Thinking of buying a Fairford

We are nervously contemplating purchasing our first motorhome and after much consideration, have selected the Autosleeper Fairford as ideal for us.  We have two primary school age children so with the two double beds and four seat belts it meets our essential needs.  I would feel happier driving a van conversion rather than a large coach build.  We have viewed a Fairford and I have one question regarding the shower room.  There is no tap over the sliding sink - does the shower head act as the tap (for brushing teeth, hand washing)?  Does this fix to the wall when needed for this purpose rather than showering.

I would be grateful for and advice/reviews on aspects of the Fairford.  I can see a downside is that, because of having to store all the bed cushions, space for clothes etc is very limited - do you have experience of travelling as a family of four?  How do you find the storage?  How do you find the size of beds - hubby is 5' 6" and I am 5' 4".  

TV - there is a TV aerial socket - do you take a free standing TV or is it best to have a bracket above the worktop?

Personally, having no experience driving a large vehicle like this, does anyone know of a driving course I could do to perfect parking and reversing?

I realise there are a lot of questions here but I would be really grateful for any advice anyone could give us. 

Thanks!

Hi and welcome to the forum from sunny Durham (on tour)
Boaby

The only problem with buying a brand new van if you have never had or tried one before is most people find that their concept of the ideal changes with practical experience. Had you thought of hiring one for a week and seeing how you like it. Realistically driving one is really just a matter of experience and you would gain that from a hire too. Just an idea but welcome to the forum and the Fairford does look nice, although I don't have one so can't help on that subject. Good luck with starting the adventure which ever way you chose to do so.

Definitely hire first. The first caravan i bought 40 odd years ago was a design disaster,,one holiday and had to change it,,,wrong layout. Both of the main clubs have driving courses for both caravans and motorhomes.BUSBY65.

we had two vans before buying our new one and we hired a Swift coachbuilt for a week just to ensure I was happy with the layout/size. Had I been unhappy we would have had to look at panel vans.

The Caravan Club have driving courses for members (not cheap) but they did free "sample" courses at the NEC camping show last year which I found useful.

Welcome JulesM, stick around and you'll get lots of good advice from the board members.

What Motorhome has a review of the Fairford in the current (August) magazine, I don't read it normally but it came bundled with the latest MMM magazine at WH Smiths. You might find it helpful trying to pick a copy up. It appears that you are correct about the shower head doubling as the sink tap, the reviewer didn't seem overly happy about that. I can't argue with those who suggest hiring before buying, although we didn't, but we we did spend several years researching first.

As other have said, there are driving courses available at the big clubs. For what it's worth, I had similar worries to you before getting behind the wheel of our Neuvo. I now prefer driving it to either of our cars.

We have a Fairford we use it as a two berth mainly, we've taken our two grandchildren away with us in the van. The shower head is used for the sink, which slides into position above the loo. The toilet and shower are quite small but we felt that as we mostly use sites with facilities then the space was about right for occasions when we need to use either the onboard shower or loo. The dinette traveling seats just cope with two child seats for our 6 and 4 year old grandchildren. As the kids are well, kid size we didn't take all the extra cushions as they could fit on the bed without making it wider. We used to have a vw camper so are used to a cosy van but as we do a lot of winter campervanning we felt we needed more space. I wouldn't put you off a Fairford but would suggest you give consideration to how item the kids are coming with you, that they are comfortable in the travelling seats, that you will have enough storage (don't forget the bedding) and consider the types of sites ( facilities) that you visit. Overall the Fairford met our expectations but as with any camper can feel restricted with 4 bodies on board. If you want to know anything else let me know.

Oh sorry we take a free standing TV we bought brackets but didn't fit them.

Hi,

Don't have a MH yet but picking up our new Fairford on Friday.
We rented previously and decided that the Fairford suits our needs BUT it will just be the two of us in it.
The only 'down sides' I see to the Fairford are slightly small shower room (covered above) and no hanging wardrobe.
Guess I'll have to treat the Mrs to a new iron and board.

StewPotch wrote:Hi,

Don't have a MH yet but picking up our new Fairford on Friday.
We rented previously and decided that the Fairford suits our needs BUT it will just be the two of us in it.
The only 'down sides' I see to the Fairford are slightly small shower room (covered above) and no hanging wardrobe.
Guess I'll have to treat the Mrs to a new iron and board.

There is a hanging wardrobe, it's under the sink in the galley, I use it for my mains lead , tools water pipe etc.
On a van this size if you want four berths you have to make compromises a larger shower would take space away from a more useful area for our needs.
Hope you enjoy the new Van stewpotch.

