Folks


We are looking to buy a motorhome and have @ 12k max to spend.

We have looked into getting one from Germany and the 3 that appeal are

1. Hymer integrated on a Mercedes chassis. (2.5 non turbo)

2. VW Karmann "Distance" (2.5 Turbo)

3. Dethleffs 5470 on a Fiat Ducato (1.9 Turbo)


The Dethleffs is the newest (1997) and seems clean from what we can tell in the pics. I am somewhat
concerned about the pulling power of a 1.9 engine though. I dont want somehting that is slow or
struggles up hills.

Is there a great difference between the 1.9 and 2.5 engines?

Does anyone have an experience of any of the above models? Good and bad points.


Thanks - Adam

On Mon, 21 Jan 2008 11:41:07 +0000, Adam Lipscombe
wrote:

Folks


We are looking to buy a motorhome and have @ 12k max to spend.

We have looked into getting one from Germany and the 3 that appeal are

1. Hymer integrated on a Mercedes chassis. (2.5 non turbo)

2. VW Karmann "Distance" (2.5 Turbo)

3. Dethleffs 5470 on a Fiat Ducato (1.9 Turbo)


The Dethleffs is the newest (1997) and seems clean from what we can tell in the pics. I am somewhat
concerned about the pulling power of a 1.9 engine though. I dont want somehting that is slow or
struggles up hills.

Is there a great difference between the 1.9 and 2.5 engines?

Yes a huge difference on the heavy vehicles but then why hurry
anywhere anyway?

We plod along at 50 usually. Get nowhere in a hurry and just accept
it, it helps that way.

Does anyone have an experience of any of the above models? Good and bad points.

I'd check out UK prices of imports as the gap seems to have closed. We
bought ours for less money than it would have cost for us to go and
buy one, with all the resultant hassles.

If you do go to Germany don't try and do it in a day. Take a few days
and look around at everything on offer.

Good luck.

On 21 Jan, 11:41, Adam Lipscombe wrote:
Folks

We are looking to buy a motorhome and have @ 12k max to spend.

We have looked into getting one from Germany and the 3 that appeal are

1. Hymer integrated on a Mercedes chassis. (2.5 non turbo)

2. VW Karmann "Distance" (2.5 Turbo)

3. Dethleffs 5470 on a Fiat Ducato (1.9 Turbo)

The Dethleffs is the newest (1997) and seems clean from what we can tell in the pics. I am somewhat
concerned about the pulling power of a 1.9 engine though. I dont want somehting that is slow or
struggles up hills.

Is there a great difference between the 1.9 and 2.5 engines?

Does anyone have an experience of any of the above models? Good and bad points.

Thanks - Adam

I'm not familiar with any of the models you mention but they are all
vehicles with a decent reputation. There is a huge difference between
the performance of a 2.5 litre and a 1.9 litre. You find yourself
stirring the gearbox a lot more with the 1.9. You could always get it
chipped, which would improve performance significantly, but that'll
cost several hundred quid. The non-turbo is a good solid workhorse
but lacks the (shall we say) 'sparkle' (not really an appropriate word
but you probably know what I mean) of the turbo, but then it will be
considerably more economical to run - I remember test driving a 1995
2.5 diesel against a 1996 2.5 turbo diesel (peugeot If I remember
correctly - same as the Fiat) and the difference in response was very
noticeable. Depends what your looking for. On the other hand the
Mercedes is reputed to be bullet proof - but that may be just hype.

JayDee