Can anyone give me a little guidance, I am thinking of buting a 3-4 year old six berth fixed rear bunk 'van'. I have looked at the Bailey range and quite like them. Can anyone else suggest similar vans for consideration.
we think it is great. we really liked the newer layout where there are three bunks alongside a dinette in a seperate room for the kids, with lots of windows to the bunks. But they were out of our budget.
This was our next best. i do think however this slightly older layout is good, as the front end feels more airy, with the wardrobe to the back and lower counters adjacent to the bench seating at the front. The back end is quite dark, which in hindsight is a benefit for us, as our kids are light sleepers and they actually sleep longer in the caravan than they do at home.
It really works for us with two kids and we would reccomend it, not too sure if you have more kids though.
We had a Lunar Chateau 500 with end bunks across the van, liked the layout of caravans such as the Bailey with its bunks / dinette layout but as our children were getting older (12 and 14) and heavier then the we thought that the Bailey and others would not last 5 mins as they appeared to be less able to cope with teens.
But this is only my opinion.
In the end we went for a Geist Aktiv 495 - see my profile that had really well made bunk beds that were at the rear of the van i.e. away from the entrance door too and a pull across door for privacy etc..
Although we lost a little food prep area in the kitchen it works very well for our current needs.
Also it was only 9K New and the Bailey and others were much more expensive at the time.
Hi... We have a 6 berth 2006 ...Swift Kingsmere... with fixed bunks at the back... love ours....
xxx
Hi
We are the same, except ours is a Swift Fairway 570, and as above is a dealer special edition based on the Charisma. The little 'garage door' at the rear is handy too
We have just got a 2005 Elddis Avante 556, have just had our first trip away and loved it. We have two children so prefer the two bunk end layout to the new Bailey 3 bunk version. We liked the more enclosed bunks on the Elddis to the more open Swift/Abbey - suits our son better, its just a case of thinking about what will suit you best and having a look at whats available. It did take us a while to find our van and we ended up at a dealer quite a way from home but it was worth it. Most of the dealers told us there was a lot of demand for this layout.
We found the caravan finder website very useful for information on layouts and models.
We have an Abbey Aventura 330 with fixed bunks across the back, seem to be very sturdy and comfy for our girls aged 13 and 11. The botom bunk can be fixed up so that you can carry bikes etc with an entrance via a side door. Good luck in finding your van, tracey
We bought a brand new Bailey Ranger 540/6 triple bunk model , , we liked the seperate area and table so the kids can go to bed without affecting us .This layout worked great and we really liked every thing about the van and were swayed by 6 year damp g/tee. (Although not expecting any in the first few years!!)
BUT we had used our van for 9 days when we found damp and mould under the bottom bunk , due to a manufacturing defect. Its now back at the factory for a major repair ie i believe at a minimum both full front and rear panels full o/side inner and outer panels etc
Take a tip from us INSPECT THE VAN (any make ) VERY CAREFULLY BEFORE ACCEPTING IT . Get your self a damp meter and be 100% its not leaking BE FORE YOU DRIVE IT OFF , OR YOU MAY FIND YOUR FRIENDLY DEALER is NOT SO HELPFUL / QUICK ONCE HE'S GOT YOUR MONEY or i.e. be in our position , we've been quoted end June / July for repair (we will not be accepting this van back ) and June / July if we order a ANOTHER NEW ONE !!!!!!! so here we are paid for our band new van which BAILEY now have, missing planned holidays WAITING for our dealer who say they are in Baileys hands?.
We have an Geist 565 and love it. We like the rear washroom layout with bunks in the middle as it means one of us can be washing another dressing in the middle section while the rest watch TV or cook breakfast at the front. It’s also good when the kids get bigger as the bunks are a decent side. It has an option of 6th berth.
We are looking at the Xplore 546 as the fixed bunks are 6.8 long.....our 13 year old daughter is almost 5.10....and our son is heading in the same direction. Most other fixed bunks are approx 6ft as they have cupboards at the end.
------------- My photos allow you to see what I saw at the time that I took it....No messing.
Have a look at the Coachman 560/6, it may be a little more expensive that some of the above but once you actually get inside one youll see the reason why.
Quote: Originally posted by bessie500 on 06/5/2009
Have a look at the Coachman 560/6, it may be a little more expensive that some of the above but once you actually get inside one youll see the reason why.
Bessie
Snap, we have the same. Our girls are 5 and 8, we love the layout and quality wise it's fab!
Thanks guys, I think I have found a ranger and am going for a look today. There are hardly any of the fixed rear bunk vans around at the moment. I will keep you posted as to how I get on.
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Topic: Suggestion for 6 berth van
