New van purchase

[Paullr]

Hope u have found the best thread. So we are looking to buy a compact motorhome. Elddis 120 is appealing, but have now discovered wildax aurora leisure. What do you all think of it? Does it compare favourably with a coachbuilt? Seems to tick our boxes of centres at each end of a van to allow one to sleep and one to read and get down country lanes. Any thoughts please? Cheers

 

[Vipar]

Almost greetings peeps full greetings when you are an owner.

Nar can’t be that cruel, greetings peeps ?have a drink on me?

 

[thebriars]

We bought a new Elddis caravan in 2018. It lasted less than a week before falling apart - literally. A 5 ft chunk of plywood fell of the ceiling. The dealer discovered the microwave cuboard was falling off the wall and repaired that too. Within a month 8 cupboard doors had all come loose, the microwave cupboard started to come loose again, the brakes were faulty, the seat cushions had already started to collapse, there were nails sticking out of the woodwork ready to cut fingers, and to cap it all the roof started to collapse. It dropped 2cm in the middle and you could push it back up with one hand. Made in the same factory as their motorhomes. We eventually got it rejected under the Consumer Rights Act but only with the help of a solicitor.

Personally, the Wildax sounds a far better bet.

 

[gus-lopez]

Hi & welcome.There are a few members on here with Wildax mh's

 

[Grianan]

Hi there. We’re h apply with our PVC. Not Wildax but that was just because they didn’t have a layout that suited us.
Welcome ... go see as many vans as you can ... ideally at a show ... lie down, sit on the loo, try to bend down to get in the fridge, close door to have a shower ... etc etc. Basically like you’re living in it. Plus check garage space is big enough.

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[Paullr]

Thanks everyone for your prompt responses. Seems like wildax might be a good option not elddis! Plan to go to wildax later in week to see whar they offer. Thanks again to you all. Cheers

 

[lorger]

We've had both coachbuilt and PVC and both have pros and cons, I'd say the layout is your number one. After you decide on the layout then think about make, Elddis is classed as entry level in coachbuilt whereas Wildax is a top quality van.

I've owned an Elddis and loved it with no major issues in the 4 years we owned it, I've not had a Wildax but been in a few and they're certainly well built.

 

[Paullr]

Thanks lorger. Just shows how difficult it is to make an initial decision. The wheel built comment certainly encourages us to look more closely at Wildax. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[Paullr]

Well built

 

[mikebeaches]

I'd certainly choose a van conversion and Wildax has a good reputation.

The company is now owned by renowned French converter Rapido - they purchased Wildax in August 2017.

We have a Rapido van conversion...

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[Koppersbeat]

I have a Wildax Pulsar and it is great.There is a Facebook group Wildax Enthusiasts Group which you are eligible to join if you own or are interested in owning a Wildax.A huge amount of useful info and entertaining banter to be found on the site and it is free to join.

 

[Paullr]

Thanks Koppersbeat will look into joining the Facebook grohp

 

[JohnJan]

We have an Aurora XL and it is fabulous. Great build quality and finish. We chose the XL for the additional storage, transverse double bed and larger fridge. Also they are agreat company to deal with. They have a "try before you buy" hire scheme and I'm sure if you buy after that the hire price is discounted. Good luck in your searching?

 

[mike mcglynn]

We had a shortlist of two vans which after downsizing from an a class ,were the Wildax and a Warwick Xl after speaking to Mr.Wild at a show his best px was a lot less than the Warwick dealer so we went with the Autosleeper ,I wish we had gone for theWildax as we have had an endless list of hassle both with the dealer ,Peugeot,and Autosleeper who after 3 months with the van being at the dealer have finally carried out the warranty repairs .

 

[Snoopy]

Hi, good luck with the search

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[Paullr]

Thanks Mike for your heads up, sorry you have not had a good experience but you have pointed us in the right direction. Going on Thursday to look at the Wildax vans and hope they suit us. Cheers

 

[Stevewheel]

Hi Paullr, can only re-enforce the comments of others here. Go and see the Wildax vans of course but do look at as many other offerings as you can stand. Again, as others have said it's important to try out as many of the normal functions as possible...making up the bed, lying down, moving around inside the van together with the doors shut....vans have a tendency to "feel" much roomier with doors open at a showroom. Above all, enjoy the process

 

[WynandJean]

Hello and welcome from West Midlands. ?

