To buy a Chausson or not to buy a Chausson... (1 Viewer)

[Titchdog]

In the three years we have been Motorhoming as opposed to caravanning, we have had four motorhomes. Started with a Rollerteam, with an over the cab bed. That had to go when we discovered I was claustrophobic. Then we bought a shed with an L shaped lounge. That went to auction when we discovered the damp. Then we bought a pre Swift Bessacarr, which I loved, but hubby discovered fixed beds and we had to have one, so now we have a Bolero, which I like a lot, but now hubby has discovered island beds... We looked at a new Swift but tbh it was shoddy. Then someone suggested a European Motorhome as they have had island beds for years. We have looked at Burstners, Rapidos (my personal favourite) and Chausson which seems to offer the best value for money. 2012 Chausson Welcome for £36k. But is there a reason they are so cheap?

 

[tomm]

We recently PXd our Chausson for another vehicle , simply because a change in our touring style brought with it a decision to go for a different layout and storage requirements .

We had the Chausson for 7 years and the only problem we had with the actual conversion build was a very slight ingress of water at a roof level silicon run which had slightly lifted . Took our chosen repair company about 2 hours to find and fully repair the problem . Future damp checks were always well in spec...... All in all it was a good vehicle which served us well over 40K + miles usage .

 

[andy63]

I have a 2016 chausson 620 welome. . I didn't think it was cheap but yes the lower end of the motor home market..
My opinion is they are well thought out and innovative in many ways ,but the materials that go into the fittings is bordering on not fit... in order to try and keep the weight down
Most of the so called timber fittings are like egg box material..
And hardly fit to take a conventional screw.
They no longer come with spare wheels and there were endless little issues which were just plain poor workmanship...
Even if I could I wouldn't buy new again.. but I would consider a chausson because I don't think any of the other makes in that bracket are any different.
Andy.

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[irnbru]

So much so that I nicknamed @andy63 van "Fonti " But I have to say Andy has done a lot of improvements to him and he's well sorted now.

 

[lorger]

No idea if they're any good but I'm sure you'll only be keeping it for a few months anyway

Love the name as Titch was my last dog.

 

[andy63]

So much so that I nicknamed @andy63 van "Fonti " But I have to say Andy has done a lot of improvements to him and he's well sorted now.

You didn't tell folk what "fonti" stands for
But yes that's what I mean .. I bought new and then just started doing a load of work to it... might as well have just done another selfie
We are all entitled to make one mistake
Andy

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[Chris Laing]

I bought a new chausson 624 in April. The layout was exactly what we wanted but couldn't find anywhere else unless we paid 10k more. It's holding up really well but as said in other comments it's the some things that let it down.
3 broken cupboard catches already and we're still waiting on replacements after raising a warranty issue 2 months ago.
Also the side plastic panels started to overlap the cab doors. This was something I fixed myself with a couple of extra plastic push screws into the panels. Chausson should really have fitted more to stop the panels from stretching with the heat.
I like my motorhome and can live with the small problems I can fix myself. What I can do with is the lack after care if parts are needing replaced.
I just hope I don't need anything major under warranty like a boiler or fridge because I dread the difficulty getting chausson to replace parts like that.

 

[hilldweller]

Most of the so called timber fittings are like egg box material.
Andy.

So are the bulkheads in a 747 jet. Weight is everything.

 

[irnbru]

You didn't tell folk what "fonti" stands for

Im sure the scots will know, especially the weegies

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[andy63]

So are the bulkheads in a 747 jet. Weight is everything.

But in the 747 they would have to be fit for purpose...
Andy

 

[busby]

4 vans in 3 years,,i wouldn't worry,,you won't have it long enough to find fault,,BUSBY

 

[John Stanton]

We looked at Chausson while evaluating a replacement for the Hymer - main criteria being island bed you can actually sit up in while reading or drinking, a living area that isn't dominated by a bloody huge table, a good sized shower and a garage large enough for two fold up bikes etc that didn't leak. The Chausson 718 satisfied most criteria - we couldn't prove that the garage would be dry but it failed in the living area because it had something the size of a pool table bolted to the floor. To us it just didn't feel quite as well presented as the Rapido we eventually ordered. All down to personal taste I know.

Good luck with your search - given your rapid turnover of motor homes over just three years, I'd be inclined to really take your time to get what suits both of you

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[Geoff185]

We bought a Relax as the layout to us is ideal. So far so good , love it to drive. Tried the agent Lowdoms for spares (door catch covers were missing when bought it) they are worse than useless! Tried Emm Bee motor homes had response within the hour and parts ordered without problems! Local guy to us bought his from Lowdoms and doesn't have a good word to say about them.
You will only know when you use one if it suits
Good luck with decision

 

[mikebeaches]

We initially owned a used Rapido, then bought a new Chausson Flash S2 in 2010 and kept it for 5 years and 30,000 miles. Travelled all over Europe and it didn't let us down - comfortable too. Very innovative internal design and great payload - in excess of 700kg on a 3,500kg chassis.

