Autotrail or Auto-Sleeper, what would you buy?

I’ve owned neither, so perhaps my post is moot, but on the subject of customer service I have nothing but praise for Rapido. When I needed technical support and advice on a 10 year old van, the tech manager replied immediately from France and sorted my query. This was good old-fashioned customer service and backup for an already excellent product. Highbridge (the dealer) has also been superb with their after-sales service.
 
Thank you all for your comments, regards Mark.
 
I've no personal experience of either, but, we have friends who bought an AT tag axle van brand new in July 2019. They were given a list of snags that the dealer in Newark said they would sort out once they had taken their summer then Christmas holidays. One of the defects were listed as "bed box". Our friends couldn't work it out as everything seemed ok with nothing obvious wrong.

Anyway, down into Spain they went, started noticing things like screws going rusty both inside and outside the van. The garage door didn't fit the aperture properly, almost as if the aperture was cut too big? The aerial flew off the roof going through France and nearly took out a taxi behind them. They called the dealer who's response was that they better make sure the roof is sealed otherwise they may get water ingress and it might effect their warranty?

The electrical system was all up the shoot, solar panel couldn't put anything into the 2 leisure batteries so they were pretty well stuffed when wild camping. The salesman sold them all the bits n bob's to allow them to be off grid for a considerable amount of time....yeah right!

Anyway, they ended cutting their winter holiday short by 6 weeks just because of the mounting problems they were having with the van. They returned to the UK and as agreed, when they collected their "brand new" van back in July, they took it back to the dealer for the warranty work and to have the issues that the dealer knew about when they collected the van rectified.

Surprisingly, when our friends called the dealer they said they could only do a few of the jobs and they denied providing a list of defects that were obviously picked up at the pdi stage. Fortunately our friends found the list, the one with the bed box issue, and sent it across to the dealer in Newark.

After contacting the dealer a few days later they were told that the bed box problem was "Damp" and that it was a major job.

Well after spending around 90k for the van of their dreams, our friends are now lumbered with an 8 month old van that's riddled with damp and numerous other major issues.

Before anyone says it, they are not confrontational people, they trusted the dealer and to a certain degree were naive in accepting the sales and service guff. Personally, we would have interrogated the dealer at the point of collection and then bounced it back to them for a full refund.
However, our friends had been tucked up with a poor p/x price on a 2 year old top of the range twin axle caravan, had a levelling system fitted plus loads of other extras fitted, so I suppose they felt that they had been led too far down the road to be able to recoup what it stood them in.

I'm sure the dealer is in breach of contract for selling a van with the knowledge it was damp, and not disclosing that fact has surely deprived our friends of their right to return the van for a full refund, according to the consumer rights act.

Personally I'd be hounding the dealer for a full refund and be trying to come out of it not out of pocket. Mind you, they wont get their caravan back cause the dealer has sold that now and made bundles out of it.

Very sad but it seems that Autotrail seem to have form for this type of thing. It may be an isolated case but..........
 
Thank you for taking the time to tell us about your friends dealings.Feel very sorry for them but feel so frustrated that they can treat us like this,it really is not good enough.
Regards Mark.
 
Having had 8 completely trouble free years, I’d go for my AT any day of the year

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my van has damp front to back n shower room n floor it’s only 12 months old what can I do I’m gutted
 
Btg said:
my van has damp front to back n shower room n floor it’s only 12 months old what can I do I’m gutted
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Back to dealer for a refund? or full rebuild by AT? either way you want a courtesy MH whilst sorted.
 
There are good and bad vans in all makes we have owned an AS for ten years and it has been near perfect. Met a N&B owner cursing his van and taking it back to the factory for the fifth time.
You are lucky or you are not
 
You are within the warranty period and the goods are not of merchantable quality

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What on earth does one buy. Reading above makes you think if hotel stays are safer.
Our 18 plate AT has been confirmed having damp. 2nd opinion is to be obtained soon. If proven to be it will be repaired professionally then got shot of.
I have notified AT who have come back to me several times. I have answered all their queries as the van is just out of warranty. They have accepted the few months over warranty period was due to the current circumstances re SD, service stations closed etc. I am to keep them informed after the 2nd opinion.
A claim will go in.
If they honour the warranty claim i will consider another new AT as i am still looking for a new van. If they don't, well the list will be one shorter.

Have our first walk around a Motorhome show thing at Perterbourough. Hopefully finally see some different models.
 
bobnick said:
What on earth does one buy. Reading above makes you think if hotel stays are safer.
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I have three times been evacuated from hotels in the middle of the night. Kitchen fires.
 
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Btg said:
my van has damp front to back n shower room n floor it’s only 12 months old what can I do I’m gutted
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Get in touch with Vicky on the Autotrail Unhappy Owners Club (Facebook) and she'll be able to advise you.

Vicky will also be able to do the legal stuff including the letters of dispatch etc.

She is always helping out Autotrail owners with rejecting their poorly built vehicles and will bend over backwards to help you out.

