Points that annoy me when buying new.

I have been motor-homing for the last 4 years and started with a 1990 Talbot Express Harmony Autosleeper which i thoroughly adored ... and no rattles what so ever. This year in June due to the fact that my partner finally got fed up with the lack of space and having to make beds up from the seats / settee, i decided to look for a fixed bed motorhome. If i could have had a penny for every show /  motorhome / van i have looked in or visited , i would be a trillionaire !! not to mention the hundreds and hundreds of reviews i have read. I have always wanted another Autosleeper, they seem to be solid and cosy and have a unique feel to them but i eventually went for a Bessacarr E560 (similar to the Swift Bolero). My intention in the next couple of years is to go back to an Autosleeper ie the New Broadway FB  / Mercedes Malvern or the Burford. Although i know you can stipulate various modifications prior to purchasing a new van but surly when you spend £55 - 75,000 grand on a motorhome, you would expect certain things to be standard. These are just some of the things that i have noted and really annoy me albeit a bit petty to some people:  

Points i dont know why Autosleeper don't add as standard or make changes for (primarily in New Broadway FB, Mercedes Malvern )

1. Twin armrests for cab seats, after all they are the most comfortable seats in the house.
2. Corner shelves each side of the bed ( for cups of teat, mobile phone, glasses etc.)
3. Room separator  just in case you have shy friends to stay !!
4. position of Fire extinguisher between front seats.
4. Wash-room "salad bowl" design for people who's arms dont bend, they should be oval shape !! Try pretending to wash your face in one.
5. Position of soap dish in bathroom, .... again, try washing your face as above without smashing your forehaed !!!
6. Compare other manufactureres design for side window blinds in cab, terrible design a bit like a Chinese fan and the gaps let in alot of light.
7. Why not have all plastic in shower for ease of cleaning ?
8. The lack of a small shelf the otherside of fridge facing the french bed (for remote controls etc.)
 and finally ..... one of the worst....

9. .... why on earth would you put the big table storage fixing point on the floor under the french bed, so you would have to pull all the stuff out before you could get it out.


Please don't get me wrong, I love Autosleepers and i am not here to slag them off and i will no doubt will get another Autosleeper in the end but it just annoys me, when probably to not too much expense, they can fit these things.

My current Bessacarr E560 although is a 2007 model already has all these things as standard and i know some responses will be that i am nit-picking but when you have spent time touring around and use your van as it should be (ie not left on the driveway and only do 200 miles a year) then I hope some MH's will agree. 

It might be an idea for Autosleepers to do a survey and find out what people want in a van !! maybe they already do,  all this IMHO, just needed to get it off my chest !!! :)


Thanks for reading and appreciate any thoughts.

happy vaning 

cheers

Rob

We have always remarked that we are sure that the people who design motor homes, caravans and boats never actually stay or try to live in them... they just come up with gimmicky ideas! 

Having said that though, one of the things we like about our ancient (2000) Autosleeper, is the fact that...when we first acquired it, each time we tried something out, and said "Now what we need is a little gadget to....oh here's one!"...eg Press studs for cab curtains, straps for the cooker and sink tops, clip for the luton door, light inside the luton, clips to store the coffee table behind the driver's seat...and so on and so on.  In the olden days, I think maybe designers were actual camping folk

However, we visited neighbours at a camp site recently, to admire their beautiful new AS van.  When I admired the funky wash basin...like the one you described above, we heard all about how absurd a design it really is! 

We used to have a new state of the art (not AS) van, one with every possible whistle and bell... but something simple got to us in the end...It had a fixed high bed...and in order to get in an out of it, a ladder was needed... but to get into the loo, the ladder had to be moved out of the way... thus whilst one person was in the loo, the other was trapped in bed...or vice versa!  Imagine if one or other of us had been taken ill!
Doh ! 

just so frustrating, with a little effort they could probably sell a lot more vans .

Hi , Well its the way of the world. There is so much choice.You can look for years and still have a problem.
In the end you just do the best in your eyes.
I feel sorry for those who don't check and just buy.
If you read tests in MMM from owners they have all those type of problems.
Is there a manufacturer that has a test department that go away in a van to see how it is in the real world?
I doubt it.

Best regards

Micky

We have a Broadway FB and yes many of these are niggles, particularly the table storage, the surfaces in the shower and the armrests. But having seen some rival offerings at the recent Caravan and Motorhome Show we came away convinced that we'd made the right choice. There are some other issues which AS could address, the very small payload, the low wattage on the solar panel and the quirkiness of the LED lights and reversing camera failing intermittently. Many of these issues have been discussed in other forum postings. Incidentally one of those issues, the location of the table, has been addressed in the 2015 model. It is now located in a narrow cupboard on the right hand side of the fridge with a TV storage slot above it. Maybe they do listen but take their time to make changes.

Hi What goes around comes around.
One table is in the cupboard and one behind the settee on our Van. So Two sizes and two fitting holes.
Regards

Micky

Did you look at a Gloucester? Points 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 & 9 are already answered.

No 5 the times that I banged my forehead on the soap dish and tooth brush holder, I've sorted this by swapping them around and now there's a proper gap in between so now don't bang my head.

John.

PLOUGHLIN wrote:Did you look at a Gloucester? Points 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 & 9 are already answered.

