Help - what else haven't we thought about...

"…some lesser vans…"

Have you not heard, BB, less is more. 

We seriously considered the La Strada despite its mind numbing price tag but even the lure of the Sprinter base vehicle couldn’t make up for what we considered to be an awful layout. Give me the rear lounge any day. There you go, horses for courses.

We've started hearing of caravans suffering leaks around those panorama roof lights and that makes me doubt the wisdom of them. Also, any body modification such as removing the original roof is introducing a weak spot. That maybe why AT stopped putting plastic roofs on their V-Lines.

I prefer the rear lounge layout over the fixed bed continental type. The idea of spending hours in the cab driving then having to spend the rest of our time sitting there to, while over half the van is taken up by a bed just doesn't appeal. As you say tinny, horses for courses.

The big garage is always an attraction for one's "stuff" though.

...yes, I actually meant less storage biased vans....

of course layout is a very personal thing but there's no doubt different layouts can aid or hinder other aspects, storage being one of them.. ...and, of course, the access to those stored items....external lockers etc or the lack of them...

im sure you're probably right in that AT may have issues with their design, but it was an in house grafted on seperate module, whereas the latest vans are using a factory built higher top version....may be better, we'll see, no doubt.

everyone has their favourite layouts....a huge factor in the decision to purchase.....and I'm sure La Strada lovers (there are several layouts) really like their vans...

we just happen not to see the attraction of rear lounge vans for all the opposite reasons (no doubt) to those who like them....

the cab seats (for us) are far more comfortable (supportive, adjustable, reclining, feet up) than low backed seats that have to double as bunks..

similarly, we want our bed to have been designed as a bed, single piece proper mattress, not something that also has to double as a seat....and at bed time, just get in it.....it also provides a separate 'day bed' area if required...

we don't spend too much time inside the van, mainly just sleeping so a corridor lounge that might seat 6 seems overkill in a small van.

and, of course, we wanted good storage for all our kit, including bikes, so our van ticks the boxes for our requiremnts....but not for all, of course.

so, there you go, horses for courses, so many innovative ways to design our MHs and loads to debate in a separate thread, no doubt....

front lounge, rear lounge, mid lounge, rear washroom, centre washroom rear bed, drop down bed, low beds, high beds, adjustable height beds, large garage, small garage, no garage....plenty to choose from and all will have their advocates...

and im sure the OP will love his new van and I hope there's sufficient storage for his needs...

We have the Autotrail V- line 600, with the front lounge, this has the Skyview roof similar to the previous pictures. Never have a problem with overheating, or leaking, it opens to let fresh air in, and has a flyscreen and blackout blind (made by Remis).Our outdoor chairs are stored in a purpose built 'pocket' mounted on the rear door, we have lots of storage drawers in the double floor, and a hightop fibreglass roof, we manage very well. We had a Savannah before with twin rear beds and a garage....i found i had to leave very little of our garage kit behind, such is the innovation of the storage.  Our model is not made now,  they are all rear lounge models....so we are not changing.

One of the issues I have with the garage version (I have several) is that the inside of the van has very little storage so everything goes in the garage (it would seem) this means you are in and out of the garage all the time (I've seen and heard them) now while in warmer climes this is not a problem (other than annoying your neighbours) but in our rather wet, miserable and windy weather it would be a pain in the ........

It would however solve one problem, the OH wouldn't need to  keep asking where did I put ........

TG, yes I can see what you're saying, but even in our small van there is underseat (and underfloor) storage that houses the things we need inside the van, and with the underseat storage stretching into the double floor cavity, it's far deeper than on a single floored van.

the kitchen drawers (5....was 6 but the fitted oven took up one) store all the pots, pans, crockery and cutlery, condiments, kettles (two, of course) and other utensils, leaving the large overhead kitchen locker lightly used....we have a seperate 'bar' locker for glasses etc.

we also have a large wardrobe which could (if required) be pressed into service for storing other things that might be needed inside the van from time to time....but this hasn't been required..

the washroom also has plenty of storage and counter top.

we're pretty tidy in the van and things have a place and get returned there after use with plenty of storage inside for 'inside things'.

obviouslly, we like to keep 'outdoor things' out of the habitation area and the garage is ideal for this.

i don't think we up annoy too many of our neighbours when closing the garage door, it's just a soft click.

however, the alternative to having a spacious, heated storage area like a garage is to have to store much more kit (some of it damp/muddy - inevitable in our wet, miserable and windy weather) inside the van which might also be a pain in the ......

im sure that most who go for a garage type van weigh up the advantages/disadvantage (for them) as part of the purchasing process and therefore know what they are getting.

we like being able to store (for example) the bikes in the warm and dry....a real blessing in the wet, windy UK....and out of sight.

van design varies so much, it would be boring if we all liked the same things....

we've had non fixed beds and fixed beds, garage and non-garage, A-class and non-A Class, larger and smaller vans and feel we are now just about spot on for what suits us for the touring style we adopt.

Good decision on the Wildax. We took delivery of a Solaris XL in July and you will not be disappointed. This is our fifth van in 8 years, 3 coachbuilt and 2 PVC mostly new. Our last PVC was a Swift Autocruise Forte which was great but had host of issues over nearly 3 years, very usable as 4 berth, but nightmare on customer care. The Wildax has done  just under 5K and been great, other than initial issues with dealer fitting wrong extras, no probs and the thoughtful design and finish is superb. Contacted Wildax about couple of issues on equipment usage and they were back to me within 24 hours. With swift you were lucky if you got any result.. Enjoy your new van.

BB, just found this thread again so apologies for not responding. Your mh sounds as if it does have good storage inside, however we don't have any dealers up here for us to take a look at your model. The makes we have seen have had very little inside storage so have not been tempted by them. 

However now that we have gone back to a caravan its no longer an issue.

ps, where do you put the food

...ha, didn't I mention that...?

as you know many continental vans like ours focus on different aspects of certain areas....the kitchen being one of them...

uk kitchens tend to have massive cookers and under worktop small(er) fridges which might have better worktop space but have used all the underneath space for appliances.....

generally, with continental vans, the cooking is assumed to be done outsite and the emphasis switches more to storage.

so our van didn't come with a cooker nor an underneath fridge, meaning  the whole kitchen, although quite small in area (and by uk standards the worktop space is small) is given over to storage along with the large tower fridge/freezer.

however, we wanted an oven...the Thetford Duplex oven/grill is compact and works really well (best oven we've had) so we're happy to sacrifice one of our six drawers in exchange for the Duplex, still leaving plenty of storage space.

all fresh stuff in large tower fridge, bottom left drawer in kitchen is tall enough for cereal packets, and also holds tins (like to keep them low down), veg, bottles etc...also have a large over kitchen locker for bread, snacks, fruit, etc...

rest of kitchen drawers hold crockery and placemats (middle left), large kitchen utensils and other 'stuff' (upper left), cutlery, bottle openers, tin openers etc (upper right) and pots/pans/steamer/hob kettle etc (bottom right)...

despite having plenty of room, as we are out and about (bikes) most days, we often collect supplies as we pass places so don't carry masses of food with us.