Foreign vehicles better than British made? (1 Viewer)

[peterc10]

https://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/motorhomes/news/the-motorhome-of-the-year-2015-awards

I think that list is "last years" as I have seen it before and I have not got the latest MMM.

9 awards in total in the list including overall winner. There are only two British winner amongst the 9. The rest are from mainland Europe.

 

[StefAndDi]

Unless I'm missing something, the current edition of MMM is listing the nominations for the National Motorhome Awards 2016.
There are 36 models in 9 categories.
The winners will be announced in February next year.
To summarise, once you get past the first category (camper vans)
very few British motorhomes feature in the list of nominees.
Stef.

 

[ceejayt]

It must have been bought with water already in it, because as we all know, Hymers don't leak!

LOL

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[teddybard]

Really does all depend on the Van The Manufacturer and your own perception.
We are on our Third Van but never changed from Autosleeper as we have been happy with each one.

 

[Khizzie]

I think that list is "last years" as I have seen it before and I have not got the latest MMM.

9 awards in total in the list including overall winner. There are only two British winner amongst the 9. The rest are from mainland Europe.

Couldn't see any Hymers listed .must be an old list...mustn't it ?????

 

[peterc10]

If I remember correctly (and I am sure that somebody will tell me if I don't), the competition is open to new vans isn't it? Hymers tend not to change much year by year. Mind you I would be surprised if their DuoMobil was not entered when it first came out - a commendable effort at trying to break the mould.

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[scotjimland]

Couldn't see any Hymers listed .must be an old list...mustn't it ?????

you don't honestly belief this is an unbiased, objective, and fairly run competition.. do you ?

it's a British Mag, supported by the advertisers.. who are guess what.. are British van converters and motorhome coachbuilders..

in any case , in the Luxury Class Runner-up: Hymer DuoMobil

 

[Mack100]

WOW! just looked at your wonderful Flikr link..Its a Swift van? So no surprises there then!

Love your photos! The birds...wondeful! what where the circumstances of the Tony Benn photos

Thanks, gave the game away with the pic didn't I!!
I got interested in doing some "street" photography after the 2010 elections, these shots were taken in the aftermath when the coalition was being thrashed out. I went to College Green opposite the House of Commons where all the great and good were assembled.
Benn was charming, had a good conversation, Prescott and his entourage were vile, I had to be restrained by a copper from chinning one of his minders, bullies ALL of them.
The nutters were out too, David Icke was there, "nuff said

 

[Khizzie]

you don't honestly belief this is an unbiased, objective, and fairly run competition.. do you ?

it's a British Mag, supported by the advertisers.. who are guess what.. are British van converters and motorhome coachbuilders..

in any case , in the Luxury Class Runner-up: Hymer DuoMobil

I am sure Jim that if it was unbiased we would see more British built motorhomes shortlisted....hahaha..

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[drago35uk]

I always thought it was bad but this Hymer snobbery has got ridiculous.
Personally I would now never own one as I do not want to be branded a "Hymer Owner"

 

[peterc10]

I think this is all getting a bit silly now.

We are all different and we all choose our vans for different reasons, many of which are based upon purely subjective opinions. To suggest that I like Hymer because I am a snob is unfair and not based upon any evidence whatsoever. Equally it is unfair to suggest that "all British vans always leak" or that "Hymers never leak". I have never made those suggestions and never would. After all I guess that eventually ALL vans leak, in the sense that nothing lasts forever.

Personally, having looked and compared what's on the market, I prefer the look and feel of a Hymer (and Carthago for that matter); their A classes are handsome beasts to my eyes, especially in grey. And I have also made a subjective decision, right or wrong, that they are better built. In any event, as I have said before, once I decided I wanted an A class that practically precluded a British built van. And I have set out the other reasons for my decision in my first post on this thread (# 43). After all it is my hard earned dosh I am spending, nobody else's. Others have come to different conclusions and spent their hard earned dosh differently, and that is fine by me and I make no criticism whatsoever about their decision. Each to their own.

So please lets stop the aggression and name calling on both sides of the argument, otherwise we will all start sounding like we are on the dark side.

 

[Khizzie]

I think this is all getting a bit silly now.

We are all different and we all choose our vans for different reasons, many of which are based upon purely subjective opinions. To suggest that I like Hymer because I am a snob is unfair and not based upon any evidence whatsoever. Equally it is unfair to suggest that "all British vans always leak" or that "Hymers never leak". I have never made those suggestions and never would. After all I guess that eventually ALL vans leak, in the sense that nothing lasts forever.

