We picked up our camper van, a Winnebago Solis, in Phoenix. Size-wise and in terms of handling it was the perfect vehicle for beginners like us. But I have to say, it is not a German/European quality car. It can’t compare to a Sprinter, which is similar in size and design, in terms of steering for example and the gears shifted quite randomly sometimes (it was an automatic). Let alone minor issues like screws coming off, the zips of the fly screens breaking/ the net itself ripping and the indicators for the grey tank and toilet cassette didn’t work well/at all. (Despite the car being brand new! We were the second party to rent this particular van, it only had 4800 miles on it!!)
Having said that, I would also like to point out that we thoroughly enjoyed that the Solis is much smaller than most RVs in the US (but that’s easy ’cause they are HUGE!!) and therefore you can usually park in regular car parking lots, and it’s way easier to find a campsite if you don’t have a reservation. And despite it’s small size it’s got a tiny kitchen and a micro (nano I should say) toilet and shower included.
☀️ My personal favourite: a solar panel on the rooftop, which meant we were quite self-reliant and never depended on a campground to have a full hook-up or partial hook-up site left but being able to take the cheaper dry camping sites! 🤑
Usually you have two water tanks for waste water: the grey water is the water that comes from your sinks and shower and the black water is the ‘water’ coming from the toilet. In the Solis, however, we had a cassette toilet. When it’s full you take it out (it looks like a trolley as it has a handle and wheels) and dump it in a toilet or at a dump station. If you have a regular blackwater tank you need to adjust a hose and you can only dump in dump stations.
Ines & Oliver on Tour 