Choosing a Motor home...

Don't forget that AS will build any of their Pug based vans on a Fiat chassis to make the Fiat comformatic gearbox available. This is a marmite gearbox and I fall into the love it camp. I think this is what you get on the Autotrail.

Further thoughts,

If you consider this option it is a VERY long lead time. Fiat appear to be in no hurry to supply their auto chassis to either AS or Swift.

Payload for Autotrail Tracker RS @3500kg (upgrade to 3650kg possible) is quoted at 240kg (390kg), with the Fiat Comfortmatic auto a cost option.

Hi
   I do not know the Autotrail tracker but before giving advice,a few questions What size MH are you after,how many berths do you want etc ,what is your budget
regards 
Alan

I think if you want an automatic box there are not many on here would disagree the Mercedes is by far the better choice with their 7 speed box ( which also goes in some of their cars!!)

We have an 08 Devon.  We like it very much and have had no problems at all in our first year of ownership.  It has a very comfortable lounge, a nice kitchen area and good washroom on a relatively short length.  Ours is manual and we tow boats with it a lot.  We consider it a big improvement on our previous Clubman.

The Stanton comes in two weight versions. The 215Kg you quote is for the 3200Kg  version. The 3500Kg version will be have an additional 300Kg of payload available. The 3200Kg version can be uprated by SV-Tech (a paper exercise) to 3500Kg. Mine was uprated by SV-Tech.

Dennis

Auto trail do seem to be very heavy and  in many cases unuseable unless you up grade to 3650 or more.  Even 240kg as stated by Ploughlin isnt really enough unless you travel on your own and dont carry a lot of water.

I dont know why AS plate Nuevo type (such as Stanton) at 3200 at the contruction phase it would cost very little to have them plated at 3500 from the get-go

Mercs might well be the racing dogs  danglies but there is a price penalty of nearly £10 000 - which is a lot of money especially considering that the AS range is already high price


As a total aside I often smile when I see 6 berth motorhomes which are plated at 3500, unless you carry virtually nothing and fill the tyres with helium you are always going to be over weight

We have 2010 Devon Auto, had it for four and half years and we like it very much, nice kitchen, comfortable lounge area and bed, washroom a bit tight but adequate. Same layout as Nuevo but on a Merc with a great automatic. plated at 3500 and sufficiant storage for our use. much prefer storage over cab area to big skylight. This is our fifth A/S but we like the auto.

The original post asks about the Devon and the Stanton for storage; I assume that the Bourton is the Devon equivalent so I would suggest that you look under the offside locker of these vans if you're concerned about storage. I looked at the Bourton because of the auto option but wasn't keen on the fact that there is a 10 litre fresh water tank under the offside bench (the huge Mercedes price differential was also critical!)
I don't know whether the Stanton also has this water tank but it definitely doesn't have a spare wheel.
It depends what your priorities are, but for me, the auto option (though very desirable) did not outweigh the price differential compounded by the internal water tank. (I understand that you can order a new Bourton without the internal water tank but obviously that makes the fresh water supply smaller.)

Many thanks for such helpful replies - we have now sold our Clubman very sorry to see it go but exciting to now be able to consider a newer motor home. Due to our driveway length is an issue so ideally needs to be around 6 - 7 mtrs, we like the transverse bed layout - budget will be in the used market Vs new and we may have to let the automatic option go to give us a wider choice and less expense. 
The Fiat comformatic is an option and wonder if mechanically a Fiat base would have an advantage over Mercedes in repairs / parts costs?

Not sure where you are in Sussex but Rossetts in Crawley are a first rate mercedes commercial agent, otherwise the county seems a little bereft of service centres. Don't know about Fiat/Peugeot.
We have owned both Fiat and Mercedes vans and could see little difference in servicing costs.
As posted above the Fiat comfortmatic auto is marmite, imho not a patch on the seamless mercedes box.
A relative just bought a new van and really wanted an automatic but opted for a manual because of the cost, he now regrets that decision and wishes he had spent the extra pounds. If you really want an Auto then get one, the real cost is how much you will lose in depreciation not the initial cost and autos will always make good money used because of their rarity.

Hi
   We have an auto MB Gloucester a bit longer than you want but the Merc drives really well. I think you will find most AS on the Merc chassis will be auto as people go for that option. With servicing costs I would think not a lot of difference,we get ours done by a local main dealer as I do not trust any of my local commercial repairers. All our local ambulances are on Merc chassis and they are good for 200,000 miles.Have you seen the Bourton for sale on the website,it may suit you,why not visit Marquis at Hailsham as have a test drive
 regards
Alan

So many things to consider, where the layout or model you eventually choose is very much a personal choice. We spent an eternity making sure we ended up with a MH that worked for us. We were pretty determined not to get it wrong, and then need to change again after only a short period of time. £££ The Bourton works very well for us, which is what we chose in the end. As for the Merc base vehicle, yes there is extra cost involved, but that’s something we considered worth it. The Merc is a seamless drive, and I’m really glad we opted for it. Take your time, and do a lot of research, and hopefully you’ll end with an AS that works for you personally.

The Merc auto wins for me every time. It’s smooth and much quieter than the Fiat. Although the initial outlay may be more, we found repairs and servicing to be reasonable, cheaper than the Pug in fact. Obviously that could vary garage to garage.

Going from a Merc to a Pug was our compromise in downsizing to a PVC. If a 6m PVC with a layout we liked appeared on a Merc, we'd change again.

Very grateful for information shared by all - we are now seriously considering a Devon motorhome and wondered if any one could offer advice / experience on: storage space i.e. for bedding, outdoor chairs etc; how comfortable the bed is and finally - spare wheel - we have been use to having one on the Clubman, fortunately never needed it but comfort knowing it is there.

excellent choice!

Hi
   I think that the Devon does not have a spare wheel,quite a lot of the Mercedes AS conversions do not have a spare ,I am lucky my Gloucester has been modified to carry one underneath the chassis.some people have had a towbar fitted and mounted a spare on that.If you are buying a Devon make sure it has been uprated to 3500kg otherwise you may be short on payload
regards
Alan

We had a towbar on our Suffolk and were able to have a bracket fabricated to carry a spare wheel. 

A steel wheel was found on eBay and was then fitted with a budget tyre locally (it was good enough for a spare). Steel wheel bolts were purchased from the Merc garage and a cheapo wheel cover from Amazon. A bike cable lock then made it thief proof-ish. I think the total cost was around £200.

Yet another question! Would it be of any concern if a 2011 motorhome (Devon) has had 4 previous owners - 22800 mileage - I know the question is a bit like how long is a piece of string... and the ideal of one or two owners is a wish list item.

All sorts of reasons for 4 owners in 7 years. Certainly not unusual. Perhaps layout wasn't right for them, hence the need for research just as you are doing. Motorhomers tend to be in the senior age groups so illness could be a factor or maybe motorhoming was simply not for them.

As with Paul agree that wouldn't worry me at all, the fact it has done 23K miles seems about right for the year, if it has service history I would feel confident. Re spare wheel there will almost certainly be a pump and repair gel in the pocket in the passenger door. Marquis told me we did not have a spare wheel but when I looked underneath.... there it was.

As a Devon is Sprinter base, the pump and gloop is in the side of the Driver's seat base.

Of course it is Peter, that is where ours is too, another senior moment, must be time to hibernate again.

Many thanks to everyone who responded to my query which has been very helpful - will now take time to research and hopefully be ready to start new travels in the Spring