Wyn

 

[jezport]

Take a good look at PVCs there are so many layouts. They are nicer to drive, safer in an accident, less likely to leak, cost less to run and many models hold their price very well.

 

[Paullr]

Thanks jezport. That is really encouraging advice! It is so good to be "told" what is best and why when starting out.

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[Jaws]

Hope u have found the best thread. So we are looking to buy a compact motorhome. Elddis 120 is appealing, but have now discovered wildax aurora leisure. What do you all think of it? Does it compare favourably with a coachbuilt? Seems to tick our boxes of centres at each end of a van to allow one to sleep and one to read and get down country lanes. Any thoughts please? Cheers

Cannot ( will not ) comment on the eldis options, but all the Wildax I have seen have been very well put together..
If we ever decided to go small, that is the direction I would be heading

 

[jezport]

Thanks jezport. That is really encouraging advice! It is so good to be "told" what is best and why when starting out.

If you are near Newark I would reccomend SMC they have a good range of Van's to have a look at. We also looked at Brownhills for ideas as they have a lot to look at.

 

[Grianan]

The van which no one mentions but which I love is the westfalia Columbus. If you are near a dealer take a look, if nothing else it gives you something to compare with

 

[ABZSteve]

Well built

Welcome, you can edit your post for a certain amount of time

 

[Paullr]

Thanks for westfalia suggestion I shall definitely investigate it.

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[Paullr]

Thanks yet again jezport. I don't live too near Newark but shall look online at the stock.

 

[TerryL]

In defense of coachbuilts, your ideal van is the one that suits your way of motorhoming. As is the case with any manufactured item, you're going to get a "badun" every now and again and you'll hear about it. What you don't hear about are all the "gooduns". We've got a Swift, a much maligned manufacturer, but it's now 13 years old and today passed it's MoT and hab check with no faults, including being completely dry! So, with respect to the poster, don't assume all coachbuilts are rot traps just waiting to happen - you can get bad PCV's too although I do admit due to construction methods they are less likely to suffer from water ingress.

By all means look at PVC's and if they suit you all well and good. But please don't just ignore coachbuilts, there may just be one out there that ticks all your boxes. It's said that it takes 3 tries to get your "ideal" motorhome/campervan/whatever but with thorough investigation it can be done with the first - we did 11 years ago and we've still got it!

Oh yes and to the Fun. Good luck with your search.

 

[Paullr]

Thanks for the welcome and for balancing the discussion. We still have one or two coachbuilts in mind and will be looking at the vans with an open mind. The latter do seem to offer a better driving experience but as everyone has stressed the layout is the key. Hope I can beat the three attempts to find the ideal motor! Thanks again for your post.

 

[jezport]

Remember that there will always be things you have to compromise with. You will never get a layout that is 100% what you need, and even if you think you have done once you have used the van you may change your mind.
We have had a massive tag axle Frankia and the layout suited us 99%. The compromise was it didn't have cab aircon,it was older, it used more fuel ,it was big, it was wide on country roads, it cost mor on ferries. But we loved all the space. Our Current van can still carry and sleep 4 and we still have pretty much all the mod cons of the big van but in a smaller area. The compromise was on space, we cant do 3 things at once like use the shower, toilet and open the fridge, so it takes a little more planning. We can leave our house when selfish people have double parked on the street though.

 

[Paullr]

I can see that working out the appropriate compromises is going to be challenge, at the moment a good size for the uk roads is uppermost.off today for three days to try a coachbuilt we hired a couple of weeks ago and visiting the wildax showroom so maybe we will have moved on our thoughts by then. Typical of us to choose the start of snow and going over the Pennines for a trial. Glad you don’t get blocked in anymore. I am looking forward to balancing toilet trips with cooking and moving about, what have we started......