Autotrail Cheyenne 635

[starvin marvin]

I'm looking at buying one of the above on a 2000 W Fiat 2.8. Does anyone know of anything specific I should be looking closely at both on the base vehicle and/or the Autotrail bit.

 

It for sale at a small dealer who's been arounfd for some time.

 

Any info would be useful. Never owned a Fiat.

 

Thanks

 

[Bill Ord]

I owned a Cheyenne 635 for four years and would quite simply warn against purchase. The quality of the GRP is at best questionable, check the rear valance for crazing and repairs,also check EVERY curve on the GRP particularly on the roof of the vehicle. Take a test drive and listen for noises particularly from the area around the overcab. I had major problems sorting the noises from the overcab area. The electrics wiring installed by Autotrail was really sub-standard. For instance, the power supply to the TV socket was incapable of supplying 12 volt if any other 12 volt was being used and I had to run another lead direct from the battery. At one stage I thought I had a leisure battery failure and Brownhills supplied a new battery under warranty only to dicover that there was corrosion of what I call a chocolate box connector in the wiring this kind of connection shouldn't in my opinion be used on motorhomes particularly when exposed to the weather. Once again it was a known problem and cheerfully sorted by the dealer. By now you're probably getting the idea? There were forever small niggling quality problems, oh! the upholstery wore out at 26,ooo miles and I had to have seats recovered. this was paid for by Autotrail. I have the impression that the vehicle was only suitable for light use i.e. 3/4000 miles per year and that only if it was used plugged into an electric hookup. If this is your intended use then all will be well but if you intend to use the van for extended trips it will disapoint and for sure it's ability to be used on CL's and Aires in France is limited by its small fresh water tank.

 

Bill Ord

[starvin marvin]

Thanks for your response Bill. I've seen your name a few times, writing on a number of topics and I value your opinion.

 

I've had a reply from the ATOC who have many members with this vehicle. The Sec tells me there are no specific issues. But if I take this any further I will look very closely at the points you're mentioned.

 

We do use aires and a small water tank would be an issue when we away for a month or so, hopefully longer in the future. Can you remember what the size of the tank is? I guess I could speak with CAK and get their view.

 

I also would like to know what the payload is, this particular van has no awning which would help, our old Autotrail Apache on a Merc 207D had one which we very rarely used.

 

I'm interested to know what van you have now following your experiences with Autotrail

[Bill Ord]

Hi,

The fresh water tank was 86 litres the waste I think was 74 litres. I used to carry 3x8 litre water bottles to give adequete capacity. Another anoying point common to lots of vans of the time and probably still current was the fresh water gauge which needed to be reset/calibrated each time the van was moved, I was never really sure how much water I had. The payload I can't remember accurately but the PTAC was 3400kg which is certainly borderline if like me you need to travell with full tanks because your next stop will be off site and you need two days autonomy then you will certainly be overloaded. I never dared to weigh my Autotrail as I knew that most of the time I was overloaded; yes I know it's no excuse but when I wighed my present van a Rapido 924F carrying the same things it came in at 3560kg and it is 50cm shorter but this time I'd had the foresight to order a PTAC of 3850kg. One thing to bear in mind when taking manufacturers payload figures at face value is this: they usually have a +/- 5% allowance in their figures which can be around 150kg so if its practical give yourself some leeway and a trip to the weigh bridge just to be sure.

 

Bill Ord

 

Bill Ord