2019 Model changes - for the better?

Particularly interested in rear kitchen models.
Sometimes it seems that improvements with new models don't always deliver the best experience. 
If you have one of the latest models we'd appreciate hearing any thoughts you can share about the good, the bad and anything that's just different!

Many thanks

No replies yet.
I didn't reply yesterday as I don't know the 'before' situation, we have had had continental vans for 20 years.
If there is anything specific you want to ask about I can comment on the Nuevo 2019.

Only as an interested onlooker...

We looked at the 2019 Broadway EKs the other day. We have a 2014 EKLPTB. One thing I liked was the new stove top which had non- metallic pan supports. Looked nicer but, importantly, might well not rattle.

We did not like the peculiar LED spotlight design which look like something from a scifi film. Having them on a sliding rail is a good thing however. I can imagine the touch sensitive roof lights getting quite grubby quite quickly however.

One really dim piece of design was as a consequence of the new Metalarte door ( Hurrah ! The Hartal version is no more). The new door has a bigger internal handle. The cutlery drawer can only be pulled out a matter of inches before it fouls the door handle. I could not get far enough into the drawer to remove any cutlery that would be there. The dealer says that they have been told to suggest that a work- around is to open the hab door before you use the cutlery drawer ! Aaahhh !

I am not keen on the dark wood cabinets and floor laminate but the plain upholstery is a huge improvement on the ghastly patterned stuff we have.

Quilter wrote:I can imagine the touch sensitive roof lights getting quite grubby

A year on and mine are still clean.

The bigger issue though, is being 6' 2" I keep turning them on and off with my head as I walk past them

Another suggestion regarding the drawer opening is to use another drawer for the cutlery.

G'day LDPD,

We've recently rushed out and bought a new Broadway, having enjoyed a Nuevo previously. We've got some silly and irritating faults to get sorted, but the bus itself is a honey. Ours is the sort of layout you're interested in, being an EKTBLP. Improvements we've noticed over the 2016 iteration is a better pan support on the hob. We also like the new Russell-Hobbs microwave over the Daewoo fitted previously. The new Sargent electrical control panel is easier to use and gives more information. The TV aerial is now a fixed Maxview unit, no through roof pole in the wardrobe. It makes a good signal delivery in good signal areas, but we visit Wales a fair bit, and the people of Wales enjoy patchy TV coverage at best; we're thinking about going satellite to improve matters. The toilet is new, with the flush water now being drawn from the tank as opposed to a dedicated flush tank. The new cassette has little wheels on it for trundling off to the disposal point. Other bathroom fittings, including the swing wall are the same as 2016. In the lounge there is the familiar pole and socket arrangement for the smaller of the two tables provided and the freestanding table for al fresco dining. There's the modern Auto-Sleepers good stuff such as the excellent rear view camera, the underfloor LPG tank and roof mounted solar panel and plenty of daylight from the generous rooflight provision.

Outside, the new rear light clusters are tidier, and the front doors now get white painted door handles. The side panel graphics aren't too lurid. As before, you'll need a pair of front mud flaps to keep the bodywork just aft of the front wheels in less besmirched order, and bigger mudflaps to hang on the existing rear flaps to keep the habitation door step in a more usable state of cleanliness. The new exhaust pipe trim points down at a perilously steep angle; even at a very modest speed it will just touch the ground on some of the more 'authoritative' speed humps in 20mph zones. 

Hope this helps, if there's anything more specific needed squawk away, I'll help if possible.

Paulmold wrote:Another suggestion regarding the drawer opening is to use another drawer for the cutlery.

I don’t have enough spare space in the kitchen area to be able to designate one drawer as “ only openable when the outside door can be opened”.  What happens when its blowing a gale and it is dangerous to open the door single- handed ? Raining heavily ? Dodgy aire at night ?  

I am amazed that this got past AS however.

Quilter wrote:
One really dim piece of design was as a consequence of the new Metalarte door ( Hurrah ! The Hartal version is no more). The new door has a bigger internal handle. The cutlery drawer can only be pulled out a matter of inches before it fouls the door handle. I could not get far enough into the drawer to remove any cutlery that would be there. The dealer says that they have been told to suggest that a work- around is to open the hab door before you use the cutlery drawer ! Aaahhh

Practical on a cold wet night!

Sorry, didn’t spot you’d said same thing Quilter.

