sandhurst

hi to all you A.S OWNERS out there, me and my better half have just purchased a 2007 sandhurst, pick it up next week. do any of you who own one have any gripes or praise for this model ?  its a great looking van and i just hope we have made a good choice. your comments good or otherwise would be welcome.. waiting with bated breath !!

Welcome from N.E Wales.    

Hello and welcome to this most friendly and informative forum.

Paramedic wrote:Hello and welcome to this most friendly and informative forum.

thank you

Hi Steve we have owned a Sandhurst for the last 8 years and have had excellent service from it .I found the combination of Vw ,Autosleeper , and Alko chassis a great set up .I wish you good luck with your new purchase ,any questions you might have I'm only to willing to help as there are not to many Sandhurst owners on this forum which by the way you will find very helpful.Regards Ken .

Being inquisitive, I searched online to view the habitation layout. Most impressed especially with the transverse bathroom, fantastic. Congratulations on your choice of van.

Paramedic wrote:Being inquisitive, I searched online to view the habitation layout. Most impressed especially with the transverse bathroom, fantastic. Congratulations on your choice of van.

hi and thanks for your reply. yes its a nice layout for a small van. the bathroom is a little gem. I think that's what closed the deal for us. this will be out 5th. M.H, tried all sorts of layouts in the past but not an end bathroom. cant wait to pick it up now, so let the new adventure begin. kind regards to you  cheers   steve

KENNJEN wrote:Hi Steve we have owned a Sandhurst for the last 8 years and have had excellent service from it .I found the combination of Vw ,Autosleeper , and Alko chassis a great set up .I wish you good luck with your new purchase ,any questions you might have I'm only to willing to help as there are not to many Sandhurst owners on this forum which by the way you will find very helpful.Regards Ken .

hi ken. thanks for your nice reply. I know the sandhurst is a rare sight. but I think it is a great looking van. as you say the A.S AND VW combi should make for a nice van.. we sure hope so. I will most probably be seeking your help in the next couple of weeks lol.one question, is the diesel heater as noisey as others say? one guy recons it sounds like a 747 on take off ! hope not. I will let you know how we are getting on with it . cant wait to pick it up now.  kind regards  steve

Paulmold wrote:Welcome from N.E Wales.    

thank you

With intake and exhaust silencers fitted, the Webasto diesel heater on my boat is inaudible inside and out. Loudest noise is the ticking of the fuel pump.

PLOUGHLIN wrote:With intake and exhaust silencers fitted, the Webasto diesel heater on my boat is inaudible inside and out. Loudest noise is the ticking of the fuel pump.

hi. thanks for that. think this is an eberspacher.... Christ knows you spell it lol.

Silencers are available for the Eber as well, the same fit as well.

On van conversion an intake silencer rarely seems to be fitted - I've owned three (Eber Hydronic, Eber Airtronic, Webasto) and none have had one fitted. They were all really noisy on startup, but near-silent when up to temperature.

Hi Steve as regards the diesel heater it is not very loud at all .As we live in the SW we find carrying a small electric rad does the job for us .Having used the diesel heater many times we have never upset any neighbors.Ken

The eber in the Topaz I had was very noisy, then it was a van conversion.It was very warm though.

PLOUGHLIN wrote:Silencers are available for the Eber as well, the same fit as well.

thanks for the info

KENNJEN wrote:Hi Steve as regards the diesel heater it is not very loud at all .As we live in the SW we find carrying a small electric rad does the job for us .Having used the diesel heater many times we have never upset any neighbors.Ken

well that's good to know... thank you

PLOUGHLIN wrote:Silencers are available for the Eber as well, the same fit as well.

thanks  I will look into it when I pick up the van.  cheers

daisy mae wrote:The eber in the Topaz I had was very noisy, then it was a van conversion.It was very warm though.

