Trident/Trooper hot water

Hi,
I will be on the lookout for either a Trident or Trooper in the near future, can anyone tell me which year hot water was introduced please?
Thanks,
Terry

I don't ~think~ it was ever a standard feature. I think a Whale manufactured one was an option on the T5.1-based conversions (i.e. post 2010, roughly).

There are two main problems with this: Firstly, storage space is at a premium in these vans (the Trooper especially) and the water heater takes away one internal cupboard. And secondly, T5.1-based conversions are very rare and expensive, compared with the previous variant!

Edited to add: On either of those models, it's very easy to see if you have hot water - if it has a Carver system (I've never seen one that does) then it will have a large square vent on the driver's side, rearward of the two fridge vents. The Whale system is similarly large, but rectangular. It can clearly be seen, for example, in the photos of the T5.1-based vans currently listed on Ebay.

Hi Roopert,
Thanks for that information, very helpful
I don’t suppose you could give me an estimate of the mpg for those vans and whether it’s better to go petrol or diesel?
Thanks for your help.
Terry

I looked for a Trident with hot water, but could only find retro fitted.  I bought a jet boiler and a big kettle!  I have a 1990 Trident 2L petrol and my engine/ carbs are kept clean. I get 22 mph around depending on terrain, around town and a decent 25-26 at 55 mpg out of town.  Again depending on hills etc.  But when you look at petrol or diesel - diesel's are often pricesd 1k more on a given year,  and that's a lot of petrol!  Also, petrol is slighly cheaper and a 2L petrol is cheaper to maintain than a diesel with EMS I have found.  I am selling my Trident soon.need to MOT in Nov. 1990. 93k. Sound chassis. Exterior 8/10 intrerior 8/10. Everything works. Called Peachy.

Thanks Kim, that’s a good to know, I was starting to realise that a big kettle might be the best bet anyway.
I don’t have a timescale for buying a van as it’s dependent on a house sale. I’m also going to look at the Duetto/Symbol/Topaz ranges as I possibly need more than a Porta potti at my age
Cheers,
Terry

Tell me about it.  

Age = hence my sale!  
I love my Trident as its very comfy..but i am too old for cold shower blocks and big spiders. 

I too am looking at the same type of vans! Might go for am AS Clubman / Exclusive as they look funky!

TerryW wrote:
I don’t suppose you could give me an estimate of the mpg for those vans and whether it’s better to go petrol or diesel?

Hi Terry - you really need to give some idea of budget and rough age range that you're looking at, because if you're looking at anything less than around twenty years old, petrol probably won't be an option. For most of that time, petrol engined T5's were not available in the UK, and most of the few that were supplied had 3.2l engines fitted (which you definitely don't want!). There was a short period (less than a year) when T6's were available with a 2l fuel-injected petrol engine, but not many were sold and I don't expect that any were converted by A/S.

Fuel consumption on the T5 varied quite a lot depending on whether you go for manual or auto. Very roughly you can expect around 30MPG with a manual and maybe 26MPG with an auto. That assumes the 5-cylinder 2.5l TDi - the 4-cylinder will be a bit better, but not much.

The T5.1 is different because the DSG auto is almost as efficient as the manual 6-speed. I get around 38MPG on average with the 2l TDi and a DSG box (2013 van), but it will get into the low 40's if you're just doing motorway and not driving too fast (i.e. sub-70 MPH).

The big advantage of an older petrol model is that you're more likely to be able to get it into one of the LEZ zones without big charges, though whether that will continue to be true in future is of course unknown!

I should add that I've had vans that have hot water and vans without - and I really don't miss not having it in the Trooper and the Celex (not an A/S conversion). It may take a while longer to boil a kettle on the gas hob, but generally I don't care too much about time when I'm on holiday!

Hi Roopert,
Again thanks for the information and for your help. My budget will be around £20,000 and I’m not too bothered about access to LEZs, I live in County Durham and there are none close to me (at the moment). Although the van will see use as a second car its main purpose will be for trips to the Alps and Dolomites for me to do cycling events with just me onboard. The lack of hot water isn5 a game stopper, I’m need to give the Porta potti serious thought.
Cheers.

Ah - in that case hot water probably won't be an option. Troopers/Tridents based on the facelift (T5.1) and onward still cost in the region of £30k+.

There are several other makes that have options that are a little easier to use without having to go as far as a separate toilet/shower (and hence much bigger van). Bilbos do a version of their Nexa with a dedicated electric-flush toilet area in the back, for example - which I've been considering instead of the Celex. Though having said that, they are probably too recent for used ones to yet be down at the £20k range.