We really need to do some proper awards!

[Vipar]

Is there a governing body that needs to know?

 

[TheBig1]

if there is one way of getting the motorhome industry and their advertising partners upset, it is by calling them out for their creative reviews and awards. It's been the same as long as I can remember

 

[PhilG]

I think its time manufacturers were taken to task on how totally useless most of the 3.5t conversions actually are.

over winter i am going to totally empty the thing and weigh it all back in , which is a bit pointless considering i have done 25k in the last 4 years with it on the bump stops.

 

[Brains]

When you consider that we worked out that conservative average payload of Funsters vans for a couple is 400kg. You could of course stay under the 270kg but it would be no fun.

Basically we should work on 200kg PP ?
Can you point me in the direction of the working on this one please.

(Does it includes fuel, blue/gray/black water, gas etc. as well as clothing, food, surf board, bikes canoe, old fat dog etc.)

 

[Brains]

As an aside, for many years I worked for a software company.
It was the leading supplier globally in the sector
It had more employees and more offices than any of the rivals.
Yet year after year the smaller rivals 'won' awards for best in class when it was very obvious to all concerned some of the rival products could not even touch where the our company was at.

After a few years we figured out it was pretty simple.
If you bought a table at the annual award dinner you got a prize
The more seats you bought, the bigger the prize
Our company typically did not even bother attending the award dinner, hence we never won.

However we made a point thereafter of attending the bar after the award dinner mob handed and buying drinks for all and sundry which really pissed off the organisers, so much so, that after 3 years we were banned from attending.

We then became very conspicuous by our absence. It became a running joke that the single largest supplier, the one that everyone else tried to emulate, had never one a single award.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Tighchris]

I learnt the hard way when I bought a Wildax Solaris XL. Fully loaded and on the “Heavy” chassis should have been a clue. I stupidly never thought that a PVC would need to be uprated. I think I had only 375kg of payload even though this is a van for four. I put a “busbiker” cycle rack on the back and when I went to the weigh bridge I got a shock. Easy enough to uprate but I wonder how many people driving large PVCs bother to check the payload.

When the time came to change I put a deposit on a Mercedes Hymer Exsis at a show but agreed with the salesman to write on the order that it was subject to there being sufficient payload as I wanted to stay below 3500kg. After the show the salesman weighed it and it came in with just over 300kg as payload and in the meantime I went through the Hymer brochure and added all of the extras. It came in at 250kg of payload. In going through the list I remember seeing that on van with metallic paint it would add something around 20kg to the total which I still find hard to believe. Anyway the deposit was returned.

Now driving a Hymercar Ayers Rock so no payload issues at all. No room to overload it! Still had the dealer weigh it before I bought it though.

In general I just can’t believe that dealers are able to get away with advertising something as below 3500kg when it really cannot be used that way. I also find it hard to believe that reviews can ignore this basic issue with so many vans.

 

[Barclaybasher]

The manufacturers obviously struggle to get down to 3.5t. The answer is move the weight restriction for MHs to 4.0t.....

 

[Larby]

The manufacturers obviously struggle to get down to 3.5t. The answer is move the weight restriction for MHs to 4.0t.....

Can't be done, oh hang on, if your MH is electric .....and for hire and reward.
May need a 5 hour course and only applicable to the UK