# Burnster, Detleff, Rapido, Chausson or Adria. What do you re



## chrisgog (May 17, 2005)

Narrowing our choice of vans down to a few vans now.
Any comment on Burnster, Chausson, Detleff, rapido, adria. Looking for price range of £35-£42,000.

We require lowline or A classs
Belted passenger seats to allow for rear travel passengers 
Lounging is a priority and don't like seats to be too upright and uncomfortable.
Permanent bed or drop down bed.
Not too long ie under 7m
Decent payload as we carry bikes etc.Even though there are only 2 of us we like our boxes of wine from France !
3.5ton maximum

What I would like is to hear from people who have vans in this price range and what they like or dislike about their vans.

The brochures are landing on the doormat now and will be heading to NEC but will probably buy from dealer showroom as we want to testdrive and part- exchange our Bessacar .


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## 88726 (May 9, 2005)

hi chrisgog

were not quite in youre price range so you may not want to hear from us but reading your description im wondering if youve looked at the burstner lowline range . it has front and rear lounges and the rear can be left as a fixed bed.im sure seatbelts can be easily fitted to anything. they are alko chassis hence lightweight so may give extra payload you require . the boot space is huge for your wine,will fit your 7m requirements. we like everything about the van but it's still new to us . maybe go 8-10 years newer to use up all that pocket money :lol:


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## chrisgog (May 17, 2005)

thanks flying scot,
The Burnster lowlines look good to us and our local dealer in Barry South Wales is expecting delivery of them anyday and we are very interested in them. Will be looking forward to that. They also have Adria too.

Is yours on the renault master base or not?? Trying to find out about that too.

Don't think we are super rich as we are just spending a well invested savings policy that is just maturing. It pays to invest for a rainy day and boy am I glad we did.


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## 88726 (May 9, 2005)

hi chrisgog

ours is the talbot express , so im assuming the fiats are also in their range,bearing in mind the age of our van they could be using anything now thats fwd but im sure all the lowline are alko . have a look at the burstner website to see what base they currently use .theres a couple of pics in my album if you want an idea of looks , im sure nora + neil have a newer one as their avatar . happy hunting !


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## Pusser (May 9, 2005)

I am after similar but not as pricey. I have my heart set on a Rapido because of recommendations I have had from Rapido owners. Apparently still a family company and dish out quality products. This does not diminish the others in your list of course but Rapido is the direction I am going in at the present.


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## chrisgog (May 17, 2005)

Yes Pusser, I have heard good reports but we would have to get one a couple of years old if a Rapido and probably drive to Brownhills to trade in ours but not happy to do business with a dealer so far away and with some bad press too. 
The rapido have a lovely 900 range with an L shaped sofa and bench seat which is brilliant for lounging and with a pulldown bed it would be ideal. 
There are so many to choose from but its quite funny that we are not looking at british vans this time.
Thanks for the info.


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## Nora+Neil (May 1, 2005)

We have our Burstner Delfin 680 since Sept.

On Renault Master 3 litre engine and beautiful to drive. 
We had 4 weekend away and we love it.
Bed is permanent and lovely to sleep on it. 
Large locker under bed.( For wine)
Shower/toilet very spacious.
Large wardrobe and plenty of locker space. 
Driver/Pass seats turn to met table.
Large fridge, cooker and kitchen area.

The only thing I would say is the lighting is poor if you sit in Driver/pass seats to read at night.


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## chrisgog (May 17, 2005)

Nora and Neil
That is a a beautiful looking van.
The 680 is on our list too. 
Wish I could see into the future to see what van we will end up with?


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## 89122 (May 14, 2005)

Hi chrisgog, Rapido is my choice, I have had 3 now and for me thats all I would buy.
There is a dealer nearer to you than Brownhills is, They are Caravans Rapido from Wokingham in Berkshire and I can recommend them.

CARAVANS RAPIDO Ltd

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gorrick Luckley Road
RG40 3AU WOKINGHAM
0118.979.1023
0118.989.1067
[email protected]
Eddie


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## 97353 (Jan 20, 2006)

Hi Chrisgog,

We've just bought a Burstner I591 Elegance from Barron's - brand-new, unregistered - for 40K!

http://www.motorhomedeals.co.uk/ (about half way down the page)

Some pix here: http://www.campingcar.at/Boerse/boerse_detailinfo.asp?id=159&sec=AUSSTELLUNG

O.K., it's an '05 model, but it has four forward-facing seats, an Al-ko chassis, a *huge* payload, it's 6M long & has a high spec. Lounging might not be so good though.

We looked at Rapido, Pilote, Burstner, Laika, Heimer, etc (all A class - we have expensive tastes... :lol: ) at Earls Court. All looked good, but at this price we couldn't resist the Burstner.

good luck, whatever you choose!

Regards,
Paul.


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## chrisgog (May 17, 2005)

Looked at where they are and within a couple of hours drive.
Have you bought from this firm. Shame they dont have a webb site but I will contact them to see what stock they have.
What models have you had rapido?


