Explore Our NEW Hymer Free S 600 Campus Campervan: Full Tour & Epic French Adventure!

[@Irishsetter-k9]

Have to say great choice - we replaced our T6 with this model earlier this year . We have been looking at adding solar - any chance of your installer details and any spec details you have. Only niggle so far is the bottom kitchen draw occasionally flying open. Happy travels!

[@CampervanJourney]

Hi there, thanks for watching and getting in touch. We have been enjoying getting to know our new HYmer van and are very pleased with it so far. It is quite different to our old T6 California as you will know. Funny what you say about the kitchen drawer, ours does that on occasion as well ! If you have subscribed to the channel, thank you ! Cheers JT

[@rickyard11]

Nice one JT. Hope it’s everything you wished for. We have the Cali Beach (all yours / A bus and beyond’s fault) and love it as our daily / weekend getaway vehicle. Maybe one day we will change, who knows? Have fun!

[@CampervanJourney]

Hi Rick , Thanks for getting in touch. Glad to hear that you are enjoying your Cali Beach. We loved ours, had many great trips in it and it was a hard decision to sell to move on to the new one. That said we are really enjoying the new van. It is very different to the cali. There are pro's and cons with changing, but the was right for a new adventure. Cheers JT

[@christine7591]

Very good looking van! 😊 We have the same, only ours is blue and the steering wheel is on the other side 😊. We really like our van as well and you are right, you have to be prepared to compromise, there is no van that’s 100% perfect! The stickers on the side of your van look really good! Enjoy your future trips.

[@CampervanJourney]

Hi there ! Thanks for getting in touch good to hear from a fellow Hymer owner. So far, we have been really pleased with our choice. Appreciate your comments about the graphics. I was not sure if they were a bit bold, but they do look good ! We are learning to overcome some of the compromises and are enjoying the extra flexibility it gives us. Thanks for watching hope you enjoy the rest of the videos we have. Cheers JT

[@PhilippeLelorrainPhilVanLife]

Thank you for this interesting presentation and all the reasoning that led to the choice of the Hymer Free S Campus. I did the same 4 years ago before ordering the Free S with practically all the options to make it a "Campus" After 3 years and 60,000 km in Europe, I have a quite good feedback to share. Concerning the Sprinter, with automatic gearbox and adaptive cruise control, it is a real pleasure to drive it over long distances, for me and my wife. My consumption is 10.5 l/100 km and the only problems encountered on the Sprinter in 3 years are a window switch to change and a reprogramming of the somewhat capricious MBUX in the Bluetooth / Apple Car Play connections. I also had to protect the cables under the rotating seats, the wires were starting to get damaged. For the Hymer part, I do not regret the Truma diesel option which gives real autonomy for heating and hot water, without having to manage gas cylinders. And which allows to have just one (or two) small gas cylinders for the kitchen and a lot of free space in the gas cabinet for tools, cables, water hose... Concerning the Hymer part, a few small problems. The shower hose sometimes tends to get stuck and is difficult to remove completely. The lower trim of the sliding door is just fixed by plastic clips that vibrate (problem solved by replacing the clips with threaded inserts). The door mosquito net must be handled carefully by its center, otherwise the lower part comes out of its slide. The THETFORD refrigerator is spacious and works very well but the control panel is sensitive. We have accidentally turned off the refrigerator by touching it. We use the shower regularly and the bottom of the bathroom door has started to deteriorate with humidity (problem solved by installing an aluminum profile glued to the bottom of the door). For the toilet, a SOG ventilation is installed which completely eliminates bad odors. A small expense but very useful. Finally, the fragility of the REMIX shutters which is well known. I have already changed the hinges of the passenger and driver door shutters several times, you can find the parts on ebay or Amazon. Another poor quality equipment is the REICH faucet in the kitchen. The articulated spout is only held by an O-ring and that is not enough. It comes off from time to time. Despite these small problems, I am very satisfied and if I change the van next year, as planned, it will certainly be for a Hymmer Free S Campus. Enjoy your Free S 600 !

[@CampervanJourney]

Hi there ! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave such a detailed comment with your experiences and the few niggles you have and their fixes. I really appreciate your insight. Hopefully we won't have the too many issues in the long term. thanks for watching, JT

[@soniagallaher3544]

Great van and glad to hear that the rear seat is comfortable. Looks like you had a great holiday!

