Advice please on Autotrail Apache 634U (1 Viewer)

yorkist

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I´d love some advice if anyone can offer it. We´re looking at our first purchase and the Autotrail 634U ticks the "must have" boxes like enclosed shower, kitchen work-surface, U lounge etc. I have found a second hand one in our 25-30k range. Apart from the obvious HPI and mechanical check, I'd like to know whether Autotrails (specifically 634s) are re-nowned for any particular problems. This one has low mileage of 12k for a 5-6 year old van, and the problem with all motorhomes on the web is that they all look so clean nothing detrimental is obvious at first glance. And living in Spain I want to advance the discussions a fair bit before I actually fly over. The wife is minded to visit the NEC first and sit in a fair few of these things before committing. I know in theory she is right but we have done so much bleeding research we know now what things we need and what we can´t afford so what´s the point? Views?:thumb:
 

Vlad The Impaler

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Buy it and live the dream!:thumb:
All you'll get on here is someone's opinion,I've got an Autotrail and it's great,layout is the main thing and if you find one your happy with go for it.
If you want to have days out in the depths of winter or go skiing in the alps I'd go for a Winterised van otherwise go for it you could do far worse!






Vlad
 
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sean n maggie

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We have the autotrail apache on a 08 plate,,,love it,,,we dont put the double bed out, we use as 2 single beds,,,great for us , and still have loads of space,,,ideal as i am dissabled,,,best £££££ ever spent,,,:thumb:

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yorkist

yorkist

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for Vlad the Impaler

Buy it and live the dream!:thumb:
All you'll get on here is someone's opinion,I've got an Autotrail and it's great,layout is the main thing and if you find one your happy with go for it.
If you want to have days out in the depths of winter or go skiing in the alps I'd go for a Winterised van otherwise go for it you could do far worse!


can you expand on how the 634 is inadequate as a "winterised" van? I had never thought of that, just assumed that to a large extent all vans are similarly insulated? is that not true or are you just saying that in extreme weather there are better vans around? cheers
 
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tonka

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Where is the van ?? Dealer / private..
If it's close to a Funster and we were bored or nosey enough someone may pop by and have a look, you never know...

Popular, well liked vans..
You could always arrange for a mobile engineer to go give it a check over for you £100-£120 ish and negotiate that off the price subject to all being good.. No matter how good it looks you need a damp test, Autotrails have had their issues with water ingress so best to make sure..

Jumping on Vlads post... The Autotrails are not classed as "winterised" the water tanks are slung under the bottom of the van and have some insulation around them.. Other winterised vans have tanks between a double floor, some are even heated.... It depends on where you are going and how long you want to be in sub zero temperatures....
 
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Important point, are you going to continue to live in Spain, if so buy a Spanish registered van to avoid UK MOT's and servicing problems.

Peter
Another issue if you do intend to stay in Spain you will never get the ITV to enable you to re-register in Spain because the habitation door is on the wrong side, and i am sure you know how tight the Guardia are getting over UK registrations; I live part time in Spain so do know what can happen.
So as John says, if you are staying in Spain, buy Spanish

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yorkist

yorkist

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I've seen Mr Gaz's van, more extras than you could shake a stick at and in immaculate condition, a lovely van :thumb:

I am sure, except we cannot stretch the budget at this time, he has PM´d me and I've replied, won´t ask what the extras are cos the wife might start liking them!
 
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yorkist

yorkist

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Another issue if you do intend to stay in Spain you will never get the ITV to enable you to re-register in Spain because the habitation door is on the wrong side, and i am sure you know how tight the Guardia are getting over UK registrations; I live part time in Spain so do know what can happen.
So as John says, if you are staying in Spain, buy Spanish

Thanks to all for comments, but Fozzie, if I may call you that, I have thought about this but after 10 years I am scarred by Spanish bureaucracy and had decided it was best to sever all permanent links, inc. closing bank accounts etc when we do leave in 2 years. That way the government and companies cannot just take money out of your account without notice regardless of whether you can prove you owe it or not. That said we do intend to spend 6 months a year here and travel the rest of the year, UK partly so we can start seeing more of the parents etc! I figured therefore it was better to have a UK registered van and use it as a tourist over here and go "off radar" if that is possible in this age. UK vans seem cheaper and there is much more choice too....unless you can tell me otherwise - please do. The thought of SUMA bills linked to an account etc just scare me based on our multiple experiences. And I speak Spanish! I know the MOT costs more, I believe that the UK road tax is more expensive than the car tax here as well, but it was just for peace of mind. I have sold out house and will "never" buy here again but would rent winter months. So despite the door being on the wrong side how does all that sound? All advice greatly appreciated. Tony.
 
