Panel Vans with integral cab blinds.

[derek500]

Considering downsizing to a PVC.

 

One feature we're looking for is concertina cab blinds.

 

So far we've seen Autocruise which have them at the front and sides and Adria Twin which strangely have them on the front, but not sides.

 

We're looking at all brands both here and import but the brochures don't seem to mention them.

[Guest JudgeMental]

Can be retrofitted as an extra? so would not let that persuade me either way on a favoured van....My Possl (same as Globecar) has them as standard.

[derek500]

JudgeMental - 2014-04-29 12:32 PM

 

Can be retrofitted as an extra? so would not let that persuade me either way on a favoured van....My Possl (same as Globecar) has them as standard.

 

We like the look of those, especially the P2 and G2.

 

Does yours also have a fly screen on the sliding door?

 

 

[Guest JudgeMental]

derek500 - 2014-04-29 12:53 PM

 

JudgeMental - 2014-04-29 12:32 PM

 

Can be retrofitted as an extra? so would not let that persuade me either way on a favoured van....My Possl (same as Globecar) has them as standard.

 

We like the look of those, especially the P2 and G2.

 

Does yours also have a fly screen on the sliding door?

 

 

 

Yes but missed the soft close door as this now standard on 2014 vans. may be worth having a look over on Globecar/Possl forum. chap was selling his new van as his circumstances had changed..cant remember the model. what length vans are you after...LHD or RHD

 

http://globecar.forumatic.com/viewforum.php?f=7

 

its a new, brand specific forum, not that active but you get the info you need as a few good people on there.

Have noticed the 545 metre Roadcamp R. becoming popular as it offers a proper bed and large pull out shower, a few have gone over from VW westfalia's and delighted with a fully fledged camper

 

http://www.poessl-mobile.de/modelle/roadcamp-r/

 

 

[colin]

Is there any reason you don't want 'roller blind' type? we have these on our 2011 Globecar front screen, the side windows can have concertina blinds retro fitted

[Guest JudgeMental]

if your happy to lose a conventional lounge the P2 @ 6 metres a far more practical van. the germans are just so innovative and offer excellent value as well, compared to UK stuff, mind you, buy here and you pay £10K over the odds

 

http://www.poessl-mobile.de/modelle/p2-relax/

 

not sure I have done the right thing going for a 636 van, while the extra interior space and layout fantastic, ease of use (parking etc..) has been lost as we live in London....May be moving out a bit soon so that may change.....

[colin]

Had a look at P2, didn't like it.

[Guest JudgeMental]

But Derek does that was the point of posting. Not for me neither but it is innovative and gives longitudinal beds in a 6 metre van.

[Derek Uzzell]

Regarding blinds for X250 Ducatos, there are two manufacturers - Dometic/Seitz

 

http://tinyurl.com/qylqphe

 

or Remis

 

http://www.remimobil.de/en/produkte/fahrerhausverdunklung/remifront-fiat-ducato.html

 

In my opinion the latest Remis blinds are the tidiest.

 

 

 

 

[derek500]

JudgeMental - 2014-04-30 7:09 AM

 

But Derek does that was the point of posting. Not for me neither but it is innovative and gives longitudinal beds in a 6 metre van.

 

We rarely use our bench seat and have removed our fixed table and replaced it with a removable pedestal one.

 

As we're losing 700mm of total length, that seemed the logical thing to lose.

 

Need to investigate a TV bracket that will enable viewing from both the cab seats and the lounge/bed.

 

 

[derek500]

Derek Uzzell - 2014-04-30 9:22 AM

 

Regarding blinds for X250 Ducatos, there are two manufacturers - Dometic/Seitz

 

http://tinyurl.com/qylqphe

 

or Remis

 

http://www.remimobil.de/en/produkte/fahrerhausverdunklung/remifront-fiat-ducato.html

 

In my opinion the latest Remis blinds are the tidiest.

 

 

 

 

Those Remis ones look integral, which was my main objection to post fitting. Thanks.

[Mel B]

We have the Remis blinds as in the link and they are not 'integral' (ie physically built in when the conversion is done) as they just fit over the doors/screen so they can be retrofitted. :-D

[Mel B]

JudgeMental - 2014-04-29 7:59 PM

 

if your happy to lose a conventional lounge the P2 @ 6 metres a far more practical van. the germans are just so innovative and offer excellent value as well, compared to UK stuff, mind you, buy here and you pay £10K over the odds

 

http://www.poessl-mobile.de/modelle/p2-relax/

 

Sorry Judge, can't agree about the P2 being 'practical' it may seem so but we had a good crawl over one at Peterborough (Globecar equivalent) and whilst the idea is good, in use it is very cramped and difficult to move around. For example to use the table with the cab seats, you have to swivel the seats first, then put the table up, the do a 'shuffle' into the seats somehow. The table itself does move fore and aft but only by a small amount and if you push it too far back it then stops the washroom door opening!

 

Also the way it folds is awful - it is too long to just fold down as you would expect as it then hits the floor, so instead you have to remove a small infil part of the table top nearest the washroom wall, loosen a couple of screw clamps underneath, then push the main part of the table UP on it's runners (keeping it horizontal), then fold it down so it is vertical against the wall, then put the infil part back which forms a small 'shelf' and is held by ... 2 pieces of dowel ... yes dowel!!!! *-) What they SHOULD have done is make a shorter table which could be folded down without a problem, with a piece that extended out for the far side cab seat as this would have allowed easier access/egress for the 'captive' cab seat but how easy it would be to have a meal sat at this table is questionable anyway as there wouldn't be much elbow room.