Quilter wrote:
One really dim piece of design was as a consequence of the new Metalarte door ( Hurrah ! The Hartal version is no more). The new door has a bigger internal handle. The cutlery drawer can only be pulled out a matter of inches before it fouls the door handle. I could not get far enough into the drawer to remove any cutlery that would be there. The dealer says that they have been told to suggest that a work- around is to open the hab door before you use the cutlery drawer ! Aaahhh !

Yes that one was not 'designed' obviously. I bet it wasn't noticed until it was too late, I can imagine the apprentice noticing it on a completed van and the whole design team being called in to say 'Oh dear'.

Our work around that one is to change the cutlery drawer to under the sink and to store rarely needed things in the  outer drawer, we don't often have to remain sealed in when using the kitchen, the hab door only needs the catch releasing to fully open the drawer. There may have been an attempt made to rectify it, all drawers open at a slight angle and sit at an angle when closed but its not enough.

It is laughable but I do like the Metalarte door.

It is laughable but I do like the Metalarte door.

How does the Metalarte door stay open ? The Hartal door strut, which is supposed to keep it open, is useless and always threatening to detach and embed itself in the fabric of the door.

Worth changing vans to get away from that !

Quilter wrote:

It is laughable but I do like the Metalarte door.

How does the Metalarte door stay open ? The Hartal door strut, which is supposed to keep it open, is useless and always threatening to detach and embed itself in the fabric of the door.

Worth changing vans to get away from that !

It has a gas strut, not tested in a gale as yet. I was very pleased to get away from the usual poor hold door clips etc. Our Chausson one was £27 for a replacement (in the UK) and lasted less than a year.

Quilter wrote:

Paulmold wrote:Another suggestion regarding the drawer opening is to use another drawer for the cutlery.

I don’t have enough spare space in the kitchen area to be able to designate one drawer as “ only openable when the outside door can be opened”.  What happens when its blowing a gale and it is dangerous to open the door single- handed ? Raining heavily ? Dodgy aire at night ?  

I am amazed that this got past AS however.

But by moving cutlery to other drawer, that drawer doesn't hit the inside of the door. As mentioned by Marconi, use the offending drawer for rarely used items.

Paulmold wrote:

Quilter wrote:

Paulmold wrote:Another suggestion regarding the drawer opening is to use another drawer for the cutlery.

I don’t have enough spare space in the kitchen area to be able to designate one drawer as “ only openable when the outside door can be opened”.  What happens when its blowing a gale and it is dangerous to open the door single- handed ? Raining heavily ? Dodgy aire at night ?  

I am amazed that this got past AS however.

But by moving cutlery to other drawer, that drawer doesn't hit the inside of the door. As mentioned by Marconi, use the offending drawer for rarely used items.

For the Mercedes models marketed as "The ultimate luxury motorhome" at a price to match I'd expect the drawer to be usable for anything without having to open the habitation door.  How many cars do you know where you have to open the passenger door to use the glove box?  Seems like they decided to change the doors without looking at the implications.

Same issue with the bike rack mounting position. Loaded bikes may obscure the rear lights requiring use of a lighting board and associated electrics to make the set up legal.

Whilst opening the van up today for an airing I took a further look at the cutlery drawer situation. Actually far from rarely used items we have some of the most important things in there, I see the bottle opener and corkscrew! The picture shows the drawer as far open as it will go with the hab door fully closed. All the items in the front of the drawer are easily accessible, the chefs tea towel store behind can also be removed through the gap.

The only time chef wil need to fully open the drawer is to tidy it after I have been rummaging in there. Whilst its a very British sort of design error, (better update the CAD from the Sinclair ZX81 version in use at AS), we have accepted it without frustration.

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marconi wrote:Whilst opening the van up today for an airing I took a further look at the cutlery drawer situation. 

Interesting; I suspect a mod has already been made. The photo shows the drawer opening at an angle, away from the door and therefore able to be opened quite far before fouling. The one I saw, on a new Broadway EKLPTB, had not been modified, opened straight out and hit the door handle before it had got more than a few inches. I certainly could not have got a knife out.

That's pathetic. It deserves all the scorn that I hope will be heaped on AS.

Cymro

Cymro wrote:That's pathetic. It deserves all the scorn that I hope will be heaped on AS.

Cymro

Not strictly OT but, we covet a van with garage and, since there are no AS or even UK made vans with one, we have been looking at a lots of continental vans of many different makes, recently.

We have been quite shocked by the poor standard of finish and quality of materials used in many of them from a variety of manufacturers: peeling trim, cheap wood with scuffed veneer, lightweight bench seat cushions which were poorly upholstered and so on.  


