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Hi All

So very excited, OH went to look at a Geist Aktiv 560 on wednesday and fell in love with it, Unfortunately we couldn't get what we wanted trade in for ours so I rang around some local dealers, Who have bought ours off us (collecting today and bringing the money) and gave us what we we're looking for for it so we could put the deposit on the Geist.

Collecting it on wednesday, I haven't actually seen it yet (apart from on the net) as the dealers is about an hour and a half drive from here but I am sure I will love it

Thanks for all the posts on my other thread about the insurance, and the people on the Geist thread for answering my questions.

Its all happened very fast, we had to empty ours last night and all the stuff filled OH's MPV and my mini MPV to the brim, I didn't realise we had that much stuff!! 

Well we are away next weekend for the 2 nights to try it out, then we are back for 5 days then off to Ilfracombe for 10 days so we will get to test everything.

Although this will be our 4th van in 7 years! I hope we are going to keep this one longer as our swift is not even 2 yet

Roll on wednesday!

Woo hoo!  You little devils you, enjoy your new van!

Ali

Thank you both,

Will contact Claire, I am not on facebbook but I do remember reading her email addy and writing it down so I will drop her a line.

Very exciting, although the swift is going this morning so thats a bit sad and also my dishwasher has just thrown a wobbly and flooded the kitchen, aaaaaagh

Excellent!!  I am sure you will really enjoy your van. We love ours and it still has that "new van" smell even after a year of use!

We have stored our carpets though to replace when we sell the van, we like the feel of the wood effect cushion floor and the fact its easier to clean as we have a dog that comes with us on occasions and of course the two children.

We are also going away with some friends and neighbours next weekend to Lower Foxhanger Lane Farm http://www.foxhangers.com/home.cfm near Devizes - only 20 mins from where i live.

I would like to hear how you get on with the van once you have "lived in it " for a while as we did consider this model ourselves but there was none in stock at Elite Caravans at the time

Regarding the dishwasher - we stopped using ours about 2 years ago and went back to old fashioned washing up as the dishwasher was not cleaning properly - might have just been the model though.

regards

Andy  

Hi Andy,

We too will store the carpet, ours has never been layed in the swift its still in orginal sealed packaging so had to go up the loft and get that last night, we have 2 dogs and a baby and carpets just wouldn't work

Will let you know how we get on and thanks for all your help the other day it is most appreciated,

We only use the dishwasher a few times a week mainly after sunday lunch etc as we usually wash up, however I was washing all the caravan plates and stuff we got out last night in it so they would be all sparkly for the new van

It'll have to wait to be replaced now, apart from I am cateriung for 9 on sunday so it may be paper plates LOL

Will report back on the van, hope you have a nice weekend away

Thanks Jennifer,

Nedra said the entrance was a bit tight, she does the towing in our house so I'll warn her on that one, I don't want her damaging it before we have even got it on the road!!

I think we will get them to drag it out for us.,

We was like you the last van we bought it was really exciting going up to blackpool to get it but we had to wait 4 months for it to be built, at least this one is in stock!

JenniferB - totally agree with that one, i had forgotten about that. We had similar trouble but one of their "helpers" guided us through the gate but it is VERY tight and our old Landy nearly hit the fence opposite when trying to swing the whole unit round.

I dont know why Elite dont do something about that! - anyway gazmister123 - if in any doubt i agree with JenniferB get them to hitch you up outside of the compound until you get used to the van - especially as the Geist vans are wider.

Regards

Andy

Gazmister123

Just another point - when we collected our van we wanted to check everything , as you do, and they wanted to rush us in relative terms but we stuck to our guns and checked everything we could.

When we made the front bed up there were plain coloured "in fill" cushions missing so they took them from another van (not a 560 so dont worry!)

I suppose the point i am trying to make is check the front / side bed cushion layout and make sure they show you how it makes up and have all the cushions you need. 

Hope this helps

p.s. Big Up to Nedra (is this your wife?) for towing - i still get nervous everytime i hook up the van eventhough i have been towing for years!!

i suppose its the thought of having 9Ks worth of van behind you and theres always some idiot that want to overtake you on a bend or a roundabout!!

Just think on Wednesday you will be able to fiddle with all the gadgets, crack open a bottle and sit in your new van!!!!! waaahoo.........

Hope this helps

Regards

Andy   

Thanks for that, yeah i will make sure they do a proper handover as i like to make sure I know how everything works before leaving, including the bed! I thought it would be just a case if pulling the thing out and turning the cushions over?

Did yours come with a propane regulator or butane? As we currently have the red bottle or do you think I should ring elite?

Nedra is my girlfriend (of 10 years) towing doesn't bother her as she is a coach & bus driver so is used to the length, she had to do her B & E when we bought the swift but passed with 1 minor first time, She has always done the towing as she is a nervous passenger so rarely do I drive when she is in the car! And I always used to panic if I towed the vans when we first started,  We get some funny looks as we are both only 25 and nedra is only 4'10 in height so people always double take when she gets out of our rig! She has been towing our vans since she was 18 (just after passing her test) and just loves being behind the wheel, and has towed all over the country in all conditions including snow!

Your hints and tips are invaluable and we are very grateful, its always a bit daunting getting something new,

I have just got back from washing the swift (with the help of my 18 month old) as I wanted it to leave us as it arrived, as we drove off he said bye bye car car (we are still getting him to say caravan!)

Will get a really nice bottle of red to enjoy in it for our maiden voyage.

Gazmister123

You can use Butane or Propane but some say use propane in winter. The Geist will not come with a gas pigtail - see link. You could try and negotiate one of these 

http://www.caravanspares2repairs.co.uk/propane-lpg-hose-assembly-15m-caravan-calor-gas-etc-153-p.asp

We have two 4.5kg Butane (blue) bottles as i use one for my gas BBQ also at times and do not have a gas outlet on the van (thought they might be too restrictive) as sometimes we carry the Cadac BBQ over to other areas for communial BBQs etc..

We also have a 3.9kg Propane (red) bottle for winter use. This requires a seperate pigtail.

I am not sure how the beds make up on the 560 but know JenniferB and i both had seperate issues in making the beds up in the 495.

For us we decided that we would use the two longest lengths of cushion as two single beds, push them together then work all the infil cushions around the two longest cushions - this always gives us a comfortable night as any lumps or bumps are always at foot level.    

Hope this helps

Andy

Thank you again, Well ours has been collected and I have the cheque, I have ordered one of the gaslow pigtails that are supposed to help not fur up the regulators as we had that problem with the swift, A new regulator was £40 and the pig tail cost me £35 so it could be money well spent,

Have to say there was a lump in my throat as ours drove off

gazmister123 - sorry if i have confused you in anyway but you dont not need a regulator for the Geist as these are fixed to the van etc... to meet EU regulations. its only the pigtail you need. Look at the diagram linked , the "grey" regulator is fixed to the van

http://www.simpsonsmc.com/product.asp?parseid=2120

Hope this helps

Andy 

Thanks Andy, I only ordered the pig tail, But a metal hose type gaslow one which should avoid clogging the regulator, We had to have the whole lot replaced on our old van so was a worry.

Roll on wednesday