Prospective new owner

At the moment we are the owners of a caravan, but fancy a change to a small motorhome. I know of the advantages and disadvantages of both but think a motorhome would give a little more pleasure. Today we looked at two Ravennas in Norfolk and quite liked them. Both around 1999, Peugeot. one at 50000 miles, the other 29000, one petrol 1999cc the other 2.5 diesel. £3000 difference in price. I have always liked Autosleepers as I thought they were quality MH's. Having found this forum I have been a little surprised that AS's seem to suffer as much as any other makes. Water ingress seems a common problem, I thought the one piece roof alleviated this, but it looks like the windows give cause for concern. I seem to be talking myself out of the purchase. We are due to go back on Monday for a test drive.......will we?

Greylag,

Welcome to the forum,

Brian & Chris

Welcome to ASOF


Many members here are second, third and fourth time owners of Auto-Sleepers and are very loyal to the marque...... IMO Auto-Sleepers are quality motor homes, check out the competitors as I generally find the furnishings and fittings don't even come close

CC

I would agree with that. The quality of my Broadway is just way above the previous MH. Being hand built, there is always the occasional "issue" with some having more than others but generally, despite all the doom and gloom the Auto-Sleeper marque is better than most. And they hold their value better than most.....

Enjoy whatever you decide to get and there is loads of good advice on here....

If its water ingress you are concerned about then its a monocoque for you, and on the small van scene you could not do better than a Clubman, Clubman Anniversary or a Gatcombe. If you want to go a foot longer then
the Executive and Talisman vans give you more space.
They are in the select few that dealers dont damp test due to the costruction

greylag wrote:............... Both around 1999 ............

Hi there,

Welcome to the forum.

Back in 1999 I was in much better nick than I am now and I think the MH's will probably be the same!

On the other hand, I may be slower than a newer model but I am a lot more reliable!

My only advice is to go and have a test drive and then decide; bearing in mind the old saying "Many a good tune is played on an old fiddle."

Best regards,

Many thanks for the swift replies, I didn't realise that they were hand built. I have had my eye on an Autosleeper VW Clubman Anniversary but I can't get my wife interested, she prefers the rear lounge layout. So is the construction of a monocouqe different from the Ravenna type of body?

I think we should have the test drive and see what they will offer for my caravan. I have always been reluctant to get rid of a car that is going well and I think it is the same for the caravan. Hopefully the test drive will remove any doubts.

My wife has just come up with a question, are earlier Autosleepers better build quality?

Hello & welcome from S/Yorks


My van is a '98 Talisman 2.5D with 38000 on the clock, perfect underside, outside & inside, NO damp anywhere, so they ARE out there somewhere


OK, so its a non-turbo & a bit sluggish, but I have cruised at 70, but 60 is much better.

Enjoy whatever you go for.

Hi Greylag.

Welcome to the forum from Nottinghamshire.

Cheers. Whisky.

Hi Greylag
Welcome to the forum from a very foggy Bridlington, I have been inside Modelsmans motorhome and its "outstanding"for its age.
The outside is as good as new, If my 09 Nuevo looks as good as Modelmans in 10 years time, then I will be a happy bunny

Merry Christmas Boaby

greylag wrote: So is the construction of a monocouqe different from the Ravenna type of body?

Welcome to the forum from North Wales and the answer to the question is yes. The Ravenna is similarly constructed to a caravan in respect that although the roof may be one-piece, it has seperate sides and therefore joints and seals between the top and sides whereas a monocoque is a moulded one-piece entire shell so no joints except the joining to the vehicle cab, so nowhere for water to penetrate except around windows and rooflights. If you want a rear lounge monocoque then look for a Legend or Amethyst although these are longer than Clubman/Gatcombe.

Hi there,

I know nothing of "then and now" build quality but "Petal" is a 1998 Duetto in mint condition inside and out with 80,000 miles on the clock!

Since we bought her for £15,000 in June 2011 we have lived in her for over nine months and driven her for 18,000 miles. In this time she has had a new cam-belt, a new clutch, new wheel arches and a bit of work from AS (my +115kgs did some damage to one of the beds!) that cost +/-£3,000 (this includes £300 spent on a "dodgy" clutch that we had fitted and then changed; a long story).

With regard to what your wife does or does not like may I suggest that you talk to each other (it does happen in some marriages) and work out what you both want to do, where you intend to spend your time in and out of the motorhome and what is a MUST HAVE versus a NICE TO HAVE.

Then make out the list. It may seem a stupid idea but it does work. For us, in order of priority. the list went something like:

MUST HAVE:
o Vehicle fits on the drive. (A requirement of where we live.)
o Bed either "walk-around" or able to be split into two singles. (This is because we both need to be up in the night!)
o Separate toilet.
o Room for a TV and satellite dish.
o Comfortable driving position. (Because we intended to drive long distances.)

NICE TO HAVE:
o Oven.
o Awning.

Note: After renting an American motorhome for two months we came back to the UK full of bright ideas (it was an automatic drive with a fitted microwave, four-burner hob, a flushing toilet, a heated and pressure adjustable air-bed, a swing out TV and a built in LPG supply for starters!) but soon discovered that they are either just not available in the UK or definitely not available on our £15,000 budget! It also only did 10mpg!

Best of luck in your search for the perfect AS. It is out there somewhere.

Hi greylag

Welcome to the forum

PB

What a great site....just found a thread called 'Why an Autosleeper'? Decided not to rush a purchase and keep looking for a monocoque bodied vehicle that just says 'buy me'!

Dutto, we do talk and between us have decided to hang on. 36 years ago today, we started talking and we are still talking...just!

The search continues.

Hi Greylag welcome to the Forum from a very wet Somerset

As you can see you can get a lot of information from this forum based on owner’s experiences.

We like a number on this Forum have stayed loyal to the A/S brand over many years of motorhoming for a number of reasons:- quality, reliability and in particular the service and support available from the A/S service centre. IMO the older vans were probably put together better, using more traditional materials, but compared to a number of manufacturers the newer A/S vans are still out there in a class of their own.

When purchasing a van it’s a good idea to take your time and if possible hire one(s) to try to find out which layout / model is best. This obviously more difficult if the van you are interested in is no longer in production as most hire companies move their vans on after 3 years.
Good luck and enjoy your search.
John

greylag wrote:.......

Dutto, we do talk ...........

So do we but sometimes I consider my increasing deafness a blessing rather than a curse!

Enjoy the search and keep us posted!

Best regards,

Ian

don''t forget when having a test drive, whichever vehicle and layout you like, test drive the bed as well
"H"