Possible purchase of a Hobby,, comments please

[Chudders]

Good morning all, I am thinking of changing my Autotrail Cheyenne696 for a Hobby 700 that I have seen. The thing is I do not know a great deal about the make and any comments, good or bad would be appreciated,

It is a 2006 model with 2 rear bunks running lengthways. Are there any problems with obtaining spares or any problems associated withe the AlKO tag axle. How does build quality compare with other German makes and perhaps my current Autotrail

I note some on the forum have Hobby,s and experiences would be most welcome

Regards, Dave

[mikemoss]

Can't comment on the Hobby part as I've never had one, but hearsay says they're pretty good (apart from some potential problems with paint I believe).

 

Don't worry about the AlKo bit though, we have this chassis on our Bessacarr and it's excellent. As well as a smoother ride and better handling in our experience at any rate, the spares and general backup situation from the AlKo factory near Leamington Spa is fine. We needed this for a safety recall to do with seat belts and I was very impressed by the overall professionalism.

 

One point though - make sure the greasing points on the rear axle are attended to every year, otherwise the torsion bars can seize and you'll need a new axle.

 

Good luck with your purchase.

[Thai Bry]

Morning Dave

My suggestion would be to send Brian Kirby a pm. I do believe he has a Hobby, and is also a wealth of infoand very helpful.

Can't help personally sorry to say.

Thai

[whisturx]

Hi Dave

I have had two Hobby 750's since 2001. The second is a 2006 model with the rear bed beside the washroom. I assume you are either looking at the rear bathroom or the garage model .

In 8 years I have replaced a tap on the first one as the micro switch went and a new gas regulator on the current one and no other problems.The one thing to be careful of is the habitation door, as being curved it does not fit flush against the body when open which can be a nuisance when windy, although a bungee rope into the gas locker works !

The extra double bed in the loung area is still a mystery to put together but I have not needed it to date. The fixed table is in my loft and I had a folding table made which sits on the bed in transit but it makes the lounge huge without it. A small coffee table comes out if we stop for a snack.

I thoroughly recommend the Hobby and the finish inside is superb as are most German vans.Mine have both been LHD imports through Bundesvan.

I am off to Dusseldorf Show on Thursday to look for a replacement for my Hobby, but am looking for a garage model for my electric bikes. Unfortunately I think the only Hobby garage model is single beds which I feel takes up to much living space. Mine will be for sale in October

If you have any queries pm me.

[Stewart]

Dave,

 

We have had a garage model Hobby Toskana (6.5m) since May 2008. As this is our first van since we had a 1970s VW camper, I am not in a good position to compare the quality with other makes. However, from our experience so far, I would have no problems in recommending Hobby. It has all the equipment we want, seems well screwed together and the quality of the fixtures and fittings is fine. We specified an oven as an option when we bought it but, since then, the only significant thing we have added is a reversing camera. (I don't know why these are not standard fittings.) There is plenty of storage space for two of us and the payload is adequate for two people with the usual range of stuff including two bikes in the garage. We have used it from February to November in this country and in Europe in the summer and the van has been very comfortable. We had a few teething problems when the van was new - faulty Thetford fridge and faulty leisure battery - but these and a few other minor things were sorted out efficiently by the dealer and we have had no other problems since then.

 

The chassis is a Fiat X250, but you can read all about that elsewhere.

 

Stewart

[Brian Kirby]

I would say check its credentials very carefully, especially if you are buying on the expectation of having unexpired warranty value.  Assuming the base vehicle warranty has expired (usually three years, possibly two, check this also), you have the balance of a 6 year transferable water ingress warranty.  If the van is older than this, most of what follows will be irrelevant!

To maintain this warranty in force, the vehicle must be damp checked annually, and the warranty record completed, by an authorised Hobby dealer.  The booklet will all be in German - because Hobby has still not got around to translating it - so it is unlikely those who have completed it will have understood what it requires them to do! 

The vehicle is supposed to be entered onto Hobby's database by the seller, and the completed damp check records should be filed back to Hobby to maintain the warranty.  I just have a sneaky feeling that this is not done as a matter of course by all UK dealers.  Where the records have not been filed, or the vehicle not recorded, it is not clear what the status of the warranty might be in the event of leakage developing, but uncertain would be a fair summary! 

Add to this that until their demise, Brownhills were official Hobby importers, but Ambergate Caravans now have this role (Hobby UK is Ambergate) and have now appointed a number of dealerships around the country.  Brownhills Canterbury told me that they never sent back the damp check records, so I'd be a bit uneasy about one they had originally sold. 

