Continental Motorhomes an Observation and Query (1 Viewer)

Jul 1, 2010
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Looked at a heavily discounted Burstner MH today, very nice but I'd have to shell out £2000 thereabouts to bring it anywhere near the spec of my Autotrail.

This is not just this manufacturer we've really done the rounds why is it principally the German manufacturers who seemingly want a bigger share of the UK market won't supply UK spec vans. I'm talking TV aerial, cooker, awning to name a few or is it just me?

I don't expect to shell out £50k+ then have to tick the options for what I consider basics. I'm becoming bored with the dealer drone of well these are not required by continentals when they buy vans.

Its not hard is it?:Eeek::Eeek::Eeek:

Crash hat on and crouched behind the parapet awaiting all the flack:thumb:
 

Minxy

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Aug 22, 2007
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I suppose it depends on what you 'believe' a UK spec van should have. Personally I wouldn't want a van with an oven so that would be a waste of money, similarly not everyone wants an awning, or even a TV aerial especially if they instead prefer a satellite dish.

Perhaps it would be better to look at what the Burstner HAS got that your Autotrail hasn't, probably larger inboard water tanks, better insulation etc, to give a more balanced view of 'value for money'?:Smile:
 
Dec 6, 2011
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Brother in law has an Autotrail we have an Adria, as a comparison,,,,,

We have better insulation, better heating system, the build quality of the Adria is far better than the Autotrail, larger inboard water tank, heated waste tank, to name a few points.

His Auto trail has an awning ( we had to buy ours ), and a tv ariel ( we did not want, we wanted a sat system ).
The Autotrail hab door is on the near side.

The other key point is ( and i have first hand of both from previous van ).... Customer service from Adria is light years ahead of Autotrail.

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Pikey Pete

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May 25, 2008
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Most continental owners wouldn't dream of cooking in their vans.

Motorhoming to them is about the outdoor life, which includes cooking outside, under the awning, no matter what the weather might do.


Pete:Cool:
 

Mollie Dot

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Nov 17, 2012
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haha. yes, what continental MH owners have no interest in doing is..... cooking 3 course meals in their vans, putting awnings or safari rooms up and watching tv. Why? cos they have sunshine and don't need to spend as much time sitting inside their motorhomes. so they dont consider these things important in the vans. More important seems to be ability to go long distance without facilities, good insulation for all round touring, storage for all your bikes n trikes and leisure gear, oh and build quality. I think they're hot on that. I suppose you pays your money and takes your choice according to where, when and how you do your motorhoming:Smile:
 

GJH

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Aug 20, 2007
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Our Burstner came with TV aerial, cooker and awning - but it is 9 years old so maybe that's the explanation. Great van though and I would be tempted to buy another Burstner if/when we par with this one :Smile:

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sedge

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Jul 7, 2009
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On the other hand there is a certain well-known French company that deck out certain vans specifically for their English customers, in terms of kitchen facilities without losing the benefit of double floor, insulation on tanks etc - I imagine because they value us. Incroyable!!

OK you still have to buy an awning. But then, we had to pay for one of them with our Bessie.

I bet a trade member called Peter will be able to supply their name if you can't guess it!
 

Snowbird

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Personally I wouldn't swap my continental van for another continental or British van. Am more than happy with what I have :Cool:.
 

spitfire

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Oct 13, 2010
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Continental

You have all hit the nail right on the head!! It is how the Continentals use their vans that is the fundamental difference. They tour with their vans stopping just overnight and just look for an overnight spot with empty and fill up facilities.

As for cooking I have been very surprised when on weekend trips with the ACCCF ( French Caravan Club but nothing like the caravan club !!) how they eat . No haute cuisine just basic stuff often cold like salad , pâté etc

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ubuntu1

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Feb 13, 2008
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Continental V British vans

I think they call it consumer choice!

If your continental van was the same spec in terms of aerials, cookers etc then it would be a lot more money. They put their efforts in to top quality build, insulation and lots of things that you don't see. They can all have awnings, aerials etc fitted so if you want it then pay for it. I guess its that simple.
 

maz

Jan 26, 2011
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My continental van came with oven and awning installed. There is wiring for a TV aerial but as I don't bother watching TV that was of no interest to me anyway. :Smile:
 

sedge

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LOL Maz - the brand I was on about come with an all singing all dancing TV bracket in a cupboard. Thanks; if it was ours we'd most likely automatically gain a cupboard !