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I am sure, except we cannot stretch the budget at this time, he has PM´d me and I've replied, won´t ask what the extras are cos the wife might start liking them!

She will, especially the jacuzzi :Cool:

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Thanks to all for comments, but Fozzie, if I may call you that, I have thought about this but after 10 years I am scarred by Spanish bureaucracy and had decided it was best to sever all permanent links, inc. closing bank accounts etc when we do leave in 2 years. That way the government and companies cannot just take money out of your account without notice regardless of whether you can prove you owe it or not. That said we do intend to spend 6 months a year here and travel the rest of the year, UK partly so we can start seeing more of the parents etc! I figured therefore it was better to have a UK registered van and use it as a tourist over here and go "off radar" if that is possible in this age. UK vans seem cheaper and there is much more choice too....unless you can tell me otherwise - please do. The thought of SUMA bills linked to an account etc just scare me based on our multiple experiences. And I speak Spanish! I know the MOT costs more, I believe that the UK road tax is more expensive than the car tax here as well, but it was just for peace of mind. I have sold out house and will "never" buy here again but would rent winter months. So despite the door being on the wrong side how does all that sound? All advice greatly appreciated. Tony.

I totally totally agree with you re : Spanish bureaucracy. I too had a house In La Nucia and even the bank manager at The Cam Bank couldn't be trusted ( won't say which branch but wasn't in La Nucia. This is one of the reasons I no longer have a bank account, no house and live for the winter months on Villamar. It felt like giving up a yacht for a rowing boat. We now call it our life boat. We have an English registered Auto Trail Mohican and love it, we use it here in Uk and will be driving it over in september to use in The winter months in Spain. Hope you find what you want Tony.
Ron
 
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yorkist

yorkist

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I totally totally agree with you re : Spanish bureaucracy. I too had a house In La Nucia and even the bank manager at The Cam Bank couldn't be trusted ( won't say which branch but wasn't in La Nucia. This is one of the reasons I no longer have a bank account, no house and live for the winter months on Villamar. It felt like giving up a yacht for a rowing boat. We now call it our life boat. We have an English registered Auto Trail Mohican and love it, we use it here in Uk and will be driving it over in september to use in The winter months in Spain. Hope you find what you want Tony.
Ron

Heck we´re next door almost in Fonts Algar. Yep, Spain is a great place to spend your time but even after 10 years the laws, fines and paperwork are a nightmare. So corrupt but if you can avoid the hassle you´re laughing.
 
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I totally totally agree with you re : Spanish bureaucracy. I too had a house In La Nucia and even the bank manager at The Cam Bank couldn't be trusted ( won't say which branch but wasn't in La Nucia. This is one of the reasons I no longer have a bank account, no house and live for the winter months on Villamar. It felt like giving up a yacht for a rowing boat. We now call it our life boat. We have an English registered Auto Trail Mohican and love it, we use it here in Uk and will be driving it over in september to use in The winter months in Spain. Hope you find what you want Tony.
Ron
Totally agree ! I could write a book about corruption in Spain !
 
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plumbomb

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Hi Yorkist, we bought our first MH new last year it is a Apache 634. We looked at loads of different models & layouts, a fantastic MotorHome wished we bought one years ago. We caravaned for 20 years but this is much better, thing is you can look around till the cows come home. You know the layout you want and there's not that many MH without a fixed bed. Good luck

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Wildman

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some Autotrails on an Alco chassis had an inbuilt problem in that the rear axle grease points were not accessible (they were built over) resulting in expencive premature axle failure. Dave Newell could maybe comment on that particular model.
 
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Minxy

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Is it one of these?

2007 £30,995

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One thing to be aware of is the 'juddergate' fiasco which I believe wasn't sorted until around 2010 onwards, so whether these vehicles have the judder or not, is something you will have to check out carefully.
 
