Well I’m into the last week of my six week tour and must say I feel like I’ve only been away a week. I can’t believe it is coming to a close. I’ve found some incredible roads to test the fattie on and it never felt unhappy. The tow bar has mucked me about but it’s locked in the deployed position. I’ll sort that with LR when I get home. Apart from that the car has coped very well.

So now that we've completed our 6 week tour of the Continent it's time to take stock of the car and van.
Firstly the car.
Utterly brilliant! The only problem was the deployable tow bar which I'm now told has to be replaced with a new one. On order but no stock so waiting for a call. My wife noticed that the high level brake light had a few bulbs/LEDS out so thats been replaced and the tailgate needs aligning. All stuff that must have been apparent when I collected the car but didn't spot.
Fuel consumption towing was about 22 if kept to 60mph and dropped to about 18 if trucking on. On a run if treated well it would return up to 36mpg which I thought was excellent for a V8.

Caravan.
Movers packed up just at the crucial moment (of course) but managed to sort them out myself with a bit of phone help from Powrtouch. Glass splashback went bang and shattered for no apparent reason. Hob wasn't used for at least a week before, van had been stationary for 5 days. I was in bed and heard a loud bang, I thought something had hit the roof. I got up and could hear the glass fracturing for a further 10-15 minutes. I spoke to Vanmaster who said they would get a price together for replacement. When I questioned if the item was covered under the 6 year warranty I was told it was a supplier part and wasn't covered. My response was that everything they touch is a supplier part unless they have a forest! So I'm stuffed with the repairs. I checked with a local glass shop and the cost for a piece of glass is £14 incl. Seems a very small price to pay to keep your customer happy. I've managed to get the broken one off and will sort it myself. Seems only the build is covered under the warranty. Like I was going to drive 5 hours each way to get it sorted anyway, just a sort of sticking in the throat issue really having spent £65k on a van 2 years ago!
The sliding door misaligned was entirely due to the runner only being fixed by a screw at each end. Far too much to ask of two little screws and one had caused the hole to elongate. I'll fix this also so I know it's done right. One good thing is the build is stupidly simple so any fool can fix it, even me!
All in all a fantastic time away and can't wait to do it again.

All fixed or so I thought. The morning we left Calais I thought the Sky HD box had died, blue screen and nowt else. I have since found out after buying a new Humax box that it's the LNB on the Oyster 3 Satellite dish that's to blame and not the Sky HD box. I was asked by the service agents over here to send them the control box and they flash new software which should deal with the issue. I removed the box which is at arms length in the top of the fridge cupboard behind the Sky box shelf and posted it to them. I received a call yesterday to tell me it wasn't a software issue and I possibly need a new LNB after all. As it's under guarantee I asked if they could send me a new one and I'd fit the thing. They told me I'd have to pay £128 and they would refund me on receipt of the faulty one or the new one back. I don't know about you but £128 for an LNB is seriously tooooooo much. I was told by the guy at the service place to buy one from Amazon which is much better and only £16.50!
So that's what I did. I'm awaiting the return of the control box so I can try the cables at first then swap over the LNB for the higher gain unit (Inverto) which I'm told will be much better for reception when abroad. Sounds good.

Am I alone, £65K on a caravan?? Is it made by JLR.. I could get half of Jockland for that ! Glad all sorted..

Been a caravanner for 25 years plus and love it. I had a £25k van and it lasted 18 months before it had a serious problem. This won't have any problems that I can't sort out myself. It's hand built to my design and can carry 600kg of payload. It has auto levelling, motor movers to move it off the car by remote control, self seeking satellite dish 2 13kg gas bottles to keep me going for about 3-4 months without refilling. Hands free phone and flash, "watch this" stuff. I'm happy as it's about the best I could get for me. It means I can continue to caravan well into old age as the thing can set itself up. It has A/C which I've used here at home to sleep in to keep cool. I have 14 weeks a year to go on holiday so it gets well used. Not many vans can stand up to that much use. So yes it was expensive but it's what I wanted.

