Running reports

Tested by Nigel Hutson Price £22,649 Berths 4 MIRO 1296kg Payload 204kg MTPLM 1500kg (upgrade from 1450kg) IN A NUTSHELL Some niggles, but nothing to stop us enjoying the van

Latest updates on our long-term fleet of tow cars and caravans

AT THE LUNAR’S last service, in May 2018, the van was given a clean bill of health and we were looking forward to another year of trouble-free touring. Our last report came at the end of an unusually cold snap in March 2018 when the ‘Beast from the East’ gripped the UK, during which we enjoyed a splendid trip to York. Since then we’ve had a number of breaks in the UK and a threeweek holiday on the south coast of France, where temperatures at times hit the mid-30s. So, with our Lunar approaching its fourth birthday, how is it standing up? In the main, very well. We’ve had a few small issues, but nothing we couldn’t work around. First, the ongoing issue of the small silicon e buffers on locker doors dropping off continues. I took each one off and stuck them back on with superglue, which held them for a while, but it didn’t completely resolve the problem. However, my brother-in-law (who glues nuclear submarines together for a living) suggested that, because the buffers were silicone, the best thing to stick them with was silicone bathroom sealant. So, any that have dropped off have now been reattached using that method. And so far, so good. Second, despite having fitted a Dometic fridge fan kit, the fridge still struggled in the high French temperatures. Removing the exterior grilles helped a little, but the bottom line is that our particular unit just didn’t seem able to cope with that heat. Hey ho. Finally, with a week of our holiday remaining, the kitchen tap decided that it would no longer turn off, so we had to turn the pump off every time we’d drawn water. And, of course, if we wanted to use the washroom tap, water gushed out of the kitchen one at the same time. Very entertaining. Sadly, the tap cannot be repaired, so we’ve had to have a new one fitted (thank you Yorkshire Caravans). I hasten to add that this was a component failure and not a problem unique to Lunar at all. We still love the Lunar. It’s such a comfortable place to be, especially in the colder months, and the layout suits us. Even so, depreciation is starting to take its toll and we’re considering a change. Stay tuned…

MAIN The Lunar has visited a number of UK sites as well as French ones INSET Our Discovery tow car; the tap may have played up but the hob works fine