Buying a Burstner

[TonyH1]

I am thinking of changing my current caravan and so I visited the NEC caravan show this August. I'm not really sure my budget will stretch to buying new, but I thought the show was a convenient way to meet dealers of non-uk manufacturers. I was really impressed with the build quality of Burstners and thought prices were quite competitive with uk caravans.

But then I spoke to a dealer of uk vans and he was very dissmisive of them, citing extreme difficulty with obtaining spares for most foreign built caravan.

Has anyone any experience of this? I would like to think it was sour grapes on his part.

I'm also reading on the forum of people going abroad to purchase. Does anyone know what the situation with warranty claims in this situation is plus any tax liability when bringing it back to th uk?

Many thank

Tony

 

[GrahamSouthBrum]

I bought a Burstner last Oct at the NEC & picked it up from Camper UK in Lincoln.

They gave us a very good deal on our old van & having bought it at the NEC threw in a load of extras including microwave, tv, radio & the best of all underfloor heating.

We had a couple of minor nigles that they put right & while they had the van they fitted an extracter fan at the rear of the fridge for our continental holidays FOC.

If you buy abroad the foam will not be retardant to UK spec & the mains sockets will be non UK. It is possible that there will not be provision for a 12 volt battery as Europeans go to sites with mains electric & power 12 volt through the transformer.

You may have difficulty selling in this Country.

G.

 

[TonyH1]

Many thanks for your advice. I'll keep in mind

 

[CarolineSimon]

Hi Tony,

We ordered a 2007 Burstner in Jan from Derby caravans who are Burstner dealers & collected it in May this yr.

Initial purchase reason was due to their layouts which we couldn't have in a British Van and it happened to have underfloor heating as well!

Build quality is good & as we have a UK spec van it meets all our regs, electrics etc & will be easy to sell on again.

Have had a few small niggles but all sorted under warrenty with no trouble getting bits.

We love it and would be hard pushed to buy British again in the forseable future.

If you want more infor about buying a European spec & bringing it back speak to Lutz as he is a wealth of information.

We may well buy there ourselves in the future now we know what we are doing a bit more!

Good luck.

Caroline

 

[GrahamSouthBrum]

Hi Caroline,

Which burstner did you get.

We brought the Trecento 530 in Moccha. We had the fridge rewired to run directly from the car when towing, not the van battery, also camper UK (Lincoln) fitted an extractor fan at the back of the fridge (all FOC) as we found the fridge needed a bit more help in France.

G.

 

[TonyH1]

Thanks very much for your comments. I'm a newcomer to this forum so how do I contact Lutz?

 

[Joyce_5063910]

Just start a new topic FAO Lutz and ask him about European vans.

We actual bought our Fendt in Germany and Don has bought German caravans in the UK and in Germany in the past.

We have never had a problem. They fit a battery for us before collection and any other modifications we want.

Plugs are no problem, it is a bit like being on holiday when you have to take plugs with you. Ours just stay in the sockets.

Never had a problem with the fact it is German spec and as I have never owned a UK caravan to me its second nature.

But Lutz will be able to tell you more as he is from German but caravans over here a lot. He may be on Holiday as he has not posted very much recently. Joyce

 

[RayS]

I've gpt a burstner s500TS 06MY which has generally proved to be excellent. However, Burstner are not members of NCC which means you van may not come with CRiS security registration (lean on your dealer to include this in the deal) and that the electyrics may not be to UK spec. although technically conforming with EEc rules. For example, the mains cable input connector was wired with incorrect polarity. The instruction book is absolutely wonderful about arranging the seat cushions to form the (second) bed but completley and utterly useless so far as the internal wiring diagram is concerned. Only one or two of the labelled fuses in the power supply unit controlled the circuits they were actually labelled for.

The main safety instructions inside the wardrobe door are in Danish - not even German, let alone English.

Depending on your towcar, you should also be very careful about noseweight. With the spare in the front locker and only one full 6KG Calor cylinder I can only get dwon to about 85kg and have no idea how they get down to the 75kg limit of the Mercedes car they show towing in their adverts.

All this said, the build quality of the van is excellent and the fixed bed very very comfortable. Quality of wookwork and furniture fittings very good. Things like fire and fridge are the same fittings as in UK vans. Caravan Club insurance quoted same premiums as for UK built van of same OTR price, so no problems there.

The drawbar is a bit longer than UK built vans, probably to take a cycle rack (although what this does to the nosewieght i shudder to think) This means towing stability is excellent, but the overall turning circle (length for length) is a bit larger.

I got a very good P/E against my previous (UK) van, but how good the Burstner will be when it's time comes remains to be seen. Suggest this is a van for ong-term keeping when the difference - if any - in depreciation rates should even out.