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yorkist

yorkist

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Is it one of these?

2007 £30,995

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One thing to be aware of is the 'juddergate' fiasco which I believe wasn't sorted until around 2010 onwards, so whether these vehicles have the judder or not, is something you will have to check out carefully.

Yes it is, the 2009, and he was prepared to come down a bit. A good price after all that, although we do have some legal issues here in Spain which messes it up. But short of driving it to an Autotrail centre how do I find a good engineer who will know about "juddergate"??
 
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Hellboy

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I originally ordered a 2009 model but then slipped the delivery back 6 months to ensure I got a 2010 model with the Fiat engine and gearbox modifications to eliminate the reverse judder problems suffered by many Pre-2010
Also the wife liked the interior better than the 2009 model so that was decision made ::bigsmile:
 

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yorkist

yorkist

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I originally ordered a 2009 model but then slipped the delivery back 6 months to ensure I got a 2010 model with the Fiat engine and gearbox modifications to eliminate the reverse judder problems suffered by many Pre-2010
Also the wife liked the interior better than the 2009 model so that was decision made ::bigsmile:

Mr Gaz, could you click on this and see if you think it is the same model essentially. It has a Fiat/Ducato chassis and therefore presumably engine? I have emailed a engineer to check it out. Would he know about the reverse-judder issues? Heck.
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Hellboy

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Yes ...essentially the same model...ask the question of the seller
If it suffers it should be noticeable to any good engineer
If its been fixed the Fiat documentation should be available

PM sent...
 
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Minxy

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The juddergate saga is nothing to do with Autotrial, it is a Fiat/Peugoet/Citroen fiasco, but driving it should tell you if it suffers - you need to try reversing it up an incline (1:4) and see if it 'judders' whilst reversing. The simplest thing though is to simply to ask the chap if he's got any problems with it juddering (in writing :thumb: ) - it may be one of the ones which weren't affected as it was very much a 'hit and miss' affair as to whether a particular van suffered or not, no real logic to it at all and the vast majority did not have an issue.

It would be worth arranging for it to be given a good once-over by a garage local to the chap (to avoid him having the hassle of going a long way) to see what the state of repair etc is and what might need doing in the short term (like the tyres!), and also to make sure that things like the brakes are working properly as they can 'stick' if the MH hasn't been used much so could be an added expense.

The habitation side ideally needs to be checked out by an engineer/technician who does that sort of thing, there are mobile ones around so it wouldn't necessarily mean that the seller would have to take it anywhere and the engineer could simply report direct back to you. One thing I would insist on though is that whilst you are 'investigating' it he doesn't sell it to anyone else!
 
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yorkist

yorkist

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The juddergate saga is nothing to do with Autotrial, it is a Fiat/Peugoet/Citroen fiasco, but driving it should tell you if it suffers - you need to try reversing it up an incline (1:4) and see if it 'judders' whilst reversing. The simplest thing though is to simply to ask the chap if he's got any problems with it juddering (in writing :thumb: ) - it may be one of the ones which weren't affected as it was very much a 'hit and miss' affair as to whether a particular van suffered or not, no real logic to it at all and the vast majority did not have an issue.

It would be worth arranging for it to be given a good once-over by a garage local to the chap (to avoid him having the hassle of going a long way) to see what the state of repair etc is and what might need doing in the short term (like the tyres!), and also to make sure that things like the brakes are working properly as they can 'stick' if the MH hasn't been used much so could be an added expense.

The habitation side ideally needs to be checked out by an engineer/technician who does that sort of thing, there are mobile ones around so it wouldn't necessarily mean that the seller would have to take it anywhere and the engineer could simply report direct back to you. One thing I would insist on though is that whilst you are 'investigating' it he doesn't sell it to anyone else!

Great post Minx, I have done all that and am arranging the technician and told the seller, also asked about the judder thanks to Mr Gaz. Am hopinh a mate from Birmingham can get over tomorrow to also have a superficial look as well. Having told all that to the seller am rather hoping he knows he shouldn´t sell it!! But don´t see how I can insist. Short of paying a deposit and don´t want to that without guarantees as I have to fly over from Spain as soon as I get the technical all-clear. Tony
 
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