Although we loved the Fiat Adria and it had served us well over many trips, it had done more than 30,000 miles, needed some possibly expensive work, was seven years old and seemed to have held its value. We’d been idly casting around looking at different vans to try and decide whether to ‘trade up’ when Steve found a Hymer 600S Free, based on a Mercedes Sprinter. Fully automatic with a much more comfortable drive, it’s a tiny bit smaller, but only three years old with just under 1,000 miles on the clock. Being Mercedes and Hymer, it wasn’t cheap, but we were persuaded by the comfort on a test drive and signed the purchase contract with a dealer near Hull, August 2023.
Pick-up date was agreed, 4 September and we went up to Hull by train with the bikes. It didn’t have a bike rack, but they fitted OK in the back and we could share the return drive. First job after purchase was for Steve to drill holes in the rear doors to fit the bike rack! We decided to get the solar panel and awning fitted professionally by Sharman Caravans in Ipswich, who did an excellent job. On our first trip to Suffolk we found the water pump in the sinks didn’t work and the van heater system seemed to be broken! After several conversations about just what the warranty agreement was, the salesman at Maple agreed to collect the van from Matlock Bath, get it all repaired (under warranty, of course) and return it to us. This was finally completed in November and on a trial run down to Suffolk for Steve’s birthday in January, it all seems to work now . . .
