BURSTNER AVIANO I675G (1 Viewer)

scotjimland

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Jul 25, 2007
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This van looks like it ticks all our boxes..

transverse bed with garage .. tick
four belted traveling seats .. tick
4 berth .. with drop down bed ..tick
length 7.03 mts ..tick
good payload , on a 4 ton chassis .. tick
German built .. tick
good size bathroom and shower.. tick
L shaped lounge area .. tick

the one I'm looking at is a 2009 model with a Fiat Ducato 3.0 160 Multijet, 6 Speed Manual box.

Comments please re built quality and construction of Burstners in general....I know little about them.. and on the engine/ gearbox. Looks good to me.. but never had a Ducato.

anything I should be looking out for when I go to view ?

any damp issues.. or other inherent faults ?

also, suggestions welcomed for any other vans that tick all the above boxes..

thanks in anticipation..
 

Chris

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Hi Jim,

We had a 2008 Burstner Aviano from new. Slightly different model to yours. I think ours was the i630 or something like that.

Things to check:
1. Door and drawer hinges - ours were all rubbish
2. Check that the fridge lock works
3. If you have a passenger front door check on the inside for water ingress. Ours was ill fitting and water came in.

That's about it. We had the smaller engine than yours and the only trouble we had was with a leaking fuel filter which I think was quite common.

Lovely vans(y)
 
Apr 30, 2012
154
153
Southampton, UK
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20,806
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AutoSleeper Exec
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Hi Jim, don't have direct experience of the Burster's but I've looked in many. Can vouch for German build quality, it really is a step beyond our experience with British brands. Ducato is also good, we have a 2.3ltr 150PS version with the Comfortmatic box, great combination and pulls the 3.85t Knaus nicely. Not sure I could convince SWMBO of the benefits of a transverse bed, all that clambering over each other in the night, on the other hand...:) Cheers. Terran

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scotjimland

scotjimland

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Jul 25, 2007
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1. Door and drawer hinges - ours were all rubbish
2. Check that the fridge lock works
3. If you have a passenger front door check on the inside for water ingress. Ours was ill fitting and water came in.

Hi Chris

surprised about the door and drawer hinges.. useful heads up... thanks
no cab door on the one I'm looking at ..will check the fridge..

cheers
 

Chris

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Hi Chris

surprised about the door and drawer hinges.. useful heads up... thanks
no cab door on the one I'm looking at ..will check the fridge..

cheers

They kept breaking ( and it wasn't our fault).

We had about 3 new locks on the fridge door,.

Minor things though
 

JeanLuc

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Nov 17, 2008
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I seem to remember some problem with the Hartal habitation doors that were fitted to Burstners around the mid 2000s - may have been sorted out since.

I think the problem was that the door tended to jamb in the frame. Also, but I'm sure you have spotted this, as I remember it, the Avianos are on a Fiat chassis with a single floor whereas the Elegance range is on an Alko rear chassis with double floor.

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Lenny HB

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I seem to remember some problem with the Hartal habitation doors that were fitted to Burstners around the mid 2000s - may have been sorted out since.

I think the problem was that the door tended to jamb in the frame. Also, but I'm sure you have spotted this, as I remember it, the Avianos are on a Fiat chassis with a single floor whereas the Elegance range is on an Alko rear chassis with double floor.
It was 2007-2008 our last Hymer had the coated finish blistering although the van was a year our of warranty Hymer replaced the door.
 

Chris

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I seem to remember some problem with the Hartal habitation doors that were fitted to Burstners around the mid 2000s - may have been sorted out since.

I think the problem was that the door tended to jamb in the frame. Also, but I'm sure you have spotted this, as I remember it, the Avianos are on a Fiat chassis with a single floor whereas the Elegance range is on an Alko rear chassis with double floor.

Mine was on an Alko maxi chassis with the double floor
 

JeanLuc

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Mine was on an Alko maxi chassis with the double floor
I've just had a look at the Burstner website and it appears that they have introduced a new range below the Aviano. This cheaper version, called Viseo Sovereign, makes no mention of an Alko chassis. The Aviano does now have an Alko chassis, as you say. When we were looking in late 2006, the Aviano was on a standard Fiat chassis with leaf springs and the more expensive Elegance was on an Alko chassis. There were only two 'quality' options back then - today they are offering four!

