Pilote vs Bailey

[Karlosski]

Hi all

Im planning on retiring next year and were currently looking at various motorhomes we've hired and got a good idea of what we want in a motorhome and are currently looking at two makes. The Bailey and Pilote both have pros and cons, so we're now looking at reliability and build quality. We were all set to buy the P740FC but are now leaning towards the Bailey autograph after attending the motor show at the NEC, but I'm concerned over the reviews of the Bailey I've seen, obviously you tend to see more negative than positive reviews. Plus I was a little concerned that when I looked at the same Bailey 72-2 van on 2 different displays and it had the same fault that would bug the hell out of me and that was the bathroom floor squeaked badly wherever you stood which means its not properly fastened down. so not a good start. Im also struggling to find many reviews on the Pilote.

What are peoples views on both makes it doesn't have to be the same model I'm not to worried about little niggles they seem to be there with all vans, its more the bigger ticket items, all feed back welcome on both vans.

Just counting down the days to hitting the open road!

 

[Mel]

The vast majority of folks on this forum have touring caravans and so you may not get many ( any ?) with experience of Pilote.
I also went to the NEC and was rather surprised at the poor build quality of Bailey Caravans in comparison to the Valencia we had some 10 years ago. I assume similar applies to motor homes.
If Pilote have a good reputation for build quality and all other things are equal, I would veer away from Bailey; but I really don’t know anything about Pilote’s reputation.
Good luck
Mel

 

[Karlosski]

Thanks Mel

 

[ProfJohnL]

Considering the scale of the investment you will be making you need to be very convinced which ever you finally go for will meet your needs and expectations. Ultimately it's your' decision and yours alone about which to choose, and it seems to me you have already got a dilemma. You like the Bailey design, but you have found a repeating defect which coupled to the many reports which question Bailey caravans commitment to quality, this makes comparing to the Pilote difficult as the numbers of products in the field are very different, and as you correctly say it tends to be negative stories that make it to the forums and other websites.

I have no axe to bear against any particular caravan manufacturer, but the performance of the UK industry as a whole is frankly abysmal, with surveys showing up to 20% of new product needing significant warranty work. And that is not the whole picture, many smaller issues often get repaired by the owner, or the dealer without a warranty claim being created.

That is not a statistic any conscientious manufacturer should be happy to sustain, yet many of the same issues continue to show up year after year which either shows they don't care or do not understand the problems. My comment relates mostly to caravans, but as most motorhome manufacturers are also caravan manufacturers, and share many designs and manufacturing facilities, it would not surprise me to find the same issues arising in both product types.

I do not have the same detail knowledge of the foreign manufacturers, but a comments from abroad I have seen suggest that even brands we might see as exotic and desirable may also suffer similar issues.

I wish you luck, but may I suggest you consider a secondhand but relatively new motorhome, as hopefully any of the big warranty issues are likely to have been sorted, and you will make a substantial saving on the list price.

I also suggest you ensure your main dealer is fairly local so you keep your cost as low as possible for when you have to return it for any work to be carried out.