Some advice on this Pilote G830LC please

[AndyJJDavies]

Hi all
New to the forum. We've been motorhoming using rental vans for a while now to get a feel for the best layout for us and have narrowed it down to a island bed A class with a good payload. We have found a Pilote Explorateur Galaxy G830LC that seems to tick all the boxes.



We are planning to check it out tomorrow but I don't have much experience of Pilote - does this look like a good deal? To be honest, it's a bit older (2008) and more miles (32k) than we we're used to - is there anything to be concerned about and anything specific I should be checking?

thanks in advance for any help
Andy

 

[AndyJJDavies]

I Have the smaller 730 with the 3 ltr engine same as the 830. I Can see from the photos that the front suspension has not been upgraded to cope with the extra weight. I had to have stronger suspension fitted as it was constantly riding on the bump stops.
The uprated suspension was an option with the 3 ltr engine when new.
It was a common problem. @Techno had the same with his rapid.
Check for signs of water ingress around the windows. 2 of mine have had to be resealed. Also check the side walls at floor level under the garage doors

Thanks for the lookouts. Do you know if the suspension can be upgraded retrospectively?

 

[lunarman]

Thanks for the lookouts. Do you know if the suspension can be upgraded retrospectively?

Yes it can I had vb comfort springs fitted by Conrad Anderson. You can also get Goldschmit springs fitted. I believe Dave Newell also does it.

 

[rb62]

We had a 2008 780 from them last November,excellent service,upgraded from 4500kg to 5200kg in the price,should have asked if they would do the front springs at the same time but never mind ,Dave Newell did them at a very reasonable price and improved the ride no end.

 

[AndyJJDavies]

Yes it can I had vb comfort springs fitted by Conrad Anderson. You can also get Goldschmit springs fitted. I believe Dave Newell also does it.

We had a 2008 780 from them last November,excellent service,upgraded from 4500kg to 5200kg in the price,should have asked if they would do the front springs at the same time but never mind ,Dave Newell did them at a very reasonable price and improved the ride no end.

This sounds like a no-brainer, thanks.

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[AndyJJDavies]

I have no idea if it's 'market price' or even close, but do know that 50k to spend on a used van gives lots of options !

You would think so but we have a very specific list of requirements and have found only a handful that meet them. We are at the stage where we know within seconds of stepping into a van if it suits us or not. That said, we are in no rush and happy to wait for the 'right' van.
It will be interesting to see if this is it

 

[DuxDeluxe]

You would think so but we have a very specific list of requirements and have found only a handful that meet them. We are at the stage where we know within seconds of stepping into a van if it suits us or not. That said, we are in no rush and happy to wait for the 'right' van.

That's the attitude. Eyes wide open. You'll never get the sharp suited hard sell from either Steve or Bill. We never even considered a Pilote, or even an A class before - stepped into the van and that was it. A nice feeling

 

[Popeye]

Pop down and have a drive of mine Andy see what over 8.5metres feels like if nothing else or pop up to Stratford on Avon meet and have a good look and listen to others.

Remember they are all a compromise, mine has everything I want but would have preferred it shorter, not an option as I have a Piaggio LT 300 trike in the rear garage and two electric bikes in the forward garage, dangerously close to my payload limit now with Hydraulic self levelers and Air Assisted rear suspension.

Half the fun is finding the right MoHo and waiting till the day you pick it up, hard to sleep the night before though.

 

[DuxDeluxe]

Pop down and have a drive of mine Andy see what over 8.5metres feels like if nothing else or pop up to Stratford on Avon meet and have a good look and listen to others.

Remember they are all a compromise, mine has everything I want but would have preferred it shorter, not an option as I have a Piaggio LT 300 trike in the rear garage and two electric bikes in the forward garage, dangerously close to my payload limit now with Hydraulic self levelers and Air Assisted rear suspension.

Half the fun is finding the right MoHo and waiting till the day you pick it up, hard to sleep the night before though.

Well, you could improve the payload by ditching some of your very fine grog collection in our direction. Only pleased to help.....

 

[Scout]

Well, you could improve the payload by ditching some of your very fine grog collection in our direction. Only pleased to help.....

I'll help you with that too its only fair we share the burdon

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[AndyJJDavies]

Pop down and have a drive of mine Andy see what over 8.5metres feels like if nothing else or pop up to Stratford on Avon meet and have a good look and listen to others.

Remember they are all a compromise, mine has everything I want but would have preferred it shorter, not an option as I have a Piaggio LT 300 trike in the rear garage and two electric bikes in the forward garage, dangerously close to my payload limit now with Hydraulic self levelers and Air Assisted rear suspension.

Half the fun is finding the right MoHo and waiting till the day you pick it up, hard to sleep the night before though.

