Sonesta, you are right about the Chieftain with the garage, the kitchen area is huge this is the van we keep comparing other kitchen to, not fair possibly as it is a big van, its not continental and its Fiat FWD otherwise you are right this si the one we have been looking at over the years.

Martin

Hi Martin,

I'm no expert on all the technical ins and outs re FWD v RWD etc but we have owned both British and Continental vehicles and to be honest, we have enjoyed each one equally. We loved our Swift Kontiki and our Autotrail Cheyenne and our current Burstner MH (German make) is our dream van! However, sometimes you can read too many reviews re such things as Fiat v Merc or British v German etc and there will always be someone who has negative comments to make or some horror story to tell but believe me, problems occur with all brands and all makes. Mark my words things can go wrong with top of the range, flagship models too! However, due to the hefty price tags involved, then it stands to reason that not as many are sold, so obviously there will be not so many faults reported! IMHO - I would not rule out a British van altogether if I were you, especially as you like the Autotrail Chieftain so much and you'd go a long way to find another MH with such a fabulous sized kitchen.

I don't know what your budget is but if it's a healthy one, than you should take a look at RS Motorhomes. They are a family run British manufacturer of bespoke quality motorhomes and you can more or less stipulate your own layout. They build motorhomes which can include slide outs if you want them and have recently launched their first A Class MH, which again can include optional slide outs. RS Motorhomes have a website and they welcome visitors by appointment to their factory.

Sue

Hi Sonesta, we know about RS we frequent motor bike races as we are involved through work and sponsor one of the riders in the superbike class so we see RS motorhomes in the paddock at races and they are indeed good looking machines, I think the new A class is only available at over 9 metres but you are right they are custom built and you can have the spec you want. We have seen them at the NEC twice now I believe and had a good chat with them, also I have read the posts on MHF about ----- (forgotten who) but I believe he took delivery of the first A class to be built.

We should not be too hard on the UK vans and Autotrail especially as our caravan was built at the Autotrail/Vanroyce factory before they dropped caravan production.

Talking of nice UK vans I was impressed by Bentley and IH at the NEC but no garage for us, but nice vans all the same.

Martin

Ceejayt is the member - and very nice it looks in the pictures.

I won't bore you with details of our Dethleffs, it ticks many of your boxes, but is more family oriented - having enough seatbelts for our needs.

Good luck in your quest.

Regards,
John

Hi Martin,

Well it sounds to me like you and your wife have certainly done your homework and have looked at many different manufacturers, models and layouts and I doubt if there are many motorhomes left to see that you haven't already looked at or considered during your search? You obviously know exactly what you want in a motorhome, so I hope you find the ideal van for you both soon.

I hope the replies from we motorhome owners have helped you both to draw up a short list and please let us know which model, if any, you decide upon in the end.

Good luck.

Sue

Hi
Weve had the same thoughts on cooking and switching to a Motorhome.

WE SWITCHED, just finishing a 3 week tour of Northern England and its been brilliant. Not missed the caravan once. We love this thing.

We had a large Sancerre caravan from new and this was our first new purchases. Previous two caravans were second hand.

We Switched to an Adria Motorhome in November, yep the kitchen was small, yep we only had an oven and Three ring hob, yep we cooked everyday on the Caravan, yep we STILL cook everyday on the Adria. No problems.

We also can now get back on our beloved CC 5 siters which the 24 ft caravan and car could no longer safely do!!

Best of all we bought this second hand and the previous owners had a huge solar panel put on the roof and an extra battery was installed. We have only used Electric Hook Up sites twice the solar set up has kept us charged easily.

We are now going to go Gasglow so we can keep the Gas topped up. A Calorlite doesnt last long if we use the heating!

We will not be going back to caravans now we have the freedom to roam so easily. Even Supermarket carparks fit us!!
Wild camping is fun too.

Good luck with your ponderings but if you fancy a switch try looking around about Late Sept/Oct just before The NEC show, second hand bargains on dealer forecourts are better priced. They want to shift old stock ready for the new ones!
Well, at least thats waht happened to us.

Our Flair has an oven with a grill inside ( so the present Mrs Jede tells me). Apparently it was an extra. Never having been in that area of the Goose I can't confirm this

John

Hi All

Have not been back to this post for a while BUT thanks to you all for your input, every show that we have been to (including Peterborough) we have been drawn to the Niesmann and Bischoff Flair BUT then we go away and say but it is too big too wide, too long, and too tall so we end up back with the caravan.

I fancy a look at the new Hymer Starlines but Hymer UK say that they are not going to be importing them so that does not help much, I wanted to see them as they are on the latest Mercedes chassis RWD twin wheels etc.

We will keep looking and will certainly post here if we make up our minds EVER.

Thanks again

Martin

AKA vanroyce