After one recent trawl we finished up with a look round a 2019 model of our current Broadway: high standard finish using good quality materials, neatly upholstered cushions, lovely spacious open feeling, many really thoughtful touches ( over- fridge pullout worktop, bathroom drying rack etc) and, to cut a long story short, we have stopped looking for a garage version van and will live with having our outdoor chairs travelling behind the cab seats and so on.

Yes, the drawer is a real own goal but AS are still a very good firm by comparison with many continental vans we have seen.

It's been said on the Forum many times: a car maufacturer wouldn't surive commercially if its products were delivered with the basic, inherent design faults, or with the poor finish and materials which all too often are encountered by motorhome buyers. Just think BMC etc.

I just wonder:

(a) whether in due course the market will be consolidated by the survival of the fittest manufacturers?

(b) will the ever-increasing price increases of pitches, and the hassle of having to book far in advance, and the popularity of motorhomes combine to curb the market, such that (as was noted a few years ago on the Forum) it's cheaper to stay in nice hotels than to buy / maintain / pay site fees for a motorhome.

Certainly there's a bubble of demand at the moment for motorhomes (whether for staycations or for overseas use). Will it burst?

Cymro

PS sorry for topic-drift!

When it comes down to it, I would rather have the Metalarte door and a partially resrticted access drawer than one less drawer in the new model I suppose.

The following is an abstract from an email to an Auto-Sleepers Dealer 2 years ago explaining why I had decided not to buy a new Nuevo at that time. It would be interesting to know if anything has changed...

<<Autosleeper’s are apparently reluctant to reveal unladen axle loading, despite having asked the question directly and via dealers, I still don’t have this information and won’t buy one before I do.

It doesn’t seem possible to increase gas tank storage without removing the undercill locker. Access to shut off valves for inspection at Eurotunnel appears difficult. 

For a supposedly ‘high-end’ product despite the nice joinery there are a lot of poor design solutions. I still don’t have an answer as to whether the water tank is insulated. I am not convinced by the wintering solutions, long unheated pipes may freeze, one waste pipe looped under a chassis member will  certainly trap water and freeze. The clutter of pipes and valves etc under the right hand bench is a waste of space. No specific location to mount a TV. That overcab window will roast in summer and freeze in winter...etc.

As an Architect I remain of the view that the combination of sandwich construction containing timber with mastic butt joints is a recipe for future problems. The number of reports of leaking Auto-Sleepers on the Autosleeper’s forum, combined with a shorter shell warranty period than competitors does little to convince me otherwise.

Having recently paid for a set of all-season tyres we felt may as well benefit from them since we cannot buy a new van with the tyres we want.

We are aware that Euro 6d engines will come available in two years, and that some European cities may make this the minimum standard in the future for their proposed Environmental zones.

Consequently we have decided to hold off changing for the next two years to see what happens, both in terms of engine development, EZs, and in the hope of design improvements. As we have ironed out most of the design bugs in our present van we can happily afford to wait.

Meanwhile, we thank you for your efforts to answer our questions, and since there are relatively few manufacturers producing this length of van, we may well be back again in a couple of years. 

I would be quite happy for you to pass on my comments to Autosleeper...from my discussions on motorhome forums it appears I am far from alone in holding these views.>>.

as I wanted to run our new (in 2017) van at 3.5t, and I knew the weight of the extras going on it and of the 'stuff' going in it, it was imperative to know the actual overall weight of the vehicle I was buying (from stock) and the two axle weights.
it was quite simple....I spoke to the dealer, told him what I wanted and how important to the sale it was and, guess what, he weighed it for me.....well, I'm blowed...

I spoke to 3 dealers, asking for the same info. Also said I would not buy unless it was provided. None of them provided an answer, none offered to put it on a weighbridge. Emailed Auto-Sleepers, no answer. Tell me, who was your dealer, I’ll put them on the shortlist for next time? Was yours by any chance a Nuevo?

barge1914 wrote:I spoke to 3 dealers, asking for the same info. Also said I would not buy unless it was provided. None of them provided an answer, none offered to put it on a weighbridge. Emailed Auto-Sleepers, no answer. Tell me, who was your dealer, I’ll put them on the shortlist for next time? Was yours by any chance a Nuevo?

Try Go European on the A5 at Gailey island its comes under Stafford when you look at web site, they are auto sleeper and auto trail stockist may be worth alook happy browsing.