Autocruise Gleneagle

[rossko]

Called in at Lowdhams for some spare fuses & chanced upon an autocruise gleneagle & fell in love with the layout. Currently have a Swift Bolero with the fixed bed which we thought we could not live without but really like the Gleneagle layout. Any opinions from anyone with an autocruise would be very welcome.

We are still pondering as we were not really looking for a new van, OH is a very fit 70 year old so don't think getting a clean bill of health will be a problem but suppose it is just another thing to forget to renew every 3 years??

Also the new van would be 2foot longer. Everyone assures me (of the nervous disposition!!!) that we will hardly notice any difference & will still be able to travel where we could with the bolero? More comments welcome.

Also when travelling to work today I could not believe my eyes when waiting at a junction when a gleneagle went by. However I am sure it was painted with a similar exterior to the Swift vehicles with a grey panel & Gleneagle emblazoned in silver on its side. It had an 08 reg on. The vehicle we saw was decorated in the Autocruise design with the coloured squares on & plain white sides. It is the same in the brochure we were given so was I seeing things or has a new model been brought out.

We have suffered the juddegate fiasco already on the fiat & know we will have to have a thorough test drive on the 3litre peugeot base.

Any comments or opinions are really welcome as we are only in our 3rd season of M/H & know we still have a lot to learn

[Derek Uzzell]

It would be worth checking the position regarding the conversion-side warranty on the Gleneagle you've seen. As I'm sure you know, Autocruise was taken over by Swift Group not too long ago. When this happened conversion warranties on Autocruise motorhomes that were built before a certain date became void. It's likely that Lowdham's would offer the vehicle with an insurance-company-backed warranty that covered the conversion, but that warranty might be less comprehensive and/or more restrictive that the original Autocruise one.

 

Presumably your husband chose to retain his Category C1 vehicles-over-3500kg driving-licence qualification when he reached age-70 and has already passed the necessary medical examination? If Category C1 has been removed from his licence (which would be the default course of action), then getting it back would be challenging.

 

(Apparently "WhichMotorcaravan" published a Gleneagle test-report in the October 2008 issue.)

[rossko]

Thanks for that very useful info Derek. No he didn't retain his C! category as we were not anticipating needing it. We were not anticipating it being a problem either but have just started the process so will have to wait & see? We will check out the warranty situation as well thanks. There are so many pitfalls for us newbies that it all gets a bit scarey.

Thanks again

[Derek Uzzell]

I had a suspicion that, once a driving-licence Category C1 was allowed to lapse at age-70, to 'recover' that category it might be necessary to take the appropriate driving test as well as meeting the required medical standards. Hopefully that's not the case and the procedure is less draconian. When you've confirmed what's involved, perhaps you could let the forum know, please, as I'm sure it would be of general interest.

 

A small point regarding the extra length of a Gleneagle over a Bolero. I notice that the MMM June 2009 report on the slightly shorter Autocruise Augusta states that this model has a 4.55m wheelbase. It's likely that a Gleneagle's wheelbase will be at least as long and, consequently, the vehicle will have a wide turning circle. I don't know the length of your Bolero's wheelbase (4.04m?) but, if it's significantly less than that of a Gleneagle, you'll notice the difference. Probably won't matter much, unless you regularly need to do a lot of tight manoeuvring - just something to bear in mind.