VanMasters are nice vans, I’ve had two 20,000 miles in the first and 29,000 miles in the second, but they still suffer similar problems to the mass produced vans and now too expensive. Current Buccaneer has self levelling, movers, air con and self seeking sat tv for half the price. Just coming up to 21,000 miles and off to Portugal and Spain for six months in two weeks time.

Ian

Unnecessary quote removed

Fair play Huwrhys I just didn't realise caravans could be that expensive however all relative I suppose, sounds like a better version of a house ! I do like 'watch this' stuff cheers

Ian, my experience of Buccaneers is well documented on the caravantalk forum. I went with cash in hand to the Brum show and had a deal at £6k off the normal RRP of £32500 for the one with the french bed. I have to say it had not withstood the visitors and was falling apart as I looked at it. The so called dovetail joints in fibreboard and chipboard are not fooling anyone. There are much better ways of jointing compressed panels other than trying to give a nod to quality in such a way. I found the Buccaneer to be an ordinary van with toys nailed on it. That’s where the value is. It’s a mass produced van just like all the others. You can get a good one but there are loads of reports of cracked panels and leaks. My Vanmaster is hand built to my design and one of the Phil Narey vans, it has been much improved over the previous models both in construction and customer input. I have no intention of ever selling my van and see value in that over the constant changing of vans. I can update the van and refurb it over and over again which is not so easy on a mass produced van. Bottom line it’s horses for courses. Keeping a van which can see me into old age suits me better than getting the latest and greatest and finding they really don’t normally stand the test of time. Sounds like you have a good one Ian. 🍀

I had to read this twice...£65k for a caravan!! I thought I was extravagant with my Adria Astella Rio Grande Glam Edition for £24k.....Maybe not.....

£65k!!!!! Really!!!

Sorry....

I designed it. I chose everything that’s in it. It was hand made for me and I watched it being built. I can see where every penny went. I’m happy with my choice and have had, as well as will have, a huge amount of fun with it. I’ve been as far as Croatia and caravan for a minimum of 12 weeks a year plus weekends. I feel I have value for money when I consider the quality and longevity of my caravan. I have had mass produced vans from new and the build quality is suspect throughout all makes. I’ve had new vans and watched them all but disintegrate in front of me. I am very careful with my stuff and take great care not to inflict damage if I can help it, but none really survived. This van, despite some teething problems, is pretty much bulletproof. I expect to get 20 years or more out of it. The most important thing is that l Igot what suits me for my hard earned.

Seems you’ve had some issues with your van. Shame to hear for such a prestigious brand that some items aren’t covered under the warranty. I’d be disappointed with any teething problems on a van costing £65k, pays your money and takes your choice as they say!
I hear what you are saying but it’s one hell of a load of cash for what it is. Yes I also appreciate build quality and I also like yourself look after my vehicles and equipment, but that said, the under pinning are alko chassis and heavy build means a big tow car. I’m lucky, my L322 4.4TDV8 was a quarter of the price of new as I searched for the best example I could and have a Adria Astella Rio Grande Glam Edition which has a 10yr water ingress guarantee. The quality is pretty damn good for what it cost and it has all of the contemporary features and styling I wanted. We’ve had many positive complements about our van and we thoroughly enjoy the many features it has. And all for a bargain price of over £20k cheaper than your van alone.
On the downside, the green oval vehicles are not the most reliable as I’m experiencing (like everyone here on the forum) but I have a good warranty to rely on. We’ve had no issues with the Adria at all which is brilliant.
All this said, I’ll keep an eye open for reports on your future trips! Safe journeys!!

All issues I had were taken care of by the manufacturer eventually after a bit of banter. All up to scratch now. It’s prettymuch future proof insofar as it all works at the touch of a button. As I get older I’ll still be able to set the van up on site as everything is automatic. Now I can set up in less than 30 minutes without breaking a sweat. This means that when I’m not the lump I am now I’ll still be doing my favourite thing. Each to his own I suppose.

You’re right it’s great to get set up in 30mins.....what did we do without motor movers and electric drills - not that you need an electric drill with your van!!

The E&P hydraulics do the levelling and the satellite dish sets up without me, whilst I get the water and plug the electric in. The waste has a pumped discharge too so can empty uphill. It all goes towards making it easy for the fossil that I’ll become.