Is the GC a fail?

[Barry Chuckle]

If you are paying interest at 10% to finance that extra 30K over 5 years you need to add-on a further £15k on the cost to own of the more expensive van.
You might get your £30k extra initial back come resale but you've lost the cost of borrowing that £30k = £250 / month!

Good point, this is probably my lack of knowledge in this type of market. I was assuming that large scale producers like Westfalia, Hymer, Knaus etc would at least offer preferential backed finance albeit not at 0%? I used to work at Black Horse and I know that JLR used to incentivise their financial packages if not in the rate they would inflate the GMFV to make the overall cost cheaper.

 

[Carryon Cali Camping]

Why is it you none owners and have no intention of owning a GC and have never been in one or driven one spend so so much time talking about/whining about them. Yes they have/had issues, has yours!
Get a life

But it is quite entertaining reading some of the posts…..I have a sh*t load of gardening that needs doing, so if anybody would rather earn a few quid vs trawling the net for negative reviews on a GC etc. drop me a line ;-)

 

[GrannyJen]

Good point, this is probably my lack of knowledge in this type of market. I was assuming that large scale producers like Westfalia, Hymer, Knaus etc would at least offer preferential backed finance albeit not at 0%? I used to work at Black Horse and I know that JLR used to incentivise their financial packages if not in the rate they would inflate the GMFV to make the overall cost cheaper.

Probably because they are converters, not integrated manufacturers like VW.

 

[Hamish S]

Did see a GC in the wild the other week. Was in Slimbridge..........

 

[Bobby D]

I honestly don’t get the hate! I’ll have four requirements for my next van (which isn’t a daily):

1) Crafter/Man base
2) Year round useability for the family; not keen on a poptop
3) I want to be able to get up and make a brew, then have somewhere to sit and watch something on the iPad while the Mrs and kids are still in bed
4) sub 6m

Still waiting for any recommendations of pre-built vans within £20k of a Grand?

You will struggle after the 1st request, Just not many converters using the Crafter/Man because of the limited width.

The Ducato/Boxer is quite a bit wider so suits the camper base better. If you can get past Point 1 the rest is easy.

 

[andyinluton]

You will struggle after the 1st request, Just not many converters using the Crafter/Man because of the limited width.

The Ducato/Boxer is quite a bit wider so suits the camper base better. If you can get past Point 1 the rest is easy.

Theres 38mm difference in width inside - probably more to do with the cost of the base vehicle, I priced up a Crafter panel van as a basis for a DIY conversion & the comparable Ducato comes out about 15K +VAT cheaper

 

[Bobby D]

Theres 38mm difference in width inside - probably more to do with the cost of the base vehicle, I priced up a Crafter panel van as a basis for a DIY conversion & the comparable Ducato comes out about 15K +VAT cheaper

At the top?...I'd double check your tape measure.

You can sleep 4 Bunk style width ways across a Ducato at the rear without the need for Side Pods etc. You can't even sleep width ways across the crafter without having a cut out, and thats at low level.

 

[andyinluton]

At the top?...I'd double check your tape measure.

You can sleep 4 Bunk style width ways across a Ducato at the rear without the need for Side Pods etc. You can't even sleep width ways across the crafter without having a cut out, and thats at low level.

Just going by the van guide a Crafter is 1.832 wide internally & a ducato 1.870 no need to get my tape measure calibrated thanks.

I'd like to see how you would get the GC crosswise bed with a length of 1.93 into a Ducato thats 1.87 wide without any sort of pod.

Looking at the Rapido vans as a typical ducato conversion, the upper bunks are only 1750 long (across the van) thats why they fit......

 

[CamperFam]

@Jimmylondon07 - a heads up RE your price earlier with a fully spec'd up 600.

Do keep in mind that a fully spec'd 600 will mean you have to go for a 3.88t version, rather than a 3.5t.
Arguably, the 3.88t will be slightly harder to sell on should you ever find yourself doing so, because of the C Class License requirement.

When we spec'd ours up when testing the waters, even having a mid-tier spec (towbar + overhead bed + awning) pushes us close to the limit.

The problem is, you can place your order without issue, and then the dealer gets notified by factory that the configuration is over the weight limit. So if you're going for a all-bells-and-whistles spec, plan on it being a 3.88t and require that additional license.

 

[CamperFam]

Why is it you none owners and have no intention of owning a GC and have never been in one or driven one spend so so much time talking about/whining about them. Yes they have/had issues, has yours!
Get a life

It's called a discussion about Californias. On a forum solely about Californias.

