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Please has anyone got any helpful advice on whether a Rimini Motor Annexe or similar is the right sort of free standing awning to buy for a K Reg Auto Sleeper Symphony.  I am having trouble persuading my husband that we should buy one and need some convincing replies.

Many thanks Sandy

I would wait Sandy have a good look at the way you tour i.e. is it lots of one night stops or longer stays.  We bought our first van two years ago and still haven't found the need to buy one.  We tend to do mainly one nights stays on sites.  I can see the point of a drive away one though as you can leave your bits and pieces during the day and know your pitch is marked clearly.

There are lots of people on forums such as this one who have bought awnings then decided it isn't quite the right one they wish they didn't have the Fiamma one with sides etc as it is lots of messing to go out for the day.  Others we have seen with caravan type ones that takes hours and lots of swearing to put up. Perhaps thats why we have't got one yet.

Hi Sandy, 

We have just purchased a Khyam ridgi dome motor dome for our compass calypso MC but have not put it up yet.  We used to camp in a low profile van and we used a Royal Traveller motor awning which we found invaluable because we put alot of stuff in there as the van was quite small.  Now we have the Compass we have decided to go for another motor awning which we view as a big extension to our MC, firstly you can leave many items in it when you travel out for the day (saving space in your Auto Sleeper) and when you get back for the night you can side up to it and open your MC door into the awning which probably doubles your floor space (also doubles as a pitch protector whilst you are away from site)  As Jana points out above, they are not ideal if you are only staying a night or two, but if you are pitching up for a week or more then go for it.  One word of caution, check your ground to top of door height, I see that the Rimini comes in 2 heights, our Compass ground to top of door height was 2.1mt which meant our door would of caught the Khyam Motor Dome Classic material when opened.  We went for the Motor Dome Excelsior which has a height of 2.4mt which we hope is ample for our door to open into.  The Rimini comes in 2.2mt and 2.35 heights so get that tape measure out. Not sure how the Rimini compares to the Khyam as we only checked out the Sunncamp and Easycamp Motor awnings, but the prices seem about the same.  Tell your hubby that he will not regret getting one, especially if you stay put for a week or so.  Hope this helps

Stevey H