[@CampervanJourney]

Thank you, we had a great trip. Can't wait to get out on another adventure !

[@HymerLife600]

The Grand California due a refresh on the new crafter chassis the reason we went with the hymer. Also the depreciation much slower on a traditional camper/ motor home build.

[@CampervanJourney]

Agreed, we knew the update was coming, and having seen details from Caravan Salon, it seems the update was mainly the interior dashboard and control panel. Some of the other niggles we had, have not changed. Thanks for getting in touch, we are enjoying being part of the Hymer Club. Cheers JT

[@broadpete]

Nice video of a nice van. It seems the perfect choice for your situation. Your detailed approach is similar to mine so I can relate completely!

[@CampervanJourney]

Thank you very much. Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching and getting in touch. Cheers JT

[@colinnewmarch1106]

Great video, it's always horses for courses, having had two motorhomes, each with rear lounge ,then a Eldiss CV20, we are picking up a Consort Pace, this week. Only 2 berth but it suits us. As you say finding a perfect van is not easy, enjoy your new van

[@CampervanJourney]

Thank you, Glad you enjoyed it. You sound like experts, hope you enjoy your new van as well. Cheers JT

[@PhilSmith-cp5qk]

Super van, always a few compromises. We went from vw transporter to 6m Ducato panel van some years back and love the extra space. Especially out of the summer season.

[@CampervanJourney]

Yep, the extra space has been great ! I'm sure when we are away and the weather is not as nice, we will appreciate it even more....

[@nigel8712]

Hi JT thanks for the tour! Sorry to add to your list of questions to answer, but where did you get your fitted sheets from for the downstairs mattress(s)? I also like the benefits of your solar system especially getting 300W from the flexible panel - something for me to consider in the future. Take care and thanks again for taking the time in putting these vlogs together. 😊

[@CampervanJourney]

Hi Nigel, No problem ! The van came with the fitted sheets. They had been specced as an option from Hymer. If I was building my own van, I would have thought twice about them as they aren't cheap, but having had them, they are definitely worth it as they are tailored to fit the seperate mattress sections. The solar panel has been fantastic ! Cheers JT

[@davidmcguinness7172]

Thanks for the review,thinking of doing the same as you…….

[@CampervanJourney]

You're welcome David ! Thanks for watching. JT

[@robww5921]

Nice. Enjoy. Intrigued by size of your bed at the back, if the poptop is bigger. Also how does poptop net work / attach to the roof. Need to make something like that for mine. And lithium in one of these vans...I think that's rare. Good see the switch

[@CampervanJourney]

Hi Rob, the downstairs bed is around 1.9m long ( side to side) within the flares. We aren't tall so that is fine for us ! The pop top net is fixed with a bar that clips across the hatch opening. It's simple, yet effective. The Lithium Battery and solar has been a game changer, we didn't use EHU the whole time we were away ! cheers JT

[@ianwinfield861]

Can you please give more details on your bike rack? Very nice campervan!

[@CampervanJourney]

Hi Ian. Its an Atera Strada DL that we used on our previous VW California. It's worked well on the Hymer and the slide / tilt action means you can use it with the rear doors, just. There is a video on the channel from a while back, the link is here (if it doesn't work just scroll back through the videos on the channel and you'll find it..) kzbin.info/www/bejne/mH6ugmmDfal1jJo cheers JT

[@ianwinfield861]

@@CampervanJourney Very interesting and many thanks!

[@ronlumgair1367]

Hi, could you please give more details on the solar panel make, size of wattage etc. thanks.

[@CampervanJourney]

Hi, I'll get the details together and post a note in the description. It is 300 watt flexible panel... I know that much without checking !

[@philiprussell9656]

Great video's BTW. We're on the same trajectory as you. We sold our Cali Ocean a while ago and have been stressing over our next choice, even visiting Dussledorf last week. Having spoken with a couple of Hymer dealers, they all have/will have stock of the Free 600 campus, highly spec'd, very similar to yours but don't accept customised orders anymore. Did you have the tow bar also retrospectively fitted and roughly how much should we budget for both this and the solar ?

