Cathargo Problems

[Just us on Tour]

Hi Everyone .
Advice needed please from anyone who has ever owned a Cathargo MH. We are considering purchasing a new or nearly new Cathargo motorhome.I am trying to justify if they are worth the extra money ? Has anyone spent their hard earned cash on a Cathargo only to be disappointed regarding the build quality,water ingress or any other major issues.
you can find tales of woe online about most manufacturers, however there does not seem to be much about Cathargo ?
I appreciate they are not sold in the numbers in the UK than their British counterparts, however I just thought it may be worth putting up this post for my new MH Funster friends for their valuable advice before making my final decision.
thanks all .

 

[somertonion]

We bought a Carthago Compactline i138 nine years ago. We had an unfortunate problem with delamination in the floor not too long after we have bought it, but it seems this was a problem related to a particular batch of motorhomes. Ours was one of the first of this model off the production line and I believe the early teething problems were soon resolved. In retrospect we should have waited a year before. Making our purchase. We have several friends with a similar model (and other models) that have not experienced anything similar. It has been corrrected. I think we were just unlucky. Apart from that we have had no problems with the vehicle and have had many wonderful trips in her, some of them 3 or 4 months in duration. She is snug in winter, the double-skin floor protecting water etc in very cold temperatures, and the heating is very effective. We have found the fixings and fittings to be of good quality and everything onboard is original, still working well 9 years on. We have never regretted the extra expense of purchasing our Katy. I cannot fairly comment on water ingression as we garage our vehicle when she’s off the road, but we have had no problems. Nor am I aware of any problems amongst our friends who also own a Carthago. The only criticism that I have heard on several occasions from fellow Carthago owners is that getting spares from the factory can be long-winded affair. But once again, I will temper this by saying this delay may/may not have been partly down to the agent we purchased our motorhome from. And it may be true of other brands too? All in all, we have been very happy with our motorhome.

 

[G7UXG]

We’re on our fourth Carthago. Two Chic C Lines followed by two Chic E Lines. Why so many? Because we decided to upgrade from C Line to E Line, and then bought the wrong layout for us and swapped the first E Line (a 64 XL QB) for what we really wanted, a 50 LE DA.

Never had any problems with any of them as far as the Carthago bit is concerned (had a Fiat problem with the first one). Not found anything better for the money any time we’ve looked.

They seem well built and not prone to water ingress or other major problems.

I guess the fact I’ve had four tells you what I think of them.

 

[OldCodger]

We switched from Frankia to Carthago in March. Build quality is as good and the ride is quieter. Our only major gripe is the size of the table. No matter where you put it it’s in the way. 98% of the time there’s just the two of us so we don’t need a bigun’

Other gripes (minors but constant irritations). Nowhere near enough USB sockets installed and when there are 12v sockets they are all Hella - not the usual cigarette lighter type!

Ours didn’t come with central locking but that may be model dependent

I do miss the power of the 3l diesel Mercedes engine on the Frankia and the ride at speed is a little light in the steering.

But those are just niggles. We love it

 

[Gover]

This year we have downsized to a Carthago Chic-C line. We have used in for 10 weeks and just returned 5000 miles from Montenegro. I agree about the table size and ours has a very poor range of movement (we have no floor button to allow rotation). We have had serious problems with the door not closing easily or properly. The rubbers etc have been replaced and it has been "realigned" at the Dealers. However it is still a problem. I have an EP levelling system fitted and at times the door closes more easily and at times is worse. This makes we wonder if the body/chassis is flexing with the levellers.

Only other problem relate to front windscreen blind having just split.

I agree with 12v and USB etc bit, this is a personal thing and familiar on most German designed vans. These are easily improved.

The Carthago body plan is otherwise carefully thought out and very functional. Because it is built with weight and payload in mind I would say that build quality is 'mid-range'. However we are both very pleased with it.

Ours is on the Mercedes chassis and is heavy on fuel and AdBlue - 21mpg and 5% fuel/Adblue usage. My driving style has not changed and with my previous 9.5 ton Phoenix with a 6.8 litre diesel engine was 19mpg (it did not use AdBlue hence Euro 3).

