Foreign vehicles better than British made? (1 Viewer)

[BMStewart2004]

Must be her jewelry box or the wardrobe requirements eh??

 

[peterc10]

I agree that payload is important. It was one of the things I looked at before making my decision on my new van. I decided that I could live with a payload of over 1,200Kg before the added extras, and over 850Kg after them. Mind you that is because we are running on the Maxi chassis with an MPM of 4,500kg. If it was bought in the standard trim with the MPM of 3500kg there would be a negative figure for payload!.

As for the impossibility of the 3,500kg limit our 2008 Adria coachbuilt we are changing is 7.23m long with a 3,500kg limit. We weighed it earlier this year with full fuel and water tanks, the two of us in it and all we were taking for a month in Portugal including 2 electric bikes and we had about 100kg to spare from memory and both axles were OK. So it can be done.

 

[dulvil]

Look at a Frankia, it makes hymer not such a quality van after all

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[jongood]

A standard Hymer is not a premium quality MH. Apart from the 'S classes' they are the bench mark in germany for a good usuable Mh.

The difference is that the british manufactuers can only aspire to reach that level; that Hymer owners on here are complaining about the location of thermostats etc while former swift owners are talking about a new roof
makes the point.

 

[GWAYGWAY]

I think it is a MUST HAVE to get a weighbridge ticket for the empty vehicle BEFORE buying to stop all this BulXXXXt coming from the makers and dealers leaving the punter open to the full force of the Law. I will Demand one before I open my cheque book. This rubbish about MIRO is just rubbish they can make up what they like and it might be all over the place, Legally you are responsible for the loading and carrying of the weight you put in. The magistrates courts will not accept any excuses about the weight given to you as an excuse.
Unfortunately there is no weigh bridge in Dover which is odd with all the (overweight) lorries coming from abroad loaded to the gunwales, The only one is in the TIP operated by the current operator who told me I could'nt even enter the site and made me back a long way out.
The next one is a Steel stockholder in Canterbury where you can guarantee a puncture. Any further up country I am halfway there so why bother. I can however weigh all the bit that I put in there and if I knew the empty weight would give a fighting chance of being right.

 

[vwalan]

look at the japanese imports these days . you get a reliable vehicle well made and nice conversions in them. plus right hand drive and passenger exit on the left.
there are several importers of almost new vehicles on ebay etc .
why buy european when quality from japan well exceeds it.

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[MyDogsTooBig]

QUALITY. Not to be confused with value for money. Their mind set, training and attention to detail are just better. Their adherence to standards and quality systems and choice of materials are just better. Their machinery is often newer and therefore more precise. I know too, because I have worked hands on in the industry. There is a lot of discussion on FUN about damp and water ingress. I wonder how many of these vehicles are British, French or German built? Now that would be interesting. Who is leading the design and innovation for the next motorhome I wonder too? If I walk into a German built vehicle, I certainly get a different impression than that of a British one. I really want Britain to be leading innovation and technology and design. In a lot of areas Britain is, but not the ones I need. It's a damn shame.

 

[cruiser]

I have got a brit van a Elddis I have had this van for over 25 years. it has never leaked. it only weighs 2.5. and is plated 3.5. It still looks new inside. and I have yet to see any newer motorhomes still looking as good as mine. as someone said they don't build them as good as the old ones.

 

[laird of Dunstan]

Theres a report in the magazine " which motorhome" about there being changes to the rule on how payload figures are calculated , the new rule states that the manufacturer can specify how much water was in the tank when calculating the miro weight.

Anyhow , when it came to choosing my MH , the country of manufacture was not a consideration , I wanted a MH that both myself and the missus loved , first we decided on layout , then it was off looking at lots of motorhomes , I looked at most of the manufacturers and one day we walked into a Rapido A class and we both went "this is the one" , that was the deciding factor the" this is the one" factor , we tried out the double bed for size and the shower etc, it simply ticked all our boxes so much so that we did not wait for the Dusseldorf event , it was off to Belgium and we put our deposit down on it. Since then we have had to wait , the length was not an off the shelf job so we were told January 2016 before we get to see it at the dealer.

The point im trying to make is that when you see that MH and it has the wow factor and its within your budget then who gives a toss as to what country of origin it comes from , do people really think that the enjoyment gained from an older brit build MH is less than that gained from a new Concorde ? if your sitting in your state of the art brand new motorhome costing ££££££££££££££ and feeling superior and looking down at what you perceive to be "below" your standards then you are on the wrong forum and I would argue the wrong lifestyle

Go get the MH that gives you the WOW factor.

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[jonandshell]

IMO it would not be fit for purpose, when spennding £50-£100k on a van it .would be reasonable to expect to be able to use all year round.

Most Brit vans can be used year round in most of Europe.
It's the ski areas which will sort out the men from the boys.
Most motorhome owners, ie. retirees don't ski, so their van would be fit for their purpose, whatever the price.

 

[Fitzwell]

Theres a report in the magazine " which motorhome" about there being changes to the rule on how payload figures are calculated , the new rule states that the manufacturer can specify how much water was in the tank when calculating the miro weight.

Anyhow , when it came to choosing my MH , the country of manufacture was not a consideration , I wanted a MH that both myself and the missus loved , first we decided on layout , then it was off looking at lots of motorhomes , I looked at most of the manufacturers and one day we walked into a Rapido A class and we both went "this is the one" , that was the deciding factor the" this is the one" factor , we tried out the double bed for size and the shower etc, it simply ticked all our boxes so much so that we did not wait for the Dusseldorf event , it was off to Belgium and we put our deposit down on it. Since then we have had to wait , the length was not an off the shelf job so we were told January 2016 before we get to see it at the dealer.

The point im trying to make is that when you see that MH and it has the wow factor and its within your budget then who gives a toss as to what country of origin it comes from , do people really think that the enjoyment gained from an older brit build MH is less than that gained from a new Concorde ? if your sitting in your state of the art brand new motorhome costing ££££££££££££££ and feeling superior and looking down at what you perceive to be "below" your standards then you are on the wrong forum and I would argue the wrong lifestyle

Go get the MH that gives you the WOW factor.

My first marriage started with that WOW factor

 

[Peter Sansom]

The reason I started this thread was to see if the quality of British built vans were of a merchantable quality as considering a foreign built one next year ,but my non SWIFT built autocruise 2005 has been a star with only one fault and that was down to age .it seems to me that its mainly swift built vans that come in for criticism,however that said ,there are more swift built vans than any other make available and on the Road...it would bw interesting to do a percentage comparison of number of British built vans with faults compared to the same number of foreign vans with faults...i still feel that British quality and design is still up there with the best.

One reason we actually changed from a caravan to a motorhome this year is because our brand new Swift got water ingress within months of buying it. When we took it to France the fridge packed in, then the alarm system went on the blink, not to mention a few other minor irritations like cupboard doors jamming...etc etc. I have to say that it was the first one that did this. We had three or four in the years preceding this with never a qualm. Bad luck or bad workmanship?
We have a Chausson 610 Flash now. Very pleased with it. Holland and various UK ports of call and (touch wood) nice to drive (the Ford version) and comfy. Watch this space!

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