chausson welcome 28 su

[daveb]

we are looking at buying the above motorhome from new .has anyone got one and if so anything to report

[Derek Uzzell]

I haven't got a Welcome 28 SU, but I'm familiar with the Chausson marque and with the present Ford Transit. As far as the W28 SU Ford base-vehicle is concerned, the combination of extra long wheelbase, twinned-wheel rear axle, 135bhp motor and 6-speed gearbox makes this an excellent chassis for a large 'family' motorhome. Provided that Chausson's UK brochure is correct (?), the maximum overall weight of 3850kg will also allow you plenty of payload. I note that the brochure specifies that W28 SU has 6 'travel seats', but I think only 4 may have 3-point safety belts. (One potential drawback is that a heavily revised Transit is imminent, but presumably you are aware of that.) In 2004 we were considering buying a Chausson Welcome 74 as the Ford chassis and the vehicle's internal layout exactly matched what we were looking for. However this didn't stop me recognising that Chaussons were designed to be constructed rapidly, in large numbers and with a very competitive selling-price in mind. (List-price in France of a W28 SU is about £31500). The result, in my opinion, is a build quality that can be rough and ready, especially in the entry-level ranges. With W74 I really disliked that the colour of the conversion bodywork diverged significantly from that of the Ford cab-unit and I wasn't much taken by the use of ABS for side-skirts and rear bumpers as I'd seen several cracked examples of the latter on Chausson exhibition models. However, the locker door-handles are brilliant! Interior décor very much targets the home market - we thought certain of the upholstery patterns/colours were hideous but these turned out to be best-sellers in France. For 2006, Chausson seems to have fallen in love with dark pseudo wood-plank flooring. In my view this looks very dingy when used throughout an Allegro motorhome and very odd when confined to the bathroom area of Welcome models. Just depends on one's aesthetic tastes I guess. What I do appreciate about Chausson design is that it is invariably practical. So you get as standard sensibly large fresh- and waste-water tanks, en route living-area heating, good size beds, fridges and kitchens, sinks/showers that drain OK (even if the pipework sometimes looks DIY) etc. The main reason we chose not to purchase a W74 had little to do with the vehicle itself. In 2004 Chausson wasn't exporting this model to the UK and the UK Chausson dealership we would have bought through had serious difficulties obtaining information about it from the French factory (things like the cost/availability of Ford options and upholstery colour choices). Eventually we (us, dealer and probably Chausson) all got fed up and we decided to call it a day. Nowadays, if I were buying a Chausson in the UK, I'd probably choose to do so through RDH Motorhome Centre (advert in MMM), but that's just personal preference. (Which Motorcaravan apparently test-reported on W28 SU in the June 2005 issue.)