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Old 04-07-2013, 08:19 PM   #1
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Sportsmobile realistic for family of five on a teacher sal?

Greeting's SMB enthusiasts! i have been lusting after various camper vans over the past year and recently came across the illustrious Sportsmobile. Being a rather obsessive individual, I have spent most free minutes (over the past two weeks), looking at listings for used SMB's and lurking on this forum. I'm hoping that I can learn a lot more about SMB's but before I spend too much more time researching, I wanted to see if any one could speak to my current situation and give me a direction to focus my search. So here are the questions, are SMB's large enough to accommodate a family of five? my kids ages are 5, 3, 1, so I'm thinking i would sleep in the bottom bed with the older two, and the wife would sleep up top with the baby, until she is old enough to share the top with the other two kids. Am I dreaming or can this be done? Has anyone on here tried this and failed or met with this with success?. So if this would work,
My second question is, what is the starting price range for a used, good condition, ready to go SMB? It looks like an ok one, in working order, ford, 70,000 mi and around 20 years old goes for anywhere from 10,000 to 18,000. Is this correct, is the cost of admission starting at 10 grand, and some elbow grease and frequent trips to the mechanic, or can a low maintenance, ready to enjoy vehicle be had for at or below that figure?

Thank you for your help.

Tim

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Old 04-07-2013, 09:48 PM   #2
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Re: Sportsmobile realistic for family of five on a teacher s

Tim-
Don't know about the kids. But the two of us haul around our 5 dogs (2 big, 3 little) alright in ours.

I bought it in Feb for $7500. It's a 1991 2WD with the poptop, dinette and kitchen set up. Probably spent another 4k on it so far taking care of things and have about 2k left to go. Some of it is elective.

I've seen a few for sale that are in good shape for less than 10k. I'm not mechanical at all but have been able to do some of the work myself to save money. Hang around the forums and you'll eventually see something that will work for you.
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Old 04-07-2013, 11:31 PM   #3
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Re: Sportsmobile realistic for family of five on a teacher s

Hmmm. For one I thing I'd be looking for a stock roof van, or fixed raised roof, and having a Colorado Camper Van pop-top put on.


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Old 04-08-2013, 07:51 AM   #4
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Re: Sportsmobile realistic for family of five on a teacher s

Sorry to be a naysayer, but I can't imagine sleeping five in a SMB van. Seating will also be an issue. Although SMB advertises that the vans can seat a number of people on the gaucho or dinette benches, I don't think that's a good idea for anything but short trips. First, there are no shoulder belts, only lap belts. Second, the passengers will be facing sideways and that often doesn't make traveling too much fun.

Re-reading your post, I see that your kids are 5,3 and 1, so it's definitely a no-go for now unless you get a van that has seating with three three-point seatbelts to use with car seats. I *think* that the EB-50 layouts may have at least one shoulder belt on the outside position of the rear bench, but that still leaves you with two others to worry about.

We have an EB with dinette sleeping downstairs and the regular PH bed upstairs. We have an eight year old son and put in a third captain's chair for him just inside the barn doors. I could see a family of four making it work, but five really seems to be pushing it. Might be OK now when they are young, but as they start to get bigger things will seem really tight, I think.

Thinking about just the sleeping arrangements, you'd want a van with either the rear bench/bed (EB-50) or the dinette setup that folds down. I think a gaucho would be too small to squeeze you and two kids into.
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Old 04-08-2013, 08:01 AM   #5
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Re: Sportsmobile realistic for family of five on a teacher s

Yes you could do it but it will be too tight and small for comfort, even more so in bad weather. Maybe a pop-up trailer would be better and it would certainly be less expensive. Bigger RV's are often available considerably cheaper than SMB's as well.
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Old 04-08-2013, 08:01 AM   #6
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Re: Sportsmobile realistic for family of five on a teacher s

I think the only viable option would be more of a passenger van based SMB, perhaps with a penthouse or raised fixed top, but it would also have to be supplemented with either a tow-along camper or an adequately sized tent.


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Old 04-08-2013, 08:40 AM   #7
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Re: Sportsmobile realistic for family of five on a teacher s

Here ya' go!

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Old 04-08-2013, 09:46 AM   #8
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Re: Sportsmobile realistic for family of five on a teacher s

Possible - yes!

Enjoyable - depends on you and attitudes.

We did 4 of us (me, wife, 9 and 6 year old) in an old VW Wesfalia with less room than any SMB and enjoyed it. Most of the time we adults slept in a tent because it was more comfortable than the VW lower bed.

The biggest issue will be the child seats. They cannot be in sideways mounted seats, only in normal forward facing seats and should have the LATCH system for securing the car seats.

Good luck,

Mike
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Old 04-08-2013, 09:56 AM   #9
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Re: Sportsmobile realistic for family of five on a teacher s

We had a camper van when we had 1 baby. When she was 6 and our second girl started walking, the van became TOO SMALL for hanging out inside. We our older girl was sleeping on the passenger seat, fully reclined. If you have to pack inside like sardines, a tent looks pretty good.
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Old 04-08-2013, 10:32 AM   #10
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Re: Sportsmobile realistic for family of five on a teacher s

Quote:
Originally Posted by BrianW
definitely a no-go for now unless you get a van that has seating with three three-point seatbelts to use with car seats.
Wait, is this a legal requirement now? Is it illegal to take carseats in lap-only vehicles or are carseats no longer designed to work with vintage belts?
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