Some time back I approached Lowdham, who are now a Hobby dealer, about getting the damp check carried out on ours, and was told they wouldn't even allow it into the workshop because it was left hand drive and non UK compliant!  They also said that they had an agreement that they would not undertake any warranty work on motorhomes originally supplied by Brownhills.  The picture is, I'm afraid, far from clear.

If you can get the chassis, or WWB number, from the van you have seen, it would be worth getting hold of Ambergate to see if they have any record if it, as I believe they can get onto the Hobby intranet.

If all else fails, you should be able to arrange for the van to be sorted out at the Hobby factory, where there is a large customer service centre.  However, do be aware that the factory is at Fockbek, which is near the Danish border, so a long drive, and it is your job to get it there - even under warranty, unless the supplying dealer arranges this for you.  Whether you can extract a meaningful commitment to do this at the point of sale I leave to your judgement.

For what it is worth, I would say the Hobbys are a bit better at the cosmetic aspects of design than the technical/practical aspects.  That is to say, they look good, but burrow under the skin and the assembly, and some of the specification, is less impressive.  Not so much poor workmanship, as a tendency not to neaten what is unseen and to use cheaper versions of, for example, fridges, than you might have assumed. 

I think this is a bit of a German characteristic, so not unique to Hobby, but things like air ducts squashed to get the gas pipe in, when a bit of forethought at the design stage would have eliminated the clash, just seem to me dumb. 

I think I would rate the overall build quality as good, but a bit below Burstner or Hymer.  Given that the Burstner factory is just across the Rhine from Strasbourg, and has an excellent reputation for sorting out intractable problems (as has, I believe, the Hymer plant) it would be there I think I would prefer to have to go, if the chips were down.

[lennyhb]

Brian Kirby - 2009-08-25 5:19 PM

Add to this that until their demise, Brownhills were official Hobby importers, but Ambergate Caravans now have this role (Hobby UK is Ambergate) and have now appointed a number of dealerships around the country.  motorhomes originally supplied by Brownhills. 

That's interesting Brian, until we changed to a Motorhome last year we had a Hobby caravan, even thought it was a personal import they fixed all the warranty problems without question, when I spoke to them about it they said they had to honour all warranty repairs as conditions of the franchise.The service side is or was run as separate company to the sales side which always seemed a bit OTT on price their attitude was why make twice as much work selling twice as many vans for the same profit.

For what it is worth, I would say the Hobbys are a bit better at the cosmetic aspects of design than the technical/practical aspects.  That is to say, they look good, but burrow under the skin and the assembly, and some of the specification, is less impressive.  Not so much poor workmanship, as a tendency not to neaten what is unseen and to use cheaper versions of, for example, fridges, than you might have assumed.

I think this is a bit of a German characteristic, so not unique to Hobby, but things like air ducts squashed to get the gas pipe in, when a bit of forethought at the design stage would have eliminated the clash, just seem to me dumb. 

I think I would rate the overall build quality as good, but a bit below Burstner or Hymer.  Given that the Burstner factory is just across the Rhine from Strasbourg, and has an excellent reputation for sorting out intractable problems (as has, I believe, the Hymer plant) it would be there I think I would prefer to have to go, if the chips were down.

That sums them up quite well some of their designs are stunning but in quality is good but could do with a little better attention to detail, value for money is superb.On the caravan side they are at the lower end of the German market & the largest caravan manufacture in Europe. Their Motorhomes are more upmarket sit in the middle area and a lot of them look very nice.

[Chudders]

Thanks to everyone for the replies, all very helpful for my deliberations.

Regards, Dave

[Guest peter]

Get a Burstner instead :D Hobby's always look a bit flash and chavvy in my opinion. (lol)

[Derek Uzzell]

Dave

 

It would be worth you reading through the threads in the dedicated Hobby section of the MotorHomeFacts website.

 

I believe that obtaining Hobby 'conversion' spares has proved difficult in the past, but that's true for many makes of motorhome. Logically, it should be easier to get spares in the UK for Auto-Trail vehicles than for Hobby ones - otherwise it's a sad reflection on Auto-Trail.

 

Hobby design is peculiar (and, occasionally, daft!). Nobody in their right mind would choose to build a motorhome with curved aluminium sides, for (as whisturx mentions) it complicates hinging the habitation door and installing internal furniture, and must make bodywork repairs a potential nightmare. But I can fully appreciate that a curvy body (and a blingy exterior colour scheme) will be irresistible to many folk.

 

One nice thing about Hobby motorhomes (unlike, say, the Burstner marque that peter recommends) is that there's no evident change of 'quality' across the model ranges. Hence, the furniture, upholstery, bedding, etc. used in the cheapest Hobby will be essentially identical to that of the most expensive model. Of course, this policy may be more attractive for 'cheapie' buyers than for 'dearie' ones!

