Expanda vs discovery

[hornet]

Had our Expanda for a few years now and love it, but sometimes get a bit sick of canvas, wet canvas , condensation on canvas , bed flys over canvas, was considering selling 16-49-3.
Wife likes discovery 17-55-5sh has double bed, bunks, shower/toilet , no canvas , anyone know anybody who has one , like it , love it , hate it , any input will help , would love to look in one ,none in WA for sale

 

[Pace]

gday hornet, jump on the jayco website and take a virtual tour of your van of choice, loads to see there.cheers.

 

[cruza driver]

Expanda on this site has one on order and it shouldn't be to far away I dont think. :smile:

 

[Bushman]

Not a bad option if it suits your needs I personally not a fan of those corner double beds, one in the Starcraft range has full Double/Queen with rear folding/fix bunks with Shower/dunny

Of coarse that all depends on your Tow capacity as well.

 

[hornet]

2700 towing on the triton, still like the idea of having a pop top lower tow height and will still go under the car port , anyone ever had a van freighted , any ideas on cost , just going through the motions , just buy a newie or go second hand and go and pick up or deliverd

 

[cancan]

had a quote to freight a 20ft starcraft from albury to Brisbane and $2500

 

[expanda]

Yep we have one on order 17.55.5 SH Touring (Not outback....)

We have had two expanda's started in 16.49.2 then the 17.56.2 when they just started getting popular and are at the point now in being over the canvas getting wet, packing up wet, throwing away pillows / blankets from mould and overall feeling like we are on a magic carpet on some nights.

We see it as a sacrifice on the bed space not having the expanda but considering where we go and the travelling we do it will suit us great.

It will be very easy to sleep on the road, just jump in and we already have a double bed and the kids bunks made up ready to go.

Setup is a breeze just raise the roof and drop the legs, bike rack on the back, gas bottles hidden in a boot, a completely free "extended" drawbar for a tool box / boat motor / trailer (Undecided ) all on the same size chasis as the 17.56.2 and all at nearly 10k cheaper than the 17.56.2.

With the bed I thought the same with the corner beds being small but I am about 185cm's tall and I much prefer the bed in the discovery to what was in the expanda as it doesn't feel claustrophobic and moves alot less when the partners gets in and out of it.

We tested this out multiple times now in the yard and at the show!

Overall, keeping the price out of it we see it as a more grown up van compared to the expanda.

My only gripe is the battery is under the kids bunk and Jayco wouldn't move it but I will do it myself.

Here are some pictures I have gathered off the net ..........

 

[expanda]

 

[hornet]

thanks heaps for that ,whats in the cupboards between fridge and ensuite ,is it storage,wheres the hws,whats under the bed,and whats in that little cupboard next to the door?sorry about all the questions just havent been in one or even seen one,but i think i'll be polishing up the 16-49-3 for a new home.

 

[expanda]

thanks heaps for that ,whats in the cupboards between fridge and ensuite ,is it storage,wheres the hws,whats under the bed,and whats in that little cupboard next to the door?sorry about all the questions just havent been in one or even seen one,but i think i'll be polishing up the 16-49-3 for a new home.

The cupboards between the fridge and en-suite are all empty storage but for us it will be clothes cupboards.

The HWS is in the small cupboard closest to the shower in the very right small bottom cupboard, we got as an extra shelves in the big cupboard above it so we can put folded clothes in there and the one next to it on the left will be for hanging clothes and the bottom left one will be for shoes etc.

The other one further to left before the fridge will be food from what I have been told .

Under the bed is all storage, the bed lifts up on a pair of gas struts and hinges it lifts with just a finger.

We got them to add an external trunk door that allows access to the under bed storage area and we also got a picnic table mounted on the outside of the van. Plan is we are going to store the kettle etc under the bed so when we are travelling we can pull up, open the trunk door and get out the kettle and pop it on the external table without having to go into the van itself and make a cuppa .

There is also another tall cupboard at the beginning of the bunks, as soon as you enter the van its directly on your very left as soon as you come through the door before the bunks. Jayco classes this as the pantry but we are going to be using it for the kids clothes personally.

