Burstner

[AKA]

Hi
we might have a chance of a Burstner caravan 4 berth, looks in really good nic, but of course once bitten twice shy, anybody own one or have any opinions on this particular make, it is an 85% when fully laden for my car, which is fine, and we have never had a van fully ladened
so my father in law is going to go see this one in the first instance!

any views advice on this make gratefully appreciated

lollie x

 

[JonnyG]

have 2003 ventana 500 ts. the wife loves it. its the fixed bed version and it is very stable when towing.Good value vans,just remember that there value is lower than a same year spec British van. So second hand you should get more for your money or pay less for one than a equivalent British van. What model are you looking at if you dont mind me asking?

 

[AKA]

Hi Jonny
Its a 2003 ventana 520 TL, looks beautiful, well to a woman anyway, seems to have a much nicer finish to our counterparts, the only van that has come close has been a coachman they have been too heavy and to expensive. Can i ask Jonny what car you tow with also, i have a CRV at the moment but it gets changed in march, and i wont know for a while yet what to.

lollie

 

[Mel]

hi lollie. Can't help on the Burstner but I have been following your thread on your damp caravan-sounds awful. Just wanted to say I am pleased that you may have found an alternative.
mel

 

[AKA]

Hi Mel

Just starting to look around again, nothing solved yet with the "con" that we were sold, and having to watch the pennies as OH has lost his job so changing vans wasnt in the longterm plan for now because we had spent monies we were left in an small inheritance, but our sanity is more important, and if we dont do something soon there will be no holidays and the van wouldnt last a winter up here!
thanks for your support lollie x

 

[Dustydog]

Lollie
Whatever you finally choose get it thoroughly checked over by a caravan engineer. Damian may be able to guide you here. Also check the CRIS registration.
Good luck.

 

[JonnyG]

Hi Jonny
Its a 2003 ventana 520 TL, looks beautiful, well to a woman anyway, seems to have a much nicer finish to our counterparts, the only van that has come close has been a coachman they have been too heavy and to expensive. Can i ask Jonny what car you tow with also, i have a CRV at the moment but it gets changed in march, and i wont know for a while yet what to.

lollie

hi lollie, we tow it with a seat Alhambra 130, and before that its cousin a ford galaxy 115 bhp.Max weight of our van is 1500kg, but careful, check the handbook, as ours unladen weight was a claimed 1250kg, i think, but that does not include spare wheel the white cover over the A frame and I think the hieki sunroof! We thought we had 250kg to play with when loading her up, but it become nearer 200 kg when you added the extra kg of items not included in the unladen weight claim....But they are well built vans.
good luck.

 

[AKA]

Hi Dusty
Thanks, would you suggest these measure when purchasing from a dealership too?as far as im aware this would have a 12mth warranty, and it is a sizeable dealership. but of course after everything thats happening we want to be more than doubly sure.

lollie x

 

[AKA]

Hi Jonny
that is very helpful I looked at the Galaxy last night also the cevy Orlando, and of course another CRV depending on finances, they all came out at around 84-85% tow match.
just want to be as sure as possible this time, as i had my eye on a skoda yeti but that would be a no go now, but my old picasso would be fine!!

cheers lollie

 

[Damian]

Hello Lollie,
I am glad you have found an alternative van that you like.
If it was a private sale then I woul dcertainly get a mobile engineer to give a look over.
As the one you have found is at a Dealers, BEFORE you part with anything, get them to show you EVERYTHING working.
Find out exactly what the "Warranty" covers, or is it an extended guarantee by a third party which you are paying for (even if it is not obvious that you are paying).
Find out its service history and whether they have serviced it, and ask to see the damp report and service check list.

Burstner ar egenerally very good vans, but then they would be, they are not thrown together in in the UK.

 

[JonnyG]

The was a recall,well it wasnt a recall but the windows needed to be pinned because of a few splitting at the seems.Had mine done last year and recall the free service was only available for a little longer. if the van you are looking at is from 1999 to 2006 i think might be latter make sure it has had the recall and unless you are buying from a burstner dealer check with burstner UK,dont believer a dealer unless they have some sort of proof ie who did the work.

 

[AKA]

Hi guys
Sorry for late response dealing with the legalities of OH job..

That is fantastic info, from both Damien and Jonny, and exactly questions i will be asking thanks for the guidance..I know what you mean about these third party warranties that exactly what happened to me years ago with a car, it was one of those insurance warranties and at the end of the day it wasnt worth the paper it was written on. will make sure dealership speak to Burnster

where do you you feel we stand with regards trading in said previous van,ive asked them about figures and they told me the range at book price and said something along the lines of £3000 at worst,but i didnt go into detail at that initial point?

cheers guys, you have all been so decent with all of this xx

 

[Parksy]

Hi Lollie
It's good to see that you are trying to move forward after the deception by those who sold your first caravan to you,
Good Luck with looking at replacement caravans and please have a browse through
this Used Caravan Buyers Guide before parting with any money. The links down the left hand side will give step by step instructions on the things to check and the guide was written by Andrew Jenkinson who writes articles for Practical Caravan Magazine and it is very comprehensive.
If you are part exchanging the Bailey the dealer will find any faults when assessing the caravan for a part exchange allowance. While you couldn't in all honesty deny that there may be some problems with your part ex if asked because you are not technically qualified and have never actually used the caravan it might be best to let the dealer do his own assessment, they have the expertise to make an informed decision which you most certainly don't

What appears to be an insurmountable difficulty in terms of repair from your point of view could be a day or two in the dealers workshop from theirs so try not to go into too much detail, the decision on the part ex is theirs to make based on their own findings.

