arthur49 Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 Further to my earlier post the trade in deal was struck on Friday - going for a Wildax. Starting with the water leak discussed in this thread https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Push-Fit-Connector-12mm-piping-temp-repair-/49131/31/ the issues continued and we got sick of the poor build quality. Van is 9 months old. We've taken a big hit on trade in value but we're happy to take that in pursuit of more confident touring. I hate to see a business struggle and staff lose their jobs and I do hope Autotrail get their act in order. In the meantime we've had a bellyfull of this van Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baden87 Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 Just out of interest what brand will you choose this time Arthur49 ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmold Posted November 5, 2018 Share Posted November 5, 2018 baden87 - 2018-11-04 10:38 PM Just out of interest what brand will you choose this time Arthur49 ? Says in his post - Wildax Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baden87 Posted November 5, 2018 Share Posted November 5, 2018 Not heard of them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldi Posted November 5, 2018 Share Posted November 5, 2018 Good afternoon, Wildax are in Elland West Yorkshire Just off J24 m62 and recently moved to larger premises so must be doing summat right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted November 5, 2018 Share Posted November 5, 2018 We first came accross Wildax at the Shepton show in about Jan 2006. Having never heard of them before we had a good look and were impressed with what this then fairly new company was producing. We also had a chat with the owners and they seemed very open to making their vans how the customer wanted them rather than the one size fits all beloved by the bigger converters. Over the years we followed their progress at various shows and saw how their conversions gradually transformed from quite basic to more luxury without losing what seemed to be their first class build quality. I hope that your new Wildax, and it's makers, give you wonderful service for many years to come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arthur49 Posted November 5, 2018 Share Posted November 5, 2018 baden87 - 2018-11-04 10:38 PM Just out of interest what brand will you choose this time Arthur49 ? Here's the link https://www.wildaxmotorhomes.com/ This was our first Autotrail. I'm led to believe, but no substantive evidence, that build quality deteriorated after 2008 ....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arthur49 Posted November 5, 2018 Share Posted November 5, 2018 Tracker - 2018-11-05 4:13 PM I hope that your new Wildax, and it's makers, give you wonderful service for many years to come. Thank you. :-D :-D :-D We almost bought Wildax Europa in 2011. Very impressed with the build quality. So fingers crossed :-S We attended their factory Open Day a week ago, saw the vans and spoke to the guys who put them together. Saw three Europas in various stages of construction. Only downside is the wait. Our build slot (no 62) is scheduled for April 19 8-) 8-) 8-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted November 5, 2018 Share Posted November 5, 2018 arthur49 - 2018-11-05 4:48 PM This was our first Autotrail. I'm led to believe, but no substantive evidence, that build quality deteriorated after 2008 ....... Similarly, no hard evidence but having had several over the years the older coachbuilts were better made than the 2006 Tracker which in turn was better made and rattled and shook less and gave less aggravation than the 2010 Cheyenne and based on that experience I would never have bought another Auto Trail! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arthur49 Posted November 5, 2018 Share Posted November 5, 2018 Tracker - 2018-11-05 4:59 PM Similarly, no hard evidence but having had several over the years the older coachbuilts were better made than the 2006 Tracker which in turn was better made and rattled and shook less and gave less aggravation than the 2010 Cheyenne and based on that experience I would never have bought another Auto Trail! ......... but I do hope Autotrail can turn quality around. Our V-line feels like it came from Ikea ie flat-packed and put together by me (lol) (lol) On the other hand maybe we've been unlucky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted November 5, 2018 Share Posted November 5, 2018 This 2011 forum thread may amuse... https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/panel-vans/24788/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bop Posted November 6, 2018 Share Posted November 6, 2018 I'm not sure if this problem is country-wide but in our region the price of all new 2018 Autotrails (there's lots of vans still on the forecourts BTW), have now reduced to below cost so we are now seeing Apache 634 and 632's at £49,000; large Trackers at £52,000 and tag axle vans at circa £72K instead of £87K. One of our local Autotrail dealers has a new 2019 Tracker EKS advertised at £58,000 but he's not likely to sell it any time soon as he's having enough trouble in shifting the 2018 model which can be bought for £12,000 less. Interesting times indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John52 Posted November 6, 2018 Share Posted November 6, 2018 Bop - 2018-11-06 7:00 AM have now reduced to below cost . Whats the cost prices? