Lutz. Hobby or Dethleff ?

[PETERA]

Looking to maybe change my twin axle for a single axle one. Reason's being. 1. It's very heavy and I want to change my tow vehicle, and 2.Given that most of our travels are abroad I think a single axle one would be easier to pitch up on the smaller pitches we find over there.
I have a yearning to try something different and have been looking at twin fixed single beds with a rear washroom. 2 that I quite fancy are the Dethleff Nomad 560 RET and the Hobby 560 WLU. Both have the layout that I require and the extra width, about 8 inches , allow for wider single beds.
So the question to Lutz is. Which in your opion is the better constructed caravan ? and if you were looking at these 2 options which would you choose ?
If you could find the time to reply it would be most appreciated. As would any advice from other Hobby/ Dethleff owners.

Many thanks

PETERA

 

[forestgump]

none ADRIA.

 

[Mikaroony]

Adria is probably your best idea a there are plenty of dealerships around the country . Another thing about adria is value for money, the spec in some Adrias are so good they could beat the level above? Hope this helps.

 

[Parksy]

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[Lutz]

For some reason I missed this thread, but I'll try to give an impartial reply now (which is difficult considering I own a Dethleffs).
Hobby is considered a fairly run-of-the-mill make over here although they have been trying hard recently to make an impact in the upmarket sector. They have neither a particularly bad nor a particularly good reputation for quality, but they can't be that bad considering that they are the biggest single German make of caravans.
Dethleffs belong to the Hymer Group, where each brand has its own image. Dethleffs seems to fill the slot of a slightly upmarket brand with more emphasis on styling and innovation than, say Eriba, which is a bit more conservative. Hymer's Bürstner brand is a bit closer to being true Hobby competition. Perhaps one should also mention Hymer's lesser-known entry range, Carado and Sunlight.
As far as construction quality is concerned, there is little to choose between any of the makes that I have mentioned, (within each group there are no doubt synergy activities going on between the various brands, making them all relatively similar) but Dethleffs and Eriba seem to pay a little more attention to detail, which inevitably manifests itself in price.
To be fair, one shouldn't ignore the other big manufacturing group, Knaus Tabbert, with their brands, Knaus, Tabbert, Wilk, and T@B. T@B is rather a special case as they only manufacture small designer caravans, but Wilk can be likened to Hobby, Knaus being the mid-market brand and Tabbert the top-of-the-line.
To round the picture of the major German caravan manufacturers off, there's LMC with a very solid but conservative reputation, and their value brand, T.E.C.
If your choice is between Hobby and Dethleffs, I'd go for Dethleffs, but both offer cheaper and more luxurious models, so it depends a bit what model range you are looking at and comparing. Either way, the decision will be based more on personal preference regarding the layouts offered, equipment, appearance and financial constraints than build quality, which is generally good throughout. Several manufacturers are now offering models not based on a conventional wooden frame structure. If that is an important criterion for you, have a look at the latest LMC, for example.

 

[PETERA]

Hi Lutz.

Many thanks for your thoughts and views.

We are planning a trip to view both the Hobby and Dethleffs options sometime in February with a view to finding the one we like.

PETERA.

 

[FMK560]

Definitely Dethleffs. I owned Hobby (model year 2010) 3,5 years, it started to getting wet (roof seams), plastic parts cracked, axle bearings seized, door didn't ever sit right (1 cm cap below, light goes in!), WC door had a shape of banana, and so on. Sold it and ordered Dethleffs, it felt so much better made.

 

[AlanW]

We bought our Hobby new in 2010, weve had no problems at all, every site we go on we get a lot of attention with people asking to look inside, every time its " its lovely" or "isnt it well made" " id never want to get out of it" ive even had people leave me there phone number in case i want to sell it, Hobby make 100 vans a week, they must be doing something right
Alan w