But there was a difference in the quality of the materials used and build quality, compared to the second-hand Rapido we'd had originally. Hardly surprising, however, given Chausson is at the budget end of the market and Rapido is generally considered to be towards the premium end. And to be honest, I wasn't too bothered because the Chausson did the job and it was good to have a nice new van that drove much better than the old one, and had a stylish up-to-the-minute interior.

We now have another Rapido, but a van conversion this time, because we wanted to go 'skinny' and also try out fix twin beds and a comfortmatic gearbox. Otherwise we'd probably still have the Chausson, and I wouldn't rule out having another one.

 

[Scattycat]

A few months ago I was wandering around a mh sales outlet. As I was leaving a Chasson, which I liked the layout and a lot of the workmanship and fittings. The salesman asked if I liked the van,
I replied yes but was a little disappointed in 'some' of the finishing and detail. I showed him the areas that, in my opinion, made the van a little shoddy. Things like ironed on plastic edge trims that in some ares didn't fit as well as they could have done and round discs of fabric to cover screw heads. His response was, "well you get what you pay for". At a cost of over £50k I was a little surprised with his reply.
Personally, if I didn't want to go to the cost of a Rapido or an Hymer then value for money the newer Chasson vans are a good option, but don't expect the quality finish of some of the more expensive marques.

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[Gellyneck]

You didn't tell folk what "fonti" stands for

Would her \ his surname be Bitz by any chance?

Im sure the scots will know, especially the weegies

 

[Wombles]

We've been very happy with ours for the last few years - good motorhome option at that price point.
We may be selling ours soon to downsize to a PVC but sure there will be things we will miss like the huge garage

 

[Titchdog]

A lot to think about. Having looked at the New Swift and Eldridge both of which seemed very shoddy, (the Swift had a broken rear light and badly fitting cupboard doors) we are seriously considering European. I may try to convince him indoors to shell out a bit extra for a Rapido.

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[andy63]

Things like ironed on plastic edge trims that in some ares didn't fit as well as they could have done and round discs of fabric to cover screw heads.

Yep that's one of a list of things I have tried to sort.. the table edging would have opened your hand as well as any knife..
The edging between cab and hab had to be replaced with some alloy angle it should never have been used where foot traffic was the norm.. above the hob it just won't say attached because of heat. There is nowhere the edging hasn't lifted in places..
And I'll defy anyone to tell me their fold up shelf by the sink hasn't pulled off the wall or fallen to bits, the magnet is so strong and mine had two tiny screws holding the support bracket in place because whoever fitted it couldn't be arsed to remove a stop to allow them to fot all the screws..
I'll stop now or it will become more boring
Andy

 

[andy63]

Would her \ his surname be Bitz by any chance?

It's him BTW, and yes it would.

 

[Tony50]

We have a New Chausson 718XLB yes we had to put it together properly , yes I agree the dining table is far too big we are looking for a fold over table (yet to find one ), warranty parts have took 3 months to arrive , if you email Chausson direct all you get is a call from supplying dealer, but you can call Fiat customer services in Italy for the cost of a local UK call and get good advise , now that's what I call service, it's nothing to do with Chasson being French as we use to be a Renault truck service garage ,parts ordered by 12 noon arrived next day , Chausson want to wake up. I will see if I can get hold of their UK rep. at Nec this month , tried to talk to him last year but he wouldn't speak to customers ,I wonder why ? after all above we love the Motorhome just wish the company would wake up would wake up.

Tony A

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[irnbru]

Would her \ his surname be Bitz by any chance?

Spot on

 

[Puddleduck]

We had a 2010 Chausson and only changed it because both our sons presented us with grandchildren and we wanted to upsize.

I do like the innovative designs that Chausson come up with. The Welcome spec is much better quality finish than the Flash.

Would I have another Chausson? Yes if the layout and price was right.

I also agree that getting parts can be a nightmare. We had problems with rooflights (storm damage) and had to wait a couple of months for the new parts to arrive. The people we bought from (Knowepark) were very good though - far better than many other dealers mentioned in this thread.

 

[Spidey]

Our first motorhome was a Chausson. We chose it for its design and style. It didn't let us down, but things like the electric bed (not made by Chausson) was a hassle when it broke. We loved the van but changed after two years to a hymer with a fixed bed. I do notice the change in quality the fixtures and fittings are mbetter. Also it is quieter on the road not so many rattles as our Chausson 510. Kept its value quite well though when we part exchanged.

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[glenn2926]

We have a Chausson allegro 97. This has a transverse island bed. It is plated at 4 tonnes so loads of payload. As stated above the table it came with was massive but I just bought a 600 mm round table top and the socket to fit the existing leg. The bed is very comfortable and so far (three years) we still think we made the correct choice of van.

 

[Sandancers]

We bought a Best of Ten flash in 2014 from new, first motor home and bought it new. It does everything we need it to do and it does it well.

We went to one of the big shows the year after buying it expecting to drool over other vans, but honestly we could not find a MH of any reasonable price that would beat the Flash 10 for us.

Yes, it has a couple of inherent faults, such as no spare wheel and the electric bed has a crazy control system, but I will be solving both of those problems this winter.

So overall, no regrets at all for buying it.

 

[Snackweasle]

look at benimar tessoro/mileo. they have island beds and are good value. tessoro is on ford chassis and has 170hp

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