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Judge Mental

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Not a brand I would consider having read to many problems on them. 2 friend had problems, One had a big model and damp problems, UK dealer refused to take it in PX, tried German dealer I use and got a good deal against a new Possl...was very relieved!

no double floor I think? and vaguely remember issues with payload...but see you are looking at a 4 ton chassis.

check very carefully
 
Last edited:

lorger

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Jul 11, 2008
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2007
Looks a nice model of van Jim, ours is just about the same layout as this and have to say it's one of the best layouts going as loads of room for lounging and bed at the back if anyone wants a nap. We as considering selling ours and going for a PVC with similar layout as it's mostly just the two of us that go away now and always end up sitting in the same two seats .

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scotjimland

scotjimland

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@ScotJimland

Sounds great Jim, but what ever happened to the 'under 6m PVC' talk then? :whistle:

it was talk.. :LOL:

we thought about using a PVC as an everyday vehicle.. get rid of the car.. I also like the idea that you can go virtually anywhere in a PVC that a car can, and it's cheaper to travel.. but decided it was just too much of a compromise..

there are still 3 of us for a few more years yet, plus two dogs, and also want to have space to take an inflatable boat+ outboard., or perhaps couple of inflatable kayaks.. it was just going to be too small for our needs .. too cramped..

so decided to keep the car and buy a van that ticked all our boxes.. some things you can compromise on.. some things you cannot ..

that extra meter gives an awful lot more space.. and the extra width of the A or C class makes them a lot more spacious
 
C

Chockswahay

Deleted User
Well @ScotJimland I can't argue with that :) I agree, PVC best suited to two people max (y)

If you like the Burstner? ........................ buy it now! then you can start using it straight away :D:D
 

lorger

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it was talk.. :LOL:

we thought about using a PVC as an everyday vehicle.. get rid of the car.. I also like the idea that you can go virtually anywhere in a PVC that a car can, and it's cheaper to travel.. but decided it was just too much of a compromise..

there are still 3 of us for a few more years yet, plus two dogs, and also want to have space to take an inflatable boat+ outboard., or perhaps couple of inflatable kayaks.. it was just going to be too small for our needs .. too cramped..

so decided to keep the car and buy a van that ticked all our boxes.. some things you can compromise on.. some things you cannot ..
Have to agree with you on this Jim, we love our van and it's taking a lot of thinking about downsizing. As I said though only two of us 95% of the time and where we live we tend to use for days out to the forest and seaside so PVC would fit but still a big decision, so ours will go up for sale next month if we still agree on downsizing

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scotjimland

scotjimland

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We had a PVC before.. back in the 90s, home built , on a Renault Traffic high roof .. great for everyday but we sold it because it was too small with the two kids.


In an ideal world I'd have a fleet of motorhomes.. :cool: one for every occasion.. :LOL:
 

Judge Mental

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Have to agree with you on this Jim, we love our van and it's taking a lot of thinking about downsizing. As I said though only two of us 95% of the time and where we live we tend to use for days out to the forest and seaside so PVC would fit but still a big decision, so ours will go up for sale next month if we still agree on downsizing

Things to consider with downsizing other than the obvious advantages. If you do a lot of long term winter camping you might find it a bit tight for space, but then you might not..... We go away 6 weeks at most and a 636m van has enough space for us. also there are pvcs and pvcs :)

