# Autotrail Arapaho - Any good?



## barryd (May 9, 2008)

I have just spent ages trawling the net looking at a likely upgrade for our Kontiki 640 (should we decide to change)

My requirements are quite specific. Rear U shaped lounge, Front dinette with table, winterised and enough payload to take a rack and scooter. Basically what we have now but newer and I keep ending up looking at Arapahos. I would have another Kontiki but on a lot of the new motorhomes they seem to have got rid of the front dinette and table. Where do you eat? They also seem to have stuck a chest of drawers at the rear of the U shaped lounge which I dont like.

I would prefer another Kontiki if it has enough payload for the bike but it would have to be the same Layout as ours. The Arapaho looks fantastic but they are more money.

So what do you reckon? Which is best or is there another similar model I dont know about? Budget £30-40K


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## coppo (May 27, 2009)

They do look nice Barry but the main question should be is the quality as good as your older one.

I,m of the belief that they don't make em like they used to, which applies to most of em.

I,m sure there has been some reports on here regarding the quality of the grp on some Autotrails with some saying its thin rubbish stuff that develops faults.

Paul.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Thanks for the reply. Hmm. Thats a worry. I did post something similar ages ago about replacing our van and the general opinion was to keep it!

Im happy with it but I worry about its age and stuff breaking down as we do use it a lot. Mrs D is more concerned about having something shiny and new.

It will have to be replaced eventually but I absolutely want the same layout and a good payload. I hear people stating how good the German vans are but do they do one similar to the Kontiki layout with enough payload for the bike?

I suspect this will be a long search. It would be great to know exactly what we want then when a good one thats not 300 miles away comes up over the next year we can bag it.


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## Arranman (Jan 22, 2010)

*Autotrail Arapaho Any good.*

I have owned only one motorhome, an Autotrail Arapaho, and love the van to bits. The layout was why I bought the van!!! Unfortunately my wife does not appreciate the layout ( I bought it when she was in Australia), and we are considering changing the van. 
Should you wish to contact me, barryd, I would consider selling( its in the price bracket you mentioned) , only to change to a different layout, and would be willing to meet you. 
The van is 2004, and everything WORKS, drives like a dream. 
Peter.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

thanks for the kind offer. Im going to do a bit more research. ITs good to hear you are happy with yours but having done a bit of research I do have a few concerns about the build quality which seems to point towards the newer vans. Im not sure if newer includes 2004 or not.

Its going to be a big decision for us as I suspect the next van we get we will probably keep for a long time and hopefully it will take us around Europe several times.


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## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*Water*

Hi

I am not sure about the "winterised" element of the vehicle and as such, if I was buying one, I would be underneath and looking for any exposed piping etc etc and also fitting heaters to the fresh tank.

Russell


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

*Re: Water*



Rapide561 said:


> Hi
> 
> I am not sure about the "winterised" element of the vehicle and as such, if I was buying one, I would be underneath and looking for any exposed piping etc etc and also fitting heaters to the fresh tank.
> 
> Russell


Following further research and PM's etc Im wondering about a German van but I cant for the life of me find one that ticks all my boxes. In fact I can find a German van that ticks hardly any of them.

Our Kontiki is winterised so are the new Kontikis any good or is the general opinion that newer British vans have gone down hill a bit?

I really dont want to offend anyone with this. All I can say its a good job Im not in a hurry.


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*German van*

Take look in our garage - nearest I have come to getting a german version of the Arapaho


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## seamusog (May 10, 2005)

barryd said:


> I have just spent ages trawling the net looking at a likely upgrade for our Kontiki 640 (should we decide to change)
> 
> My requirements are quite specific. Rear U shaped lounge, Front dinette with table, winterised and enough payload to take a rack and scooter. Basically what we have now but newer and I keep ending up looking at Arapahos. I would have another Kontiki but on a lot of the new motorhomes they seem to have got rid of the front dinette and table. Where do you eat? They also seem to have stuck a chest of drawers at the rear of the U shaped lounge which I dont like.
> 
> ...


barry, go for it! we buy a new arapaho every year, tried the rest,ther is nothing, I mean nothing, to compare with an arapaho, saying that I'm selling mine


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## dawnwynne (Nov 14, 2009)

Barry

We have a 2004 Auto-trail Apache 700 SE and although I don't have a lot to compare it with I would say it's pretty good build quality. I will say though that we reinforced the seating areas as they were only more or less pinned together. Now they are as solid as a rock. That is the only area that I felt the build quality left a bit to be desired.

Otherwise the van is terrific and has a very nice luxurious feel to it. I'm told by my other half it is a dream to drive (and now I have my licence I will know first hand very soon! :lol.

Good luck whatever you decide.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Thanks everyone for the replies. 

Teemyob. I dont understand. Are you inviting me around to look in your garage? Do you have a motorhome in it or do you have a motorhome in your motorhomes garage?

Cheers
BD


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## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*Winter*

Barry

My Kontiki, 2008 model is NOT winterised. It is GRADE 3 insulation but that is different to WINTERISED.

