Bailey Approach 625, (1 Viewer)

[Bailey 15]

Any tips on this model to buy or not to buy?
Thanks

 

[RowleyBirkinQC]

If it's 7'11" wide, maybe ensure you're happy with the width?

 

[Minxy]

Hi Sharon, welcome to the fun house (I see you managed to start a thread ).

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[BobtheBass]

I had one for a while. Very little outside storage, super kitchen and bathroom, comfy lounge, very wide to drive on the road, excellent Alde heating, the whole thing spoiled by the absolutely crap bed. First time we tried to use it the damn thing collapsed. Baileys 'craftsmen' had screwed the slat runners in the wrong place. Our dealers laughed when I told them what had happened. 'Not another one!' they said, and fixed it in five minutes. Next time out we realised what we thought was a 7 foot long and 5 feet 10 inches wide double was actually 7 feet wide and 5 feet 10 inches long...... all attempts to sleep the other way round ended with one of us slipping through the cushions or waking up with bruises. Finally tried sleeping diagonally but that was equally pants. If we had kept the van for longer than six months I would have had to pay someone to redesign the bed somehow. My friend still says it was the best of all our 5 vans though.......

 

[Bailey 15]

Thanks for this bob, it's such an expensive buy that it's great to get views and opinions so as to know what to look out for

 

[BobtheBass]

Thanks for this bob, it's such an expensive buy that it's great to get views and opinions so as to know what to look out for

In all honesty if I were less than, say 5'8" tall it probably would have been fine! I can only guess that Baileys designers are all vertically challenged.

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[DangerMousy]

We've had our 625 for about 6 months now, it has its good points and bad points - overall I'd say we're happy with it and the goods outweigh the bads.

Good points:
- loads of space - the lounge is large and comfy, and you can easily pass each other in the "hallway" without having to squeeze
- great bathroom - very practical space, not cramped, separate shower
- loads of inside storage - we have never yet filled all the internal lockers on any of our trips, there is more storage than we know what to do with!
- Alde heating - it takes a while to warm up, but its quiet and once its to temperature its easy to control and maintain the temp
- battery box has space for two batteries next to each other
- well equipped kitchen
- cheap/easy to install a bbq point on the same side as the door (T off the kitchen gas supply)

Bad:
- the Whale water filling system - you need to either use a pump in a container or the special Whale hose, you can't use a normal hose or watering can
- lack of practical outside storage - whilst the gas locker is a good size, the rear locker is a pretty awkward size/shape for anything apart from long, thin things (our loungers travel either in the shower or on the floor of the lounge).
- a bigger fridge would be nice
- we have a bit of a problem with our water tank emptying whilst travelling - there seems to be a bit of an issue with water syphoning out of the overflow on some Baileys. I have a plan to fix that - but its its something to be aware of.

I can't say I noticed a problem with the bed. The slats can sometimes be a bit stiff to pull out and it took us a while to find the most comfy arrangement of cushions, but if you're falling down gaps between the cushions then I'd suggest the infill cushion wasn't being used (I'm 6' and we sleep across the van). We also use a foam topper which not only makes the bed a doddle to make up/put away, it improves comfort dramatically - you can't realistically expect a bed made up of cushions to be as comfy as a proper mattress though.

We've also not had a problem with the width so far - maybe a narrower van would be better in some situations, but we've not come across any yet.

Taking everything into account we're happy with our choice - its not perfect, but there are always compromises to be made. The layout works for us, we like the style of the interior and its short enough to fit on the drive. Certainly when we've looked around other vans since we bought it we've not seen anything that tempts us to change it. Well there is one.....but its more than double the price of the Bailey so its out of reach LOL

 

[Lenny HB]

Lots of reports on the web of spongy floors and water ingress problems. Personally I don't like the look of them they look like they have bolted a caravan onto a cab.
I would never buy a British built van you can't trust the build quality.

 

[Bailey 15]

Dm23,
Brilliant review thanku
All reviews are really helpful thanku

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[HUGGY]

Had our 625 for just over 12-months now and overall it's been a good choice for us. Would say it's good VFM given the included kit v's the price paid. Nothings fallen off and it's pretty quiet (rattles now sorted) very stable thanks to Alko lowline chassis and Pug front-end pulls well and is good on fuel.

Lack of external storage could be a problem to some, but the more storage you have the more stuff you fill it with ! .
Single beds (with toppers) are fine for us we're both 5' 5". If your anything over 5' 8" forget the singles.
Whale systems are a bit like Marmite for some. We have no problem with it other than how to get at the grit filter bowl on the pump (another thread posted for this issue) Have seen lots of comments about Alu-Tech build issues / problems with damp etc. Just had a hab/damp check done and highest damp reading was 13 %. We do have another 6-years warranty remaining.

Hope these comments help

 

[AMK]

They seem like a nice van and very well priced.

Also comfortable looking with plenty of room unlike most the European.

 

[DangerMousy]

We've had ours coming up 2 years this summer and looking back to my post last year, I'd say that nothing has really changed. I still love the lounge - its so comfy with plenty of space for both of us to lounge on the sofas when its too cold to sit outside. The kitchen is great: an oven, plenty of storage, and as the microwave was behind a cupboard door we've removed that and used the huge cupboard for a Tassimo and other storage.

Looking at what I listed as negatives, most of them we have learned to live with. The only one that still niggles a bit is the awkwardness of the main outside storage locker: we've managed to refine our kit to make best use of the space but what's annoying us now is the access. The only access to the main locker is at the back...you have to crawl underneath the bike rack to get to it (and remember not to hit your head on it when standing up again!). We'd love to have a towbar bike carrier on which would sit lower down and wouldn't obstruct the view from the rear window, but we'd lose access to the locker so its a no-go (the newer Baileys have a much better arrangement with access from the side).

We are now starting to think of maybe changing.....if the right MH comes up. We're not unhappy with our 625 and as yet haven't yet seen any other MH which has been perfect either. I think we'd love an A class but we don't like the tiny lounges on most of them. There's a few now we like with a decent rear lounge but not many around in the secondhand market and I'm not sure I want/can afford to buy new.

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[Bailey 15]

Great reviews, had ours 15mths and still luv it.
But::: we generally use the single beds but if grandson comes we make it up but any suggestions to have better running slats? They always get caught and then awkward to pull out, any good ideas ?