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[SteveandSue]

Build quality of our Carthago seemed excellent to us moving from a Burstner - we had no issues with build quality. If buying new then seems pretty much everything you would get on a British van is an extra - but you pays your money takes your choice - build quality is better than gadgets - Choose your dealer very carefully as you need to go back to the same dealer for any warranty work to avoid hassle - Just because you are paying an eye watering amount of money don't expect good service from All Dealers - In our area Camper UK or ES Hartley we have found to be better than most- Now have a Malibu - which is part of the Carthago company -
If purchasing nearly new - double check the paperwork with it - it must have been checked by a Carthago Dealer for water ingress not any approved workshop - 10 year water ingresss warranty and there are a lot of nearly new Germany built vans that have not had the checks carried out correctly as required.

 

[KUSKUS]

We recently changed our Hymer B680 Starline s to a Carthago C tourer 144 because I lost my licence due to medical problems.
This motorhome is the quietest one we have ever owned and we have had a number, very few rattles or squeaks drives more like a car.
Agree about the table , have removed ours and use a fold up one when eating meals.
Build quality is excellent even in areas that are not obvious. Ours was purchased privately and unfortunately has missed an inspection during covid so hasn't got any water ingress warranty but i am not unduly worried as there is no wood in the construction.
Ours has been up plated to 3850KG which is essential as at 3500KG there is very little payload.

 

[Lenny HB]

Carthago C tourer 144 because I lost my licence due to medical problems.

Ours has been up plated to 3850KG which is essential as at 3500KG there is very little payload.

You still need a C1 licence to drive it.

 

[KUSKUS]

Not a problem for me at the moment Lenny as I still haven't got a licence, my wife is driving she has the required C1.

 

[Just us on Tour]

We bought a Carthago Compactline i138 nine years ago. We had an unfortunate problem with delamination in the floor not too long after we have bought it, but it seems this was a problem related to a particular batch of motorhomes. Ours was one of the first of this model off the production line and I believe the early teething problems were soon resolved. In retrospect we should have waited a year before. Making our purchase. We have several friends with a similar model (and other models) that have not experienced anything similar. It has been corrrected. I think we were just unlucky. Apart from that we have had no problems with the vehicle and have had many wonderful trips in her, some of them 3 or 4 months in duration. She is snug in winter, the double-skin floor protecting water etc in very cold temperatures, and the heating is very effective. We have found the fixings and fittings to be of good quality and everything onboard is original, still working well 9 years on. We have never regretted the extra expense of purchasing our Katy. I cannot fairly comment on water ingression as we garage our vehicle when she’s off the road, but we have had no problems. Nor am I aware of any problems amongst our friends who also own a Carthago. The only criticism that I have heard on several occasions from fellow Carthago owners is that getting spares from the factory can be long-winded affair. But once again, I will temper this by saying this delay may/may not have been partly down to the agent we purchased our motorhome from. And it may be true of other brands too? All in all, we have been very happy with our motorhome.

Thank you for your reply Kuskus that was very helpful.

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[DangerMousy]

We started with a Bailey, then got a Rapido, and now have a Carthago C-Line. All of them were several years old when we got them so although I can't comment on the build quality/snagging when first delivered, I can tell you how well they're doing after a few year's use.

The Bailey was 2 years old but had previously been a hired out. I was in surprisingly good nick and we didn't have any major build quality related issues, though all the fittings felt very lightweight. Also it did rattle a lot on the road, and in terms of design and layout there were several areas that could have been better designed.

The Rapido was 2.5 years old when we got it and had hardly been used. The fittings felt a lot more solid than the Bailey, and it was much quieter to drive. It was better designed too and made good use of the available space. We had a few minor maintenance issues, but nothing major.

Our Carthago was 5 years old when we got it and I think the previous owner had used it hard: there was quite a long list of things that the dealer had to replace before we picked it up (and the parts did take a while). Yet despite that, it feels better built than either of our previous ones. It's also really well designed with some ingenious storage solutions, an a good size hideaway TV (i believe newer models have an even larger TV). I'd not hesitate to buy another one.

 

[DangerMousy]

Agree about the table , have removed ours and use a fold up one when eating meals.

Yep, the tables are stupidly huge, why can't they use folding ones like we had in the Rapido? We kept the leg and just replaced the table top with a smaller one (very easy job).

 

[Pausim]

Very happy with our Carthago. No regrets about quality or table size, we just move it around.

 

[Dorset Diver]

Generally as said above. We are in our 8th year with our C-Line. No major problems, comfortable and nice to drive.

 

[Stubas]

Hi
We have our 2016 c-line for sale on here and autotrader at the moment. We have been very satisfied with the quality of construction and have had no issues with water ingress. At this sort of price range it has to be one of the best available.They are truly excellent motorhomes.