The budget Adria Sun Living brand, worth looking at? (1 Viewer)

[Mark12]

Hi Adria owners,
I'm new to M.F and only just noticed this Adria specific forum.
Below is a cut and paste of my question I posted on the Motorhome Chat forum. I'm wondering if you die-hard Adria enthusiasts have an opinion on these vans, cus nobody else seems to.

Adria's budget range of vans marketed under the 'SunLliving' brand name.
Are they ok on quality?
Are there any owners out there? comments please

Looking for a new 6 metre van.
On my shortlist is the Adria twin SP, but then I saw the budget version of it, the Flexo SP by Sunliving.
Cheaper with less bling, no oven or grill (fine with me) means that maybe I can get a newer vehicle with less miles for my money, tempting.

Unlike the original Adria Twin it has the habitation door on the continental side, excellent for me.
I'm looking to buy second hand, hoping the original owner specified stuff like air con (and auto gearbox if I'm lucky) and that any teething problems are ironed out. Always an optimist lol.

So far, I've seen a couple on ebay but several hundred miles of travelling is involved so I thought I'd try and find out some info on them first.

A dealer I spoke to said these vehicles are as good as the more expensive Adria Twin, Made in the same factory bla bla.
Well I suppose he would say it was the same build quality wouldn't he? (call me a cynic but...)
Has it got the winter insulation I need?
Have they cut so many corners on price that it's not worth it?
I understand it has the same Truma combi heating?
I intend to use it for long trips away and in winter too.
Any experience out there?
Any Flexo owners that could help?
Thanks, Mark.

 

[lorger]

We had a look at these when deciding to change to a PVC, even though we had an Adria Matrix at the time and more than happy with the build quality we found the Sunliving to be very basic and cheap looking. If this is how it looks on the surface what cheaper products have they used underneath.

Purely just my opinion

 

[tonka]

Dont have one but my view..

The van is the van ie a Fiat, so thats the same unless the spec is higher.
The main "bits" like Fridge, heater, toilet are usually all sorted from same suppliers, again you might get the higher spec one's in the more expensive van. In fact I just looked at an Adria and Sun van on a dealers website and the toilet / sink area was all the same.
The wall boards that make up the Furniture in the van is most likely all the same, maybe more choice of colours in the dearer van.
It may be areas like quality of the foam cushions, seat trim, number of roof windows where the main difference are found plus overall decor.

You pays your money and takes your choice..

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[Mark12]

We had a look at these when deciding to change to a PVC, even though we had an Adria Matrix at the time and more than happy with the build quality we found the Sunliving to be very basic and cheap looking. If this is how it looks on the surface what cheaper products have they used underneath.

Purely just my opinion

Thanks for that lorger, yes it would make you wonder wouldn't it.

 

[Mark12]

Would be interesting to hear from a Flexo owner on this
but I maybe if a Flexo owner wasn't happy with the build quality of the van, then he wouldn't want to say too much about it in case he wants to sell it?
Just a thought.

 

[lorger]

Mark are you thinking of buying new, if so if you would be interested in going down the route of buying in Germany like myself you will get a high spec RHD Globecar for around the same money.

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[Lenny HB]

If anything like Hymer's Carado range they deliberately make them look cheap to justify the price difference, production costs are probably not much less. If we couldn't afford a Hymer we would be quite happy with a Carado I suspect it will be similar with a Sun Living. I have noticed with cheaper vans they often skimp on the quality of the mattresses but they are easy enough to change.

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[gus-lopez]

They must be reasonably durable & hold together as many dealers here use them as rentals.

 

[Mark12]

Mark are you thinking of buying new, if so if you would be interested in going down the route of buying in Germany like myself you will get a high spec RHD Globecar for around the same money.

No can't afford new, but I do look at the mobil-de site and yes there are better spec vans for the money.

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[Mark12]

They must be reasonably durable & hold together as many dealers here use them as rentals.

An interesting point

 

[mta]

I have a Carado and must agree with Lenny and Tonka. Am v. happy with the van but the cushions are not as good as in a more expensive vehicle and it does look a little outdated but other than that, I can't fault what we have and it was very good value for money. We bought new in 2014 and so have had it long enough for faults to become obvious (none so far). Initially, we were looking for a PVC but after seeing the Carado, we thought that it was better value for the same money.