Grade 3 insulation - and I suspect your Kontiki is in this category as my 2006 model on the 2.8 Fiat was - means:

"When the ambient temperature is -15 degrees C outisde, the heating system will maintain an interior temperature of +20 degrees C"

A German van - such as a Dethleffs Advantage A7871-2 is winterised as all pipes and plumbing is inside, between the twin floor.

On my van, the waste water tank is underslung. There are waste pipes outside the motorhome and these do freeze in very cold weather, resulting in non draining sinks etc, although a cup full of salty water tipped down there at night cures this.

I looked closely at a Chieftain and I have no doubt that the interior will be warm enough, but I felt there was extra work needed to make the van an "all year rounder" - this would mean heated tanks and other tweaks to the pipe work etc.

The fresh water tank did not freeze on my Kontiki during the very cold December/January period but I had the tank heaters on 24/7.

Russell


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## Chudders (Jul 5, 2008)

I had an Autotrail Cheyenne 696 and thought it was really good. I had no problems. It was 2002 vintage and I wanted/needed something a bit bigger and possibly newer.
Got a Euramobil Integra 810 with rear lounge layout. It IS however as Rapide has explained 'winterised'. All tanks and piping etc are all between the floors which area is itself heated with the general heating system. The heating ducts run in the underfloor area with appropriate outlets. All tanks and batteries etc are in this area.
I did not set out to buy a winterised van and would have been more than happy with an Arapaho if I had found one. 

Dave

Edit Just re read your original post. The Euramobil as I said is winterised, rear end lounge , front dinette, TAG axle with loads of payload to spare. May be an alternative if you cant find your Arapaho. You should be able to find one in your budget, Internet searches show several. Her indoors also wanted a drop down bed if possible which this has as she did not want to be climbing the ladder for the overcab bed much longer.


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## Annsman (Nov 8, 2007)

Just to add a thought to your German V British van ideas. We met a German guy in Sicily in 2009 who had a top of the range tag axle Hymer. He was all over our Autotrail Cheyenne 660 and told me that he had dreamt of owning a Chieftain and had approached Autotrail for one before he bought his Hymer. The lead in time for a left hand drive one was too long for his wife to wait and he went for the German van. He thought the build quality of Autotrail was far superior to his Hymer and would swap it in an instance if he could get a LHD one. 

He said a lot of his friends who had Hymers thought the same. It seems most Brits want German vans and they want ours!

BTW. I'm not anything to do with Autotrail or anyone in the motorhome trade and just passing this on.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Thanks again

Some interesting thoughts. Russell your right. Our van isnt fully winterised either then in that case as the waste is underslung. Everything else is inside though. Interestingly though over the last two winters it worked perfectly well down to -18, including wild camping at those temps. so it pretty much is winterised. However on one CL an Autotrail parked behind us and his tanks were all frozen!

I suspect the Hymer vs Autotrail post will heat this thread up a bit!  

I think I have a few ideas now and will start to go and look at a few. On another forum someone has suggested I look at the Chausson Welcome 28 SU which is a French van that fits much of the requirements. I have no idea if these are any good but I like the idea of a Ford Tranny base with twin wheel rear drive with a good payload. If its French though will it need to stop for 4 hours every afternoon?

cheers
BD


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## 747 (Oct 2, 2009)

Hi Barry,

You will need to hang your scooter off the back of whatever you buy.

I would not like to hang 2 pushbikes on a rack on mine. Don't get me wrong, I love the van but the tall garage takes away strength from the back panel. If you can manouvre your bike in and out of the garage door then it does not matter.

A twin wheel setup (Ford or Merc) would be better for you.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

747 said:


> Hi Barry,
> 
> You will need to hang your scooter off the back of whatever you buy.
> 
> ...


Cheers for that.

Our current rack is actually fitted into the Alko Chassis and its solid as a rock, no strain on the actual body. The rack weighs about 35 KG I think and the bike 95KG. It is completely non negotiable not to have a scooter on the rack on the back. Ideally I would like a bit more leeway to fit an even bigger more powerful bike if possible.

I agree twin wheels on the back should help with that.


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

barryd said:


> Thanks everyone for the replies.
> 
> Teemyob. I dont understand. Are you inviting me around to look in your garage? Do you have a motorhome in it or do you have a motorhome in your motorhomes garage?
> 
> ...


Click "Garage" down at the bottom of my posts (Next to "profile" or "PM")


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

teemyob said:


> barryd said:
> 
> 
> > Thanks everyone for the replies.
> ...


Thanks

IS this give us a clue? What am I supposed to be looking at? There is a link to a Frankia van is that it?


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## Annsman (Nov 8, 2007)

Another point to consider might be the dealership you get it from. I'm not sure where you are but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Spinney Motors in Cheshire, if you can get there easily. I don't have anything to do with them other than we've had two vans from them and their sales and aftersales has been excellent.

They're also a Swift and Autotrail dealers so they might be able to help with your quest, and, thinking about it, they had a decent selection of vans, some tag axle jobs, in there when I had some work done about a month ago.


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*help*



barryd said:


> teemyob said:
> 
> 
> > barryd said:
> ...


I am trying to help you here.


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