Ownership Diary - Dethleffs Globetrotter XLi 7850 EB

I'm delighted to announce that a replacement motorhome is inbound to us to replace "Dougie", our very much loved, but utterly untrustworthy former motorhome.



I am not going to go into too much detail as to how we arrived at this, since it's been a hugely frustrating 4.5months. What I will say, however, is that Reject My Car has been fabulous to deal with and have been the major drivers behind the result. I can highly recommend their services. The icing on the cake will be if the Motorhome Legal Insurance cover pays out the £8k attaching to their Success Fee. What I will also concede is that once the retailer conceded to settle, they have been more accommodating and there seems a genuine sense in making me happy(ier). Again though, I don't really want to go into more details and would appreciate it if the comments could revolve around the van!

So, here we are. I will concede that taking this van as a replacement brings us into something we plainly couldn't afford when we bought Dougie. The difference in retail price was £70k before adding any toys. We've been "lucky" to the extent that what we're buying is old (unregistered) stock which has been discounted to clear ahead of the new model years incoming. We have had to make a "contribution", but it's nowhere near the above number.

The difficulty, as with buying Doug, was trying to find a premium motorhome which was fully winterised which provided seatbelts for the whole family (5 of us), the same number of berths and at the same time allowed us to experience the extreme temperatures of skiing (next year) with the ability to go offgrid (independent from power, water, waste for 3-4 days at a time). This does that and more; a real step up in luxury and opulence which was missing from Doug. My Wife has described it as being a 5* hotel versus the Premier Inn!

Some highlights of the spec:

- 8.7m long (10cm more than Doug), 2.4m wide, 3.1m tall
- 5,400kg Max Gross Weight with c. 1,000kg of payload
- Fiat Ducato 2.2l with 9spd ZF gearbox (again! ) and 180bhp
- 330aH of Lithium batteries (previous 230aH), 3kW inverter (previous was 2kW)
- 360deg Birds Eye view cameras
- SKA hydraulic suspension captains chairs for driving comfort (like lorry seats) with heated & ventilated function
- Ceramic toilet (like home!)
- External BBQ gas socket
- 32" TV in living area, 22" TV in rear bedroom, satellite dish
- LED dipped headlights (halogens on Doug)
- Alde Wet Central Heating & Heat Exchanger with engine for pre-warming engine or using engine to heat hab area
- Electric awning
- Fully real leather interior

I had a good nose around the vehicle last week for 3hrs, having also spent 2-3hrs with my Wife and boys the previous weekend looking at a similar one in our local Dethleffs dealer. We had thought we wanted an island double queen bed but when the single beds at the rear came up, we thought they would be more flexible over the longer term given we have the ability to use the van in different ways as the kids grow up. Delighted with our choice.

The kitchen is expansive, it has a real mineral worktop (Doug is veneer wood), central locking on the kitchen cabinets/drawers which activates when you start the engine - this avoids the inevitable first corner where half your kitchen contents flies out because you've forgotten to lock the drawers!

The midship bathroom provides a great dressing area and real privacy from both rear bedroom and front living space. Doug has just a curtain separating the bathroom from the rear bed. Additionally the water system is fully pressurised, so making for pleasant showering experience whereas Doug was a bit like being wee'd on.

And finally, the feeling of space from the A-class/Liner setup which you get from having the panoramic windscreen and the captains chairs being part of the living space. What we loose in terms of space having the Luton bed available for a grumpy teenager at all times, we gain in terms of overall comfort and scale.

We got alarm & tracker and Gaslow (refillable gas bottle) switchover included in the final settlement price. But we are missing some bits which the retailer was unwilling to discount so our local dealer will be doing - 2x solar panels, water filter and headunit for satnav/cameras etc c. £3k to add those bits. Over time, we'll add back in hydraulic levelling system (£7k) and habitation aircon (£3k) but they're nice to haves rather than must haves at this stage.

I will say that given we thought we were going to Court and would be recouping all the invoice price plus inconvenience money, it's been a bit of a stretch finding the £k to pile into this one, but both myself and Mrs Spuff see it as an opportunity to enjoy motorhoming even more and if this unhappy coincidence hadn't occurred, we'd not be able to afford to squeeze into one of these for a long time (on a new basis). I'm 50 in 3yrs time and we're already planning a 6wk trip to Norway; this van will provide the perfect base for doing so.