It was quite amusing at the NEC listening to people like us having a mooch in the new offerings. Some like me were saying, hopeless having an oven right up there (on top of the fridge/freezer) Two burners! - they have to be joking at that price! No prep area! What a stupid place to put a rubbish bin etc etc etc

And then you had the other camp who were looking - and even measuring - the damn telly bracket. And didn't seem interested in any other feature of the build.

I could be doing them ALL a disservice; of course they might have had that exact one on order and wondered if their old telly would fit the new bracket? (In which case why not ring their dealer and say will my 42" Avtex :ROFLMAO: fit the bracket in the new van? and save the price of visiting the show anyway)

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maz

Jan 26, 2011
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And then you had the other camp who were looking - and even measuring - the damn telly bracket. And didn't seem interested in any other feature of the build.

I could be doing them ALL a disservice; of course they might have had that exact one on order and wondered if their old telly would fit the new bracket? (In which case why not ring their dealer and say will my 42" Avtex :ROFLMAO: fit the bracket in the new van? and save the price of visiting the show anyway)

One of the (many) things that put me off going for a 2007 Burstner Elegance instead of the 2010 Hobby I ended up with, was that there was a second TV arm that folded out over the bed - thereby wasting what could have been otherwise useful locker space. :RollEyes:

It was also a foot longer than my older Elegance but they had managed to design in less interior storage space. Now that takes some skill! :wub:

My other whinge about TV is the number of outwardly beautiful motorhomes that have had their looks ruined by an enormous pimple on the roof. :winky:
 
C

Chockswahay

Deleted User
Well, I'm not sure I'm qualified to comment on this thread.........however......

We chose our van on the basis of being able to tour easily and efficiently. We want the 'outdoor' life and be able to take bikes, surfboards, power kites etc with us and have room to store all the kit.

We don't want built in TV, we don't want an awning, we don't want to 'set up home' and stay there for a week or two.

We do want quality, insulation, practical and useful 'fripperies' and the ease to travel far and wide with good fuel consumption, ease of parking, the ability to go down 'narrow lanes' and see more.

We want adventure.

For us the choice became one of size and quality (oo err matron:whatthe:)

So we chose a German panel van conversion.

I think the bottom line is that we are all different people with different needs...........and that's what make the world (and this forum hehe) go round :Smile:

Either way, MH'ing is better than not, eh::bigsmile:
 

ShiftZZ

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It’s down to numbers, say Rapido or Burstner design a model, the potential sales in the UK compared to the rest of Europe is small, I would say less than 10%, so why would they make a British version especially for the UK market? Answer they don’t, unless you pay..
I suspect that’s another reason why left hand drive vehicles are in the norm cheaper than the right hand drive ones, UK smaller market..,

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Apr 27, 2008
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My Rapido has an oven (which we use) and an wind out awning (very useful if its hot). There is wiring for TV, satellite and a slide out TV bracket.
There was no aerial, but that gives a choice of fitting one, or fitting satellite.:thumb:
 

darklord

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If you buy a van with good insulation, nice sized water and waste tanks, winterised underneath, you can then "spec" the tv ariel, sat dish, cooker, etc that you want, the other way around however, is not possible,
 
OP
OP
Stewart J
Jul 1, 2010
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Some very interesting views, maybe someone could do a poll:thumb:

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Snowbird

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If you buy a van with good insulation, nice sized water and waste tanks, winterised underneath, you can then "spec" the tv ariel, sat dish, cooker, etc that you want, the other way around however, is not possible,

Exactly !!!
 

Bailey58

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Did somebody say post a Poll? How about this

telegraph-pole_~k1324589.jpg



Or this

lafortune_owlbear.jpg



Or this

Broken Link Removed :ROFLMAO:
 

talaris

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Ours came with am awning, cooker, aerial and other uk stuff. Personally I think the build quality is better on most, not all, continental vans especially the German ones.

It is, in my view, better to get a better quality van with double floors, solid construction etc and then spend time speccing it up.

Just my view though.
 

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