Good luck,

Andrew
 
I wish id heard of vicky when i had same issues as paulypauls friend,with both autotrail and a certain dealership at newark, both had no customer service, dealers couldnt sort out the comfortmatic gearbox they had it for months and it was still in pieces on service bay floor,i wrote to a motorhome mag and got some real advise from a guy(i think they called him jack and he had a grey beard and he had a column in the magazine ) we ended up losing lots of money by buying a new van,im sure if id have known about this forum i would have fought ,but like paulypauls friends im not confrontational and it was actually making me ill my friend later told me i should have got black horse involved as they were the lenders and as the van actually belonged to them ,they had a bigger axe to swing…… lesson learned
i think autotrails look lovely very stylish but the older ones are better built,
the new one we exchanged for was cr#p flimsy rattley cr#p upholstery(cheap)
we didnt have it long ,
part exed again for tag axle arapaho frontier range …. Nicer spec absolutely loved it
family illness and commitment forced the sale,i was very sad to see it go………i actually cried lol cos it was my dream van ………heyho thats life……
id love another older arapaho but cant see it happening
itll probably be a pvc for us cos hubbys 66 next with diabetes so would prob lose c1 at 70 :)
cheers pampam
i like hymers too

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pampam said:
I wish id heard of vicky when i had same issues as paulypauls friend,with both autotrail and a certain dealership at newark, both had no customer service, dealers couldnt sort out the comfortmatic gearbox they had it for months and it was still in pieces on service bay floor,i wrote to a motorhome mag and got some real advise from a guy(i think they called him jack and he had a grey beard and he had a column in the magazine ) we ended up losing lots of money by buying a new van,im sure if id have known about this forum i would have fought ,but like paulypauls friends im not confrontational and it was actually making me ill my friend later told me i should have got black horse involved as they were the lenders and as the van actually belonged to them ,they had a bigger axe to swing…… lesson learned
i think autotrails look lovely very stylish but the older ones are better built,
the new one we exchanged for was cr#p flimsy rattley cr#p upholstery(cheap)
we didnt have it long ,
part exed again for tag axle arapaho frontier range …. Nicer spec absolutely loved it
family illness and commitment forced the sale,i was very sad to see it go………i actually cried lol cos it was my dream van ………heyho thats life……
id love another older arapaho but cant see it happening
itll probably be a pvc for us cos hubbys 66 next with diabetes so would prob lose c1 at 70 :)
cheers pampam
i like hymers too
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You wont necessarily lose a C1 because you have diabetes. I have it and got my C1 no issues. I'm 71 (a young one ;) )
 
Hey, just come across this thread whilst considering a purchase of an AS Corinium Duo.

I‘d just like to say that many people own British made motorhomes that have provided them with years of excellent service. The problem, as with most other sites (including a global Mercedes Benz site where I am a Super Moderator), a handful of owners have an issue and boy oh boy do they let everybody know. I’m not suggesting that some of the above posts are not legitimate and my heart goes out to these unfortunate owners but the truth is that when people are disappointed or angry about a specific product they repeatedly post their tales of woe for a very long time!

Happy owners never post….

Peace and love to all but think before you attack companies! There’s people’s livelihoods at stake….

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TCG said:
Oh Dear.... what a question, :eek: lets wait for the anti British manufacturer mob... tin hats on:rofl:
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Think both are foreign owned so not British. They were both decent vans years ago when Brit owned..BUSBY.
 
Phileas Fogg said:
There are good and bad vans in all makes we have owned an AS for ten years and it has been near perfect. Met a N&B owner cursing his van and taking it back to the factory for the fifth time.
You are lucky or you are not
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Ten years ago they were decent vans.BUSBY.
 
One thing to consider about the AS Corinium Duo is the massive overhang on the rear, when turning there is going to be
a large swing. Also where is the storage for all your necessary items?.

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We have never owned an Autotrail but we bought a brand new Autosleeper Ravenna some years ago. About eight months and five internal gas leaks later we lost confidence in it and traded it in. We may have been unlucky but we would not buy another one.
 
Have AT, no problems apart from normal wear and tear.

Very happy owners and wouldn't swop it either.
 
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Love my Autosleeper Winchcombe and had a Broadway FB before with none of the problems experienced by Neckender .
Fantastic support and service from Derby Motorhomes. Never seen a bad review for that dealer.
 
Hobson’s choice I’m afraid. We have had early Autosleepers and never had a moments trouble then in 1999 bought a new Swift Sundance, again faultless. Then 2003 a Bessacar not too bad but corrosion problems with the side skirts. Then 2008 another Bessacar 765P had a few problems but resolved and kept until 2012. Then an Elddis Aspire 255. Lots of grief legal action to get it resolved. Had the nearside wall come away from the rest of the van. Elddis collected it, took it back to the factory and to be fair made a really good job of fixing it. Kept it until 2019. Wife always hankered for an A class so bought a Burstner Iexo 736. Quite a few niggles with this one find it is an uncomfortable rids shakes rattles and rolls feels every pothole so not much difference between the various makes. Which you good luck.
 
raysalaugh said:
One thing to consider about the AS Corinium Duo is the massive overhang on the rear, when turning there is going to be
a large swing. Also where is the storage for all your necessary items?.
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Good point Ray, but all we need is a couple of deck chairs and a BBQ that will easily fit in the external storage found under the bed Bikes would go on a rack as IMHO I think that sacrificing internal space in favour of a garage is a waste of space.

All else like hook up would go in the smaller storage lockers….

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