Yes good point, i do like the Gloucester alot, i think its part of the Marquis range with AS, do you have one?

artheytrate wrote:No 5 the times that I banged my forehead on the soap dish and tooth brush holder, I've sorted this by swapping them around and now there's a proper gap in between so now don't bang my head.

John.

Glad i wasnt the only one, how do you get on with the wash basin ?

I hate it, wife loves it, but I struggle to get my feet into it.

John.

yammy wrote:

PLOUGHLIN wrote:Did you look at a Gloucester? Points 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 & 9 are already answered.

Yes good point, i do like the Gloucester alot, i think its part of the Marquis range with AS, do you have one?

Yes I have one, 2011 model. Only had it since beginning of July, but have spent 55 nights away so far. Currently sitting in Sandringham CC site starting one last week away before parking up for the winter, trying out our new Smart car and trailer. We all love it,including the dog.

Fantastic, I have just got an A-Frame fixed to my Smart a few weeks back but havnt used it yet but hope to really soon, we thought about a trailer but didnt have the space to store it and the A-Frame fits nicely in the boot .... and our dog loves the van as well 

Having had a Bessacarr until early this year we are very pleased with the Broadway we p/exed it for.

One of the things we like is that it is clear that the people who designed it HAD camped in a MH before ! You put out your arm for a place to put something down; it's there. You look for a storage place, one is there, intelligently designed to do the job. Most importantly, the cupboards, doors and trim all stay in place and you don't have to have a screwdriver, tube of glue and some sealant handy all the time. Clever little touches like the draining rack on the sink cover and the shampoo bottle holder in the back of the swing shower wall.

That said; we looked round a bigger, more expensive AS van ( can't remember the model) with fancy blue lights round the bathroom mirror....right in the place where you would look into the mirror ! That we could not understand.

G

We had an A/S VHT on a T3 for 10 years. Then we bought a new Clubman. Bliss. All those things we'd sought in the VHT were there: hot water, heating, fridge, lavatory, shower, insulation, etc.

And 16 years later, we've ordered a Nuevo. Oh we inspected Hymers and all sorts of vans, but when my wife stepped in to the Nuevo and saw its clever features, she exclaimed that "It's as if someone's been listening: all those little things that I wished we'd got on the Clubman are here!"

Time will tell, but it does indeed seem as if incremental progress takes place over the years.

I hope I won't have to eat my words on this Forum next year!!
Cymro

Quilter wrote:

That said; we looked round a bigger, more expensive AS van ( can't remember the model) with fancy blue lights round the bathroom mirror....right in the place where you would look into the mirror ! That we could not understand.

G

We have those in our Gloucester, they add atmosphere when disco dancing in the shower. What, doesn't everyone do it.

We also have them and never use them. I suppose they would be alright for a bit of dirty dancing

John.

Thanks both...am still laughing !

We have the blue lights as well Swmbo says they would be good for putting on Halloween make up. Only . The saying 'as much use as a chocolate fire guard' jumps to mind.

We are on our second AS ( Broadway EK model ) having just sold our fifteen year old Duetto for a ridiculously high price but low mileage and pristine condition, not to mention the almost total absence of garage visits for repairs over the years.  Yes the Broadway has a few niggly design features such as a very rattle prone oven, a hard suspension, bathroom hooks falling off, and a handbrake one can hardly reach. But having  thoroughly researched the competition it stands head and shoulders above the others for overall quality and residual values. Our habitation door refused to close properly a few times during hot days last summer but AS had no hesitation in fitting a completely new door and frame for us costing upwards of £1500. There is such a lot of techy kit on modern motorhomes that teething problems are bound to occure but AS after-sales is very good and must remain so if they are to continue to enjoy an excellent reputation. If design faults do manifest themselves we must continue to voice our suggestions in this forum in the hope that AS pick up on them.

We are on our second AS ( Broadway EK model ) having just sold our fifteen year old Duetto for a ridiculously high price but low mileage and pristine condition, not to mention the almost total absence of garage visits for repairs over the years.  Yes the Broadway has a few niggly design features such as a very rattle prone oven, a hard suspension, bathroom hooks falling off, and a handbrake one can hardly reach. But having  thoroughly researched the competition it stands head and shoulders above the others for overall quality and residual values. Our habitation door refused to close properly a few times during hot days last summer due to expansion but AS had no hesitation in fitting a completely new door and frame for us costing upwards of £1500. There is such a lot of techy kit on modern motorhomes that teething problems are bound to occure but AS after-sales is very good and must remain so if they are to continue to enjoy an excellent reputation. If design faults do manifest themselves we must continue to voice our suggestions in this forum in the hope that AS pick up on them.

Hi ,I am not as complacent as many regarding the lack of A/S quality control.
Nothing I have read on this AS  forum gives me any reason to believe AS read the threads.
Allowing customers to do QC during the warranty period and then fixing faults when they occur is not a good business model.
However that's not to say some other manufacturers are any better.
Some of the problems that come up are major faults in my mind.
My business  experience was in the fast  turn round low price  repeat work market but required Full Quality approval to meet customer requirements.
Maybe Motorhome manufacturers are in the Double glazing/cavity wall  method of selling.
I remember a Mercedes car dealer telling me he had 80% repeat business  as a success story.

Micky