hi and thanks.  at least it does the job

hi, I bought my sandhurst a couple weeks ago, we went to cornwall in it last week, didn't use the heating much but didn't seem that loud to me but only used it a few times to take the chill off, very happy with it as I'm a bit of a vw fan but wanted a bit more room than my van conversion offered, I have had two other coachbuilts by other manufactures and this is by far my favourite, looking forward to many years of travels,
matt

matts vw wrote:hi, I bought my sandhurst a couple weeks ago, we went to cornwall in it last week, didn't use the heating much but didn't seem that loud to me but only used it a few times to take the chill off, very happy with it as I'm a bit of a vw fan but wanted a bit more room than my van conversion offered, I have had two other coachbuilts by other manufactures and this is by far my favourite, looking forward to many years of travels,
matt

hi matt, thanks for that.. hope you enjoy it, cant wait to pick ours up next week.  cheers steve

The Hi Steve,

Welcome to the forum. Although we don't have an AS Sandhurst, I have been interested in your thread, first of all as we also have the end bathroom in our Broadway and we love it. This, together with the extra space in the seating and kitchen area (with lots of workspace), was what attracted us initially to this model.

On another subject, do you actually ride that beast in your avatar? it looks enormous! I am trying to get used to a Kawasaki W800 (retro style, similiar size to a bonneville) bought last year, no problem but just getting used to the weight. My previous bike was lower in the seating area. I really need to get out on it more!

Enjoy your Sandhurst you will find everyone very friendly on this forum.

Pete (also of Sutton Coldfield!)

When we decided to move up from our Duetto I found a Sandhurst and really thought hard about it. I drove the W T4,s whilst working at the roadside. After many years driving Transits it was like driving a car. 
After our long holiday in New Zealand in a hired rear lounge Transit van conversion we decided the rear lounge worked for us. This gave us a choice of double or single beds. The only Autosleeper than came near to this , was the Warwick. Sadly I am not a fan of Pugs or Fiats. Purely by chance we spotted a couple of Rienza coach builds and decided to have look. Yes they are bigger than we planned but it had lots pluses for us. Rear lounge, Ford based,  lots of storage, low millage and we could afford it. So far it has been an good choice, I am sure you will find the Sandhurst will be a good choice, have many happy days away.

Maasai Warrior wrote:The Hi Steve,

Welcome to the forum. Although we don't have an AS Sandhurst, I have been interested in your thread, first of all as we also have the end bathroom in our Broadway and we love it. This, together with the extra space in the seating and kitchen area (with lots of workspace), was what attracted us initially to this model.

On another subject, do you actually ride that beast in your avatar? it looks enormous! I am trying to get used to a Kawasaki W800 (retro style, similiar size to a bonneville) bought last year, no problem but just getting used to the weight. My previous bike was lower in the seating area. I really need to get out on it more!

Enjoy your Sandhurst you will find everyone very friendly on this forum.

Pete (also of Sutton Coldfield!)

hi pete and thanks for the welcome. we have had a few different layouts over the years,but we are well impressed with the end bathroom layout. we looked at a broadway and also a bourton both nice vans. might be our next one !!  as for the bike. its a pan European as used by the police. but its not mine it belongs to a mate of mine.  where about in Sutton do you live? you never know we might bump into you . ill keep an eye open for a broadway floating around these parts. lol. cheers steve

Dave 418 wrote:When we decided to move up from our Duetto I found a Sandhurst and really thought hard about it. I drove the W T4,s whilst working at the roadside. After many years driving Transits it was like driving a car. 
After our long holiday in New Zealand in a hired rear lounge Transit van conversion we decided the rear lounge worked for us. This gave us a choice of double or single beds. The only Autosleeper than came near to this , was the Warwick. Sadly I am not a fan of Pugs or Fiats. Purely by chance we spotted a couple of Rienza coach builds and decided to have look. Yes they are bigger than we planned but it had lots pluses for us. Rear lounge, Ford based,  lots of storage, low millage and we could afford it. So far it has been an good choice, I am sure you will find the Sandhurst will be a good choice, have many happy days away.

hi dave. we had an autocruise stardream which had a great end lounge. we have gone back to autosleeper as I find the build quality to be much better. I'm sure we will enjoy the sandhurst. cheers  steve