Good Luck

 

[AKA]

Hi Parksy
If i could post the "cheeky water" through the post we certainly owe you for all the sound advice and help you have shown us here at PC, im about to collapse in a wee heap for the evening today has been very trying re OH job etc,but OH will have a good read through this forum and your additional links and make sure we are armed with all the right info before we commit to anything,even so much as a tank of diesel.
Thank you so much will keep you all updated
lollie x

cheeky water for the non-jocks, is whisky

 

[Parksy]

That's extremely kind of you Lollie

Because we exist in the virtual online world I'll raise a vitual glass and take an imaginary sip of the virtual cheeky water - Cheers!
Next time that we're away in our caravan when I have my late night snifter I'll drink a toast to your success in buying your next caravan but you owe us nothing, everyone on this forum is glad to help and we all wish you the best.

cheeky water for the non-jocks, is whisky

Ah, but It's whiskey where my family come from Lollie

 

[AKA]

well goodevening uncle jack, jonny,mel, fartypants,dusty,damein, surfer, prof John and all my other dear friends, after a couple of weeks of absolutely madness and more going on in ours lives this month than,what normally would take a year.
fingers crossed guys were off to see the Brustner tomorrow, parents have viewed it said it was an absolute cracker, we also had the look at a coachman 2006,but apparently brustner wins hands down.makes you think!
right say prayers to caravan gods and saints and anything else you can think of!!!!!!!!!! I want to be on here tomorrow, being a vanner again, cant wait!! lollie

 

[forestgump]

i think the continental vans will be big in the next few years take heed uk builders look at the motor bike industry (no width restrictions ).

 

[Lutz]

Frankly, I don't think lifting the width restriction in the UK will make a lot of difference. On the whole, 2.5m wide caravans are only popular on the Continent among those who do not do much touring but use their caravans only once or twice a year and then primarily only on long motorway journeys. The wider caravans are not much fun to tow down country lanes.

 

[AKA]

Fist of all major SORRY sorry for not getting on!!
we went to see the Burstner last saturday, and then we were going to a wee log cabin for the week whilst we were having flooring layed now it was rumoured to have wifi, i think they thought that was hifi!!! so no lollie sorry,i did have terrible withdrawls..
so heres the news no Burstner first off, you have created a prodigy,better late than never!! something just wasnt right about it.first of all it had never been serviced, plus all the seals were shot to hell, the bathroom was filthy and yet the kitchen cooker had never been used LOL, it had been well lived in, literally i think.although i dont think it was a travellers as it would have been spotless(in my view,had one from the travellers before years ago and it was so so clean)..
I also felt in hindsight it was probably pushing it length wise,with that extra long nose,just too long..so its where we left it at the dealers..

what we did nearly do was buy a brand new Sprite(major 6), god they are beauts!! far better finished than the bailey orions, whats with baileys are they having a mastic shortage??literally half way up the bathroom shower, they ran out, so they just left it, literally the finish isnt in the vans at all, they have been flung together..however with the OH situation we cant commit to a new van right now,but it was very nearly done, we will wait off till we know whats happening money wise...oh and guess what still no news fron THOSE swine's...
To top it all came home today to find the chestnut flooring that i searched for and deliberated over and hummed and hawed over had magically turned into oak, the very bloody shade i didnt want and now it is stuck to my floor. so thats another sore boohkie for Howdens this time on monday morning...

back teeth, up to sick rotten, what is it with folk in this country that they just cant take pride and do the job they were paid to do in the first place, why do they think it is alright to ride over folk roughshod every blooming time.

fed up, scunnered, lollie

 

[RayS]

Sorry to hear you found a bad Burstner - it sounds to have been badly mistreated. Our S500TS has been / is easliy the best caravan I've ever owned in approaching 50 years of being addicted, and most I have seen have not shown their age badly. They are not perfect - the wiring looms are designed for their home market and are pretty untidy in places, the noseweight is high particularly with the spare wheel in the locker, and they are a little short of some fittings e.g. awning rail on one side only. But that said, I hope to have mine for at least another 5 years.
However, much better to walk away from a bad 'un; hope your new van will make up for all the hassle up to now.

 

[AKA]

Hi Ray

Thanks for coming in on this, it looked so nice in the photo and cetainly you could tell the build quality was just much higher than a UK van, and all the little extras, well thought outs, like the window ratchets, the reading lamps, just a well put together van..Mind you if i could get away with it id have a Bessacar, im like a bee in a honey pot, but they are way to heavy but i lovvvvee them.
Off to see a Lunar at the weekend and that does bring my weights back down which is a big factor that i have to consider, with my situation, i really need to stay as reasonably as possible under 1500mtplm on a 3-4 berth. and just always seem to prefer end washrooms,and bailey just seem to have the market, but we are willing to bide our time, this time for sure.

lollie.xx