Vantage M/H

[Guest JudgeMental]

JudgeMental - 2013-09-26 10:49 AM

 

Then to top it all a 2 year warranty...when new van I'm considering comes with 6

 

and yet another "extra"!lol Remis blinds..is there no end....The devil is truly in the detail here, or should that be lack of it.

[Colin Leake]

Our PVC is British, none of that German rubbish for us. We have double floor construction, a king size transverse rear water bed with a garage underneath, double shower cubical with proper body jets, a full size fridge freezer, a wine cooler with three temperature zones for different wines, a proper range style cooker, 300l waste and fresh water tanks in the double floor space, a one KW solar panel on the roof, two hidden TV sets with stat and free view, a built in gas powered BBQ that slides out at the side, leather upholstery, Wilton carpets, fixed dining table that converts into a full size billiard table, full aircon, wet heating system, satnav, alarm system, electric window blinds over double glazed glass windows all within I the 3500Kg weight limit and still has a pay load of 547Kg. It's ideal for us though I must admit that it's 14.7 M length can be a problem in Tesco car parks.

 

Back in the real world I had to smile. AutoTrail have gone to a great deal of trouble to achieve their Grade 3 thermal insulation rating on their V series PVCs. Autosleeper are also claiming the same Grade 3 but what they don't exactly shout about is that they have achieved this by sticking in a ruddy great Combi 6 in, which if my memory serves me right can give 7.8 KW output when used on a combination of gas and electric. Bit sneaky but you can't bet held a feeling of grudging admiration for who ever thought that one up.

 

We may well down size to a PVC in a few years time. By then I would like to see a British a AutoTrail built along the lines of their new V range on the longer chassis with a layout similar to the Adria Twin XL and with a proper fridge please AutoTrail.

[crinklystarfish]

crinklystarfish - 2013-09-23 8:25 PM

 

Pete-B - 2013-09-23 11:04 AM

 

...going back to Vantage, I did spot little things that none of the others, or at least the ones we looked at didn't seem to apply. For instance when the side door was opened it showed about 6" of the back of a unit and although bottom fit was tight to the floor they'd still bothered to apply a very neat brown silicone bead along the base, nice touch. Another thing, when the doors on the top units were all opened each and everyone lined up perfectly. Whoever had fitted this van had obviously taken some pride in what he'd done. I don't say for a minute that every van that leaves their factory had the same principal applied but then but surely it's then up to the buyer do his, or her, self inspection or take someone who can do it for them.

 

I don't intend naming other companies but some of the ones we looked at certainly didn't apply these standards, for example, on two of them there was at least a 2-3mm gap along the bottom of the units where all manner of things could crawl in and die or crumbs etc get kicked...

 

 

I agree that attention to details like the ones you describe does bode well for the general quality of the total product. Must have a proper look at their 'vans at the NEC (if they are there), they sound from the above description that they might be fitted by people who care about what they do.

 

Such a thing is worth owning in a sea of mediocrity.

 

Had a look, they are OK at the pricepoint. There are, in my view though, better quality 'vans with more independent thinking behind the designs at similar money. Wildax for one.