Search for a Symbol

We're thinking of swapping our V70/Bailey Peggy 2 Rimini combo for a Symbol. After 5 years with various wobbly boxes we'd like to get back to just one vehicle. In the past we owned a Horizons Unlimited Innovation 1 and an Adria Coral Compact SP, so we remember a bit about motorhomes.

It seems to me that to get cabair you need the post '06 X250 model, which is also, fortuitously, IMO the best looking model with its higher GRP roof. I like the headroom, the flat floor, the bench Thetty. Not so keen on lack of info re nearside bed length, lack of microwave (can one be retro-fitted anywhere?), low down fridge. From my research the post 2013 model reverted to the lower standard metal roof and that necessitated a step in the floor but brought in a good length nearside bed, courtesy of the under chassis gas cylinder, a microwave (good for Mrs SDA's cherry pillow warming if nothing else) and the Truma loo which has rec'd less than ecstatic comments on CT and has been dropped by Lunar on their caravans.

Any advice/suggestions etc on Symbols much appreciated.

Hi we too aving owned a year 2000 symbol wher looking to upgrade but didn't like the newer symbol with the low roof and step up into the cab and the raised up fridge in the new ones
.And by chance found a
2014 Dorset same layout as symbol but with flat floor high roof also with microwave and habitation air con underfloor gas tank as standard .may be with having a look at one of those ?
Good luck
Mike

That's v interesting Mike, I'd not realised the Dorset was a Symbol, but why produce two vans with different names but the same layout etc?

I've not found a 2014 Dorset but a 2010, a 2011 and a couple of 2013's.

We have had a 2009 Symbol for 5 years and think it's superb, albeit we don't know anything other than van conversions.  From what we've seen of the newer Symbol it is inferior to our version, in several respects - mainly the lack of a flat floor throughout the cab and living area.  That means having the fridge higher up to clear the offside wheel-arch and consequently a split level worktop which maybe less convenient.  More importantly it means less storage space than our version - little roof space and much less space under the bench seats.  We've spent 4 weeks away in the van and have not been short of space.

We don't use the single bed sleeping configuration, preferring a double transverse arrangement.  However with the cab seats facing aft, the useable length for two single beds ought to be sufficient for other than the tallest.

Our version doesn't have a microwave but that's not a problem for us and I'm not sure where you would fit one without a major reconfiguration of cabinets.

One other feeling is that having looked at new AS vans, we feel our 2009 model is more resilient in terms of fittings such as handles, catches and lights, and generally has a more solid feel in the habitation area.

I do recall that Marquis sold rebadged A/S vans and I believe the other dealerships weren't ecstatic about it. Mind now all their dealer specials appear not to be A/S, which seems like a total reversal in policy.

The brochure for the 2011 Symbol has the offside bed as 6'3" x 2'0" and the nearside as 6'7" x 1'11'. I'm 6'2" and the nearside bed is more than enough long, however the offside bed is less than 6'0" for comfort because the drivers chair only rotates 90 degrees. We like the flat floor and the more than amp!e headroom. Hope you find a good one. Jeff

Thanks for the info Jeff.

I'm 6ft 2ins tall too and can usually manage best with an inch or two longer than my height. On our Innovation the seats were the same as in A/S ES models but with a bit of furkling you could get both front seatbacks to go level and swivel under the dashboard/steering wheel. That gave a single bed that was over 7ft long, not that the Duvalays went that long. Mrs SDA used to sleep on the offside without the seatback down as she's just 5ft 2ins.

I suspect the narrow width you quote for the offside is for an ES with the bolster/headboard thing. Both Innovation seats were identical at about 2ft wide with a gangway of about 18ins between them, giving a double bed of 5ft 8ins or so length across the van. Sleeping longitudinally you could have 5ft 8ins wide and 7ft plus long, though with extra cushions in the middle to cover the handbrake handle. The Symbol/Dorset must have a wider gangway as the double bed makes up to 6ft 1ins and both seats are around 2ft, meaning a 2ft 1ins gap.