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## chrisgog (May 17, 2005)

Paul
That was an excellent buy and it looks a luxury model. Nice and short too. Love the L shaped seating.


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## 95405 (Jun 10, 2005)

Rapido 709F, 5.6m long, low profile, fixed bed.

Likes: Quality of fittings, excellent Rapido extendable dining table, turning cab seats with armrests, cosy intimate sitting area evenings with cab curtains drawn, good flow from taps and shower, mains electric water heating, handling, maneuverability, 28 mpg with 2.3 Fiat, adequate payload, low net weight means not restricted to 60 mph on dual carriageways.

Does have belted forward facing seats and with a simple mod to the table support I count ours as a 2 + 2 for occasional youngsters. I can lounge on the bed or across the two cab seats in comfort.

Dislikes: Fixed bed has an aluminium centre support which can be felt through the mattress and lacks a lifting handle (fitted one myself), could do with another 13a socket or two, and some other criticisms which are simply the result of choosing a compact go anywhere vehicle. Sog bog on the awning side ...

No complaints about Brownhills.


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## 89090 (May 13, 2005)

I have a Rapido 985F A class and am more than pleased with it. But I would urge you to look at the Adria Vision A class. I saw it at the show and was really smitten with it. The dealership for Adria is a bit iffy but if you go to the Adria website there are details of it and the van. But again I would certainly buy Rapido again.

ken


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## arrow2 (May 9, 2005)

We love our Autotrail, but I must say after having seen a Burstner Delfin in France last summer that would be the one we would have if we only needed 2 berths. Lovely looking vehicle.

The Autotrail suits us at the mo though - excellent quality, loads of space, room for kids to do what they do and leave us in peace!

Kevin


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## BERTHA (May 21, 2005)

I have just come back from Lille today and I popped in to the 2 show rooms that are next door to each other. This time i had a good look around.

I counted around about 200 MH's between with all the typical German, French and Italian makes both new and 2nd hand.

Anyone looking for a left hand drive but not sure what style/type to get it is well worth a visit to these show rooms.

Has I said in previous post Lille is 1 hour from Calais and only 1hr 40min from London on train.

Taxi to the retail estate where these show rooms are about 20 euro

Regards
Hugh


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## chrisgog (May 17, 2005)

Only problem I have is that we need to use our british van as a part exchange and don't think that is in our favour Hugh


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## BERTHA (May 21, 2005)

That's a good point, doubt if a RH drive will be has well received out there unless you can sell it for cash here.

Mind you, you might get a better deal on a LHD selling out of the UK than you would in Europe!!

Interesting, I only mention it because I have not seen so many MH;s and so many dealer in one place before which helps when trying to select the right model

Best of luck with your hunting 

May I ask what part of Wales are you from?

Hugh


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## chrisgog (May 17, 2005)

LLantrisant in South Wales.


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## BERTHA (May 21, 2005)

St Fagans

H


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## chrisgog (May 17, 2005)

Its a small world. 
What van have you got now Hugh? Barry are doing Adria and Burnster now so I am tempted by a local dealer and will definately call in there to see their Burnster models soon.


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## BERTHA (May 21, 2005)

We have a Burstner 747 ordered in NEC last Jan got it last May

H


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## Armadillo (May 1, 2005)

We have had our Burstner Delfin 695 for almost a year now. The Renault Master 3.0 engine is superb, and apart from something based on the new Transit or the much more expensive Sprinter base, don't even look at anything else.

The rear bumper , we have found to our considerable cost, is VERY low to the ground indeed!

Ours has a rear garage and a very comfy fixed bed, but you may need to be reasonably athletic to make it up if you use sheets etc and not sleeping beds.

The bench seats are not very comfortable for lounging, although in warmer climes hopefully you would not be spending much time "indoors". Also it is a bit dull inside--could do with more effective lighting and there is a bit too much grey plastic about.

Apart from that the whole thing is put together very well, and we didn't see anything at Earls Court that would inspire us to go for anything else.

Good luck with your search!


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## 97022 (Dec 22, 2005)

Hi chrisgog

We have just been going through the same process and have now made our choice.

We had quite specific requirements regarding length, weight, payload, waste/fresh water capacities etc but particularly wanted a low profile under 2.7m to go under our carport - that ruled out quite a lot of vans and just about all british models!

We currently have an Autocruise Startraveller on the ultra low alko chassis (2.53m roof height!) but have missed having a fixed bed. Our shortlist came down to Burstner Delfin T680, Dethleff Esprit RT6844 (runner up) and the Knaus Sun Ti 600LF which we thought was our favourite. However, on our final decision day viewing at Lowdhams where we saw this alongside the slightly longer Knaus 650MF we eventually chose the latter as it offered a much better kitchen/lounge arrangement up front.

We had originally planned to make our final decision at the NEC but, in order to take advantage of better delivery dates, we have placed the order and hope to take delivery in April or May.

Good luck with the hunt - and enjoy the NEC show.

Regards, david


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