I'm collecting "Lexi" next Thursday, spending the night locally to the dealership to shake things down and check everything works as it should. If it doesn't, I'll return the following day to get things resolved. After that my local dealer in Halstead will maintain it and do warranty work. I'm a little nervous about the 9spd ZF gearbox again but having researched just how many of these things have been registered and are in service, I have to accept only a small percentage fail and it's unlikely that lightening will strike twice. Hopefully!

Watch this space!

 

Not really!

Problem is two-fold - settling out of Court meant taking what was on offer within the dealership. They had our money and had us over a barrel.

The only options in the whole market which do what we need is Fiat <£200k or Iveco & Mercedes which are both >£200k unless you're able to get something which is similar to ours and old stock which is hanging around and needing shifting.

Our local Dethleffs dealer has a Iveco Globetrotter XXLA we looked around which is LHD and no doubt could've been had for a deal around the £170k mark and there's a Mercedes-based Hymer B880 in Southampton which would've done the trick which is on for £186k. However, both would've required us seeing our claim through Court and the judge would most likely have looked very dimly upon us if we'd have rejected a suitable replacement vehicle in pursuit of a full refund plus costs.

So we're where we are.

When they're working properly, they're not a bad steer....honestly. I've been quite surprised with Doug recently when doing the odd 12-15mile run to keep the batteries topped up and oil moving around him. With the new gearbox, driveshaft & manifold properly screwed on(!) he's pretty smooth and refined.

Hoping lightening doesn't strike twice.

 

Thanks! It's definitely on the retirement bucket list in terms of a few months of winter sun down there.

 

So the day finally arrived. With 8 miles on the clock, I picked up Lexi and said my goodbyes to Doug. Although Doug provided us some super experiences and memories, the good memories ended up being overshadowed by the bad and so when it came to say goodbye to him, I didn’t do so much as a second glance. The journey up yielded 23mpg in Doug, with an all-time mpg over the 5,073miles at 21.2mpg.

As I left in Lexi, I was initially a litte overwhelmed but the A-class cab which feels so expansive compared to a Coachbuilt - it feels so much wider on the road and the windscreen feels like it’s miles away. I was also flummoxed by the coach-style mirrors which are hung from the top of the van; a couple of times initially I glanced in the usual place and panicked when I couldn’t see a mirror. 143 miles later, however, it was all second nature and even without the cameras working (I’ll explain later on that), I reverse parked in front of the house like I’d been doing it for years (with an audience even!).



The drive is supremely refined, virtually no road noise and so long as the engine isn’t working hard, it’s actually very quiet from the engine too. The improvement in aerodynamics doesn’t just affect refinement but also fuel economy. I averaged 23.5mpg from a brand new engine, so expect a few more once it’s run in (most likely settle around 25mpg). Although it drives well, I do have a sneaky suspicion there’ll be a repeat performance from the gearbox at some point. I had an odd moment leaving the toll booths at the M6 toll, but it was fleeting and given they’ve done the gearbox recall remap and filled with fresh oil, I don’t think there’s anything more possible at this stage. I have registered my interest for the 5yr Stellantis Warranty (it’s 2yrs from first registration but if you register within 14 days of registration then you can pay £952 to extend by 3yrs). Even if we end up having an issue with this gearbox, the van is sooo amazing, we’ll live with it.

Having got it back, I decided to have a play with putting in the headunit. I thought I was going to be able to manage since the thing came with all (most in the end) of the wiring harnesses required. However, in spite of getting it working, it became obvious it was going to be beyond me. It was live even without the ignition on, the 360 cameras worked fine until you started the engine and I couldn’t quite work out how to connect up the GPS & DAB antennas. All of this was rather academic since as I was about to bolt it all together, I realised I’d bought the wrong facia/trim for the model of headunit. So one of those ordered and a load of photos sent to my Auto Electrician explaining what he needs to prepare himself for! A reminder, the retailer wanted £2,800 supplied & fitted. I am so far £1,232 deep in the headunit, wiring, motorhome nav SD card and two facias. I think I’ll end up just over 50% of the price I was quoted all in.



