Well having just returned from our 1st trip away in our new (to us) 2008 S6 Bailey provence I thought I would give a summary of van and how we got on.....
First off the provence towed really well with our new tow car, the Nissian X-Trail, and was a massive step forward from the Vectra we had before. We have been very pleased with the Nissian and would certainly recommend them to others!
On our first night the outside temp dropped to an unexpected below freezing so we were woken at 3am by a crying baby as the internal van temp had dropped to 10oC due to the electric heating having a fault on it (see my other post). Switched to gas and no problems but did discover that the pipe from the Aquaroll had frozen overnight so had to wait a few hours in the morning for this to thaw!
The L shaped front lounge was great for daytime use and gave our 1 yr old more floor space and also room for the highchair, it was also nice not to be sat on seperate sofa's and still both been able to strech out. The only downside with this set up is making the bed is slightly more complex (but not a massive issue) and the bed is a double size rather than a king size. Overall we thought this L shaped worked better for us with the toddler.
The van layout worked well for us as we removed one set of cushions from the rear seating area and also removed the fold out bunk bed and its cushions. These were left at home to save weight and in their place we put up our travel cot when on site. This gave us lots of space still to change the baby and at night the solid partition door was excellent at keeping the noise out and we were able to sit at the other end and watch TV / eat dinner without any issues!
Having a microwave was a big help for us and although we weren't sure we would use it a lot it got a fair amount of usage warming up the 1yr olds food and also doing things like jacket potato's for us.
The noseweight on the van could be an issue for some. I found that with 2 gas bottles and a small tool box I was getting around 90kg-95kg when measured. This was fine for us as the X-Trail has a limit of 100kg but I think others might have to remove one bottle to keep this down if towing with a big car, etc. One of my bottles is a standard one so this weight may drop when we next change it to another "light" version.
The Whale on board pump was also a bit noisey but didn't seem to wake up our 1yr old and from looking on other forums this seems to be a common experience. I think we noticied it more as the last van had an external pump.
The general layout of the van was excellent and we both used the on board shower for a few days. The bathroom is a little small but is fine for occasional use and having the seperate shower is a real plus. Lots of storage around the van and the on board radio was again a nice addition from our previous ranger.......although we found it didn't get a great signal so may be we need to extended the aerials on the roof aerial next time we go away?
The van has been retuned to the dealers to get the heating fixed and we are awaiting a call to let us know when this has been done and what the problem was. We also noticed the well documented marks on the front centre window where the panes have rubbed, this despite been assured that this window was fine. I have emailed the salesman about this as although the van was 4 yrs old when we brought it we did specifically ask for this to be checked. I am hoping they will also sort this out while the van is in for the heating to be fixed.
So overall we were very pleased with the van and the layout certainly worked much better for us than our 2007 470/4 ranger. Just hoping that the van is fixed by next week as we are off again the following week for another 6 nights down in the new forest.
We now just need to get hold of a 2nd hand awning......both like the Kampa Rally Pro 390 as this looks lightweight but still gives a good amount of space!
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Topic: First trip report on our Bailey Provence