 

makems

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Jim, I can only list the issues we have had with our Elegance:
Prostor 6m awning had to be replaced (with Omnistor) obviously not a Burstner issue.
Check if fridge has two vents on side of van. Ours has only the lower one and a chimney on the roof. The ventilation is insufficient and causes the fridge to overheat. dealer fitted fans to resolve the matter. Later models have reverted to having two vents on the side of the van.
A couple of drawer/cupboard handles have broken (cast metal inserts very thin and not robust enough)
Numerous trim problems -(all minor and fixed by dealer)
Alloy wheel finish cracking and peeling (a known problem on recent vehicles, all being replaced by Burstner)
Ours is 5t, 9m with the 3L engine and auto box. The box is not a torque converter auto but an automated manual with a clutch which makes very slow speed maneuvering difficult and sometimes gives a clutch overheating warning. This is not of course unique to Burstners as it applies to all Fiats.
Neither is the issue that ours does not have the traction control feature so starting on a slope when the the surface is not perfect eg gravel can be difficult. Ie loads of wheel spin made worse by the fact that you can't make it crawl away because of the clutch issue. Again not unique to Burstners.
The Alko chassis is very low to the ground on the double floor models and there is only 4" clearance below our exhaust pipe which therefore gets clobbered on a regular basis going over humps and bumps. May not be such an issue on a 7m van.
The cabinetry is well finished but flimsy in my opinion, but no more so than other makes we looked at when we bought the Elegance in 2013. In fact we were quite shocked by the Way the Rapidos had changed from the 2008 model we had previously owned (from solid wood to particle board)
However have there been any issues that would make us say we would never buy another Burstner? No!
And the dealer (CamperUK in Lincoln) has been excellent in resolving all the issues under warranty.

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Oct 17, 2014
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One had a big model and damp problems, UK dealer refused to take it in PX, tried German dealer I use and got a good deal against a new Possl...was very relieved!

That was me. We had a 2003 Elegance 820i for 18 months, which we sold 2 years ago in Germany as p/x for Possl PVC. The Burstner was spacious (obviously); garage space was very good; transverse bed was a PITA for the person being climbed over; it was auto, so easy to drive, but struggled to make it up long steep hills, e.g. Mt Ventoux; it had a bit over 100k km on clock when we sold, and we never had any engine problems.

BUT, it had massive damp problems which we only discovered when we tried to sell here - would have had to rebuild most of the back end and other areas as well - may have been down to having a hard life with previous owners, but whatever, it put me right off coachbuilts. I don't want to spend loads of money on something that is basically built so poorly that it has to have damp checks every year and will probably require remedial work at intervals as well - too much like our house :-(
 

makems

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Oh I forgot - we had the hab door replaced. The retaining bar at the top had become detached at the van end and when I tried to shut the door it got trapped and bent the channel it was supposed to slide in. After a couple of extra strong slams before I realised the problem, the channel was properly chewed up and the only solution was a new door.
It's a Hartal door and I believe other MH makes using a similar door have suffered this problem too.
 

laneside

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Are there really so many bad vans about? We had an older Autosleeper for two years on the transit chassis and it never did a thing wrong. We now have a Rapido which we have lived in for a month short of three years and in the first few days the concertina front blind slipped off its rail, the bathroom door handle came loose and the oven door handle fell off, all simple DIY fixes. To date the Rapido side has not done anything else wrong and with a good valet it would look as new. The Fiat side had its moments when it required a new injector harness when still under Fiat warranty and of course my worst hate is front wheel drive but hey ho they almost all are

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scotjimland

scotjimland

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Are there really so many bad vans about?

probably not a high percentage.. but we only really hear about the bad ones.. the real horror stories.. also some people make a big song and dance about minor issues.. others like me and just get on and fix them ..

like most, I quite expect to fix the odd thing that goes wrong.. keeps me employed.. but it's when you read about serious damp problems my alarm bell rings.. for me that's a death knell.. been there with a couple of old caravans and don't want to buy an expensive van that may have damp issues in the future..

In saying that, if you go over with a damp meter and it's ok.. then doing annual maintenance to the body and window seals etc it 'should' be fine..
 

weebill

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We have a 2010 Aviano i728g with a 3litre engine and manual box and haven't suffered any of the problems posted previously other than have broken the fridge catch once, not a burstner issue.
At the last hab check there was a slight damp reading at the hab door but didn't register enough to be considered a problem.
I have found the build quality to be first class and would have no problem recommending Burstner however every vehicle is unique and would depend on how it was treated by a previous owner.

Cheers
Bill
 

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