Choosing our first motorhome
July 2013
McLouis Tandy 671 Plus
The McLouis Tandy 671 Plus is an Italian Marque.
Low profile, coach built, diesel, on a Fiat Ducato chassis
UPDATE – Autotrail Delaware 2009 -After returning from our first trip to Europe we realised that we wanted something bigger with more living space so in July 2013 we part exchanged the McLouis for a 2009 Autotrail Delaware. Follow the link for a full review and pictures.
17th December 2012
Once we decided we wanted to travel to Europe early next year we realised that we needed a motorhome rather than our touring caravan. It would not only be easier as we are only intending to stay one or two nights in one place but we are thinking of doing a bit of wild camping too which you can only really do in a motorhome. (For those that don’t know wild camping is getting away from the mini suburbia of campsites, and camping for free on a piece of ground that will hopefully be overlooking the sea so the views are quite often much better).
It was really sad saying goodbye to our Swift Challenger which we only purchased brand new in 2011 and loved, especially as it had a fixed bed and end bathroom.
We spent a few weeks trawling the internet, visiting various motorhome dealers in the area and we also visited the Caravan and Motorhome show at the NEC Birmingham to get a good idea of the sort of things we wanted in our Motorhome.
Eventually, we found The McLouis Tandy 671 Plus at a dealership in Hitchin and must admit it ticks all the boxes for us and more.
Our spec, when choosing the motorhome, was that we wanted a low profile model. I couldn’t see myself climbing up a ladder above the cab to get to bed at night and would find it a bit claustrophobic. You quite often get a bed in the living area as well, but after being spoilt with a fixed bed in the caravan this was number one on our list of “must haves”. Not only that but you tend to get a lot more storage under a fixed bed. The fixed double bed on this model fits across the back wall. We particularly like the idea that the door shuts off the bedroom and shower/toilet area.
Next on our list was to have a full oven as we intend to stick to a budget and cook our own meals only eating out occasionally. A lot of the motorhomes we looked at only had a hob.
We were looking for passenger seat belts so that we could take the grandchildren away with us.
The bonus when we found the McLouis Tandy was that we not
The bonus when we found the McLouis Tandy was that we not only got our fixed bed which runs across the back of the van but we have a separate toilet and separate shower cubicle and all of this is behind a door which gives extra room for getting changed. So now we won’t have the problem of trying to get changed in a tight space and banging our elbows into the sides of the van.
Other bonuses were the large garage area, large fridge/freezer, bike rack, roof rack, and large Fiamma sun canopy
Although the living area doesn’t feel as spacious and comfortable as the caravan I think it is something we will get used to.
We have been slowly getting it ready over the last couple of weeks and yesterday we bought a new duvet for the bed which I made up today and straight away it has made the motorhome start to feel like ours.
We are not too impressed with the orange and cream stripe upholstery in the living area and may see if we can get it re-upholstered and covered in a cream leather and brown pattern material after Christmas.