On our 2011 Symbol the offside is narrower and my wife at 5'4" sleeps on the slightly wider but shorter offside bed..

One of the reasons I'm thinking of Symbol/Dorset is sort of getting back to my 'roots', as it were.

Our first campervan was a Horizons Unlimited Innovation 1 based on a SWB Mk 6 Transit as shown in my avatar. It was a sister model to HU's better known Cavarno, which has got to have been the shortest camper with a full shower/loo ever at 4.9m long. The Cavarno had oak veneered furniture, a raised floor, 3way fridge, oven and the aforesaid washroom. The Innovation had birch veneered furniture, a non-raised floor, compressor fridge, no oven and just a swivel Thetty in a sort of loo room. The space saved was used to create a 2ft deep 'garage' between the rear wheelarches in which we had a custom-made two dog crate.

So four single belted blue leather seats which could become two single or a double bed just like the Mk7 version currently for sale at Highbridge. Ours was the same colour outside and inside, except our curtains were plain blue with a tiny woven motif. We also didn't have that horrible vinyl decal on the rear offside panel. Obviously the previous owner of the Mk 7 never discovered the Autoglym gunge that turns faded plastic Tranny bumpers into semi-shiny objects that virtually match the metallic grey paintwork. I still have half a bottle in my garage. The Mk 6 was my daily driver and holiday/dog show transport for over two years.

Eventually we decided to go for a real motorhome and it could, so easily have been a Nuevo, but we chose the Adria Coral Compact instead. 6m long, door on wrong side, fixed transverse bed, big garage underneath, offside kitchen, nearside shower room, double dinette. A lovely van which we owned for another two years until I decided to go caravanning instead.

Not just any old caravans though but Eriba Touring Troll 540's, an '01 and an '05 version pulled by a Sorento and then a Cee'd SW. Beautifully built vans from France, courtesy of Hymer and only built in Germany since '09. But after 5 years of bashing my napper on the doorframe and various interior parts plus struggling in a washroom with no shower capability and no real way of turning round inside we moved on to a standard UK wobbly white box.

A beautiful little Sussex Amberley dealer special based on the Lunar Quasar 464 and one of the smallest 4 berth caravans made in the UK. It achieved this by having shower room amidships and a single dinette, with drop down bunk above, across the rear of the van.

Two years on and Mrs SDA wanted more room and so we moved to a Bailey Pegasus Rimini with end washroom and two fixed single beds and it is a lovely van. seven weeks away non-stop in it last summer proved that.

But, but I'm not really happy towing, though I manage and there seems to be so much more faffing about with caravans and truly I'd like to get back to a campervan that's small enough to use daily but this time has a full bathroom, a microwave and a fridge a bit bigger than 50 litres.

One thing I learned too late really, is that the longer you own a camper/motorhome/caravan, the more clutter you accumulate and the more you look for solutions to store it all. What you actually have to be is focussed, focussed on only having stuff you really, really need and being brutal about the nice to have things, the latest gimmicks/gadgets etc and pare everything down to comfortable basics. That is the way to true peace of the soul Butterfly.

In reading some Symbol reviews online I notice they mention that the pre 2013MY has a 75 litre capacity fridge which has its capacity limited by the need to accommodate the rear wheelarch. As the fridge was raised from 2013MY onwards did A/S take the opportunity to fit a larger capacity fridge as the wheelarch would be below the height of the bottom of the fridge? I can only find reference to 'large fridge' in the specs, but not the exact capacity.

Jackson's Leisure of The Wirral say that both 7271 and 7291 have been discontinued. The 7271 is described as an 'over wheelarch design' and they list the capacity as 103 litres which seems odd when their page is headed '70 litre class fridges'. The 7291 is also shown as 103 litres capacity and is 1.5ins wider than the 7271. There's no mention of it being an 'over wheelarch design' but it looks as if it is in the picture. The 7291 is replaced by the RMS8501 and the 7271 is replaced by the RMS8401.

Both the 8401 and  8501 are 90 litres with the freezer compartment fitted.