Like others we hired a van as a try and see. That was a Pilote coach build. Not for us but it made us look further . Our first Motorhome was a van  that went rusty faster than we could keep up . After hiring a Motorhome in New Zeeland we realised what layout we wanted . Now we have a coach built rear lounge.
As other people have said try before you buy there is a lot of choice out there.

some time last year we decided that we wanted a newer van. Circumstances fell correctly and we decided a NEW van was desirable and so I started making lists. We visited a few motorhome showrooms which showed us what direction to go in and finally we went to the 2015 Motorhome & Caravan show at the NEC armed with a short list of 3 vans.

With two primary school age children you may not be able to do this but we set off in the morning determined to look at EVERY van that fitted our spec (2 berth, <6m & <3500kg) leaving our short list until last. That way we might just have seen something we had previously not considered. At the end of the day we still had a short list of three but two of them were different from the starting list. Its amazing what you pick up just looking at other vans.

You need to look at them thinking "how am I going to use this?" and be prepared to look for the little things. We did reduce the short list to two and in the end the Autosleeper Nuevo EK won. Guess why it won. It was the ONLY (make of) van we saw all day with a microwave at a workable height. There are many people on this forum who don't want a microwave but it was very important to us. As I say, little things matter.

If you can get to the NEC this year, this is the show to go to.

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Thank you so much for all your replies.  First time I've ever been on a forum so not really sure what I am doing yet.  Can I reply to each of you individually?

Firstly, my hubby had to put me right - he is 5' 10" not 5' 6"!  Sorry dear.

We have been researching for a couple of years and last year we did hire a Chausson coachbuild.  We discovered many benefits of motorhoming over our usual camping (with a large tent) - main one being less time wasted erecting the tent.  Second one being the freedom to relocate easily.  We loved it.

We would definitely buy a used van as much better value for money.  If anyone knows of any Fairfords for sale please let me know.

Thank you for letting me know about that article - we had spotted it and as you say it does look like the shower head doubles up as the tap.  Not ideal as I'm sure it will splash everywhere but guess we'll get used to it.  Is it the usual thing to dry down the shower room with a cloth after use?

Good point dbroada, about the microwave height - it is quite high in the Fairford (for lifting out a hot bowl) but this wouldn't put me off.

We went to the Peterborough Show this May and also the Norfolk Show last year.  It is mind boggling the amount of choice.  We are at the stage of thinking if we don't do it soon we will never make a decision.  We are used to roughing it in a tent so a van would be a huge improvement for us and it would mean we could use it in winter.  By the way, are UK vans up to the cold temperatures if we wanted to take it to a ski resort?

Would love to know how you get on with the Fairford Stewpotch - especially the storage aspect - kids are now at the stage of less toys, more devices so at least that cuts down on stuff.  
The Neuvo was high on our list too but I felt it was quite large for me to drive.

Can anyone recommend an insurance company?  Just want to get an idea of the cost.
Thanks

We are with safegaurd  which includes break down cover,we were in an accident with French driver nearly 2 years ago.
No quibbles with  Safegaurd as soon as we got home 6 weeks later our Broadway was back with Auto Sleepers and repaired, they also engaged a solicitor who got our excess back from the French drivers insurance.

John.

Thanks John.  I'll give them a try.

JulesM wrote:Thank you so much for all your replies.  First time I've ever been on a forum so not really sure what I am doing yet.  Can I reply to each of you individually?

You can "quote" a post to highlight a phrase or person. From there you can remove the bits you don't want but be careful, it is very easy to make a big mess!   and you can add from the massive selection of Emoticons (smileys) too.

JulesM wrote:We have been researching for a couple of years and last year we did hire a Chausson coachbuild.  We discovered many benefits of motorhoming over our usual camping (with a large tent) - main one being less time wasted erecting the tent.  Second one being the freedom to relocate easily.  We loved it.

You aren't the only people on that course. Our turning point came at the Italian GP as the camping field emptied, first of the motorhomes, then the caravans leaving just us tenters, each hurrying to get away in case they got stuck in the mud or were asked to help others out of the mud. To change was the best decision EVER.

JulesM wrote:Good point dbroada, about the microwave height - it is quite high in the Fairford (for lifting out a hot bowl) but this wouldn't put me off.

    and grills too. The British built vans tend to have more cooking facilities than French & Spanish vans. We looked at one where the grill actually opened ABOVE Heather's head. One guy in the van said he could see in - but this was the man complaining that the bed wasn't long enough. So you could either cook or sleep but not both.

JulesM wrote:........Would love to know how you get on with the Fairford Stewpotch - especially the storage aspect - kids are now at the stage of less toys, more devices so at least that cuts down on stuff..............

