Newbie almost ready to buy, and confused!

[Montanami]

Do you miss your Westy?

[BrianW]

Originally Posted by Montanami

Do you miss your Westy?

Eight years now since we got our SMB and haven’t missed the VW once.

[Blowby]

I'll throw my 2 cents in as we have the Gaucho behind the driver seat and it has worked well for us.
As all have said it is personal preference and what works for you.We have a large dog and with the walk through I have been able to adapt a ramp for the rear hitch so that he can safely get in and out without trying to jump in.
You mentioned that you lived at 9000' and for us at 6000' 4 wheel is a must as it is a daily driver and winter can be a challenge.
The V10 has been great and I dont think the 5.4 would have been a good fit for us due to the mountain environment.
Good Luck!

[Montanami]

Thank you for your 2 cents. Appreciate it!!!

[mikracer]

Did you see the 06 extended body on the SMB site? It has 4 captains chairs and a rear dinette/bed. With a kid, I would choose that layout over any of the others. 99% of the time, those rear captains are quick release so you can remove one or both of them for extra space/storage.

The rear dinette bed is much bigger than the gaucho bed and maybe similar to the 50 bed. You can also throw stuff back there if you need to. This one also has an electric top.

[Montanami]

No. I admit to not being much of an EB fan, for me, anyway.
Thanks!

[Glen]

We've had our van for a couple of years, but just now getting around to deciding on a final layout for the interior. It's insulated and carpeted, but that's it, so we have somewhat of a blank canvas to start. In the past, we've had trailers and motorhomes, but never something like this.

If there's one thing I've learned so far, it's that there is no "perfect" layout. Especially when there are two people involved in the decision making.

We are at the point where we've considered several options and how those options best fit into how we plan to use the van. It may sound kinda silly, but one thing that really helped us is we kind of role played how we would use the van. We tried to think of all the different scenarios we might be in and what gear would be needed for that particular type of trip. We also tried to figure out what gear would always stay in the van and where it would be stored, regardless of what type of trip we were taking. We then walked through each scenario to see how it would go with the different layouts. Our neighbors got a little worried, but it really did help.

I think in the end, we will have to go with the layout that comes the closest to checking off all the boxes and has the fewest compromises, what ever that is...

[Montanami]

Great thots-thank you!!!!

[Grampswrx]

That gold one on ebay was bought from norcal about 2 years ago viz the SMB website for $35k. I almost bought it, but it was more than I could spend at the time. It looks very clean. I have other pics of it from the original listing. I would get that one. Or the EB with the 4 captains chairs on the SMB website. That has been my favorite layout of all the ones I have owned.

[Montanami]

Thank you!!!!