 

Things to watch out for when contemplating buying a 2006 Hobby 750...

 

1. The paintwork. Hobby motorhomes have gained a worrying reputation regarding paintwork. It's something that you should check very, very carefully. Unfortunately, there have been reports of paintwork defects only revealing themselves after a period of time has passed (like just after the 2-year conversion warranty has expired!) and, when this has happened, the Hobby factory has shown little sympathy

 

2. The fridge. This was a Dometic RM-7651L 150-litre fridge/freezer and there was a general Dometic recall of all these appliances a while back to fit strengthening brackets to the cooling-tube structure. It's quite likely that this will have been done on the vehicle you are considering purchasing, but it would be sensible to confirm this.

 

3. The heater. As standard this was a gas-only Truma C-6002, but RHD UK-specification vehicles may well have had a gas/230V C-6002EH unit. Either way, there was a (fairly recent) Truma recall, affecting a massive batch of C-Series appliances, to replace several parts that had proved prone to over-heating. I think a 2006 Hobby should be late enough to fall beyond the recall, but it's worth being aware of.

 

4. Mattresses. These are of 'pocketed spring' design and (although they may look good) their construction isn't wonderful. Check for sagging and for any evidence that the mattresses' insides are coming apart. Their main benefit is that they are far lighter than equivalent-size foam mattresses, but a high quality foam mattress will be considerably more comfortable.

 

5. Leisure battery. A 80Ah gel battery was standard throughout the Hobby range. This was marginal (at best) for the smaller-size designs, but decidedly inadequate for the bigger ones. However, it's likely that a 2006 750 will have had its battery capacity uprated by now.

 

6. Remis pleated blinds. There was a problem with 'mottling' on Remis blind material. This did not affect the performance of the blind but many owners found it unsightly. Affected blinds could be replaced under warranty. Worth checking that the blinds (window, roof and cab) on 'your' Hobby are OK.

 

Having had my own Hobby well apart, I've got few complaints about the standard of construction, but there's no doubt that a bit more forethought could have prevented some of the problems I've experienced. I strongly suspect that the people who design Hobby caravans also design (but don't use) Hobby motorhomes.

 

You don't say how old your Cheyenne is, but if it's recent, there's no overriding reason for you to swap it (like you really MUST have twin single beds) and you've been happy with it, I think you'd be better not to choose a Hobby 750 as a replacement.

[lennyhb]

Derek Uzzell - 2009-08-26 9:47 AM

 

 

4. Mattresses. These are of 'pocketed spring' design and (although they may look good) their construction isn't wonderful. Check for sagging and for any evidence that the mattresses' insides are coming apart. Their main benefit is that they are far lighter than equivalent-size foam mattresses, but a high quality foam mattress will be considerably more comfortable.

 

That is one point I had forgotten about, we had our Hobby Caravan for six years it had only light use about 20-25 nights a year. In the last year of ownership the mattress was on it's way out & getting uncomfortable & I'm under 12 stone & the wife under 7 stone.

 

I wouldn't let it put you off as you can get a mattress made to fit in the UK for about £200.

 

 

[Derek Uzzell]

In fact, it's relatively easy to unzip the covers of a Hobby pocketed-spring mattress, so replacing the original internals with an all-foam equivalent should be straightforward. I thought about doing this myself as I had a redundant latex mattress I could cut to size, but shied away from the idea once I realised how heavy the result would be.

 

I realised after my earlier posting that I had forgotten to mention the 'iffy' handbrake regularly complained of where motorhomes with tandem rear-axle Al-Ko chassis are concerned. It usually seems to rear its head at MOT time and may be difficulty to overcome.

 

There's also the vast turning circle these things have, but that should be plain to anyone taking a test drive.

[Chudders]

A big thank you to everyone who has responded, all comments are most helpful. I have had another look at the Hobby and found some issues regarding the quality. (some as a result of comments on this thread) It looks internally well used, possibly lived in for a while. I currently have an Autotrail Cheyenne 696 2002 year. It is absolutely pristine inside and out and I am hard pressed to find another second hand motorhome in such good condition. Why do I want to change you may ask, well you just get a hankering for a change for no good reason and that is the case now but having looked around I am not so sure I should change. (Better the devil you know etc). My Autotrail has covered 16000 miles. Perhaps I will stick with it.

Once again thanks for all your help.

Regards, Dave

[Guest JudgeMental]

I was parked up next to one on Lake Lucerne the other week and I do think they now look heavy and very old fashioned......Like others have said early Hobbys are notorious for paint issues.

 

I don't see the point of changing for the same generation of chassis unless you go for the updated versions from 2007 onwards? But then there are the ongoing Fiat problems*-)

 

blimey 16000 miles and 7 years old..... that is low usage. I would keep it