Personally, having looked and compared what's on the market, I prefer the look and feel of a Hymer (and Carthago for that matter); their A classes are handsome beasts to my eyes, especially in grey. And I have also made a subjective decision, right or wrong, that they are better built. In any event, as I have said before, once I decided I wanted an A class that practically precluded a British built van. And I have set out the other reasons for my decision in my first post on this thread (# 43). After all it is my hard earned dosh I am spending, nobody else's. Others have come to different conclusions and spent their hard earned dosh differently, and that is fine by me and I make no criticism whatsoever about their decision. Each to their own.

So please lets stop the aggression and name calling on both sides of the argument, otherwise we will all start sounding like we are on the dark side.

Totally agree Peter ,when I started this thread it was so I could get a unbiased broad view of the users of foreign vehicles as I am considering my next years purchase ,saying that I have been very happy with my British vehicle and even with all the great input from both European users and British vehicle users I am still undecided..however the thread should not degenerate to a slanging match..

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[peterc10]

Khizzie, the best advice I can give is to have a look at all that is available and decide which meets your requirements best and within your budget. If you are no hurry the February NEC will normally let you do that without traipsing all over the country. And the best advice I ever got is that the "perfect" motorhome does not exist - they are all a compromise between all sorts of competing requirements.

 

[MR. FUSION]

Totally agree Peter ,when I started this thread it was so I could get a unbiased broad view of the users of foreign vehicles as I am considering my next years purchase ,saying that I have been very happy with my British vehicle and even with all the great input from both European users and British vehicle users I am still undecided..however the thread should not degenerate to a slanging match..

Some stuff is just a blue touchpaper, this subject being one of them. If people have been offended by this good natured knock about I suggest they leave the internet and take up something like crosstich

 

[drago35uk]

Personally, having looked and compared what's on the market, I prefer the look and feel of a Hymer (and Carthago for that matter); their A classes are handsome beasts to my eyes, especially in grey. And I have also made a subjective decision, right or wrong, that they are better built. In any event, as I have said before, once I decided I wanted an A class that practically precluded a British built van. And I have set out the other reasons for my decision in my first post on this thread (# 43). After all it is my hard earned dosh I am spending, nobody else's. Others have come to different conclusions and spent their hard earned dosh differently, and that is fine by me and I make no criticism whatsoever about their decision. Each to their own

My sentiments exactly. I just get fed up of the comments raining scorn on peoples dreams just because they bought British vans. People buy what makes them happy and that is how they should remain without all the negative comments about what they have spent their money on.

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[Lenny HB]

I always thought it was bad but this Hymer snobbery has got ridiculous.

What an earth are you talking about, you must be seeing things these posts that I can't.
And for the record Hymer's are only a mid range van, just because they have been hyped up by the previous sole importer to make them out to be something they aren't doesn't make them any better, in Germany they are quite low down the tree.
Also they are not expensive they cost less than most Swifts & AT's providing you buy sensibly (i.e. self import).

 

[peterc10]

Some stuff is just a blue touchpaper, this subject being one of them. If people have been offended by this good natured knock about I suggest they leave the internet and take up something like crosstich

Name calling ain't good natured unless it is done between people who know one another and are friends.

Suggest we should all take a deep breath and remember @Jim 's Rule 1 of this forum.

 

[MR. FUSION]

Name calling ain't good natured unless it is done between people who know one another and are friends.

Suggest we should all take a deep breath and remember @Jim 's Rule 1 of this forum.

Must have missed that bit.....anyway off to find the 2015 outandabout mag awards.

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[Lenny HB]

looks good.....similar to the Carado one, lots of polishing and smiles



Can any knowledgeable funsters tell me the material composition and construction methods of the sides of the MH in this video please, ally outer skin definitely and a GRP roof and back.

Esspecialy when you consider at current exhange rates a new one is only £25k.
When we have been at our Hymer dealers and while waiting about always look at the vans in the showroom, had a look at quite a few Corado's well made just a bit basic & you get the standard chassis cab rather than the Camping Car chassis, one hell of a lot of van for your money. If we couldn't afford a Hymer we would be happy with one.

 

[mustaphapint]

Life would be rather boring if we all thought the same

 

[Candapack]

Life would be rather boring if we all thought the same

I think the same.

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[MR. FUSION]

you get the standard chassis cab rather than the Camping Car chassis.

That's exactly why I bought one, a high, solid metal chassis, ideal for roads in Italy and Poland and ferries. Not sure a low slung tugger type chassis would cope well with some of the stuff my previous similarly chassised Elddis had to contend with in those and other countries.

 

[jongood]

I just find it a shame and slightly embarrassing that - with the exception of RS - the British motorhome industry dont step up to the mark and produce some better MHs.

I think the only way that the british motorhome industry will improve is if they are forced to by their customers. If people stop buying them they will have to improve.

