Looking for beginners advice

[Irish Rovers]

My wife and I are looking at buying our first motorhome. We like the Swift Bessacarr 597 and have seen a nice lookinh 2017 model for sale. Can anyone give us any steer as to what to consider here? I have no doubt there will be horror stories with specific dealers or specific vehicles, but in general how are they thought of? Is there anything else we should consider. We are looking at 4 belts, swivel seats and 4 berth, and the twin singles with infill on the above model looks very roomy. Ideally an island double, but they look a bit narrow

 

[Roger S]

Hello Newbie68, we have a 597 and have been very happy with it. Ive had to bolt things back on as the finish quality isnt perfect, but I would still buy it again. Ours is a 130bhp which I thought I would need to uprate to 150 but it pulls well enough. I'm trying to think of what I would change, struggling.

Regards Roger

 

[Irish Rovers]

Hello Newbie68, we have a 597 and have been very happy with it. Ive had to bolt things back on as the finish quality isnt perfect, but I would still buy it again. Ours is a 130bhp which I thought I would need to uprate to 150 but it pulls well enough. I'm trying to think of what I would change, struggling.

Regards Roger

Thanks Roger. I must check that bhp. Have you the automatic or manual gear box out of interest?

 

[Roger S]

Ours is a manual, I had a ride in an automatic and found it a bit lazy, may have been me being used to and preferring a manual.

The only thing I did think of regarding if we could change something about the van is the payload.

Regards Roger

 

[maison]

Hi, we haven’t had that model but we have owned five Swift motorhomes over the last 30 years. We would certainly buy another Swift based on our experience

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[jmatosp]

Not sure you get good advice from beginners...

Sorry, couldn't resist

 

[David and Sally]

 

[Irish Rovers]

Sorry, yes, advice FOR beginners

 

[Irish Rovers]

Thanks. Looking forward to getting to know a few of you guys here

 

[Irish Rovers]

Hi, we haven’t had that model but we have owned five Swift motorhomes over the last 30 years. We would certainly buy another Swift based on our experience

That's good to know. I think there are good and bad experiences everywhere, but 30 years is a good average

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[maison]

That's good to know. I think there are good and bad experiences everywhere, but 30 years is a good average

We had a couple of teething problems with some but they were easily remedied and were great thereafter. All motorhomes suffer from them, being largely assembled by humans.

After a five year break from motorhoming we bought an 11 year old Swift Sundance. That would have been about a late 1990 model. It was one of a batch with a design flaw that led to rotting floors. Fortunately it showed up within a few weeks and was repaired under a three month warranty we had from the dealer.

That particular problem led to a lot of adverse publicity for Swift and mud stuck to their name for quite a while. There are still some people who love to knock them but we would certainly buy one again, if we ever change.