SensibleSidney Posted August 14, 2016 Share Posted August 14, 2016 Hi Everyone, After many years of camping in various ways (small/large tents, caravan, borrowed family owned coach built motorhomes) my wife and I have finally taken the plunge and purchased a campervan of our own - a one year old Campereve Magellan 746 PVC from the Three Counties Show in Malvern. We will pick it up from the dealers in a few weeks. I understand they are built in France and are part of the Rapido Group but apart from this know very little about them. Do any forum members have any experience of this brand or currently own one?. If so we would welcome your comments/views on your own experiences of ownership. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veletron Posted August 14, 2016 Share Posted August 14, 2016 Certainly enjoying my 643, bought last june. They Campereve brand is no longer imported. I was told the name was 'confusing' uk buyers and they wished to bring in a lower priced range of conversions. The 'dreamer' is that lower priced range while the 'dreamer deluxe' replaces the campereve brand. www.dreamer-van.co.uk Build quality seems good, as does attention to detail. Pics: http://photos.veletron.com/index.php/album151/New-Van-Campereve-Magellan-643 Mods: http://photos.veletron.com/index.php/album151/Van-Mods Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SensibleSidney Posted August 14, 2016 Author Share Posted August 14, 2016 Hi Nigel, Thanks for info and pics - I see you have made a lot of improvements, many of which we may like to do in the future. Did you do the more technical additions yourself or use a dealer? I understand our van was originally sold by Highbridge in Somerset but if they are no longer imported to the UK are there are issues regarding the warranty / availability of spares etc ? Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 15, 2016 Share Posted August 15, 2016 Richard As you know, Campérêve (and Dreamer) are brand-names used by the Rapido Group for panel-van conversion (PVC) motorhomes. The vehicles are built at the Rapido factory at Mayenne and both brands continue to be marketed in France. However (as Nigel says) Campérêve-branded PVCs are no longer marketed in the UK (though Highbridge Caravan Centre still had a couple of 'new’ ones when I was there recently.) UK Rapido dealerships are shown here http://www.rapido-motorhome.co.uk/concess.php I believe Simpsons Garage marketed Campérêve models (as well as Highbridge) but I don’t know about the other Rapido dealerships. You’d need to check with the dealerships what the situation is regarding the annual watertightness check and any under-warranty repairs, but obtaining ‘specialised’ spares should be OK. There are lots of Campérêve vehicles in France that may need spares, so I shouldn’t worry about that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veletron Posted August 15, 2016 Share Posted August 15, 2016 Hi The campereve's are the same as the dreamer deluxe, so no issue with spares etc since the latter are still stocked and Dreamer/Campereve are simply Rapido brands anyway. There was basically only the one dealer for Campereve, but several others sell the new dreamers as well as the rapido van conversions etc. Your warranty will be with who you bought the van from, whether the ballance of the warranty from Campereve can be transferred to you is something you would need to talk to highbridge about. Mods were done by me - would have been a 3x markup to get them 'professionally' fitted, besides I have seen the quality (or rather lack) of some so called 'professional' installs - know what I am getting by going DIY! Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldi Posted August 15, 2016 Share Posted August 15, 2016 Good morning folks, You are not likely to get any water ingress problems with a panel van the other stuff that can go wrong which rarely does can be fixed by any good dealer and if its only a year old there cannot be much wrong. just checking things like all the screws and other simple things can prevent more serious problems. good luck anyway. Veletrons looks a nice van. norm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SensibleSidney Posted August 15, 2016 Author Share Posted August 15, 2016 Thanks to all who responded with very useful information - looking forward to picking the van up and taking our first trip away in it. Already thinking of all the "essential" extras I would like to get (eg awning, wi-fi, solar panels etc) but realise it would be sensible to use it a few times "as is" and check out what payload I have to play with first. Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
francepops Posted July 15, 2017 Share Posted July 15, 2017 Hi I have a 2016 campereve 643 ,does anyone else have a campereve from Rapido? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellen Posted July 15, 2017 Share Posted July 15, 2017 We have a Camperve Magellan 542 2015 suits us perfectly. Love it, very well built. Amazing how everything fits into this compact vehicle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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