 

[Mark12]

If anything like Hymer's Carado range they deliberately make them look cheap to justify the price difference, production costs are probably not much less. If we couldn't afford a Hymer we would be quite happy with a Carado I suspect it will be similar with a Sun Living. I have noticed with cheaper vans they often skimp on the quality of the mattresses but they are easy enough to change.

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Yes I've wondered about production costs Lenny, I can't imagine they save all that much on production costs, so the question remains really, what exactly do they skimp on?
As you say I could easily replace a mattress but I wonder what the upholstery quality is like.
Be good to hear from a Flexo owner.

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[denisejoe]

Yes I've wondered about production costs Lenny, I can't imagine they save all that much on production costs, so the question remains really, what exactly do they skimp on?
As you say I could easily replace a mattress but I wonder what the upholstery quality is like.
Be good to hear from a Flexo owner.

If the upholstery quality isn't particularly good you could always get it recovered for about £2Kish (check out Regal Furnishing or other refurbishers). They can also refoam at a cost. May make it worthwhile going for the cheaper van taking those costs into consideration. Also means you can choose what colourings/quality you want.

Denise

 

[Lenny HB]

Yes I've wondered about production costs Lenny, I can't imagine they save all that much on production costs, so the question remains really, what exactly do they skimp on?
As you say I could easily replace a mattress but I wonder what the upholstery quality is like.
Be good to hear from a Flexo owner.

All the little things that add up in the lower cost models cupboard fronts tend to be flat probably saves more labour than materials & labour is probably the most expensive item. Carado coachbuilts are on the Fiat chassis cab rather than the Camping Car chassis which meanes it rolls a bit more the rear track is narrower and the conversion body sits higher, if you want decent ground clearance the chassis cab is better as things like gas bottle lockers are higher.
Sorry I can't help with the sun living.

 

[Mark12]

If the upholstery quality isn't particularly good you could always get it recovered for about £2Kish (check out Regal Furnishing or other refurbishers). They can also refoam at a cost. May make it worthwhile going for the cheaper van taking those costs into consideration. Also means you can choose what colourings/quality you want.

Denise

That's an interesting thought Denise, it wouldn't wear out Straight away, leaving plenty of time to save up some pennies and have an ab fab quality upholstery refit in my colour of choice! Cheers.

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[Mark12]

All the little things that add up in the lower cost models cupboard fronts tend to be flat probably saves more labour than materials & labour is probably the most expensive item. Carado coachbuilts are on the Fiat chassis cab rather than the Camping Car chassis which meanes it rolls a bit more the rear track is narrower and the conversion body sits higher, if you want decent ground clearance the chassis cab is better as things like gas bottle lockers are higher.
Sorry I can't help with the sun living.

That's interesting, I suppose on a PVC those chassis issues don't apply?
I have noticed that in the UK all the Flexos are on 3.300kg base vehicles for the 6.0metre vans,
whereas when you look at the ones on the continent (on the Mobil-de site) they are offered as 3500kg,
often with metalic paint jobs and other goodies.

All very tempting to somebody like myself on a tight budget wanting the newest base vehicle for the money.

 

[Lenny HB]

As you say doesn't apply to a PVC.
On a 3300kg chassis you really need to check axle loading and payloads carefully you will probably find it is not very practical.
Most of the Globecars sold in Germany are on the Maxi chassis plated at 3500kg but a paper exercise to uprate to 4000-4500kg.
Unless you get a very good deal nearly always better off buying in Belgium or Germany & with LHD you can sell or trade anywhere in Europe. Just traded my last Hymer got more for it than I could have sold it for privately in the UK.

 

[Langtoftlad]

Like most consumer conglomerates - they have budget, middle of the road & premium brands. Generally all made at the same production facility with minor cosmetic & branding alterations.
Skoda, SEAT & Volkswagen spring to mind.
or Bosch, Neff, Siemens or AEG - all the same company.

The power of advertising is strong, and consumers are very brand & badge conscious.

Companies charge what the market will bear - not a cost + profit price.

