Decent size garage

The laird

The laird

Rally Organiser

Messages
11,557
We are looking at new or fairly new vans again again ,we keep seeing nice van layouts which suit us then find the garage is tiny or not got one, my question is do you have a good size garage ,would you miss it ,if you don’t have a garage what do you do with bulky items?
 
Yes and yes. We wouldn't be without a large garage while we are still using e-bikes that are too expensive and tempting to hang on a rear carrier. It also means I don't have to think too hard about what we need for a particular trip, it can all be chucked in if necessary. Last 3 vans have all had large garages.
Dave
 
Yes and yes.

The rear bed over the garage is electric so i can increase the height of the garage to a point were the bed is unusable o_O
 
You know the score wae mine it’s huge and full of crap I’ve got too have a clean out every now and then because if you have the space you’ll fill it i quite like the idea of some of the modern vans where garage has a double function maybe with a set of bunks that fold away handy for when you take you’re grandchildren away. I took my van with me too Costco earlier today and put a king size mattress in the garage.
 
jeffmossy said:
The storage space under our bed is as good as a large garage
Click to expand...
Ditto
I mean, there's plenty of room under my bed, not Jeff's. Sorry for any confusion.
 
How much time do you spend in the garage ?:unsure::sleep:
Provided there is enough room for your items (chairs tables etc) then.....
Bigger/better space (and lockers) inside the vehicle may also provide (better easier) storage for small items previously kept in the garage.
So I would certainly compromise on the garage for better arrangements inside the vehicle. (just my thoughts)
 
When we started looking at vans we wanted a garage but were put off a bit by the way the over garage beds were accessed (neither of us especially mobile). There was one I quite liked that had two large singles with access up the middle but when made into a huge double the easy access vanished.

It took quite a lot of looking before we found the one we bought and as soon as we saw internal pics we knew it was the one for us. The L shaped bathroom goes across two thirds of the rear leaving one third as a high locker, I would guess at a metre square by height of the van. We also have a locker that goes right across the width of the van that we use for windbreaks, charts, tables, trailer, cadac etc. On top of that we have external access to the large storage area under the French bed.

Accepted this would be no good for storing a motorbike ore bikes but some would be amazed to see what it does hold even in its 'thrown in' arrangement :)

I think your question is too open Gordon, you need to decide on what else you want then see if a garage is an option or even usable (available payload). You will have seen how ***** has struggled to get to his legal weights when downsizing from C1.
 
jagmanx said:
How much time do you spend in the garage ?
Click to expand...
Garage space is mostly achieved at the expense of the airspace above the bed(s). As long as you still have room to lie down and sit up for a cup of tea I don’t think too much is being sacrificed and a very easy to use space is gained.
 
When choosing a new van our three top priorities in order are -
1. Fixed bed layout
2. Double floor with all valves and tanks inside
3. A large garage

The garage allows us to do all the things we want to do while touring (not all at the same time)
Take Honda scooter
Take push bikes
Take ski gear
Take large awning (when grand kids coming)
Take body boards
Take all sorts of wet beech gear that can stay wet
Hang wet suits
Store genny

I would not want to put these items inside the van by choice.
 
Wouldn’t now be without the large garage. Everything is so much more accessible than the last van where we had to lift the French bed.
We carry:
- two e bikes which we would not be happy carrying on a rack for safety and additional impact on rear payload
- doggy ride trailer
- twin tub and as we have an external shower it is easy to use. In the last van it had to live in the shower and was a ‘b’ to lift out.
- usual kit of table, chairs and tool box.

Only disadvantages are that the bed is so high that we can’t sit up to drink tea and even after two years of ownership, I still bang my head on the doorways.
 
Would not be without the garage. Do not fancy having an e-bike hanging off the back of the van. Its too easy to carry too much crap though!
 
Our Laika Ecovip 7.1g has a garage huge space. Enough for two e-bikes with separate place to store and charge the batteries, a couple of large boxes for power leads, hoses etc and two set of wheel ramps. We're loving having all the storage outside the habitation space.
 
Not got a clue as fi loved Rogers van layout this was after we thought we had agreed on a burstner but again the goal posts appeared to shift ,bur the type roger has ain’t got the garage but everything on his is what she liked and I must obey so in a nutshell I’ve not got a scoobie and I didn’t help when no 1 son was here this afternoon putting daft ideas up in the air ,but I’d be happy with a 490 r cab s scania the way it’s goung aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
 
Sure you dont want a nice sleeper cab conversion with a converted trailer Gordon?
 
I’m presently looking at buying my last ever motorhome and a large garage is a priority along with double floor, fixed beds and large water tanks.
The garage will be fully utilised to carry ebikes, Genny, chairs, screencovers etc,etc.
No way would I carry an expensive ebike on the rear of the motorhome in full view, much more secure in an alarmed garage.
 
would not now be without one the van is kept tidy with all stored in the garage including the fold up electric bikes
 
The question I see is do you want storage or living space?
If you're happy to have a large van then as mentioned before it then comes down to how much excess weight you have.
If you want a smaller van then the comprise becomes more difficult and you have to decide what you need rather than what you want.
We decided on a 6m van so we have tailored what we take to fit the van.
For those who live in their vans I understand storage is very important but for the rest of us, do we really need all the stuff we take with us.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who viewed this discussion (Total:0)

Back
Top