Owners of Lotus Sprinter and Freelander vans

Submitted: Tuesday, Jul 31, 2012 at 16:30
ThreadID: 97182 Views:6241 Replies:2 FollowUps:3
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Hi Forumites,

Today my husband and I had a look at both the Sprinter (on road) and Freelander ( all terrain) models of lotus brand vans, 19 ft 6 inch lengths.
We were very impressed with the features, smart contemporary appearance, finish and price and are seriously considering trading our current van.

Would love to hear from owners of these as we know nothing much about them.

regards,

Heather MG
Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt. John Muir

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Reply By: Member - sue and shaun - Tuesday, Jul 31, 2012 at 20:13

Tuesday, Jul 31, 2012 at 20:13
hi heather sue and i have also been looking at a lotus van(OFF LIMITS ) very impressed with all the above specs that you have mentioned , the other thing i did like is i just walked in to their office one friday arvo and the manager took me straight out into the factory to show me the whole process i don"t know if this is a common practice with other companies but i was impressed ,heather there is a lotus owners forum i would give a link but i am not that far advanced please keep the forum advised to your choice as we all love every bodies opinions cheers and safe travelling
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Follow Up By: dazren - Tuesday, Jul 31, 2012 at 22:23

Tuesday, Jul 31, 2012 at 22:23
Gidday Heather MG and Sue/Shaun,
I have a 2011 Lotus Sprint 19' full ensuite, mine was a Demo Model so had sat in the yard for most of the year before i bought it, The reason i went for Lotus after 7 months of searching, was the constant reports,, of the after sales care offered by the factory, This was put to the test, when i went to Mildura in the hot weather, to find out That the Air/Cond was out of Gas, The Lotus dealer arranged for a Gasfitter to come to his yard and re-gas it, But he could not find ''the leak''
We only had 5 days up our sleeves before we had to go away again, so the dealer contacted Lotus Factory, who then contacted Dometic' and the sent a brand new Air.Con from Queensland within two days, and the 3rd day the Gasfitter came to the dealers yard and fitted it and it was ready to roll 2 days before we were to take off again
The rest of the Van has given No PROBLEMS at all after around 5-6000 klms

Only 2 things i would like to point out to you ??
1/ The Tare wieght on the plate, stated 1900 Kgs, we put Empty van over the public Wieghbridge, and Actual Tare was 1960 kGS

2/ On our 2011 model, the filler for the water tanks, was only by a Hose connnection at bottom of tank ??? so if No mains pressure you had no way of filling the tanks, if freecamping etc ??? we overcame this problem by carrying some collapsable 25 litre water containers and we have a little water pump that we use to refill the tanks,[ i think Lotus has remedied this problem on newer models, Other than those 2 items we are Very Very happy with our choice of van, If you want to check out the Lotus Owners Forum ??? here is the link to the site, [ it's free to join ] http://lotuscaravanownersgroup.freeforums.org/lotus-caravans-f1.html


Regards Dazren
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Follow Up By: Member - sue and shaun - Wednesday, Aug 01, 2012 at 05:31

Wednesday, Aug 01, 2012 at 05:31
Dazren thanks for taking the time to reply any information is helpful much appreciated cheers
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Follow Up By: Member-Heather MG NSW - Wednesday, Aug 01, 2012 at 07:55

Wednesday, Aug 01, 2012 at 07:55
Hi dazren and thanks for your reply and also sue and shaun here's hoping others give us their opinions, based on experience.

I have had a bit of a look on the owners forum. I will also ask the dealer about the water tanks and whether the problem you mention has been rectified as we often rely on our tanks for water when free camping. Your system sounds very tedious and annoying.

dazren, do you know how accurate the ball weight figures are? We have a Pajero and anything over 2 1/2 tonne is limited to 180 kgs ball, while vans under that weight can have a max of 250 kgs....
One of the reasons these interest us is because both the vans we were looking at have a ball weight of 150 kgs. We are most interested in the freelander as it is the AT van however it is heavier...might have to consider the 18' 6" model.


Also how hard wearing are the bench top and cupboard surfaces...do they scratch and mark easily? They do look fantastic.

And are there adequate power points, both 240v and 12v? We could only find the one 12v one inside on the Freelander but i guess more could be wired in.

regards,

Heather MG
Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt. John Muir

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Reply By: baz&pud (Tassie) - Wednesday, Aug 01, 2012 at 15:49

Wednesday, Aug 01, 2012 at 15:49
Hi Guys,
First of all it doesn't matter what van you purchase, you have to expect something to be/go wrong, having said that we have, and are very proud to have a 2011 Lotus Trooper, which currently has some 14000 ks under the wheels.
Really, the only advice we can give you, is, don't think about it, just buy one, you won't be disappointed.
Cheers
Baz
Go caravaning, life is so much shorter than death.

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