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baden87 Posted November 6, 2018 Share Posted November 6, 2018 How do you know what the cost price is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bop Posted November 6, 2018 Share Posted November 6, 2018 One example of how to discover the actual cost price is when a young sales guy tells you that a particular 2018 van once retailed at £66,995 a few months ago and now it's advertised at £57k "but we've been told by [insert converter] that we can do it for £53k which is £2K less than cost". In this instance I've heard that AT will reimburse the £2,000 to the dealer to help it clear the large holdings of 2018 vans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John52 Posted November 7, 2018 Share Posted November 7, 2018 I bought my van from a Main Dealer 50 miles away after an online search. It was a cancelled order, 15 months old but never registered or used. They were particularly keen to sell stuff quick to meet their annual sales target and get their bonus. So I got a huge discount. I tried the local Main Dealer and he told me the price I got it for was less than his cost price But I never found out what their cost price was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bop Posted November 8, 2018 Share Posted November 8, 2018 John52 - 2018-11-06 7:25 AM Bop - 2018-11-06 7:00 AM have now reduced to below cost . Whats the cost prices? I've done a few figures and IMO an Autotrail dealer has a margin of circa 17.2% to 21.5%. These percentages apply to the full RRP price of a standard spec'd vehicle. The higher margins come from the Tracker and Apache range of vehicles while the next best are the Imala, Arapahoe and Commanche lines in that order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flicka Posted November 8, 2018 Author Share Posted November 8, 2018 Looking at this month's MMM. I'm wondering if the trade were over optimistic between the NEC shows in October 17 & February 18 ? IIRC there was a lot of talk regarding the upsurge in the motorhome market & manufacturer's reporting record levels of orders for 2019. Now, what do we see. Lots of 2018 models sat on dealer forecourts unsold at discounted prices. With so much cash already committed/ invested, it's clear (to me) that dealers will have limited financial resourses to commit to 2019 models. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted November 9, 2018 Share Posted November 9, 2018 arthur49 - 2018-11-05 5:03 PM Tracker - 2018-11-05 4:59 PM Similarly, no hard evidence but having had several over the years the older coachbuilts were better made than the 2006 Tracker which in turn was better made and rattled and shook less and gave less aggravation than the 2010 Cheyenne and based on that experience I would never have bought another Auto Trail! ......... but I do hope Autotrail can turn quality around. Our V-line feels like it came from Ikea ie flat-packed and put together by me (lol) (lol) On the other hand maybe we've been unlucky No you havent, its par for the course. IKEA furrniture is better finished IMO, at least it has no plastic woodgrained stickers covering exposed screws, that constantly fall off. Cheap and nasty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catinou Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 We had our first Autotrail for 6 weeks as after our first trip the batteries gave off noxious fumes, ruining the items inside, including cables and fridge. They took it back and gave us a discount from our next order, which after a pDI at the factory and the dealership had the name AUTO IL on the back. There were other minor faults with the prep work but we thought they were all sorted. After a visit to he Birmingham show we exchanged for a Burstner A class 2 years later and couldn’t be happier, after ......having ordered and paid for the heavier chassis to improve payload but actually receiving the lower spec 3.5 - resulting in a refund of part of the cost and, upgrade of plate to 3850 and air suspension added to compensate. Not always the manufacturers fault, dealers need to put their hands up as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geeco Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 My current Autotrail now 4 years old (62000klms) is my first motorhome so I have no previous experiences to draw comparisons on fit, finish or quality. In a previous life I was an auto engineer so feel I do understand what is acceptable quality. Having said that ALL the motorhomes I looked at prior to buying I felt the habitation areas were not built to the same fit & finish that was evident in the base vehicle regardless of brand. Every owner I have spoken with across all brands have had issues most minor that needed fixing. In our case the Fiat has performed without one problem since new while the small issues with the habitation area have been I suspect due to the light weight nature of the components. Possibly the 3500kg limit on car licence in UK has a bearing on the quest for weight reduction. In OZ we can drive up to 4500kg on a car licence and you can notice the cabinetry looks more solid but in a lot of cases not as attractive. I also suspect Australians have the same attitude as the British to being overcritical of locally made product. The biggest MH/caravan manufacturer here often comes in for serious criticism on local forums yet continues to maintain around 65% of the total market. Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve928 Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 Geeco - 2018-11-18 11:02 PM I also suspect Australians have the same attitude as the British to being overcritical of locally made product. "Crying stinking fish! in your own back yard" as Barry Mckenzie used to call it :-D . Blimey, that takes me back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldi Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 Geeco - 2018-11-18 11:02 PM My current Autotrail now 4 years old (62000klms) is my first motorhome so I have no previous experiences to draw comparisons on fit, finish or quality. In a previous life I was an auto engineer so feel I do understand what is acceptable quality. Having said that ALL the motorhomes I looked at prior to buying I felt the habitation areas were not built to the same fit & finish that was evident in the base vehicle regardless of brand. Every owner I have spoken with across all brands have had issues most minor that needed fixing. In our case the Fiat has performed without one problem since new while the small issues with the habitation area have been I suspect due to the light weight nature of the components. Possibly the 3500kg limit on car licence in UK has a bearing on the quest for weight reduction. In OZ we can drive up to 4500kg on a car licence and you can notice the cabinetry looks more solid but in a lot of cases not as attractive. I also suspect Australians have the same attitude as the British to being overcritical of locally made product. The biggest MH/caravan manufacturer here often comes in for serious criticism on local forums yet continues to maintain around 65% of the total market. Cheers, Good afternoon, I like the bit where you can drive up to 4.5 tonnes. In this country that would solve a lot of problems for motorhomes and white van man would get more in and take up less roadspace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 goldi - 2018-11-19 12:32 PM I like the bit where you can drive up to 4.5 tonnes. In this country that would solve a lot of problems for motorhomes and white van man would get more in and take up less roadspace. A lot of the "white van man" delivery vans I see around here won't be at their max anyway because they're having to be inefficiently loaded with randomly shaped and lightweight, boxes and parcels. ..and a raise to 4.5tonnes for MHs, would just mean that MHers would bleat because they'd then want a gross of 5 tonnes (and on...and on...and on..) ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted November 21, 2018 Share Posted November 21, 2018 goldi - 2018-11-19 12:32 PM Geeco - 2018-11-18 11:02 PM My current Autotrail now 4 years old (62000klms) is my first motorhome so I have no previous experiences to draw comparisons on fit, finish or quality. In a previous life I was an auto engineer so feel I do understand what is acceptable quality. Having said that ALL the motorhomes I looked at prior to buying I felt the habitation areas were not built to the same fit & finish that was evident in the base vehicle regardless of brand. Every owner I have spoken with across all brands have had issues most minor that needed fixing. In our case the Fiat has performed without one problem since new while the small issues with the habitation area have been I suspect due to the light weight nature of the components. Possibly the 3500kg limit on car licence in UK has a bearing on the quest for weight reduction. In OZ we can drive up to 4500kg on a car licence and you can notice the cabinetry looks more solid but in a lot of cases not as attractive. I also suspect Australians have the same attitude as the British to being overcritical of locally made product. The biggest MH/caravan manufacturer here often comes in for serious criticism on local forums yet continues to maintain around 65% of the total market. Cheers, Good afternoon, I like the bit where you can drive up to 4.5 tonnes. In this country that would solve a lot of problems for motorhomes and white van man would get more in and take up less roadspace. Until relatively recently the limit was 7.5 tons, think it should never have changed. Conforming to European laws....which all seems a bit irrevelent now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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