There is also a little hutch that comes standard between the bed and the shower wall in the back corner, in the photos I showed you its been deleted but it comes standard now and is some where to put your watch / wallet / magazines etc.....

The boss thinks counting all the storage in this one it looks like more useable storage than we have in the 17.56.2 .....

Also you have the boot where they store the gas bottles which even with two 9kg bottles in it has a massive amount of room.

And you also get some pillows and blanket for the double bed which is a nice touch!

If you intend on carrying bikes get the bike rack as an option because they relocate the spare to the A-Frame for free when its factory fitted and make all the mountings etc. This saved a motza for us rather than doing it later and I really like having the bikes on the back without having to stuff around.

Let me know if you need any more info we have planned our out for a while!!!

 

[hornet]

once again thanks for that ,much needed info ,if you dont mind me asking whats the touring model worth, we got qouted $42 990 for outback 17-55-5sh bog standard ,air con and awning

 

[expanda]

We didn't get the air this time around just the provision for it and we can add it later as needed.

The air itself is 2k as an option and the awning 1.5k aside from the fridge upgrade they are pretty much the most expensive items you generally add ...

Where did you get your quote from???

My advice is get all your extras worked out and shop around, it pays to have all your extras first as they generally discount fairly heavily the extras.

RRP on the discovery is just below 36k non outback and outback is about 2.5k more in NSW for shower toilet with no extras.

I would say you have gotten an rrp price and the end result cash price will be a bit less.

 

[hornet]

our qoute was from the jayco dealer in perth WA. roof mount ac $800,150l fridge $750
trade in price for the expanda was 21k

 

[expanda]

800 for roof mount sounds good but I suspect they are getting the excess from other areas if you know what i mean .....

We paid around half that just for the provision!

I see you already advertised your van I hope I haven't swayed you to far over to the dark side to quickly

 

[hornet]

Yeah, my minds made up but the missus is not sure, just thought I'd advertise the expanda to se if I get any bites.

 

[Moto Moto]

A great van guys, thanks for posting the photos expanda, always gets me thinking when i see this model.

If we ever upgrade, it would be one of these.

With so much storage you would have to be careful not to exceed the van payload limits.

 

[chartrock]

G'day Expanda, impressed with your choice. We looked at this model prior to buying ours but the wedge shaped bed and the lack of space beside the shower put us off but I notice your photos don't have a wedge shaped bed. Have you modified it or have they changed the design (the floor plan still shows the wedge bed)? Do you find a problem getting in and out of the shower?

I will be checking them out at the Brisbane caravan show next week as well as everything else.

 

[cancan]

There is a new Starcraft that will also be at the show, Bunks similar to 17" expanda (can have table under top bunk) and with better ensuite...21" van I believe....I liked the design but had to wait for it to be built which is not an option for us

 

[hornet]

Well the minister for spending has made her decision , putting of the upgrade for a while and sticking with the expanda, need to pay off the house she says, fair nuff, still love the panda , didn't quite drag me over to the dark side expanda , thanks for all the info, better remove that for sale post got a bit keen for a while there!

 

[TweedTravellers]

If you do decide to buy one later have you thought of hiring one to see if it suits you?
I was leaning more towards the 17-55-5 but my husband wanted an expanda. We hired a 17-55-5 (the one without shower/toilet) for three weeks prior to buying our previous expanda 17.56-1. We have three kids so we had to convert the table into a bed as well as the bunks. Our youngest who was seven was getting too tall to sleep on the table converted to bed and legs kept hitting the child in bottom bunk bed. We didn't have a table/chairs inside unless we coverted it back each day and with a lot of rainy/cold weather we liked having the inside table. The 17-55-5 would have been a lot better if we only had two kids. One definite advantage of the 17-55-5 is being able to have all the beds made up prior to leaving home. I think it all just depends on what suits your family size and the type of travel you do.
Friends who sold their 16 foot expanda and bought a 17-55-5 have two kids in their early teens and said they sleep outside in a tent now because they are too tall for the bunks (I'm not sure if the bunks are small or their kids are taller than usual).