I suppose its horses for courses I guess: for me the size of the hob is irrelevant as I don't cook in my van (joys of cadac and being able to eat out so in 20 years I have been caravanning I have never cooked in the van- I'm holidaying so BBQ, eat out or salads etc for me).
I also never use the shower in the van always prefering to use showers on CC site in this country or on sites where I go in France so no issue there.
The problem of width between bed and wardrobe is not issue as I only tend to go to the bathroom during the night to use the loo.
Same with the oven area- never use the oven so no issue.
For me having the convenience of a permanent bed plus lounge is more important plus it would mean that I can put my clothes horse for drying towels etc in the shower area whilst being able to get to sit on loo which couldn't do in the Sprite for example. Interestingly I always bump my head on front OH locker in Sprite but I didn't in the Orion.
There was also some mention about sealant. There is some sealant in places however no more than on the Sprite and at least on Orion it is applied neatly whereas on a Sprite I was in last November literally had sealant dripped down from the underneath of the front OH lockers. Was only possible to see when sitting down and then lookiing upwards. (I had money ready to spend that day on the Sprite until I saw that and some other issues).
Lack of front locker is no big thing for me as only ever have a lightweight gas bottle (only for in the event of mains failure so that can heat the van boil the kettle- had same bottle for 4 years now since the new light bottle came out and its still full) in there and some chocks and other bits and pieces which would still fit in the side locker and it means I can keep my noseweight low and the van light which is great as I wouldn't have to change my tow car as would be 87% match.
Manufacturers will always produce different styles of van as everyone has diferent tastes / needs. I would imagine that for a single person or a couple that eat out a lot, or mainly on the continent where they can bbq everyday then the Orion could be a good choice but for a family that wants to cook full meals and holiday on CLs or rally then there are heavier more robust choices available.
Yikes, I ve ordered an Orion and I m hoping its better than has been made out so far! We think its cute and the panoramic front window was a big plus. I ll let you know how we go when its delivered. Fingers crossed ....
------------- Homo Sapiens non urinat in ventum
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have to say I was quite impressed with the orion, it is what it is, a cheap, lightweight van. I dont' pretend i fully poked around in it but i can see where the company is coming from. I'm lucky I don't have to buy at the budget end of the spectrum but for those who have to it seemed fine.
We have bought an Orion 440/4 and are very happy with it,not had a van previously so nothing to compare it with though.
On the subject of lockers my only gripe is that the side storage locker only has a very small door,why they couldn't have made it twice the size I don't know,I suppose there must be a reason,the locker itself is quite a reasonable size.
Have to return it to the dealers for a few minor niggles to be sorted,nothing major.
O.K. I give up where does the gas go with no front locker I have looked on the Bailey site also tried the 360 tour and could not see what the bathroom looked like.
The lack of front locker was one thing that put us off. Overall the Orion is not a bad van for the money but the areas that we didn't like on the one we saw were:
Poor finish on the display model at our local dealer. No front locker. The hot water tank is only 7 litres (very small when compared with other vans and could be an issue for us as we use our own shower sometimes). Lack of internal cupboards / workspace. Unsure of the whale underfloor heating system (some people say its not great for non EHU sites as even on gas it will require the battery). No free standing table that you could put out in the awning.
The plus sides for us were the lightness of the van, 10 year ingress warranty and some of the other extras like a microwave and built in radio. In the end we opted for a 4 year old ranger and saved 5k which will do us for a few years by which time we should have a bigger tow car and aren't so limited on tow weight!
Quote: Originally posted by dazzer252 on 25/9/2011
The hot water tank is only 7 litres (very small when compared with other vans and could be an issue for us as we use our own shower sometimes). Lack of internal cupboards / workspace. Unsure of the whale underfloor heating system (some people say its not great for non EHU sites as even on gas it will require the battery). No free standing table that you could put out in the awning.
The plus sides for us were the lightness of the van, 10 year ingress warranty and some of the other extras like a microwave and built in radio. In the end we opted for a 4 year old ranger and saved 5k which will do us for a few years by which time we should have a bigger tow car and aren't so limited on tow weight!
The hot water tank on the 440/4 is 10 litres,don't know about the two berth model.
We find that there is plenty of cupboard space in fact there a re some we haven't even used.
Hi we have the 2012 440/4 and are very pleased with it. This is our first caravan and so maybe we dont have the experience to critize it like others have.
But concidering our budget, a brand new van with 3year full waranty and 10year water ingress for essentially second hand money persueded us to buy. We also looked at the Elddis explore but prefered the GRP skin, microwave, double dinette and seperate bathroom of the Orion.
For the money the build quality and equipment level is absolutely great. We like the Quirky rounded shape and it is a lot bigger inside that it looks from ouside.
I have noticed that most people here who actualy have one seem to like it.