Life would be boring if everything was an echo chamber. We love the idea of a 600, and would aboslutely be wholeheartedly considering one, but for us there's a number of things we would need to get past. Hence, conversing is useful.

Alternatively, we could just throw rather hostile 'get a life' comments at any posts we dislike. But that doesn't really bring much value.

 

[andyinluton]

@Jimmylondon07 - a heads up RE your price earlier with a fully spec'd up 600.

Do keep in mind that a fully spec'd 600 will mean you have to go for a 3.88t version, rather than a 3.5t.
Arguably, the 3.88t will be slightly harder to sell on should you ever find yourself doing so, because of the C Class License requirement.

When we spec'd ours up when testing the waters, even having a mid-tier spec (towbar + overhead bed + awning) pushes us close to the limit.

The problem is, you can place your order without issue, and then the dealer gets notified by factory that the configuration is over the weight limit. So if you're going for a all-bells-and-whistles spec, plan on it being a 3.88t and require that additional license.

The dealers configurator shouldn't let you go over the 3.5tnne.

The awning, bed & towbar are 3 out of the 4 heavy options, the 4th is a spare wheel. You can have any 2 out of the four & get it registered as 3.5tnne. It's easy to have the towbar & spare wheel retrofitted, the bed & awning are a lot harder - it eats into your usable payload but can be done.

To offset the additional weight think about things like the diesel heater - means you only need something like a 907 gas bottle as it will only be for the hob.

 

[Jester]

It's called a discussion about Californias. On a forum solely about Californias.

Life would be boring if everything was an echo chamber. We love the idea of a 600, and would aboslutely be wholeheartedly considering one, but for us there's a number of things we would need to get past. Hence, conversing is useful.

Alternatively, we could just throw rather hostile 'get a life' comments at any posts we dislike. But that doesn't really bring much value.

This topic has been going on since 2019 and is boring now.

If you are that interested, don’t be lazy search previous posts, it’s all been said before.
For the record I’ve just returned from a 6 week trip mainly to Croatia via the usual stop offs.
Prior to that 8 weeks in and around Spain and 6 weeks in northern Italy plus all around the UK.

I enjoy what the GC has to offer as an individual and it suits me perfectly but see it may not suit everyone,
So find something that does , and move on.

 

[soulstyledevon]

You will struggle after the 1st request, Just not many converters using the Crafter/Man because of the limited width.

The Ducato/Boxer is quite a bit wider so suits the camper base better. If you can get past Point 1 the rest is easy.

I think the main problem has been Volkswagen supply issues.
Next year could be interesting, as Hymer group have 6000 crafter chassis’s on order.

Volkswagen to supply Crafter vans to Erwin Hymer Group

Volkswagen has agreed to supply 6,000 Crafter panel vans to Erwin Hymer Group as base vehicles.

vanlifematters.co.uk

 

[soulstyledevon]

I think this is as good as it gets for the “Campervan” experience.

 

[Barry Chuckle]

I think this is as good as it gets for the “Campervan” experience.

Looks lovely but it's very expensive but no doubt it'll sell.

I'm off to the NEC next week and I'm really looking forwards to seeing this in the flesh

 

[soulstyledevon]

Looks lovely but it's very expensive but no doubt it'll sell.

I'm off to the NEC next week and I'm really looking forwards to seeing this in the flesh

It’s very expensive.
I wonder how the Crafter will fit into their line-up…?
My guess, target market is a younger demographic and families. Possibly fall into
the Crosscamp category.

CROSSCAMP Camper Vans – Modellauswahl

Die großen Camper Van Modelle von CROSSCAMP geben dir das, was du schon immer gesucht hast: mehr Platz, mehr Freiheit, mehr Unabhängigkeit. Dank flexibler Dusche beim 541 oder geräumigem Bad bei den 600 | 640 Modellen, komfortabler Stehhöhe und großen Küchenzeilen steht dir die Welt offen...

www.crosscamp.com

The Crafter at 680 is a very big van. Not sure it’s where I would spend my money.

 

[CamperFam]

This topic has been going on since 2019 and is boring now.

If you are that interested, don’t be lazy search previous posts, it’s all been said before.
For the record I’ve just returned from a 6 week trip mainly to Croatia via the usual stop offs.
Prior to that 8 weeks in and around Spain and 6 weeks in northern Italy plus all around the UK.

I enjoy what the GC has to offer as an individual and it suits me perfectly but see it may not suit everyone,
So find something that does , and move on.

