Good alternatives to the Autotrail 700?

almichie

almichie

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Good morning to you all,

After a 350 mile (wasted) trip to Manchester to view a 2016 AT 700 yesterday (the dinette had 50% moisture levels and an engine oil leak) we have been trawling through the usual pages to find Bailey’s and Autotrials…

Are there any other Motorhomes with over cab / drop down front beds with dinette / rear lounge arrangements worth considering? We have up to £50k to spend and don’t mind dealer or private, as I will carry out a thorough examination no matter what… we don’t need the belts, just want the space. The 700 is ideal as it’s 7.5m, has the beds and storage that we want, but comes with a reasonable risk of damp at some point.

Happy to share information on the 2016 motorhome privately if anyone is tempted to view. I have it on good authority that it could end up with Spinneys which is local.

Many thanks, Alistair
 
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almichie said:
Good morning to you all,

After a 350 mile (wasted) trip to Manchester to view a 2016 AT 700 yesterday (the dinette had 50% moisture levels and an engine oil leak) we have been trawling through the usual pages to find Bailey’s and Autotrials…

Are there any other Motorhomes with over cab / drop down front beds with dinette / rear lounge arrangements worth considering? We have up to £50k to spend and don’t mind dealer or private, as I will carry out a thorough examination no matter what… we don’t need the belts, just want the space. The 700 is ideal as it’s 7.5m, has the beds and storage that we want, but comes with a reasonable risk of damp at some point.

Happy to share information on the 2016 motorhome privately if anyone is tempted to view. I have it on good authority that it could end up with Spinneys which is local.

Many thanks, Alistair
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Apacheroamer may be of interest given your for sale classified?
 
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Lots of Autotrail’s etc at Oaktree Motorhomes in Nottingham when we were there yesterday. Great people to deal with.
 
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If you want a damp free motorhome, I would forget UK built, and look for anything made in Germany ..

Hymer do models with rear lounge, front dinette and drop down over cab bed

just an example.. and in budget

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In the Autotrail range the 700 and the scout have the layout you want. The scout being the higher spec version.
The rear U lounge is very much a British thing so most vans will be UK models, there are some European but not so many.

I have had 2 of the 700's. First one was a 2005 and kept that for 5 years, solid as a rock with the older 2.8jtd engine and cab. Never gave me any damp issues and mechanically just a wheel bearing.
Then swopped to a brand new 2012 model, had that for 7 year, Loved it and did many miles inc Morocco twice and numerous trips to Spain.
Mechanically only issue was a DPF sensor fault. HOWEVER 6 out of 7 years it had damp issues, luckily covered by the 10 year ingress warranty that had just started when i bought mine. The dinette area on the 700 is a known issue, mine had to go to the factory twice for repair. So this area should be inspected closely before you buy one.

We used to take out grandkids away a lot and the 700 / scout is well suited as a family van but also very roomy for just 2.
The rear lounge could be used as it was or sometimes when travelling we left it made as a bed so we could just jump in after a long days drive.
If you do go for Autotrail , check it still has the ingress warranty and all hab checks are done up to date.
 
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We have 2017 Apache a love ours. An alternative that may interest you is the Rapido 8094 it’s a A class type with a rear lounge and Iam sure Burstner also do a rear lounge one as well.
Hope it helps
 
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We love the fact that the 700 is just 7.5 meters and has everything we want, and apart from the damp issue felt great inside.

Does anyone know where the dinette damp stems from? Is there a particular entry point to look out for?

Many thanks for the replies so far
 
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Would bepend on where the damp is, but possible area would be the window probably needing removed and resealed. Also around about that area there is an external seal joint just behind the drivers doors this may also be the issue? We have just had our habcheck carried out last week and our highest fig was 12 and that was around the rear garage door so we just need to keep an eye on that everything else was 10 so happy for another year.
 
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sadly autotrail have the nickname watertrail for good reason and seem to have done little to resolve the repeated failures due to damp

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So, we’ve viewed four now and all have had damp issues. The first above, a second in Paignton has 92% at a dealer, the third just came in to another dealer and the floor and garage was so wet they are replacing the floor and another in Leicester today which was 35% around the dinette area and very tatty.

We did find a dry tribute 736 but didn’t like the rear lounge as it was smaller, although there were signs of re-sealing on the drivers side.

Should we consider a damp van from a dealer that is repaired? Never thought I would say this but if it is done well would it be better than buying a dry one that might turn wet?
 
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