So what’s there to do? Well, we’ve spent a lot of today making beds (we’re having our first night on the driveway tonight!), putting all our crockery, pans, cutlery and basics back in. I’ve ordered the garage items and with all the storage cubbies we now have, I’ve managed to get rid of all the crates I used to have back there. Looks like a really nice big loading space now, which is good since we can’t put a bike rack on the back since it’s a GRP back panel.

Next up is the solar panels, ClearIQ water filter installation, fridge cooling vent (for summer use) and maybe a cheeky LED strip awning light. And some snagging which I didn’t spot at the dealership yesterday. Nothing major at this stage - a couple of kitchen cupboards are slightly misaligned (just aesthetics), the central locking for the drawers doesn’t turn off until you’ve pressed unlock 3-4x, strip light in the ceiling trim in the bedroom at the rear has a loose connection and only works when pressed and a couple of wooden trims covering the radiators in the cavity floor have come loose (looks like glue has melted with heat). I’m trying to work out whether I can get them done at local dealer of whether I need to go back to the Midlands.

But for now, every single member of the family is totally in love. We had tears from our eldest boy saying goodbye to Doug but he quickly forgot about Doug and is fully in love with Lexi. Proof will be in the pudding tonight but fully expect everyone to sleep exceptionally well - we always do in our camper vans gone by.

I’ll take some pics of the interior once we’re all settled.



We’ve got so many trips booked already - first long trim will be via Northumberland (Bamburgh Castle, Harbottle (visiting family), Dumfries & Galloway (wild camping), Cairnryan-Belfast ferry, Skerries N county Dublin (visiting family) then on to Glendalough/Wicklow mountains before sailing back to Holyhead and home.

Then we’ve got Holland in May and Austria in August.

Again, we’ll be covering a good amount of miles this year. Can’t wait!

 

Thanks all for the very kind words.

@Wynne71 - I honestly think this is a bit of a try-on. They all come pre-wired from factory with DAB/FM and I think, GPS connections. My last van came fully fitted with a Zenec unit which has a motorhome module (you programme your weight, dimensions etc) and very popular with Ducato owners. In fairness, it was pretty good. I “think” it should have come with ours in one of the packages but it’s also an easy one to “forget” given it requires fitting of the headunit pre-delivery by the dealer. They wanted £2.8k to supply and fit. I politely declined and reckon I’ll finish around £1.5k all in.

Looks like I’ll be up in the Midlands for snagging work to be carried out in March. I’ll give you a shout!

@E39mad - yes, that’s the beauty of the Zenec headunit. I think it uses TomTom lorry software.
Once you put the dimensions in it routes you appropriately.

@idrussell - very different to the VW, but you’ll remember that regardless of the vehicle, the memories are the important bits. I’ve got some superb memories being jammered into the back of my California up in a windy, rainy Skye in winter as much as I have in a massive A class skiing or on the beach in 40C in France!

@isleaiw - thank you!

@bbob1 - thanks. I have to confess, I feel very, very happy right now with my fleet and have to pinch myself at how lucky I am.

 

OK, so Lexi spent 3hrs at Starmo Electrics in Braintree this morning with my mate Barry doing the honours.

As ever, best laid plans, it took a little more time and effort than first anticipated. As much because I wanted a switched feed between ignition and leisure battery so we can use the radio when parked up. That required running a feed from the leisure battery, 8m away from the cab(!) and lying underneath the van to try and stow the cable in the existing runs and through the gromits at each end.

In the end, job done - only slight issue is that reverse produces a birds eye view (slightly skewed towards the front) from the cameras rather than what you'd expect as a rear view. But honestly, I barely use the cameras anyway. However, I have asked Barry to take another look if my Wife starts to do her C1 license and starts driving it.

Barry did say that given how involved it is working on both a head unit and a motorhome, he wouldn't have done it as part of his daily work but given how much work I've put his way over the years, he's happy to help out someone who's become close a mate! We struck a deal at £300, which I think sits us both well and I now have a working headunit for a tick over 50% of the cost Travelworld wanted. Delighted!

Just a shame I now have to stick another bundle out the door for solar (£1,700) and water filter (£480). Then I think I'm going to call it a day. I'd love to get the levelling rams fitted but £7k is a step too far at the moment given everything we've spent recently.

