Advice needed - Symbol, Symphony or similar?

Hi everyone

I'm new to this forum and never purchased an autosleeper before.

Want to start doing some research and not sure quite where to start so ANY tips/help/guidance/pros & cons would be really appreciated

I do know that:
* like the interior configuration of the Symbol, way the seats are laid out with separate loo/kitchen area
* husband is over 6ft tall so like extra headroom (hightop?) - any pros/cons compared to ones with elevating roof?
* only got around £12,000 to spend
* size ok for me to drive - couldn't drive anything bigger

Advice on the following would really help:
* What other models have similar layout? Found a Symphony that looks similar inside.
* Pros/cons of petrol or diesel?
* Seen a T reg 1999 Petrol 2.0 Symbol 53,000 miles on clock for £13,950 (dealer said would drop to £12,950) - does this sound average price?
* When viewing, anything in particular we should be looking out?

Thanks everyone

Hi,
Symphony was changed to Symbol at some time, basically the same layout. Later models did not have shelves in the cupboards over the cooker which limited their use. We leave the extra cushions at home and sleep across the van, your hubby may be to tall Petrol engines do about 23 mpg and are exempt from the LEZ. Diesel engines OF THE SAME VINTAGE are more economical but have less go.
Check the sill on the drivers side, the drain holes block and the sill can rust through, all vans suffer from water in the gearbox, this can cause the speedo to fail, the best idea is to change the oil regularly, the gears should engage easily but the clutch needs to go to the floor and the gearstick moved slowly. Make sure the seller shows you everything working, any doubts just walk away, do have a test drive.
The Autosleeper Duetto was transit based so you trip over the gearlever getting in the back, it was also narrower so sleeping across the van was more difficult. The basic diesel was bombproof but slow, the turbo diesel was much better but could suffer from electronic faults. I drove lots of transits for work and would have had the Duetto if not for the fact that it was narrow. Nearly forgot, your feet don't reach the floor as a symbol passenger, no problem on the duetto as the floor is flat,
Regards,
Chris.
ps these comments are for vans around 1998-2000, later vans are different but a lot more money

To add to what Chris has said, I'm about 5'10" and we sleep across the van but it's only just wide enough for me, no good for a six footer so you would have to make the beds up lengthways.
Duettos are rear wheel drive which means the floor is higher, effectively making the roof lower. Again,this could be a problem for a six footer.

I don't agree that all vans suffer from water in the gearbox, mine doesn't but mine's a '95 - older than Chris's.
Our van is our only (4 wheeled) vehicle so it gets more use than one which only gets used for outings. I get around 18mpg around town and twenty-odd on a run. I can get over 25 on a long run if I keep the speed down to around fifty.

HTH
Frank