[@CampervanJourney]

Thank you very much ! And thansk for watching and getting in touch. I was hoping to get out to Caravan Salon, but time did not allow. Just as well, as I would only have been distracted by other vans! I did hear that Hymer were no longer taking orders for bespoke builds, but the spec of ours gives us pretty much everything we would want or need, so if that's what's going to come through to dealers, most buyers should be happy with what they get. We had both the towbar and solar retrospectively fitted by independent specialists in Dorset. The Tow bar was approx £750 and the solar around £1400. We have been very pleased with the install of both. The Solar, combined with the lithium battery has been amazing . Whilst the weather was ver good, we did not need EHU once on our trip. It took us a long time to decide on our next van, but so far we have been very pleased with it. Good luck with your decision making... cheers JT

[@marianjavorka7712]

Would Columbus 600D be a good option for family of 3 no pop roof but patented seat that convert to bed instead? You can travel in winter and in rainy season. I know it is Italian engineered Ducato but hoping by 2025 they managed to build some quality to it. Cockpit looks very modern these days too.

[@CampervanJourney]

Hi There ! Thanks for watching and getting in touch. If you watch some of the older videos on the channel when we are looking at vans to replace our VW, you will see that for a long time the Westalia Columbus was our preferred choice. But, we really wanted to have the flexibility to sleep four people. The folding seat that they offer is really good but we'd still want a pop top. In the UK the Westfalia is expensive making it a comparable price on a Fiat chassis to those based on a Mercedes or VW / MAN which have superior driving characteristics. In the UK you could also not add to the specification two key things that I wanted. LED Headlights and Adaptive cruise control. And my preference was for a german van, that had good driving characteristics. If Westfalia made a 4 berth Sven Hedin, that would have been right up there... but they don't ! Thanks again for getting in touch. cheers JT

[@davecosford6658]

Ive got my campus booked in next week based on your recommendation for solar. You should set up a referral code 😂

[@CampervanJourney]

Great news ! We have been very pleased with the kit that Solar Solutions fitted for us. How long have you had your campus for ? It would be good to hear from another owner, [e-mail] Cheers JT

[@davecosford6658]

Mines Hilda. As per Instagram. Arrived in January and we're 62 night into the adventure. South of France 3 times and Ireland planned for 2 weeks over Christmas

[@philiprussell9656]

@@CampervanJourney We may be another too. I posted earlier that choosing a replacement to the Cali is so difficult. We're in our early 60's and love both the flexibility of 'compact' and want space with German engineering. Unfortunately it comes at a ££ which is why the Free 600 is such a reasonable 'compromise'.

[@elizastuart6502]

Thank you for this! We are thinking of the Hymer Grand Canyon, or the new Eriba Car, which is on a VW chassis. After much consideration, we decided that we would like a German chassis over a Fiat, for the same reasons. Now we just need to sort out how long delivery is likely to be! May I ask how long you needed to wait?

[@CampervanJourney]

No problem, thank you for watching. I know lots of people are on the same journey as us, which is one of the reasons I like to make these videos. The Grand Canyon is a lovely van. We saw one when we collected ours a bit higher specification than ours, and it had fancy leather interior. The new Eriba car does look interesting, but I would imagine it's going to be a while before we see it here in the UK. We were lucky that Leisure first in Poole had our van in stock when we went to see them, pure coincidence. We went to test drive with them and the van we ended up buying happened to be available and almost exactly the specification we would have ordered. I would guess lead times are going to be at least 6 months... good luck with you final decision and order ! cheers JT

[@elizastuart6502]

@@CampervanJourney Ooooh! Poole is very accessible for us as we are in West Dorset. We will have to go and have a look there!

[@Familytripyoutube]

How did you feel the temperature sleeping upside in Europe. France has not hot night from what I remember, but we would too switch from a white Cali to a hymer like this but with black top… 😮

[@CampervanJourney]

Harry sleeps up there with a sleeping bag and he found it fine. Ambient temperature got down to around 10C so not too cold. For cooler weather we took the option of a 12v heated blanket Hymer offer that he can use in colder weather.