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[Mark12]

As you say doesn't apply to a PVC.
On a 3300kg chassis you really need to check axle loading and payloads carefully you will probably find it is not very practical.
Most of the Globecars sold in Germany are on the Maxi chassis plated at 3500kg but a paper exercise to uprate to 4000-4500kg.
Unless you get a very good deal nearly always better off buying in Belgium or Germany & with LHD you can sell or trade anywhere in Europe. Just traded my last Hymer got more for it than I could have sold it for privately in the UK.

Hi Lenny, Can you recommend any good sites I should be looking at (apart from Mobi.de which I'm familiar with) for buying continental?

 

[Lenny HB]

Mobile.de is realy the only one for Germany and nearly every dealer list on there.
A German dealer worth looking at is Duemo a few Funsters have bought from them, they will get a van for you even if it's not one of their franchises, they will change headlamps for you and I beleive they can offer fully comp export insurance which saves the risk of driving it back on 3rd party insurance.
Belgium dealers are very competitive and most will drive the van to the port for you. We have bought 3 Hymers from in Belgium but they only deal in Hymer & Carado. Well worth contacting some

 

[berni109]

Hi, was interested in some of the comments here so had a look at a
Sun Living Flexo SP Modell 2017 Euro 6 mit AHK
on the german site mentioned. It looks exactly like my 2007 adria twin inside with the exception of the useless grill they used to put in them and the shape of the sink in the kitchen.
I would just say that unless u are small then the shower is a waste of time u would need to be a contortionist to use it.
Hth

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[Lenny HB]

Ok what am I missing I thought they were a budget range but looking on Mobile.de they are only one or two thousand Euro cheaper than an Adria Twin.

 

[Mark12]

Mobile.de is realy the only one for Germany and nearly every dealer list on there.
A German dealer worth looking at is Duemo a few Funsters have bought from them, they will get a van for you even if it's not one of their franchises, they will change headlamps for you and I beleive they can offer fully comp export insurance which saves the risk of driving it back on 3rd party insurance.
Belgium dealers are very competitive and most will drive the van to the port for you. We have bought 3 Hymers from in Belgium but they only deal in Hymer & Carado. Well worth contacting some

Thanks Lenny, I'll look at those.
I do like Hymers, the quality looks fab.

 

[Lot lover]

Companies charge what the market will bear - not a cost + profit price.

And many people equate high price with high quality.

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[Langtoftlad]

Ok what am I missing I thought they were a budget range but looking on Mobile.de they are only one or two thousand Euro cheaper than an Adria Twin.

Don't know about MH's but quite often the brand perception is totally different between Europe & the UK - so what can be perceived as budget here is often 'standard' in the EU.

 

[Wombles]

Ok what am I missing I thought they were a budget range but looking on Mobile.de they are only one or two thousand Euro cheaper than an Adria Twin.

We noticed that too for Germany but can be £10k difference between Adria & Sun Living in UK!

 

[Langtoftlad]

And many people equate high price with high quality.

Indeed:
How often do we hear/read... "you get what you pay for" ?
Nope - you get what the adverts seduced you into believing .

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[Wombles]

Hi, was interested in some of the comments here so had a look at a
Sun Living Flexo SP Modell 2017 Euro 6 mit AHK
on the german site mentioned. It looks exactly like my 2007 adria twin inside with the exception of the useless grill they used to put in them and the shape of the sink in the kitchen.
I would just say that unless u are small then the shower is a waste of time u would need to be a contortionist to use it.
Hth

Understand that both the Adria Twin & the Sun Living Flexo will be revamped for 2018 with bathroom redesign for the Twin & Flexo being restyled. Haven't managed to find out anymore yet but if anyone has any info then please post here.

 

[Lenny HB]

Don't know about MH's but quite often the brand perception is totally different between Europe & the UK - so what can be perceived as budget here is often 'standard' in the EU.

Classic how Hymers were hyped up in the UK they are only a mid range van at mid range prices, unless you pay UK prices.

We noticed that too for Germany but can be £10k difference between Adria & Sun Living in UK!

Not much point in buying the Sun Living then, might as well buy a better known brand.

 

[Mark12]

How about this for a comparison:
For sale on ebay now: Flexo SP, 2015, 19,500 miles. (Motorhome Depot) £35,999
For sale on Mobile-de: Flexo SP, 2017, NEW. (Whonmobile Burger) £33,000

And the German van is metalic paint, air/con and on a 3500kg chassis.

Like Lenny says, worth being wary about uk prices.

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