Peugeot Autosleeper Sussex (Marquis?)GoodBuy?

Hi
Just joined, hope I've posted this in the right section, looks a great resource for information.
I'm looking to buy a secondhand factory van conversion motorhome (had VW camper many many years ago), budget about £25k. Will be just me, myself and my wife or myself and my good mate, main requirements toilet, double or two singles, a lot of touring compared to staying on site with those   I am/was very close to buying a Tribute 2006-2008 but was at a dealer yesterday and came across a Peugeot Auto-sleeper Sussex (Marquis badge on the carpet), 2004, 42k miles for £19k. What attracts me to it is that there are two travelling seats in the back (I've usually the vans I'm looking at have 1 traveling seat in the back with a long bench on opposite side). With the 2 swivel seats in the front will give e 4 travelling seats in total which would be very handy when using the van day to day use.
Really don't know anything about Auto-Sleepers and googling I can't find another "Sussex' or any info about them. Any advice / thoughts about this van would be much appreciated.
Thanks, Duncan

The Sussex (and other County names) are special edition versions of mainstream Auto-Sleepers made for the Marquis chain of dealers (owned by AS). The Sussex of that age is the equivalent of the Symbol ES (extra seat) . The Symbol and the earlier Symphony are probably the biggest sellers in the range. The price quoted seems about right.

That's great cheers. Just done some googling on "Symbol: and found lots around that year where I couldn't find any searching on "Auto-Sleeper Sussex". That's very useful, thanks a lot.

Compared to the Tributes it felt a little darker inside but the build quality much better.
The dealer said you swivel the front seats round to get more length for sleeping (without it's not long enough even for me at 5ft7in) but the cushions are far lower than the seats and he said to but a mattress to make it same height which didn't sound right. Now being able to search and see photos of others it seems he is wrong and you don't swivel the front seats but just push them forward and there should be cushions to fill in the gap, is that right ? (hope I've made sees explaining it !!) 
I'd be very interested in any comments on how reliable they are and if there are any problems I should be looking for.

you don't swivel the front seats but just push them forward and there should be cushions to fill in the gap, is that right ?


That's right, Duncan. On the driver's side, the driver's seat goes forward, the armrest on the bench seat lifts up and folds forward and another cushion is inserted; on the passenger side, the seat goes forward, the rear seat extends forward, and another cushion fills the gap. On my Symphony, the single beds are, from memory, 5ft 10in (one may be 5ft 8in); at 5ft 11in, I can manage, although not always comfortable!

Was it this one? Did you buy it as I see it's sold

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Thanks DXB. Went back yesterday after seeing some pictures (goggle is a great thing) and found the other cushions as you describe and I just fit at 5'7'". Think the difference to how you describe it is that the one I'm looking at has seat similar to the one by the sliding door instead of a bench seat. This particularly interest me as that give 4 belt travelling seats which is hand for day trips etc. Tanks for your help, what year is yours and what do you think of it ?  The main thing that puts me off the one I'm looking at is it looks as though it been left standing for a long time and has small amount of moss on window rubbers but more importantly around the inside of the wheel arches (not where it's painted) surface rust.

Interesting find Paul (guessing it's Paul leaving in Mold :-) )
No it's not that one but pretty much identical.  £14k seems cheap to me, shame it's sold. When I went back to check the beds they offered, without pushing them, £1k off which now makes it £18k. As mentioned in my last post main thing putting me of is the "underneath" surface rust.
I have/am looking at the Trigano Tribute and a Transit La Strade (pretty same layout as the Tribute). I meet the guy with the La Strade when looking at the other one and at £23k being a 2006, 1,000 miles and immaculate seems a good buy but I don't know anything about them. As mentioned in my original post I was going down the Tribute road but happen to come across this Suffolk, being only about 16ft 6" long does make it easy to park down the side of my house and does seem possible to actually use as my day vehicle as well.

Again thanks for your help. I'm really not sure which way to go, any advice very much appreciated as all new to me.

My van is 1997-registered, on a Peugeot Boxer chassis. I have had it almost four years; it had done about 26,000 miles when I purchased it but it is now around 39,000. About a year after I bought it, the cylinder-head gasket blew, so I had to have that sorted out, but it was an opportunity to get various things done, such as replacing the timer belt, and it has been fine ever since. 

The van had been sitting for a while when I bought it, but the seller put on a couple of new tyres and replaced the leisure battery. There was some moss in various places (particularly in the roof gutters and in the gutter along the back of the engine compartment, below the windscreen), and some spotting (lichen?) on the roof, but these cleaned off with a bit of effort. 

Overall, I have been very impressed with this van and I would say it was perfect for my needs, for one or two people - if only the single beds were three inches longer!

(Reading your last post, above, I would agree with you that the size of these vans makes them reasonably convenient to use for day-to-day purposes, since parking and maneuvering are not too difficult!)

Thanks very much for that information DXB, very useful.
With that info I happy with the Sussex, Tribute and the La Stride. Choice really is easier day to day driving with the Sussex, has 4 travelling seats and cheaper but small or Tribute/La Strada bigger (La Strada bed over 6ft and also far less cushions floating around), more storage space but not really an every day vehicle and more expensive.

Again thanks for the information really helped to decide on the pros and cons, will decide tonight.

Again thanks for all your help. I ended up buying the La Strada (wrong spelling in previous post lol) various reasons mileage, condition, layout, equipment and size (very similar to earlier Tributes) compared to the Sussex.

Thanks again, hope I'm allowed to stay a member here, I'll update my profile admitting what I own !!

Glad to hear you made a decision, Duncan, whatever way it went! I hope you have many years of fun with your new van! 

Cheers,

Dave

Thanks Dave, looking forward to it.