Parkability of the 3 lengths

Hi, I was wondering what comments owners would make re the three different Boxer lengths.
Obviously the Symbol at 5.49 metres is the easiest to park but does the 5.99 metre longer wheel base or the XL cause much more problems when touring and parking in say car parks. I'd really like a Kemerton XL but am worried that the extra length would restrict my tourability too much and hinder my enjoyment.  Has anyone had one size and changed to another length Boxer? If so any advice would be welcome. Thanks in advance. James

you can not avoid the fact that 5.49 is shorter than 5.99 and will therefore fit in a car park space, whereas with the 5.99 (lwb) you will either stick out of the space or have to find a space where you can take up a little more than a standard car park space. However, the ducato is a manouverable van and the difference between the two lengths for most touring is negligable. It will probably come down to your own confidence in manouvering a van of whatever length you choose.

6 metres is often the length limit for tolls and going over this figure will put you into the higher cost band. I currently drive a 5.99 metre Peugeot Boxer X250 and it does overhang parking spaces a bit, but up to now this has only been of minor importance. Previously I drove a Duetto which was 5.5 metres long and this was easier to park, but still overhung at bit. I do feel that the XL is longer than you could reasonably claim to be a car for parking purposes.

Hi James

Can't comment on different lengths from personal experience, but I think a crucial point to consider is the height of the tail end.

Before buying our first Nuevo one of the bits of research we did was to look at vans in car park, and compare how they were parked. Some are so low at the rear that they often cannot overhang a kerbed grass verge that you find in many supermarket (and other) car parks.

If the tail is high enough, it can effectively reduce the length of the van by two feet or more when it overhangs a verge.

Just a thought.

Dave

We seem to have strayed off-topic (not unusual on this forum) discussing overhangs and departure angles.

The OP's point about the manoeuvrability stems from the differing turning circles.

The short wheelbase turns in about 11mtrs, 12.46mtrs for medium and 14.28 for the long.
The long wheelbase doesn't just have the issue of using two parking spaces, it's also the available aisle/road width in which to execute the turn - forwards or backwards.

Hi,
My work van is a medium length renault master, I recently hired a long wheelbase renault master and getting it into parking spaces was a nightmare, you turn into one and due to the turning circle you end up halfway into the next plus loads of overhang. You would probably get used to it but I would drive both before buying,
Chris

Hi there,

Two elements about length:

a)  Longer = More Unwieldy.  No matter how good a driver you are, the longer the vehicle the harder it is to negotiate anywhere that requires the vehicle to be manoeuvred.

b)  If you tow a trailer, the longer the towing vehicle is the harder it is to control the trailer in reverse.

Finally, most problems (i.e. most of the really, really serious cock-ups I have seen) happen when the driver forgets how high the vehicle is.

If you don't believe me check this out ....

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Best regards,

You have to give credit to the bridge builders - it's a good strong construction!

Our last van was an Exec at 5.9m inc towbar, the current van is just over 6.1m + bike rack. 

We have to be selective due to width, where the Exec like the panel vans are narrower.

I look for a verge and reverse in so overhang goes over grass or what ever.  The biggest thing I noticed when changing to the Windsor how much better the steering lock was with rwd vehicle than that on the fwd Executive

Dutto wrote:
If you don't believe me check this out ....

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Best regards,

Did you see this yesterday..

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I'm thinking maybe I'd best stick to a Symbol lol. 

Thanks

James

Hi there,

Legend has it that the driver of a car transporter suffered an electrics failure in the middle of the night on a back road in Lincolnshire.

Undeterred he had a brain-wave!  Turned on the headlights (on dip) of the car at the front and overhanging his cab so that he could see the road ahead and put the sidelights on of the car at the bottom at the back so that no-one would run into him.

He set off and managed about fifteen miles without even meeting another vehicle until he came round a bend and an oncoming car swerved off the road and disappeared into the ditch at the side of the road.

The driver of the transporter figured it might have something to do with him so he stopped and ran back to investigate.

When he spoke to the driver of the car and asked him why he had swerved off the road so violently the driver replied ....