autocruise stardream

[smiffy502000]

hi all,any autocruise stardream owners out there? if so what are your views ,any comments good or otherwise welcome..

 

[Vic]

hi all,any autocruise stardream owners out there? if so what are your views ,any comments good or otherwise welcome..

I have owned mine for 2 yrs and covered 20k miles in that time, mainly travelling in France.

The worst thing about the van appears to be the oven - Thetford ck130000. It tries to rattle itself to death, the door kept flying open when travelling until the day it fell off. There is a designed gap on top of the door that lets it vent. The has the effect of allowing the heat to rise on the hob knobs with obvious consequences.
Due to the oven allowed to vent into the cabin area, none of the roof lights seal allowing the burn't gases out and the cold air in. Therefore any insulation is wasted, it is a cold van.
Internal trim kept falling off, but when re-glued stayed put.
Cracks in the gelcoat of the rear wheel arches, camera housing and the top upper rear corner mouldings.

The Al-Ko chassis works for and against the van. While it handles very well due to its low and long wheel base, be prepared for the exhaust pipe end to ground out easily over mid height speed bumps and the fresh water drain pipe is super low. I lost mine on the first trip on a tight righthand uphill hairpin bend approaching Sospel. The step also touches raised surfaces too. I have read about these problems before, but I have also dislodged my fresh water tank twice. Once in an Italian campsite and the second on a speed bump in a French supermarket carpark on a Saturday afternoon. Before anyone butts in, it was at very slow speed and the scrapping I heard I thought it was just the exhaust pipe, an all too comon sound. The tank is mounted midships and the ideal place to beach.

One advantage of the long wheel base is that it has a short rear overhang which allowed me to fit a PWS chassis mounted scooter rack and carry a 125cc 150kg scooter.

The rest of the van has been great though and very spacious for two. In the UK I get 30-32mpg and abroad 28-30mpg (aircon).

I think its a good looking van and have enjoyed driving and living in it.:thumb:

 

[ericonabike]

2006 Starburst, if that's any help to you? Absolutely delighted with it, especially as it's our first van purchased. The only reason we'd consider changing it is to move to something with a fixed bed - three weeks in France left us fed up with making and ummaking the bed each day!

 

[smiffy502000]

hi,thanks for your comments,i have just parted with a fixed bed autotrail dakota, we thought it was a good idea at the time to have a fixed bed,but you soon realise it is a lot of dead space when you are not actualy useing it to sleep! also they can be quite a chalenge when you need to get out in the night clambering all over the better half..if you get my drift!,,all i say is dont be it to much of a hurry to change,you may regret it..cheers

 

[Techno]

After two and a half years with our starspirit we longed for a bed and a big fridge. It's pretty crap to both have to go to bed at the same time and its a right pain every night and morning.
Says me eagerly awaiting my rapido 7090 :thumb:

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