[@TheBritishlandscapes]

I thought the graphics were part of the factory camper. If you don't mind me asking where did you get them from and fitted thanks

[@CampervanJourney]

I hope you like them ! We asked the dealer to organise them with a local sign writer they work with and gave them a brief idea of what we were after,. They came back with two designs, the one we have was our favourite. If you are local, i can find out the name of the company...

[@TheBritishlandscapes]

@@CampervanJourney Yes do like them hence why I commented. I'm based in the North West so probably too far from your area. Thanks for taking the trouble to reply.

[@mccoysmedia]

Anything that specifically made you choose this over the grand cali? Watched your grand cali vids half a dozen times while we look at options 😂

[@CampervanJourney]

HI there, thanks for getting in touch. Firstly as seasoned VW owners it took a lot for us NOT to buy a Grand Cali 600. Just prior to renting one, we had decided that we were going to buy one, had specced one up, got quotes and were just having a weekend away in one to check we were happy before we committed to a £90k purchase. I am glad we did, as we found several things that were niggles that were enough to make us look at different brands. In no particular order. (BTW These comments relate to the 600 not a 680) We found the rear overhead locker latches infuriating, they have a very odd way of working. The lockers themselves weren't as big as they looked. The Fridge is silly. The sliding door is temperamental, there is no shelf. It goes back a long way to give you the illusion of space, but this eats into storage space for kitchen cupboards / drawers. Kitchen storage space is poor because of the above. The overhead bed is a great idea in principle, but in reality only really useful for young children. Harry is 12 and he is already too big for it. Access to the lower bed is tricky as the is no step. When you do put a step there, you can't open the shower room door... As much as I tried I couldn't get the looks to grow on me. In the few days we rented one, there were a few electrical niggles. None of the above are deal breakers on their own, we have found that all these vans are going to be a compromise. Its just for us, added together there were enough compromises to warrant looking at other things... hence we ended up with the Hymer (which still has compromises!). Some of the points above don't relate to the 680. But the 680 is too big for our parking and more importantly is only a 2 berth. Hope this helps ! Feel free to drop me an email at [e-mail] if you have any other questions. Oh, and thanks for subscribing if you have ! If not, please do, as liking and subscribing really helps me grow the channel. cheers JT

[@mccoysmedia]

@@CampervanJourney thanks for the comprehensive reply. Next step is to rent one I think like you’ve suggested 👍🏻

[@nordnung]

4x4?

[@CampervanJourney]

No, it’s the front wheel drive chassis.

[@nordnung]

@@CampervanJourney what about service and maintenance costs? how do they compare to the ocean?

[@CampervanJourney]

@@nordnung I believe that they are comparable here in the UK.

[@LB-W]

What are the niggles?

[@CampervanJourney]

Not many so far... the mosquito net for the sliding door has come out of its guide rails twice. we have been able t fix it in the field but it was a fiddle. The speakers in our rear cabin area don't appear to work. Just a couple at the moment, and nothing that we can't put up with / adapt to. Thansk for watching and getting in touch.

[@andrewthornhill4229]

This still seems very cramped to me for the price these are did you not look at the autotrail expedition 68 lot more room and about £15k cheaper ?

[@tbir5689]

He mentioned he wanted a German engine/chassis; froma a quick look at your suggestion it seems to be a Fiat..

[@andrewthornhill4229]

@@tbir5689 check the specifications on the autotrail miles better and a better price paying extra just because its a Mercedes mine was brand new with pop top automatic alloy wheels two trays in the garage which slid out for mountain bikers solar panel towbar up graded stereo and still about 20k cheaper thats how i look at i know he said he wanted German make its a nice ban but still seems very cramped

[@tbir5689]

@@andrewthornhill4229 I hope you have many great trips in yours. As he mentions there is no perfect van - a mixture of initial cost, residual value, size, layout and reliability..

[@CampervanJourney]

Hi Andrew, thanks for getting in touch. The Autotrail does indeed offer great value for money, but it missed the mark for our personal preferences. We were after something with a German Chassis, VW, Merc or MAN/TGE. The 68 is too big for us as well. We can only accomodate a 6m van with our parking restrictions at home. Cheers JT

[@andrewthornhill4229]

@@CampervanJourney sorry yes i forgot you only wanted a 6 meter van love the videos look forward to some more