Thanks for the offer
Yeah, we know we will have to compromise somewhere but we are clear on what are our 'must haves'. Originally we were looking at getting an American RV, then an Autotrail Commanche until we decided on the Continental route so i've been out in quite a few vans of 9m+ and I'm quite happy with the length thing ().

You are right about the search, the excitement of getting a new toy mixed with the trepidation of knowing you are about to spend a shed load of money on something that might turn out to be a lemon.

 

[DuxDeluxe]

Thanks for the offer
Yeah, we know we will have to compromise somewhere but we are clear on what are our 'must haves'. Originally we were looking at getting an American RV, then an Autotrail Commanche until we decided on the Continental route so i've been out in quite a few vans of 9m+ and I'm quite happy with the length thing ().

You are right about the search, the excitement of getting a new toy mixed with the trepidation of knowing you are about to spend a shed load of money on something that might turn out to be a lemon.

It's a Pilote. We googled "Pilote problems" several ways and found nothing. One Funster on here had a few issues with a g600, though, but generally, they are very well regarded. The wood finish inside yours (potentially) is much nicer than the maple effect inside ours. So, if you like it, look for the extras as suggested as well as money off. Above all, keep us posted on how you get on

 

[rb62]

We used to have an Autotrail Savannah,we had no problems with ours
but we found it a bit cramped and low on payload so started looking last June.Needed two extra travelling seats and beds for the odd occasion
we had grand children! Kept finding the 780 and dissregarding it as it did't have a half dinette,then one day I actually read the desctiption,
4 travelling seats! (typical bloke just looking at the pictures)
So off we went to see it and as soon as we went in we knew it was the one
only last night we were sat in the van and my wife said she gets more impressed with it every time we go out. Drop down bed down and four sat comfortably round table.

 

[DuxDeluxe]

We used to have an Autotrail Savannah,we had no problems with ours
but we found it a bit cramped and low on payload so started looking last June.Needed two extra travelling seats and beds for the odd occasion
we had grand children! Kept finding the 780 and dissregarding it as it did't have a half dinette,then one day I actually read the desctiption,
4 travelling seats! (typical bloke just looking at the pictures)
So off we went to see it and as soon as we went in we knew it was the one
only last night we were sat in the van and my wife said she gets more impressed with it every time we go out. Drop down bed down and four sat comfortably round table.

Ours doesn't have a fixed table, which is brilliant for the dogs to have crate room secured to the passenger seats and also for entertaining - have fed 8 quite comfortably. The real clincher was the full width bathroom across the back but the downside to that was no garage, which would have been perfect.

@AndyJJDavies - if you want many pages of distressing reading, have a look at poor @knokinonabit 's thread on Autotrail woes. Looking forward to seeing how you get on - as you say, you will know as soon as you step inside

 

[AndyJJDavies]

So we went and saw the van today. It's in great condition apart from the cab area which is a bit of a mess really with ripped dash material, some very ugly bulky screws put in the top of the dash by the last owner (assume to try and stop squeaks?), glove box lids not closing etc. This area was also really rattly on the test drive. That said, apart from that It drove nicely and Hayes say they will get all of this repaired before the van is handed over but it did dull an otherwise great van.

Unfortunatly (fortunatly?) we also had a look at a Le Yoyager LX9 they had. Same age and similar miles to the 830, it's a 3.0 Merc automatic 7.9m, 5,000kg and ticked all the boxes. It drove very nice (love the Merc Auto box!) and was absolutely stunning condition inside and out, to be honest if you didn't know you would think it was no more than a couple of years old. The only problem it's £60k, £10k more than the 830

We had a chat with Bill and there is a small amount of movement on both but not much, a couple of thousand at most.

So we have a quandry; our heart says the Le Voyager but that's a hell of a lot of money from an '08 reg (even if it does look like a '14), our head says the 830 as it's a bit roomier and a lot cheaper but not sure how well they are going to be able to sort the dash out to the same standard as the rest of the van. But then it's also a lot of money for an '08 reg.

It's got to be said both vans have every single accessory we will ever need and are very solidly built, much better most new vans we have seen at any price.

We need to give this some more thought

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[AndyJJDavies]

Actually, the 830 was missing something, a fly screen door which doesn't sound very important but we travel with two cats and this is pretty critical to keep them inside. Investigating now if there are after market options.

 

[DuxDeluxe]

So we went and saw the van today. It's in great condition apart from the cab area which is a bit of a mess really with ripped dash material, some very ugly bulky screws put in the top of the dash by the last owner (assume to try and stop squeaks?), glove box lids not closing etc. This area was also really rattly on the test drive. That said, apart from that It drove nicely and Hayes say they will get all of this repaired before the van is handed over but it did dull an otherwise great van.

Unfortunatly (fortunatly?) we also had a look at a Le Yoyager LX9 they had. Same age and similar miles to the 830, it's a 3.0 Merc automatic 7.9m, 5,000kg and ticked all the boxes. It drove very nice (love the Merc Auto box!) and was absolutely stunning condition inside and out, to be honest if you didn't know you would think it was no more than a couple of years old. The only problem it's £60k, £10k more than the 830

We had a chat with Bill and there is a small amount of movement on both but not much, a couple of thousand at most.

