# Kinda new



## Pixie Willow (May 27, 2014)

Hi, 
I have been a camper all of my life starting in tents then onto caravans. My husband and I were full timers for 4 1/2 years and loved every minute. We still have our Abbey 535 caravan but my husband had a terrible accident 3 1/2 years ago when he fell the equivalent of nearly 5 stories and broke his back in several places, amongst other things. He is amazingly still walking but only short distances. We are desperately missing the nomadic thing and although I do all the towing my husband is unable to help me with setting up etc, so we have decided to move onto a small motorhome which will be easier for me, cost is of issue as well. We are interested in getting a Auto Sleepers Executive, but would love to know what anyone's thoughts are on petrol / diesel / engine size etc, and thoughts on part exing our caravan. Any info gratefully received. Thank you for looking.


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## yorkslass (May 30, 2014)

hi.:welcome::wave:


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## Admin (May 30, 2014)

Autosleepers are great vans. The only advice that I would give is to be careful buying a model based on the 2.5 turbo diesel(lucas epic) older transits. There is a sensor in the diesel pump that fails and it is a common fault. It is now almost impossible to get this part and they are no longer manufactured, I had to get one from a boat parts supplier. This is the same for all transit 2.5 TD vans with the lucas epic system.


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## campervanannie (May 30, 2014)

*Hi*

Hi and welcome my advice probably not much use to you as I am a big fan of small campers VW T4/T5 and the like. But there will be plenty of people with advice  on here whatever you get enjoy and have fun.


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## StevenJ (May 30, 2014)

Pixie Willow said:


> Hi,
> I have been a camper all of my life starting in tents then onto caravans. My husband and I were full timers for 4 1/2 years and loved every minute. We still have our Abbey 535 caravan but my husband had a terrible accident 3 1/2 years ago when he fell the equivalent of nearly 5 stories and broke his back in several places, amongst other things. He is amazingly still walking but only short distances. We are desperately missing the nomadic thing and although I do all the towing my husband is unable to help me with setting up etc, so we have decided to move onto a small motorhome which will be easier for me, cost is of issue as well. We are interested in getting a Auto Sleepers Executive, but would love to know what anyone's thoughts are on petrol / diesel / engine size etc, and thoughts on part exing our caravan. Any info gratefully received. Thank you for looking.



You seem to have answered your own question re part ex on the caravan , you know you would get a better deal on a MH , I'm new to MH myself and never been a camper/nomad ( apart from working away from home and that was all nice hotels ).

Firstly it depends on your budget as to the age of MH you would like , the newer the better ( meaning that a lot of older vehicles have NO power steering ) 
I would suggest an engine size of 2-3 litre , my personal choice is diesel , others may disagree on that point ..... 

For an easy life for you both I would also suggest a MH with a fixed bed / bedroom ... no messing about at night making the bed up . I am looking at getting a Burstner with "french" fixed bed , which I think would be appropriate with your hubby's back probs , it also save you making the bed up every night .

Steve


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## phillybarbour (May 31, 2014)

Px is not always a bad deal as it ties everything up I'm one go, I am involved in the motor trade (not motorhomes) but still did a px for my latest van, also pending what they are selling they may well need to move it on and offer a good deal. 

Diesel every time for me without any doubt unless your mileage would be very very low in which case is doesn't matter. In newer vans they will all be diesel and in older vans the petrol will use lots of fuel. Hope you find what your looking for.


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## Sharon the Cat (May 31, 2014)

I would echo the advice about a fixed bed, especially with back problems.
Also, swivel front seats as these are far better quality than the usual dinette seats and far better for your back.

Something we forgot to do was actually try sitting on the loo before you buy. If you have any movement problems the wrong bathroom layout can be very difficult.

As another salve to back problems I have just treated our van to a 250mm deep memory foam mattress & had great fun cutting the corner off in a confined space.


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## Pixie Willow (Oct 22, 2014)

Thank you all. We finally settled on a Burstner 625t Harmony which has a fixed bed. We have had a few teething problems (which are being delt with at the dealers on the 3rd Nov) , and one major in that we needed a new injector whilst away in the New Forrest , this resulted in me loosing faith a little bit. But we do love the Motorhome, just not the smoothest of starts. 
Although I was a coach driver for 20 years, our parking was always provided where ever we went, and I'll be honest it's gonna take a while to relax whilst finding parking on our days out, I do worry about finding the appropriate space without being in the way, particularly when visiting towns, but I guess that will come with experience. Unfortunately I also upset a fellow Motorhomer in Brokenhurst who was waiting to cross the road in front of me (it was my right of way) and when I didn't stop he shouted a few obscenities. I would normally have slowed but I was limping my sick vehicle along on 3 cylinders and couldn't afford the normal social graces. So if anyone knows him, tell him, next time 'Ol Blue' will be a little more friendly but in the mean time consider there may be a reason for a lack of MH social graces.


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## yorkieowl (Oct 22, 2014)

Glad you've found a van, buying a motorhome (Swift Sundance 590) was the best thing we ever did, although I was very daunted at the thought of driving it. We picked it up in May 2007, and in the June my husband had an accident which resulted in me having to drive the van back home (never having been behind the wheel)- 200 miles!!! My husband was unable to drive for months, so I had no choice but to do it, unless we left it on the drive for that time- (no chance of that happening), ended up going all over, even up to Scotland, and I learnt how to reverse into tight spaces it does get easier, and don't let any miserable bugger put you off.


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## GRWXJR (Oct 22, 2014)

Admin said:


> Autosleepers are great vans. The only advice that I would give is to be careful buying a model based on the 2.5 turbo diesel(lucas epic) older transits. There is a sensor in the diesel pump that fails and it is a common fault. It is now almost impossible to get this part and they are no longer manufactured, I had to get one from a boat parts supplier. This is the same for all transit 2.5 TD vans with the lucas epic system.



Sorry to be a bit off topic, but I thought I'd throw in something about the above in case its of some interest.

A chap I have had parts from who breaks Trannies reckoned that he had in the past replaced the Lucas Epic injector pump with the Bosch pump like my van uses with its 'Banana' Tranny non-turbo engine. So perhaps there is some possibility of a workaround? I mentioned the chap and his contact number in the thread on my van on here.

G.


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## Pixie Willow (Oct 22, 2014)

yorkieowl said:


> Glad you've found a van, buying a motorhome (Swift Sundance 590) was the best thing we ever did, although I was very daunted at the thought of driving it. We picked it up in May 2007, and in the June my husband had an accident which resulted in me having to drive the van back home (never having been behind the wheel)- 200 miles!!! My husband was unable to drive for months, so I had no choice but to do it, unless we left it on the drive for that time- (no chance of that happening), ended up going all over, even up to Scotland, and I learnt how to reverse into tight spaces it does get easier, and don't let any miserable bugger put you off.



I'm lucky, after driving coaches the actual driving and physical parking does not bother me one iota, it's trolling around towns looking for suitable car parks etc. I have to try to get close to the towns as my husband can't walk too far, it's just something I'll have to get my head around. With the coaches we just headed for the coach park, or drop off point, job done. If only there was Motorhome equivalents lol. We can only dream.............zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz


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