 

You can see the table sections better on this website:

 

http://www.caraworld.de/wohnmobile/poessl/2795623/poessl-sonstige-p2-relax-sofort-lieferbar/bild_12.html

 

The floor area is small and we found there was realistically only one way to get past each other with the table up, and that was for one to stand 'in the corner' between the table and the washroom wall (the point of the triangle). The 'single' beds weren't really either, just a big double with a bite taken out of the bottom, so I'm not sure how easy they'd be to get in and out of with all the bedding in place.

 

The van has tried to be too many things and doesn't do any of them well unfortunately.

[colin]

Mel B - 2014-04-30 6:52 PM

 

JudgeMental - 2014-04-29 7:59 PM

 

if your happy to lose a conventional lounge the P2 @ 6 metres a far more practical van. the germans are just so innovative and offer excellent value as well, compared to UK stuff, mind you, buy here and you pay £10K over the odds

 

http://www.poessl-mobile.de/modelle/p2-relax/

 

Sorry Judge, can't agree about the P2 being 'practical' it may seem so but we had a good crawl over one at Peterborough (Globecar equivalent) and whilst the idea is good, in use it is very cramped and difficult to move around. For example to use the table with the cab seats, you have to swivel the seats first, then put the table up, the do a 'shuffle' into the seats somehow. The table itself does move fore and aft but only by a small amount and if you push it too far back it then stops the washroom door opening!

 

Also the way it folds is awful - it is too long to just fold down as you would expect as it then hits the floor, so instead you have to remove a small infil part of the table top nearest the washroom wall, loosen a couple of screw clamps underneath, then push the main part of the table UP on it's runners (keeping it horizontal), then fold it down so it is vertical against the wall, then put the infil part back which forms a small 'shelf' and is held by ... 2 pieces of dowel ... yes dowel!!!! *-) What they SHOULD have done is make a shorter table which could be folded down without a problem, with a piece that extended out for the far side cab seat as this would have allowed easier access/egress for the 'captive' cab seat but how easy it would be to have a meal sat at this table is questionable anyway as there wouldn't be much elbow room.

 

You can see the table sections better on this website:

 

http://www.caraworld.de/wohnmobile/poessl/2795623/poessl-sonstige-p2-relax-sofort-lieferbar/bild_12.html

 

The floor area is small and we found there was realistically only one way to get past each other with the table up, and that was for one to stand 'in the corner' between the table and the washroom wall (the point of the triangle). The 'single' beds weren't really either, just a big double with a bite taken out of the bottom, so I'm not sure how easy they'd be to get in and out of with all the bedding in place.

 

The van has tried to be too many things and doesn't do any of them well unfortunately.

 

The rear bed is simiilar to ours, so should be very easy to bail out of, as that's gf's main concern to overcome claustrophobia.

The front I agree with you, doesn't quite work IMO.

[Mel B]

colin - 2014-04-30 8:45 PM

 

The rear bed is simiilar to ours, so should be very easy to bail out of, as that's gf's main concern to overcome claustrophobia.

The front I agree with you, doesn't quite work IMO.

It may appear as such Colin but I've seen both in the flesh and in reality accessible isn't as good - in the picture of your layout (1st photo) you can see that you have steps up that go a lot further along the inner sides of the beds, whereas the P2 (2nd photo) only has a 'nibbled' chunk out of the end! When we saw the P2 at first we thought it would be very good, but having poked and sat in it for a while thinking about the actually usage/accessibility etc of stuff, it became apparent that it would be a compromise in many ways. Someone going up from a much smaller van who wanted 2 'single' beds might be more than happy with it but I don't think it will actually suit many.

[colin]

Mel B - 2014-04-30 10:31 PM

 

colin - 2014-04-30 8:45 PM

 

The rear bed is simiilar to ours, so should be very easy to bail out of, as that's gf's main concern to overcome claustrophobia.

The front I agree with you, doesn't quite work IMO.

It may appear as such Colin but I've seen both in the flesh and in reality accessible isn't as good - in the picture of your layout (1st photo) you can see that you have steps up that go a lot further along the inner sides of the beds, whereas the P2 (2nd photo) only has a 'nibbled' chunk out of the end! When we saw the P2 at first we thought it would be very good, but having poked and sat in it for a while thinking about the actually usage/accessibility etc of stuff, it became apparent that it would be a compromise in many ways. Someone going up from a much smaller van who wanted 2 'single' beds might be more than happy with it but I don't think it will actually suit many.

 

I think either you have been fooled by a not quite accurate drawing or the steps have changed, our van has only two steps, the last part is a 'tray' between the beds which I guess most like ourselves leave covered by an infill cushion, which in effect leaves us with one large bed with a small cut out and not two singles.

The van at Peterborough we did take quite an interest in, as at first glance it did seem to offer a shorter alternative to ours, and I'm all in favour of having the smallest van to meet our needs. The rear bed got a once over, it is a bit different, but I think it is still fairly easy to get in and out, certainly much easier than most of the transverse beds.

[derek500]

Looked at the Globecar G2 last week at Newbury and wasn't keen. The table is just too small and as MelB said a pain to erect.

 

Anyway, today we bought a new Autocruise Accent. It ticks many boxes for us.

 

Pick it up Saturday.

 

 

[knotmaster]

colin - 2014-04-29 5:52 PM

 

Is there any reason you don't want 'roller blind' type? we have these on our 2011 Globecar front screen, the side windows can have concertina blinds retro fitted

 

What make are your side blinds, any good?

Im contemplating the Seitz Duetto for £300 all in for windscreen and side but reluctant to buy unseen.

 

Thanks,

 

Graham