So we have a quandry; our heart says the Le Voyager but that's a hell of a lot of money from an '08 reg (even if it does look like a '14), our head says the 830 as it's a bit roomier and a lot cheaper but not sure how well they are going to be able to sort the dash out to the same standard as the rest of the van. But then it's also a lot of money for an '08 reg.

It's got to be said both vans have every single accessory we will ever need and are very solidly built, much better most new vans we have seen at any price.

We need to give this some more thought

Well, the cab is a bit disappointing as those rattles are frustrating but ultimately not hard to fix. Certainly don't need ugly screws. Dry lube and some discreet packing normally works. A nice problem to have though.

Astonished that there was no fly screen. It is a cassette type fitting so wonder if it got damaged and removed.....

 

[AndyJJDavies]

Astonished that there was no fly screen. It is a cassette type fitting so wonder if it got damaged and removed.....

We thought it was pretty strange too but it doesn't look like there is enough room to fit one of the typical cassette types. We'll have to take a closer look but sure there's a solution.

 

[DuxDeluxe]

We thought it was pretty strange too but it doesn't look like there is enough room to fit one of the typical cassette types. We'll have to take a closer look but sure there's a solution.

Oh, there will be a solution, I'm sure. Just surprising that a high end van lacks a fly screen. It was a UK spec "extra" on ours and only an inch thick.

We tend to use the K9 dog bars - mostly to stop @cruiser pinching my scotch. Oh, and to keep the idiot spaniel in.

 

[rb62]

We had exactly the same screws along the dash in ours,all they were doing was cracking the plastic! Trying to fasten the plastic (bodywork)
to the dash (fiat chassis) made no sense so I took them out and fitted some foam draught excluder which stopped all the plastic squeaks.
Having the front springs replace also improved things no end and levelled the van up.
When we took it in later to have one of the trips replaced Bill and Chris
took it out and sorted the rest of the rattles out. Luckily we only live 25 miles from them!

before/after

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[AndyJJDavies]

Having the front springs replace also improved things no end and levelled the van up.

I checked the suspension, Hayes have had the VB springs fitted already for the same reason you mentioned, it was bottoming out on the stops all the time.

 

[StitchesnFluff]

If you bought either of them which would you regret not buying the most?
(That's of course if you can afford ) happy choosing.

 

[Popeye]

Well, you could improve the payload by ditching some of your very fine grog collection in our direction. Only pleased to help.....

I'll help you with that too its only fair we share the burden

Well there's two guys I would love to buy a drink for just as soon as you're up and at'em and out in your MoHo's....... raising a virtual glass most days guys..

 

[DuxDeluxe]

Well there's two guys I would love to buy a drink for just as soon as you're up and at'em and out in your MoHo's....... raising a virtual glass most days guys..

Cheers Griff.

I only drink the very finest malt, you know........not that Aldi Glenratspiss you usually decant into the old 18yo bottles

 

[Popeye]

not that Aldi Glenratspiss you usually decant into the old 18yo bottles

Oh!................ Houston, I think we have been sussed! .........Advice please; over.

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[AndyJJDavies]

If you bought either of them which would you regret not buying the most?
(That's of course if you can afford ) happy choosing.

I'd regret not getting the the Le Voyageur but not sure I'd regret it £10k's worth

 

[DuxDeluxe]

I'd regret not getting the the Le Voyageur but not sure I'd regret it £10k's worth

I think that the Merc would probably swing it for me but easy to say; not my money......... Twin rear wheels on the 416

Not sure I would enjoy the fuel consumption of the 3 litre Merc lump but the engine and autobox is a sublime combination (well, it is in an E class)

Edit - definitely a first world problem!

 

[AndyJJDavies]

So after much toing and throing we have decided that we are going with the Le Voyageur; I've always wanted lusted after one and Bill at Hayes came up with a good deal and, most importantly my dear wife 'had a feeling' so you can't argue with that.
Thanks to everyone in helping us make the right decision

 

[DuxDeluxe]

So after much toing and throing we have decided that we are going with the Le Voyageur; I've always wanted lusted after one and Bill at Hayes came up with a good deal and, most importantly my dear wife 'had a feeling' so you can't argue with that.
Thanks to everyone in helping us make the right decision

Enjoy!!!

 

[Anthea M]

So after much toing and throing we have decided that we are going with the Le Voyageur; I've always wanted lusted after one and Bill at Hayes came up with a good deal and, most importantly my dear wife 'had a feeling' so you can't argue with that.
Thanks to everyone in helping us make the right decision

Congratulations and look forward to seeing photos!!

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[Scout]

only just caught up, congrats..enjoy