Found the perfect van for us at last

[Boris7]

Who said aerodynamics were a new fad

 

[trevskoda]

Cheep one here, light TLC required.

 

[r4dent]

Well if its the first one even once then I think you answered your own question. They don't look very big either to me.

Don't knock it until you've tried it!

 

[wildebus]

Like I said, have separate beds, do keep up

The layout from the Hab door forwards is near enough just the same as my Autotrail Cheyenne. You would be able to make a bed up from the two facing sofas in a matter of minutes and is dead easy to do. What is quite unusual on that one is the drivers seat is swivelling - usually on a Sprinter base, the drivers seat gets fixed for some reason beyond me (unless I am thinking of the older Sprinter Mk1 T1N base and they sorted this on the Mk2?).

I would say price-wise that is about right for an Autotrail on a Sprinter chassis and looks good. The Cheyenne Autotrails are really solid and the interior is made from real wood and plywood and not polystryrene sandwiched by two thin sheets like most vans nowadays. When I have added sockets and the like in mine, sometimes I have had to use a holesaw to go through 50mm worth of plywood to go from one side to another!
The interior cabinetry on that 696G is identical to my 635, down the the two-tone locker doors (two different woods, not a sticker on the bottom bit), the frosted glass fronts over the 240V lights at the front and the little drop-down flaps below the larger top doors.
Some may call these vans dated, but I think they look superb

 

[Pudsey Bear]

We both like that style too.

 

[Nabsim]

Nice MH with low mileage. Haggle with the seller maybe, see if they will drop it to £30k for quick sale.

Damn Ral you have too much money, would think £25K tops for a 2007 and only that cos it looks in nice condition

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Proper Automatic Mercs are like hen's teeth. If it were a manual or a Fiat, it'd be much more cheaperer.

 

[Nabsim]

Proper Automatic Mercs are like hen's teeth. If it were a manual or a Fiat, it'd be much more cheaperer.

They always say that when they have one to sell Kev, an auto would be dearer than a manual. That it more than I paid for mine over 8 years ago

 

[mark61]

Well there’s certainly very few autos around. Strange as you certainly expect a lot more buyers of new MH’s to spec auto.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Plenty of the new vans are autos now, and proper autos too, which is good, and I think it's to do with the age of the buyers being lower; lots will have EVs, so some may never have even driven a manual, possibly taken the test in an automatic car.

 

[Nabsim]

Well there’s certainly very few autos around. Strange as you certainly expect a lot more buyers of new MH’s to spec auto.

Think it's a more recent thing where people are taking up autos more though Mark. I had the same thing with cars years ago, when I was after one they were rare (they were much less common, especially in the 70's) so had to pay a premium, when you cam to sell them of course' nobody wants those'. Once they became more plentiful on the market and more wanted them it balanced out.

Give it another few years and there will be a lot more choice, Mercs will probably still bring a higher price asked though as they are much less common due to extra cost new

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Think it's a more recent thing where people are taking up autos more though Mark. I had the same thing with cars years ago, when I was after one they were rare (they were much less common, especially in the 70's) so had to pay a premium, when you cam to sell them of course' nobody wants those'. Once they became more plentiful on the market and more wanted them it balanced out.

Give it another few years and there will be a lot more choice, Mercs will probably still bring a higher price asked though as they are much less common due to extra cost new

I don't have time to wait for the prices to drop, unfortunately. I might have 4-5 years left where I can get into a van; I already struggle to get out, and if I can't find an auto with a garage and the money to buy it, then I'll have to sell this one, and then I'm done altogether.

 

[barryd]

Don't knock it until you've tried it!

There isn't much I haven't tried that much is certain.

I have a presidential suite in our van. I may invite the current Mrs D into it if she is lucky but ill send her packing at bed time back to her junior suit up front. Being crammed in like sardines and crawling over each other to get to the loo don't sound like the recipe for a good nights sleep to me.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Sounds like your getting a bit old, too old maybe?

 

[mark61]

Think it's a more recent thing where people are taking up autos more though Mark. I had the same thing with cars years ago, when I was after one they were rare (they were much less common, especially in the 70's) so had to pay a premium, when you cam to sell them of course' nobody wants those'. Once they became more plentiful on the market and more wanted them it balanced out.

Give it another few years and there will be a lot more choice, Mercs will probably still bring a higher price asked though as they are much less common due to extra cost new

Well, sure back in the 70's they would have been rarer, but even back when this van was new, auto would have been about a £800/1000 option, pennies when considering what the vehicle would have cost.
Ok, some manufacturers may never have had an auto option, but Merc did from the 80's

 

[wildebus]

There isn't much I haven't tried that much is certain.

I have a presidential suite in our van. I may invite the current Mrs D into it if she is lucky but ill send her packing at bed time back to her junior suit up front. Being crammed in like sardines and crawling over each other to get to the loo don't sound like the recipe for a good nights sleep to me.

If you checked into a Hotel and were presented with what Motorhome manufacturers laughingly called a "Double Bed", you would be back to reception double-quick and demand to know why you have been given a single room

 

[r4dent]

I have a presidential suite in our van.

I'd forgotten that you live the definitive Rock Star life,

Is it true that Mrs D has to ensure there is a bowl of Bassetts Liquorice Allsorts with no the Blue Bobbly balls in the suite.

 

[wildebus]

Well, sure back in the 70's they would have been rarer, but even back when this van was new, auto would have been about a £800/1000 option, pennies when considering what the vehicle would have cost.
Ok, some manufacturers may never have had an auto option, but Merc did from the 80's

In the UK, a choice of Auto vs Manual in a vehicle was rarely around the cost of specifying an Auto box. Plenty of people would just not want to have an Automatic for a multitude of reasons - cost was just one. economy was a big one, distrust of reliability and potential cost of repair another, and plain and simple not wanting one of course. And one often quoted ... "can't bump start an Auto" .
Whether or not any of those were really valid reasons is another matter entirely.

Personally I would not mind an auto but at the same time don't really care. First auto box I ever drove was a Ford Cortina I borrowed for a week off the company back in the 80's, then had a run of 3 auto cars from 2012 to 2017 (one conventional, 2 robotic), then back to manual in the next car for the next 9 years and counting. Do I miss the auto? I really don't care!

 

[colinm]

If you checked into a Hotel and were presented with what Motorhome manufacturers laughingly called a "Double Bed", you would be back to reception double-quick and demand to know why you have been given a single room

Our bed is 6ft wide, even on our old T25 I fitted a 4ft 6in bed, meanwhile I had a discussion with 'mr devon' about one of his designs that had a 3ft 6in french bed in a Sprinter!

 

[wildebus]

Our bed is 6ft wide, even on our old T25 I fitted a 4ft 6in bed, meanwhile I had a discussion with 'mr devon' about one of his designs that had a 3ft 6in french bed in a Sprinter!

Ok, YOU fitted a 4'6" bed in a T25.

WHO fitted the 6ft wide bed in your current van?