Is the Coachman worth an extra ú3k?

[Garfield]

Having decided the layout we'd like is a 6 berth end bathroom, the contenders are,

Lunar Lexon SB (a bit pricey)

Avondale Dart 630

Sprite quattro

Abbey Vogue600

Ace Jubilee Equerry

Sterling Europa 600

Swift Charisma 590

(5 virtually identical vans from the same factory, is there any real difference???)

Finally the Coachman Amara 640/6 which is nearly £3k more than the cheapest of the others and right on our weight limit, is it worth it?

 

[Tim_5120839]

Garfield, I purchased a Coachman Amara which was a lot more expensive than similiar vans. I was willing to pay the extra for the quality and reliability Coachman are renowned for !!....I was dissapointed, my Coachman was purchased new and has quite a few faults. My previous van was a budget Bailey Discovery, although the exterior quality of my Coachman is better, a lot of the materials used on the inside are inferior. Add together all the extra's my van has above the Discovery and the

 

[Garfield]

Hi,

We managed to see a new Coachman Amara 640/6 in the flesh this weekend alongside a 1 year old Bailey Senator Carolina, the Coachman did not appear to look much different to offerings from the Swift group, the Senator looked like it was brand new apart from the upholstery which looked like it had had ten years hard use.

Many things are stiking us as we look at new caravans, one of the classics is that there are hardly any low level light switches in a family caravan, when the little ones want to go to the toilet in the middle of the night what is the point of the light switch being on the ceiling!!!!, at least the Senator actually had a pullcord.

Inset sinks are another item designed / specified by someone that never uses one, give me the combined sink drainer, it may not be trendy but neither is mopping puddles.

Things like hinges that are used are the cheapest, nastiest, crap the manufacturers can get, (that goes for the coachman too)

I would look at European caravans but all I have looked at so far are too heavy or have poor layouts.

Maybe I'll spend the cash on a new motorbike.

 

[Tim_5120839]

Hi,

We managed to see a new Coachman Amara 640/6 in the flesh this weekend alongside a 1 year old Bailey Senator Carolina, the Coachman did not appear to look much different to offerings from the Swift group, the Senator looked like it was brand new apart from the upholstery which looked like it had had ten years hard use.

Many things are stiking us as we look at new caravans, one of the classics is that there are hardly any low level light switches in a family caravan, when the little ones want to go to the toilet in the middle of the night what is the point of the light switch being on the ceiling!!!!, at least the Senator actually had a pullcord.

Inset sinks are another item designed / specified by someone that never uses one, give me the combined sink drainer, it may not be trendy but neither is mopping puddles.

Things like hinges that are used are the cheapest, nastiest, crap the manufacturers can get, (that goes for the coachman too)

I would look at European caravans but all I have looked at so far are too heavy or have poor layouts.

Maybe I'll spend the cash on a new motorbike.

Garfield, I agree a lot of vans are not that well made, however don't give up, when you do get the right van there is nothing better than getting out there in your van. Its on your drive one minute and 200 miles away in a field the next. Better than a Motorbike mate....and I have both. Keep looking,Bailey are a bit flimsy in places, however they are light weight and cheapish. Good luck Tim

 

[ValA.]

If you can do it it's worth a long weekend at one of the Continental caravan shows - there are an awful lot more models available over there - and most not so heavy as those offered on the British market. You can have them 'converted' to British spec (electrics, etc), and you find most of them have longer warranties than the British models they compare with. We're off to Dusseldort on 25th August to have a look for a replacement for our 7 year old van (based on the Dutch Toscane).

 

[Robert_374242026]

We have the Pastiche 460/2 and our neighbour has the Ace Jubilee admitted we have a few more gismoes than he i cannot say that the Coachman is superior

 

[Icemaker]

come on lets be realistic, garfield is comparing the basic coachman here and tim allso has the basic model, both vans are considerably better built than any of the flimsy offerings from swift, remember my ace celebration 2005 ? it was adealer special based on the equirry and was utter c**p the van fell apart in the short time we had it (8 month) and culminated in the roof sagging under the weight of standing water, so much so we could not open the bathroom door. Coachman are built so tuff you can walk on the roof with no problems, the walls are thicker the insulation is better the floor is thicker, all things you dont see but all things that matter.

As regards to tims problem i think from a recent post all the problems he listed where relating to third party items not build quality issues, all the problems i had with the swift where build quality issues and very bad ones at that, it was the second swift we have had the first was a challenger that let more rain in than it kept out so its a 100% fail for swift group with me.

I have said it before and i will say it again out of the 4 coachmans i have owned 1 pastiche 1 laser 2 vip's i have had not one reason to complain, not one single fault, have i been lucky ? i don't think so i think i have just owned the best british vans you can buy.

 

[Robert_374242026]

I would not advise walking on the roof as suggested,when i clean the top the skin is moving all the time and thats with the mop/brush and i would not even trust putting boards accross to walk on as the strain on the top edges might lead to leakss.

 

[Bazz1]

Hi Garfield, we bought a Coachman last year to date there have been NO faults, unlike the Omega we bought in 2003. You pays your money and you get what you bargained for, comes to mind, we have been highly delighted with the quality and the finish of the outfit, money well spent. Best of luck with the chioce, Bazz.

 

[Tim_5120839]

Hi Garfield, we bought a Coachman last year to date there have been NO faults, unlike the Omega we bought in 2003. You pays your money and you get what you bargained for, comes to mind, we have been highly delighted with the quality and the finish of the outfit, money well spent. Best of luck with the chioce, Bazz.

Yo Icemaker and the Crew,

I like my Coachman.....saying that I liked my Bailey Discovery, the Bailey Discovery was basis, well thought out and light weight. My Coachman Amara 500/5 is good quality, not very well thought out, heavy, not brilliant quality inside, eg my sliding door which seperates the end bunks is eating itself on its retaining catch !.....saw dust falls out from behind the bathroom cabinets everytime we move it, glue stains on the interior door, exterior stickers are creased and have air and water underneath them....differenece between the Bailey and the Coachman......about

 

[S-MaxJon]

I have a Coachman Amara 500/5 2005 model.I have recently looking at 6 berth models including the Coachman 6 berth single axle.One thing you notice between Coachman's and other makes is the quality of materials and the "Coachman smell".Overhead lockers are the benchmark for me - a good indication.I have looked at Swifts,Baileys and found them to be lacking in feel and smell.The problem with the Coachman's is the weight and as I have just bought a new Mondeo I dont want to change it for a 4x4 vehicle.The Amara 6 berth weighs in at 1360 ish and my current model weighs 1200.

My brother has a Lunar 615 twin axle which weighs the same as my Amara - go figure !!