 

[TonyH1]

I've gpt a burstner s500TS 06MY which has generally proved to be excellent. However, Burstner are not members of NCC which means you van may not come with CRiS security registration (lean on your dealer to include this in the deal) and that the electyrics may not be to UK spec. although technically conforming with EEc rules. For example, the mains cable input connector was wired with incorrect polarity. The instruction book is absolutely wonderful about arranging the seat cushions to form the (second) bed but completley and utterly useless so far as the internal wiring diagram is concerned. Only one or two of the labelled fuses in the power supply unit controlled the circuits they were actually labelled for.

The main safety instructions inside the wardrobe door are in Danish - not even German, let alone English.

Depending on your towcar, you should also be very careful about noseweight. With the spare in the front locker and only one full 6KG Calor cylinder I can only get dwon to about 85kg and have no idea how they get down to the 75kg limit of the Mercedes car they show towing in their adverts.

All this said, the build quality of the van is excellent and the fixed bed very very comfortable. Quality of wookwork and furniture fittings very good. Things like fire and fridge are the same fittings as in UK vans. Caravan Club insurance quoted same premiums as for UK built van of same OTR price, so no problems there.

The drawbar is a bit longer than UK built vans, probably to take a cycle rack (although what this does to the nosewieght i shudder to think) This means towing stability is excellent, but the overall turning circle (length for length) is a bit larger.

I got a very good P/E against my previous (UK) van, but how good the Burstner will be when it's time comes remains to be seen. Suggest this is a van for ong-term keeping when the difference - if any - in depreciation rates should even out.

Yes, I would be regarding this as a long term purchase. I guess that's probably why I was so impressed with the build quality. Nose weight shouldn't be a problem as I would opt for a spare wheel carrier mounted behind the axle plus I can go to 100kg with my tow car.

Many thanks

 

[TonyH1]

Yes, I would be regarding this as a long term purchase. I guess that's probably why I was so impressed with the build quality. Nose weight shouldn't be a problem as I would opt for a spare wheel carrier mounted behind the axle plus I can go to 100kg with my tow car.

Many thanks

 

[RayS]

Yes, I would be regarding this as a long term purchase. I guess that's probably why I was so impressed with the build quality. Nose weight shouldn't be a problem as I would opt for a spare wheel carrier mounted behind the axle plus I can go to 100kg with my tow car.

Many thanks

Tony, not sure which model you are looking at but may be problems with spare wheel carrier below chasis.

I think you may find there are shock absorbers on the axle which mean that if you fit a mover (highly reommended - Powrtouch) it has to go behind the axle, and may be clashing for space with the spare wheel carrier. Further the chassis on my van is not pre-drilled for the Alko-KO carrier, and the space is also taken by the shower and wash hand basin drain lines which run across the van to the (UK) offside.

The spare wheel will go under the bed via the outside locker door and since you hopefully need to get at it infrequently this should not be a problem. The steel spare wheighs about 18kg. Make sure you get the extra set of wheel studs to fit the spare - those from the alloys are too long.

To fit the mover it is necessary to squash the ducting carring hot air to the rear of the van, but not so much as to stop the flow to any noticable extent. As well as the shock absorbers, there are joints in the chassis members at the front of the axle just where a mover needs to be fitted.

All this relates to the 06my Burstner S500TS and may well not apply to other / newer models, but perhaps worth a check.

 

[TonyH1]

Tony, not sure which model you are looking at but may be problems with spare wheel carrier below chasis.

I think you may find there are shock absorbers on the axle which mean that if you fit a mover (highly reommended - Powrtouch) it has to go behind the axle, and may be clashing for space with the spare wheel carrier. Further the chassis on my van is not pre-drilled for the Alko-KO carrier, and the space is also taken by the shower and wash hand basin drain lines which run across the van to the (UK) offside.

The spare wheel will go under the bed via the outside locker door and since you hopefully need to get at it infrequently this should not be a problem. The steel spare wheighs about 18kg. Make sure you get the extra set of wheel studs to fit the spare - those from the alloys are too long.

To fit the mover it is necessary to squash the ducting carring hot air to the rear of the van, but not so much as to stop the flow to any noticable extent. As well as the shock absorbers, there are joints in the chassis members at the front of the axle just where a mover needs to be fitted.

All this relates to the 06my Burstner S500TS and may well not apply to other / newer models, but perhaps worth a check.

Thanks Ray, all information is gratefully received and you certainly raise some interesting snags. When I was talking to the dealer at the NEC show, he couldn't see a problem with a rear mounted spare wheel carrier but I had said I wasn't interested in a motor mover.