Vito/Viano questions (again?!)

[219]

It was a towing caravan I meant .

I remember the adverts for the specially adapted caravan , which had a door in the rear wide enough to allow entry of the bike and had a channel for the wheels and tie down points either side . There was a picture showing a leather-clad young lady bringing the bike out of the van - that's the part I remember ! Problem was , teh one I saw only took one bike .

I appreciate what you say about the ramps - I've done it getting bikes onto goods trailers , maybe 500mm off the ground , and know you have to be careful even then - I was thinking of a ramp wide enough to walk beside the bike . One of the companies I worked for had alloy ramps for loading heavy equipment in and out of Sprinter vans - the ramps were the same width as the rear of the van and were made by a specialist company .

 

[TheJoker]

Yes, I assumed it would be a towing caravan. I probably didn't let that on. I guess I really don't like towing in general (extra wheels, storage, speed, weaving, etc).

I know the ramp-type you talk about. They're fantastic for loading, but very cumbersome to transport. We find that we need to load our, folding, ramp early into the Espace, otherwise it simply won't fit after all our stuff.

You can see the ramp slightly in this picture.

I think you can also see the convenience of "just rolling the bikes in", and when the bikes aren't in there, you have a normal roomy car, that can transport 5 people and their kitchen sinks, or seven people and a bit of luggage.

Your input is appreciated!

 

[219]

Found it : it was a Knaus caravan .

Besides a trailer caravan adapted to take motorcycles , the YAT , they also have a Motorhome which is factory adapted to carry two motorcycles , the YAMC - see links below .

KNAUS YAT LIGHT :: Caravans, Wohnwagen, Wohnmobile, Reisemobile: Infos zu Modellen, Qualität, Produktion, Technik, Innovatives & News


http://www.knaus.de/en/topmenu/motorhomes/yamc.html

http://www.knaus.de/en/topmenu/motorhomes/yamc/interior-views.html

 

[TheJoker]

Found it : it was a Knaus caravan .

Besides a trailer caravan adapted to take motorcycles , the YAT , they also have a Motorhome which is factory adapted to carry two motorcycles , the YAMC - see links below .

Wow! Thanks! The YAT (trailer caravan) surely has got it's pro's, especially if there wouldn't be that issue price issue of crossing the channel, and storage.

The YAMC on the other hand would be quite ideal if a few "small" things would fall into place. Such as money. and the fact that I'd have to run a second car for day-to-day runs. Storing it would again be a bit of a problem. Etc.
But I would absolutely love the freedom that one of those gives.

Thanks for the links!

 

[jeremytaylor]

Joker, how do you keep those heavy bikes upright in the back of your Espace? Lash between the top two rear seat-belt points?

 

[TheJoker]

Joker, how do you keep those heavy bikes upright in the back of your Espace? Lash between the top two rear seat-belt points?

Something like this:

Basically the Espace has got "slots" in the floor where the seats go. These are ideal for ratchet straps. We use two at the front, and two at the rear and one through the front wheel to prevent the bike to move forward should there be an accident. Per bike. So, in total we use 10 ratchet straps. They are very secure. There's not much space between the bikes, but they never touch. Even when "chucking" the car round the Eifel roads.

 

[TheJoker]

Went into Kidlington Mercedes on Saturday. Wouldn't even give me the time of day. Might as well have stayed there and then robbed the place as I'm sure I was invisible.
Anyway, walked up to the (unregistered) Viano Ambiente they have there and gave it a quick butchers. Seats are hard but comfortable, I like the interior, the loading height is very low (good!). Seems to have a good amount of nooks and crannies to stick things in. Had a sit in the rear seats too and they were nice and posh.

Since I've had this crazy idea about a new Vito/Viano my girlfriend is now thinking of chopping in her Clio for a Smart Car, so we had a butchers around the ones that were stood outside. Again, we were completely invisible.

I thought it was their job to sell cars...!? Maybe I need to go there in my suit and hail abuse at someone.

Either way; Viano nice! Dealership like most of them.

 

[BTB 500]

Sounds good - try and get a test drive, I think you will be impressed (particularly if it's a V6 )

 

[TheJoker]

I'd love a test drive. I think closest "subject" to me is in Milton Keynes. This one was a 2.2 auto, and as I said, sadly not registered, so no road tests, as far as I know.

 

[joembuck]

I'd love a test drive. I think closest "subject" to me is in Milton Keynes. This one was a 2.2 auto, and as I said, sadly not registered, so no road tests, as far as I know.