I topped up the batteries to 50% at the storage yard before leaving her this evening. Probably won't get there now again for a couple of weeks given half term is in the way but then back up to Travelworld for snagging in early March.

 

So apart from a few visits from me to charge her up at the storage yard, Lexi has been a bit forgotten and unloved.

Mrs Spuff has been kind enough to give me some time to myself today. It was a monster week of travelling with work this week and she’s organised a few play dates with the boys so I had the day to myself. I fancied MTBing as it had been a while since I’d been on the bike and the weather is finally brightening. With this in mind but without a suitable car to take me up to Thetford Forest, I decided to pick up Lexi, bring her back yesterday and pop out today in her - complete with eMTB, clobber, 25% water and a few bits of grub.

I set off about 10am once everyone had left the house and set course up the A11. Given I wasn’t in a hurry, I popped the cruise on at 57mph (for some reason it doesn’t like 56mph! ) and 50mins later I was at High Lodge at Brandon - the Thetford Forestry Commission site complete with Red MTB trail. It drains well there so it’s more or less dry-ish all year around. I set up the bike, changed clothes and about to hit the trail when I realised my e-derraileur wasn’t working (SRAM AXS Eagle). I headed over to the Bike Shop and they told me to re-pair the shifter & derailleur. I’d already swapped in a newly charged battery for the derailleur so was confused as to what was going on. Bike Shop was less than helpful and had no bikes to hire me so, dejected, I headed back to the van to tinker more. Eventually giving up after trying everything. I had some lunch, shower (to test the system) and then, dejected, headed back home. The only thing I could be positive about at this point was the 24.5mpg in both directions! In Doug, the best I could manage the whole time I had him was 21.3mpg overall. I’m currently at 22.2mpg and I’ve only got 300miles on the clock. So looking forward to it hopefully improving further as it runs in.

Back home I ascertained it was the button battery in the shifter at fault. I swapped it out and miraculously (without needing to pair), everything was working again as it should. Not really feeling it, I decided anyway to go for a ride locally - do feel better as a result - 18km under the wheels but so muddy I had to wash the bike before I washed myself. I hate winter riding locally!



Anyway, back to it - more tinkering to be done. We’ve got a lovely pull out drawer with a wine rack in the bottom. There’s a shelf above and we were wondering what to do with it. After some thought, we realised we needed somewhere to put our Silwy crystal wine glasses; these have been a companion since the Knaus campervan I bought. It’s amazing how nice it is drinking from a proper crystal glass when away. Feels very decadent. So we invested in some tumblers also. Problem was, the 50cm metal strip which glues in to the cabinet (or wherever you want to fit it), was too long. So out today with some tools.



I measured a few times to make sure I had the internal length ok. Marked it onto the metal strip using a set square and then cut the fabric/leather topping with a sharp Stanley knife. I then pealed back the topping, exposing the metal. After a go with a junior hacksaw, it became obvious it was going to take forever and probably not yield the nicest result. Therefore out came the Dewalt Jigsaw with a metal suitable blade, which made very quick work of the cut. I wrapped a little black electrical tape around the cut to tidy it up, measured up in the cupboard to ensure it would be absolutely plumb, prepared the surface with Isopropyl alcohol and then stuck it down. It’s proper 3M tape backing which means it’ll never come out. I’ve tried with my previous vans but even using heat gun, it won’t come off, so best to make sure it’s in the proper place at the outset.



Absolutely delighted now with the space for our crystal. The magnets are so strong that they won’t move in transit (see photo holding it upside down) and when in use, we have little magnetic coasters which you can peel off and re-place elsewhere and the glasses lightly stick to them as they have a fine metal film running through them which helps avoid spillages/knock-overs if light enough. Helpful in a small van with lots of limbs around.



Anyway - that’s the main job done for today. Back to the yard tomorrow, pick it up again on Tuesday evening, then off to Travelworld for snagging items and 2x 150W solar panel fitting (£1,730!). Sadly needed them doing before we head off on a trip later this month. Have an epic one lined up - Northumberland Coast, Scottish Borders, Belfast, Dublin and then home. There’s going to be lots of time off grid so need to give us the best possible chance of not needing to hook up anywhere. It’ll be a great first shakedown.