Hi Jules,

Will let you know - our plan with the van is pick it up on Friday and get to know it over the weekend.

On Monday it's going to get undersealed, a process that will take 3 or 4 days and possibly get a small safe fitted.

Then we'll start getting away in it - we want to alter some of the fittings etc in the van, primarily the 'hanging wardrobe' at the door, but no changes until we are sure.

StewPotch

Hi Jules, welcome. Much of what has been said is valid and having hired you are familiar with motorhomes. Definitly don't buy new, motorhomes, especially Autosleeper, keep their value well if you avoid new.

As for driving it, I'm 5ft and have driven all of ours, all coach built from 5m to 7m. The driving position is the same whether panel van or coach built, and I believe once you become comfortable in the drivers seat you soon adapt to the size of the vehicle. 

Enjoy your search, but take your time. It took us two years to find our first van.  Good luck.

StewPotch wrote:

On Monday it's going to get undersealed, a process that will take 3 or 4 days and possibly get a small safe fitted.

Thanks StewPotch

"Undersealed"???  That's a new one on me.  What does that mean?  I can see we still have a lot to learn.  
We are going to view a used Fairford at the weekend.  Very exciting but bit nervous too.
Would love to hear how your first weekend with the Fairford goes.
Jules

harrysp wrote:
As for driving it, I'm 5ft and have driven all of ours, all coach built from 5m to 7m. The driving position is the same whether panel van or coach built, and I believe once you become comfortable in the drivers seat you soon adapt to the size of the vehicle. 

Thanks harrysp for the reassurance about the driving.  I think I would definitely have to practise reversing & parallel parking.  When we hired last year I couldn't drive it because the insurance was so dear.

JulesM wrote:

StewPotch wrote:

On Monday it's going to get undersealed, a process that will take 3 or 4 days and possibly get a small safe fitted.

Thanks StewPotch

"Undersealed"???  That's a new one on me.  What does that mean?  ........

Yeah, preserves underneath the van. Our thinking is it's new so we'll try to keep it as good as possible - the company that are doing it are called Undersealing Scotland, I tried to post a link but didn't work but if you Google Undersealing Scotland you'll see what they do.



Good luck with your viewing.

Yeah, preserves underneath the van. Our thinking is it's new so we'll try to keep it as good as possible - the company that are doing it are called Undersealing Scotland, I tried to post a link but didn't work but if you Google Undersealing Scotland you'll see what they do.

Good luck with your viewing.

Thanks - I'll look that up.
Did you collect OK?

Hi Guys, I know this question has been asked before but I guess there will be new owners and maybe even new issues which weren't obvious earlier but we are thinking of changing our MH for an AS Fairford and would appreciate any comments good or bad. Our choice is governed by a desire to have a permanently made up rear bed whilst still having somewhere to eat and relax. I suspect the bathroom may come in for criticism and I also notice comments about lack of 'wardrobe' space. All advice will be much appreciated.

Hi Brian,

 

Both the missus and I like the idea of a permanently made up bed, if required, and a separate lounge area so the Fairford suits us from that point of view.

To be honest, we haven’t found anything we hate about the van other than the microwave – it’s positioning is dangerous for someone vertically challenged (like my missus). Anytime we use it, I have to remove whatever’s been cooked.

On the subject of height, I’m 5’ 10” and can sleep ok only because we have removed one of the tables from its storage point in the side of the van and my feet slot in there!

The toilet/shower is fine – we’re just home from doing the NC500 and wild camped a few nights – we both used the shower and managed ok. Other vans have bigger shower areas but everything is a compromise I guess.

One night when we were wild camping, our boiler dumped all the fresh water. I don’t know why this happened but I presume it is an AS and not a Fairford issue – some investigation required.

Early with the van we decided that the ‘wardrobe’ was a joke and have since converted it to a ‘tall’ cupboard with a shelved section – this works for us.

Lighter clothes (shirts, dresses) are hung from the catches at the back doors – again, this works for us.

Heavier clothes like outdoor jackets are hung from a rail (that I added) in the toilet whilst travelling and then hung at the side of the passenger/driver doors when on site.

Overall, we find the storage fantastic BUT there are only the two of us using it.

The things I dislike about the van aren’t peculiar to the Fairford but to Peugeot and AS

1 The gas tank is too small. OK, it was winter in north Scotland and we had the heating on, hot water on, cooking and the fridge! We were away for 6 days and had to refill the gas on day 3

2 The radio powers off after 20 minutes

3 The reversing camera isn’t a rear view camera (although I rewired it to become one)

4 There isn’t a ‘van’ supplied 12V socket in the habitation area – handy for powering our cool box whilst driving

S