I recently looked at a Bessacar motorhome which was based on the Fiat motor & automatic gearbox. In 45 yhears of driving I have never owned a vehicle with an automatic gearbox so I am asking if anyone can give me advice about reliability and usage in a motorhome
Automatic gearbox
- Thread starter pjonesf1
- Start date
Well I'm the other way to you. For the last twenty years, with the exception of my kitcar, all my cars have been automatic by choice. Indeed I had a long search to find one particular car in auto format, the majority being manuals.
Earlier this year I bought a '15 Swift Lifestyle also based on a Ducato and my one big regret with it, is that it isn't an auto to the the extent that I'm trying to get quotes to convert it. To be fair I have found over the 4,000 miles we've done in it this year has been motorway based so the advantage of auto has been less pronoiunced than round town driving where auto really does come into it's own
My extensive experience with autos has been exemplary from a reliability and ease of use point of view. I have never had a breakdown caused by gearbox and in fact the only gearbox problem we've had in our family was with my son's two year old manual Landrover that ended up costing the warranty provider £3k.
The other point you should consider is that the base vehicle, the Fiat Ducato, is primarily designed and built for commercial van usage so the vehicle and especially the drivetrain is robustly built to handle the potential abuse of van drivers and is unlikely to be a problem for us careful more mature drivers
hmy:
Earlier this year I bought a '15 Swift Lifestyle also based on a Ducato and my one big regret with it, is that it isn't an auto to the the extent that I'm trying to get quotes to convert it. To be fair I have found over the 4,000 miles we've done in it this year has been motorway based so the advantage of auto has been less pronoiunced than round town driving where auto really does come into it's own
My extensive experience with autos has been exemplary from a reliability and ease of use point of view. I have never had a breakdown caused by gearbox and in fact the only gearbox problem we've had in our family was with my son's two year old manual Landrover that ended up costing the warranty provider £3k.
The other point you should consider is that the base vehicle, the Fiat Ducato, is primarily designed and built for commercial van usage so the vehicle and especially the drivetrain is robustly built to handle the potential abuse of van drivers and is unlikely to be a problem for us careful more mature drivers
hmy:
Tony you are not saying you are a "Young Motorhome Tearaway" are you LOL. Not sure myself if a Auto box is worth the 2 thousand pounds but it could be as the old knees are not as good as they were..... :lol:
Can't claim "young," but not sure I qualify for "careful" or "mature" either!
My daughter once gave me a birthday card which said "Growing older is compulsory, growing up is optional!"
My daughter once gave me a birthday card which said "Growing older is compulsory, growing up is optional!"
Somebody mentioned growing old gracefully the other day. I told them it was not an option, disgracefully is mandatory
On my 60th birthday I decided I wasn't going to get older so would revert to 10 and act like it. Some might say I've been far too successful in that aim :lol:
Graham
On my 60th birthday I decided I wasn't going to get older so would revert to 10 and act like it. Some might say I've been far too successful in that aim :lol:
Graham
Shall we form a club for us "Young Oldies ". Wife cut my hair this morning and next door neighbour said I looked 20 years younger so I said that makes me 16 then LOL
Strictly speaking, the Fiat is not an automatic gearbox. Fiat describe the Comfort-matic as "an innovative robotised transmission that combines the advantages of a manual gearbox (simplicity, fuel efficiency and performance) with the practicality and comfort of an automatic transmission."
It's been around for some time now and I'm not seeing the motorhome forums flooded with reliability problems. There are some known issues exacerbated by people not reading the manual first. I'm done over 22,000 miles in 3 years with a 130bhp plus Comfort-matic. Total reliability but not necessarily perfect.
It's slow off the mark in 1st gear so fast roundabouts need to be taken with care [its no slower than a lorry]. It can get confused by rapidly changing terrain that requires frequent gear changes - it can't keep up. It does have a sequential manual mode so when it does cause me some problems - usually on the seriously undulating hills of the Pennines, I switch to manual just with a sideways flick of the gear lever.
I find it provides effortless motoring in the UK for over 95% of the time. It's particularly useful in heavy traffic or when needing to make tight manoeuvres because it provides smooth operation.
I'd recommend the Comfort-matic. I'm just not totally convinced that the premium price is worthwhile. I'd probably prefer to spend the money on a 150bhp engine. However, if you want easy of driving, or have trouble changing gears manually, it will probably be some of the best money you can spend. If you can afford it and already have the 150bhp or bigger, then motoring nirvana is just a little step nearer.
It's been around for some time now and I'm not seeing the motorhome forums flooded with reliability problems. There are some known issues exacerbated by people not reading the manual first. I'm done over 22,000 miles in 3 years with a 130bhp plus Comfort-matic. Total reliability but not necessarily perfect.
It's slow off the mark in 1st gear so fast roundabouts need to be taken with care [its no slower than a lorry]. It can get confused by rapidly changing terrain that requires frequent gear changes - it can't keep up. It does have a sequential manual mode so when it does cause me some problems - usually on the seriously undulating hills of the Pennines, I switch to manual just with a sideways flick of the gear lever.
I find it provides effortless motoring in the UK for over 95% of the time. It's particularly useful in heavy traffic or when needing to make tight manoeuvres because it provides smooth operation.
I'd recommend the Comfort-matic. I'm just not totally convinced that the premium price is worthwhile. I'd probably prefer to spend the money on a 150bhp engine. However, if you want easy of driving, or have trouble changing gears manually, it will probably be some of the best money you can spend. If you can afford it and already have the 150bhp or bigger, then motoring nirvana is just a little step nearer.
Thank you for the serious bits of this thread. I think the rest is just how us mature people are able to change subject then completely forget where we started or why.
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