I can confirm they don't have anything at the moment. I was meant to be trying out their Dualiner 120 this weekend, but they've bleedin' well sold it...

 

[TheJoker]

I can confirm they don't have anything at the moment. I was meant to be trying out their Dualiner 120 this weekend, but they've bleedin' well sold it...

Thanks joembuck! I thought I saw a Viano there the other day (on the web site), must have another look. I'd appreciate a heads up if you find one around these necks of the woods!

On that note we went past Mercedes Direct in Birmingham yesterday and they have a fully pimped up Viano with the 3l V6. Yip, it's even got the electric side doors. I asked them to start up the engine and to my surprise it was very very very quiet. I like that a lot!

The price is waaay up there, but I'm expecting a call from the finance guy... can't hurt, can it... Except my wallet, of course!

 

[joembuck]

They do have other Vito demonstrators at the moment, just not the V6, This is Intercounty, Its different from the Car dealer.

 

[BTB 500]

As an aside, my 120 came from Intercounty.

 

[TheJoker]

Thanks guys! A strong guess would be that this is their site: Intercounty Truck and Van Limited - Home - Supplier of Mercedes-Benz new and used commercial vehicles

 

[TheJoker]

Forgot to mention that I spoke to a guy who had an extra long Vito Traveliner 3l V6 yesterday too. He was very pleased with it. Had 12,000 miles on the clocks, no problems. He also used to own the previous model and was very pleased with that one too. :bannana:

 

[BTB 500]

Incidentally if anyone is thinking of buying new, I got 12% discount from Intercounty without pushing too hard.

 

[TheJoker]

Incidentally if anyone is thinking of buying new, I got 12% discount from Intercounty without pushing too hard.

Good to know!! :bannana: Thanks!

 

[TheJoker]

Righto... been to Hemel today on the bike, so I popped by to check their Viano out. As I mentioned in the 2.2 vs 3.0 thread, turns out it's been sold. However, I did get to listen to the engine.

Later today we went to Milton Keynes to MB to check the Viano out that they've got. It's also got a 2.2CDI engine, and I got to run this engine a bit longer. I must say that the 2.2 is a "real" diesel engine with all its "character", i.e nose and vibration. It's not bad, but compared to the V6 it is not even close.
Otherwise this "specimen" is nice. I'll probably take it out for a spin tomorrow.

We also tried to go to Intercounty in MK, but despite website saying they'd be open till 18:00, they closed at 13:00... no dice there then.

 

[TheJoker]

I've been meaning to post an update for a week now, so I better get to it.

I test drove the Viano from Milton Keynes MB last Sunday and I must say I was a bit disappointed. The ride is definitely van-like, well, I'm not surprised about that, and I won't hold that against the car as I knew it would be.
This car had the 2.2l diesel with auto box and the 2.2 is quite noisey and very much diesel like. More diesel like than the 2.2l in my Espace.
I didn't get along with the auto box either, I don't know if I was driving it too gentle. I thing I'd get along with it with a bit of practise - this drive was just too short.
I managed to get the car up to 70mph on one of the dual carriage ways and getting to that speed was not only slow, but very noisy. Once up there and the auto had changed up, things got reasonably quiet.
All in all, nowhere near as plush and comfortable ride as the 8 year old Espace. More luxurious, naturally. However, I could live with this car. But I'd rather pay the extra for the 3.0l V6, any day. (Haven't driven one, but I've heard it idle).

Now... what's stopping me...
First of all the MB Finance is more or less totally ridiculous, offering APRs in the region of 13%. Go fish!
Second of all, they reckon that car (at £23K on the forecourt 2008 model) would be worth £11k after three years and £8.8K after four years. Which is to me a joke. It might be the reality, but I'm not going to play the game. I'm also annoyed that there's no finance "product" available for someone who'd like to own the car for a long time (they start spluttering and breathing through their teeth if you mention "five years" and don't even try "six years". Which means I'll need to find other ways of financing it (i.e save up some money to cover the initial depreciation).
Third of all, it's not financially viable to get rid of the Espace just yet.

Sadly there was a V6 black Brabus Dualiner on Autotrader for £19K that would almost have been within reach, should I have had a few grand in my pocket an no Espace to worry about.

The skinny is; I'll probably be back next year.

In the meanwhile I'll probably be sticking around here with any questions I might have and read other posts to learn as much as I can. Thanks guys!