We purchased ours new in 2006, after having a horror experience with a well known Australian brand caravan "built for Australian conditions."

I just love that phrase being used by people who have never owned a European caravan, what a cop out.

A bit like saying Japanese cars are not built to suit Australian conditions????

In the six years that we have owned ours, we have been from Tasmania to Queensland six times for extended holidays of up to three months.

About to go again this year for five months.

Total amount of things that have gone wrong equal TWO. That was the water pressure regulator beagn to leak and the LPG regulator valve clogged up.

Otherwise the van has been a joy to own.  Very comfortable and a dream to tow.  Up until last year we towed with a Falcon, last year, because we wanted to experience the centre, I purchased the vehicle in the Avatar to tow it with.

The Falcon did not even know there was a caravan behind it. We still have the Falcon and we have decided that if the Merc behaves itself this year we will sell the Falcon and if the Merc misbehaves, it will go and it's back to the Falcon.

The Geist have a BPW Swing chassis and suspension.  This is the same chassis brand and set up as the Kenworth pig trailers. Google BPW chassis and check the information out.

Parts are becoming scarce, although there is a regular supply coming from the UK.

The Geist Owners club is very, very active, have seminars on servicing and repairing these vans, plus a couple of gatherings with guest speakers each year.

There are a lot of ignorant remarks posted by people who have never owned or towed one.  Read the Geist forum and see what the "real" owners have to say about them.

We have a LV 485, weighs in at 1500kg.

They are a touring van, not off road or long stretches of corrugated road. Like us, an occassional foray along a forestry road or gravel has never hurt it.

The fresh water tank is limited to eighty litres, easily filled from a container, so one does become water wise.  We find that fifteen litres each per day, lets us use the shower, cook and have a cuppa, we can stretch the tank out to last three days, free camping.

Being trained to this, we take a couple of twenty litre containers with us whenever we go for a drive, this extends our free camping out for whatever time we need.

Power wise, the van is set up standard for extended use without the need for 240volts.

They are insulated to withstand -30 degrees outside temp. By this, they mean that if it -30 outside, a person can remain safe for a period of 24 hours.  The windows are all double glazed as well.

There is no such animal as a 2010 model, Oakhurst Industries, who imported them went broke in about 2008.

Good luck with your hunt. The hardest model to buy is the LV/XK 485, the LV/XK 535 was the next size up and is very popular too.

The XK630 was especially built for the Australian market with a North/South double bed in the rear.  We did not like this layout.

The LV/XK 660, luxury on wheels, double bed East/West, the rear overhang can be troublesome.

Cheers

Dusty

http://www.caravanandrv.com.au/review_3645443545414535453936353434334442344331393334344438414344453931.htm

http://www.motorsm.com/aus/caravans/european-geist.asp

Hello Landfall, That is the most informative reply I have ever read. We are surely impressed. The club sounds great too.

neilnruth wrote:

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Thanks for all your info Dusty but you still didn't mention what bed configuraion it has. If it was against a wall we'd still have problems due to night 'calls of nature'. But enjoyed reading your info.

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 NR,

Sorry, I did not say what bed config ours has.

The LV/XK 485 (ours) has two North/South singles at the front of the van, which can be made into a very large Queen size bed by pulling out a slatted extension built in to the centre cupboard. (I hope this makes sense?)

The LV/XK 535 has the same set up, plus the dinnette area converts to two upper and lower bunks.

The XK 630 and the LV/XK660 both have double size island beds.

The XK630 has the bathroom over the axles on the side.

The LV/XK660 has a seperate ensuite across the rear of the van.

One of the big advantages of the European caravans in general is there towing hitch and brakes.

In Europe, electric brakes which we have here are banned. They are deemed not to be safe on icy or snow covered roads.

European vans are fitted with either an Al-Ko hitch or as in the Geist, a Winterhoff hitch.  These hitches contain a friction pad and locking device that prevents sway, they are of an over ride nature. Not like the old fashioned over ride brakes we used to know.

They are far more sophisticated and even in the most extreme braking circumstances, stop without fuss.  They also have an interesting safety feature?  Should the caravan depart from the tow vehicle, the brakes are automatically applied, the van drops on to the dolley wheel and stops. (There used to be a u tube demonstrating this)

Because of this hitch, it is imperative that anyone buying on of these vans, also be aware that they need to have the special tow ball and locking plate fitted to there towing tongue, otherwise the hitch will undo a standard tow ball.

I don't mind answering any questions about the vans, I am not an expert on the other models, just from talking to other owners, I have picked up a little more knowledge.

Dusty

Dusty  ..

Thanks for the spirited defence of your choice.  Gives me more faith in the product despite the shortage of supplier support.

I think that your message would have been better received without the attacks on others.  We are all entitled to our opinions & should be able to air them without the risk of verbal attack.  Strip away the vitriol & you make some good points.

Did you read the links posted by Wombat that point to the testing & upgrades for Aussie conditions?

I reckon that it would have to be very foolhardy to spend hard earned on a product without questioning its suitability in the local environment.

cheers .. G

hi to all, i have just read with great interest the question on the GEIST caravan and would like to comment too, we have had a geist van for over 4yrs now and are still as thrilled with it as the day we bought it. We started with a AK 595 which is approx 20.5ft it had a seperate bedroom with nth/ sth single beds which we liked, a full ensuite across the rear of the van and a front living space which converted to a large queen bed, the layout is brilliant, after travelling all over oz and doing many other trips towing with a Ford Futura we had no problems and it towed like a dream, we have now changed to the smaller LV485 which is also a great floor plan, a large ensuite lots of counter space and single beds,parts and service are no problem, the braking and hitch system are fantastic. the Isabella annex doubles the living space so lots of room to spred out. like everything else in life it,s a matter of taste and what suits one does,nt suit another, Aussie vans/Imports ?? does,nt matter as long as we are happy with what we have.  regards greyghosts

Hi Dusty

We have a Geist LV 485 and love it to bits, saw the pic you have there with an Isabella on the side and was wondering what design/model isabella it is, we would like to get one to fit ours.

Thanks Bill

Hello, I have an original Geist LV 660, purchased 2005. It came with a 190 L electric 12V only fridge. I still have it & can give you the whole life history if you want. Gareth from Go See Australia also is a good source or Peter Treasure of the Geist Owners Club.

Ben, another repair place who deal with all sorts of caravans is Caboolture Caravan Repairs who would be worth contacting, see;

http://www.caravanrepair.com.au/ 

What state are you in?  It helps when asking for advice to give a state or have a state in your profile (none there) as someone may know someone local, a general area in a state will help with that too.

I have never owned a Geist, but a friend has one in Perth.   I am not knocking Geist, they are a very nice looking and well planned van and seem to have a good quality build.   One thing I didn't like on his though was the flimsy awning arms compared to one on other makes of caravan.

He had a wheel come adrift on his and wrecked his wheel arch and damaged the surrounding panels, he couldn't get the parts he needed and ended up have compromise repairs done by a local repairer, this was after some time investigating various avenues.

-- Edited by Duh on Saturday 19th of January 2013 04:23:58 PM

The first recommendation I would make is do not post on this site as one cannot edit or change the information.