Jon
btw regarding an earlier post - you do see the odd LHD Swift MH and RH Door Caravans about - they apparently sold a few in Holland.

 

[Judge Mental]

What an earth are you talking about, you must be seeing things these posts that I can't.
And for the record Hymer's are only a mid range van, just because they have been hyped up by the previous sole importer to make them out to be something they aren't doesn't make them any better, in Germany they are quite low down the tree.
Also they are not expensive they cost less than most Swifts & AT's providing you buy sensibly (i.e. self import).

Last time I saw a survey ( few years ago now) Hymer were tenth. What does that tell me? That Germans produce very well put together vans. Whatever your buying do the research and while doing so find out how they are built! And what they weigh.....many don't have a clue what's under the skin...

Yes they can all leak, some more then others..what's important is how the company responds to a warrenty claim. In over 25 years of watching tales of woe and owners left with massive bills I know where my money is better spent......

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[Judge Mental]

I always thought it was bad but this Hymer snobbery has got ridiculous.
Personally I would now never own one as I do not want to be branded a "Hymer Owner"

Any idea how bonkers that is...

The UK Hymer snobbery a UK invention by dealers hyping them to justify the extortionate prices they charge and some fall for it. Whereas in Europe they are midrange vans and reasonably price and no snobbery. One born every minute?

 

[Jim]

All makes have their problems, whether quality, design or both. In the UK, where most vans sold are British, you are going to hear a lot about problems with them, especially on forums.

I've owned British, German and American Motorhomes. Mostly 2nd hand, but a couple of brand new ones too. Of the British vans I've had over the last 30 years, I've had two Autotrails one of those from new, the other was about 3 when we bought it. The new one was a 2005 Arapaho. Very well specified and built. It was a great bit of kit, a brilliant family motorhome, I think we did about 20,000 trouble free miles in it. The older one was a 1990 Pullman, we did 80,000 in that and it wouldn't surprise me if it's still around today, in fact were almost sure we saw it a couple of years ago. I had a Bessacar (Swift) from new, budget range E4(something) massive rear overhang but again lots of trouble free miles. A guy parked by me the other day had a 14 year old leaky Kontiki, been as dry as a bone since he bought it new and he has done 200k miles in it.

That said. The UK makers seem to be well behind the mark, where are all the A class vans for a start. We have the skills in the UK, some of the UK PVC converters work is top notch. The investment needed to gear up for A class production must be very high, but it seems everyone else is doing so.

I wouldn't buy many of the popular Modern German A Class van around today, too expensive by far; I don't think the build quality is what it was, and more importantly, it seems most have followed a poor layout arrangement with all the living space tight and right behind the steering wheel. Yes they may have a fancy table that swivels and moves, but sat at it and it still feels like your crammed into the emergency space corner of that full fancy restaurant. Then talking of leaks, one needs to pee, most everyone has to move, followed by the dance in the gangway wide enough only for a child.

 

[Chris]

I wouldn't buy many of the popular Modern German A Class van around today, too expensive by far; I don't think the build quality is what it was, and more importantly, it seems most have followed a poor layout arrangement with all the living space tight and right behind the steering wheel. Yes they may have a fancy table that swivels and moves, but sat at it and it still feels like your crammed into the emergency space corner of that full fancy restaurant. Then talking of leaks, one needs to pee, most everyone has to move, followed by the dance in the gangway wide enough only for a child.

Our exact experience of life with our Burstner Aviano.

It also had a leaky passenger door frame.

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[ceejayt]

I wouldn't buy many of the popular Modern German A Class van around today, too expensive by far; I don't think the build quality is what it was, and more importantly, it seems most have followed a poor layout arrangement with all the living space tight and right behind the steering wheel. Yes they may have a fancy table that swivels and moves, but sat at it and it still feels like your crammed into the emergency space corner of that full fancy restaurant. Then talking of leaks, one needs to pee, most everyone has to move, followed by the dance in the gangway wide enough only for a child.

How true about the tight space. One of the reasons we changed from our N and B Flair to an RS A Class was because in the Flair one person always had to sit down if the other person wanted to move around.

Cost of tooling up forcA Class is huge. Swift dont do it and they could probably afford to but continue to be successful as they are.

Without doubt THE best Motorhome is the one you spent your hard earned dosh in and you are happy with, wherever it comes from.

 

[Judge Mental]

Life would be rather boring if we all thought the same

Its nothing to do with that..the thread topic is re build quality, as said I know where I get better build quality and VFM and it aint here. Many just take things at face value, your money your choice..

 

[peterc10]

Its nothing to do with that..the thread topic is re build quality, as said I know where I get better build quality and VFM and it aint here. Many just take things at face value, your money your choice..

Eddie, sometimes you don't half live up to your forum name

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