Fiat Trigano Tribute potential (1 Viewer)

[Pembssurf]

Hi all. I have been on and off this forum reading a lot of threads in the past 6 months, lots of great info.

Little bit of background of myself, my name is Adam i am 35 and i live and work in Tenby South West Wales.

I am after some advice; i may well be in the market in the next 6 months for a motorhome which will be partly financed probably by a private personal loan prob 60/40 loan/deposit ratio.
I have previously had plenty ofVW Campers with high/top factory PV conversions but having been without one for a few years and after a very costly trip to the continent have decided next year i may take the plunge again for something just slightly bigger for myself the Mrs and the big dog. Now i have been looking at proper motorhomes on a ducato base but with the type of trips we would be doing and needing the vehicle as a second commuting car i have again decided again on some sort of PVC even though i know it is compromised. In particular i have been looking at the outstanding value a Fiat Trigano Tribute gives especially whats packed inside for the size/ price point. Around 6 meters is perfect for me the wife and the dog and the form factor is suitable for use in a 30 mile round commute every day. I also need something that is going to last for at least 5 years and still have a good deal of value left in it at this time. My concerns reading various forum posts re the Tribute are the following:

Tribute build quality seems pretty iffy especially on earlier models, i have seen a few posts re that they are actually assembled in Italy by staff with special needs. I am all for inclusion and diversity but when it comes to engineering such as a motorhome this leaves me slightly disturbed. Is this actually true?

Maintenance costs. Do these get serviced at main dealers for reasonable running costs and what kind of mileage between service intervals.. 1 year fixed mileage?

What are they like to drive on a day to day basis it terms of shaking you to bits and being manoeuvrable ? (my work vehicle is a L200 so used to big things)

When looking at 2nd hand models 2009 onwards is there anything special to look out for?

What is depreciation on these like?

Is there something similar in PVC form which is better for 2 young people and a large dog who want to have regular UK and continental holidays.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Adam

 

[Pembssurf]

Also i read about poor winter insulation on earlier models around 2007. Is this still the case as they advertise them of Auto-Trails website as fully winterised?

 

[makems]

Our first MH was a 2008 Tribby. Great van, in fact the only one we have had on which nothing broke unless we broke ot ourselves through clumsiness or carelessness.
Great to drive - they are a standard DUcato after all - and very economical.
Small enough to get into most car parks and manouverable enough to get round the narrowest streets.
The only downsides we discovered were:
Lack of winterisation - external grey tank and limited insulation. But if you plan on visiting warm countries, this wont be an issue.
The shower is very cramped - OK in an emergency, but not something you would want to use all the time. But if you plan on using campsites predominantly again, this wont be an issue.
We spent three months touring Spain and Portugal plus three weeks in Scotland and a month in France in the first year in our Tribute. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and only changed to an A Class because we wanted a fixed bed.
I wouldnt have any reservations provided you can find one in good nick.

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[Margaritaman]

We too had Tribute 650 PVC as our first Moho. Was a great first van. I believe that Autotrail are now doing the PVC conversions in house at their Grimsby base. Build quality was good especially if you consider the price.As with many PVCs insulation was not as good as a coach built.I wonder if Autotrail are referring to their coach built Tribbys when they say fully winterised?
You may have looked at www.tribby.co.uk/forum but if you haven't you'll find plenty of TRIBBY specific info there.

 

[Pembssurf]

Great advice. Thanks all!

 

[Molls-Phot]

Our first van was a Tribute 665 and we loved it. For info, there is a forum dedicated them, just look for tribby.co.uk

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[The Wino]

Not sure if its worth using to commute every day on the one hand one lot of tax mot etc on the other harder to sell on with an extra 10k a year or so on top of holiday use over say 5 yrs 50k extra fuel to use cant get a lower mileage insurance policy harder to park at the supermarket etc.

 

[Neckender]

We bought a new Tribby 650 in 2008 great van, we owned for 3 years had no trouble whatsoever. Changed for new Auto Roller with fixed bed in 2011, changed for Auto Sleeper coach built in 2014 and had loads of problems with this.

John.