deal breaker!) would have meant swapping to Bi-Fold gates (Which we would have been happy to do), but we didn't manage to find a LWB along with all our other must-haves!
Anything longer than 5.4m simply wouldn't have fit, so was never an option!
Dealer couldn't confirm the "As it stands" weight, but a bit of research loosely suggest around 2.3 tonne (fingers crossed!), so just need to get it on the weighbridge when it arrives, and hope the T28 leaves me with enough payload (E-Bikes and carrier, (+ batteries, and accessories inside) are c.100kg alone, plus about 130kg for the pair of us.), but we're semi confident all will be good (0.5tonne will be more than enough, of course, if we have our current estimates right, but I suspect it'll be a little tighter than that, but enough to keep under the 2.8tonne gross, once we're all loaded up and ready to go!) (I'll return to the weighbridge at this stage, just for peace of mind!)
It'll be sad to say goodbye to our beloved Karsten Set up, as is the likely outcome, but hey, we gotta move with the times, and we ain't getting any younger! 
I've done my research of course, but rest assured, I will no doubt be bombarding you all with questions in due time! Sorry in advance! 
WE. ARE. BUZZING!
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Campervan:
Give us chance!
Tent:
July 2012-Dec 2024: 456 nights.
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23/11/2024 at 10:55am
Location: London
Outfit: Lunar Cosmos 524
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Congratulations Mucker.
Blimey you must have crammed intensively to find your 'ideal' unit in that time! Took me over a year of research and investigating the actual 'hardware' to settle on what I wanted on my upgrade from tent to as it turned out caravan, I did look at EVERY option along the way though, as never started out with a single target 'unit' in mind! All that research changed my mind quite a lot on what I first 'thought' I wanted. Have to say, the time and effort was well worth it, coming up 7 years on, I'm still as happy with my choice as the day I picked it up from the dealer, and would probably replace with a near identical unit if I was looking to replace. Hope your research serves you as well.
I found moving from canvas to 'tin' tent really quite easy, still occasionally go canvas tenting, just makes me more appreciative of my 'tin tent' in many ways! Not least the lack of aches and pains in ancient bones that pitching a caravan has over the graft of erecting tents!
'Tin tent' will still be a learning curve, you'll find ways of honing skills, and tweaking the set up to your own tastes over time - and of course stumble upon things that'll generate a question or two for the forum! Despite having my caravan for near 7 years, being VERY technically savvy, I still stumble upon undocumented 'features' in my van! - last trip away, I discovered by accident that the main ceiling lights have inbuilt dimmers, and only because one seemed brighter than the other, so investigating what the 'fault' was!
Enjoy, and welcome to the 'tin tent' club!
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23/11/2024 at 2:31pm
Location: Derby.
Outfit: Karsten 350+Awnings
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Joined: 01/7/2012 Diamond Member
Forum Posts: 9054
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Thanks all.
We pretty much knew what we wanted from the off (In theory!), although we weren't beholden to the VW badge. Any of the 3 or 4 alternative brands of a similar size would have been ok, but this VW was the first to tick as many boxes as we required.
The high top was a must over a pop top, (all of which include canvas that may need drying and/or dropping down in 60mph winds, and no additional permanent (high level) storage, and most include an unwanted extra bed).
Only time will tell if this is "Ideal", but we're confident that it's a bloody good start. Let's see where we stand in 5 years time!
Our driveway at home limited the scale of the search of course (vehicle-wise), and the driveway was a must (As opposed to a storage yard), as this will be a daily runner too. We have no second car, and nor do we want one.
The 3am loo trip has long been a necessity... we just didn't want a built in/permanent option taking up more valuable space (24/7) than we could afford, so we'll be upgrading from cat litter inside a lidded bucket to the Thetford 335. That'll either go under the rib seat (hidden) during the day (If it fits!), or... get this... inside a Dunelm foldy cube/linen box thing with padded lid, to be used as a foot stool as Muckerette can't reach the floor off the bench seat (AKA "Sofa"! ). Apparently the two are "made for each other".
Pretty sure that's 3 birds with one stone! 
Muckerette fancies a driveaway awning for longer stays. I'm convinced we can make do with the van living space, and the already installed Fiamma overhead awning (With no sides). Keen to keep it camping stylee, and very much keen to keep it continental stylee!
We'll maintain windbreak/tarp options, but will likely be nigh on unused!
I'm also thinking longer stays (eg 10-14 days) will be less frequent, now we can move on every few days with little inconvenience or effort.
For weekend UK camping in cooler climes, I'm thinking "That's what the solid walls/Doors/insulation/diesel heater are for"!
For now, a driveaway awning isn't part of the (my!) plan.
Awaiting feedback from CTS re the potential to purchase a Rain Awning zip from Karsten, as I fancy utilising our existing Rain Awning and sidewalls as a potential canopy over the E-bikes on the back/tow bar. (Awning track fitted to rear high van roof above the tailgate. Muckerette to fit half the Karsten zip to one of those slide-in driveaway connector thingies, zip on the rain awning (and add king poles and guylines already got), and add side walls to taste! All set up above open tailgate height, so we can still get in (The bike carrier tilts far enough to open the tailgate).
We'll see!
DK: Have you really been in the van since 2015? If so, That's a shocking case of "How time flies"! 
(Or was that when you first made the decision?)
Anyway... I need to shoot off and google bloody toilet chemicals... Laters!
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Campervan:
Give us chance!
Tent:
July 2012-Dec 2024: 456 nights.
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23/11/2024 at 9:33pm
Location: Dartford Kent
Outfit: VW T6 conversion
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Joined: 06/5/2008 Platinum Member 
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Welcome to the wonderful world of campervanning! Just about a year since I got mine, and 7000 miles, mostly camping trips: two trips, nine weeks abroad, through the Picos and the Pyrenees; the Massif Central, the Rhine gorge and the Ardennes.
I’ve had to rationalise a lot, as storage space is limited. The Portapotti is important, and needs preparation for night time use. Diesel heater is very effective, but not very flexible. I first got a memory foam topper, but swapped it out for a 25mm wool one; went from sleeping bag to duvet, seems to work better. The boot box is an important addition. I’m not sure what I’d use a drive away awning for; with practice, I can pack away, drop the top, and coil the hookup in fifteen minutes. I am thinking of getting a side screen for the canopy (domed so the water runs off):
See you out there sometime!
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via mobile 23/11/2024 at 12:29pm