With the upmost respect....since when is having a conversation lazy? Opinions, tastes, and experiences change. If I googled posts from 2019, i'd be getting camping experiences pre-C19, finance dealers pre-interest rate blowup, travel experiences pre-brexit. If you're infuriated by other people discussing things, you can always scroll past....

 

[CamperFam]

The dealers configurator shouldn't let you go over the 3.5tnne.

The awning, bed & towbar are 3 out of the 4 heavy options, the 4th is a spare wheel. You can have any 2 out of the four & get it registered as 3.5tnne. It's easy to have the towbar & spare wheel retrofitted, the bed & awning are a lot harder - it eats into your usable payload but can be done.

To offset the additional weight think about things like the diesel heater - means you only need something like a 907 gas bottle as it will only be for the hob.

Speaking to Breeze, they dont get any sight on weight. They place the order, and only when the factory have reviewed it do they come back and say 'no' if it's over the limit. Heaven knows why....surely cant be that challenging (and surely more cost effective from a time perspective) to just have a weight value calculated in the configurator. The dealer clearly doesnt seem to so i'm assuming the consumer-facing one doesnt either.

 

[andyinluton]

Speaking to Breeze, they dont get any sight on weight. They place the order, and only when the factory have reviewed it do they come back and say 'no' if it's over the limit. Heaven knows why....surely cant be that challenging (and surely more cost effective from a time perspective) to just have a weight value calculated in the configurator. The dealer clearly doesnt seem to so i'm assuming the consumer-facing one doesnt either.

The consumer one does have the weight calculator, if you select. spare wheel & extra bed on the 3.5t it tells you to remove something, it lets you add everything on the 3.88t version.

Also I cant see an option for the roll out awning on either weight.

 

[CamperFam]

The consumer one does have the weight calculator, if you select. spare wheel & extra bed on the 3.5t it tells you to remove something, it lets you add everything on the 3.88t version.

Also I cant see an option for the roll out awning on either weight.

Hah; why on earth the dealers cant advise us whether our spec would have needed a 3.5 or 3.88 then I dont know!

 

[66tim99]

Apart from Top Gear Magazine, No one who gets a loaner from the manufacturer gives you an honest review. As an influencer it’s hard as it is to get a loaner so they can’t be negative.

Hmmm eg Harry Crawford (Harry’s Garage YouTube) talks openly about negative features, and his negative comparisons with alternative for his loaners

 

[GrannyJen]

Looks lovely but it's very expensive but no doubt it'll sell.

I'm off to the NEC next week and I'm really looking forwards to seeing this in the flesh

Adria have an awful reputation in the motorhome community.

I once bought an Adria. 1990. A small caravan. I wanted something for our back-up team to sleep in when. we walked LE-JoG for our second charity walk. I paid for it on Credit card and sold it 7 weeks later so practically cost me nowt. It also stayed together quite well.

 

[CamperFam]

Adria have an awful reputation in the motorhome community.

I once bought an Adria. 1990. A small caravan. I wanted something for our back-up team to sleep in when. we walked LE-JoG for our second charity walk. I paid for it on Credit card and sold it 7 weeks later so practically cost me nowt. It also stayed together quite well.

Out of interest, why do they have a poor reputation? I always assumed it would be good, given their market share.

 

[oliver100]

You will struggle after the 1st request, Just not many converters using the Crafter/Man because of the limited width.

The Ducato/Boxer is quite a bit wider so suits the camper base better. If you can get past Point 1 the rest is easy.

Hah; why on earth the dealers cant advise us whether our spec would have needed a 3.5 or 3.88 then I dont know!

There is actually a dry weight on the consumer configurator that changes when you add and remove options and a magic figure you can’t go over. Took me a while to figure it out, but enabled me to configure ours. In the end we dropped the awning as I wanted Led’s, Solar, diesel heating, power mirrors (for blind spot detection), heated seats etc. Believe it or not led’s apparently add 5kg’s!

 

[GrannyJen]

Out of interest, why do they have a poor reputation? I always assumed it would be good, given their market share.

Best find that out on the Adria FB page. Failing units seem to be the biggest gripe, catches and hinges breaking etc. When I was looking I joined most Converter FB groups and whilst Hymer, Knaus, Burstner was full of happy people the Adria pages were a bit grim. Iy surprised me as they always seem less conservative and more innovative and my one experience many years ago was a highly positive one.

Their caravan reputation is still good I think.