# Autotrail chieftan G - Build Quality



## luckyshot (May 1, 2005)

Hello everyone, we have a Burstner 2003 747 at the moment, we are looking round to see what to change to next year, and we quite like the Autotrail Chieftain G.

Can anyone let me know what they think of the build quality of these and if they have had any problems with bodywork and general construction.

We realise that people get problems with heating cookers etc, but thats not particularly the fault of autotrail, it is the actual bodywork and construction, that we are more interested in.

The acid question is would you buy another one!!!

Pete & Mo.


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

Hi

I was talking about build quality to our dealer's excellent Service Manager only yesterday, and he has seen them all for the past 30 years or so.

His opinion . . . .

_"There ain't a lot to choose between any of them, one way or another.

The real difference is in how good they are at putting things right!!"_

There speaks experience! :wink:  

Dave


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## telel (Sep 24, 2008)

*autotrail*

Yes we've just bought our third one
We had the Arapaho Cheiftain and just since last week we now have the Cheyenne with the island bed.
No great problems with any of them, little 'niggles' you could say!!
 We always research and look at other makes but always come back to Autotrail
Have Fun
Eltel


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## Fairportgoer (Jun 24, 2008)

Hello Pete & Mo,

We have an Auto-Trail Cheyenne 696G on a 58 plate.
We have been full timing in it for the last 6 months. We had a few issues to begin with, LED light went, grill under drivers seat damaged and an external piece of trim needed replacing. All was done promtly at the dealers who were and are very good. West Country Motorhomes Swindon.

For the last 4 weeks we have been all around the coastal route of Scotland. Some good roads and some very badly damaged roads, what I am trying to say is that nothing has fallen off and all is still in good working order. So yes I would buy another one.

Hope this helps.

Regards

Dean


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## tviall (May 1, 2005)

Zebedee said:


> Hi
> 
> _"There ain't a lot to choose between any of them, one way or another.
> 
> ...


Hello Pete and Mo

I have had my Chieftain G for 4 months now and I am completely thrilled with it. It is a big van for just the two of us and the dog but we rally with a club and it has not been uncommon for 9 of us to be sitting round the table having dinner and drinking wine late into the evening.

I have had one major (in my opinion) and a couple of minor issues with the van but show me someone who hasn't. However, Autotrail have put these right with no problems or arguments and I am completely impressed with the aftercare. Of course, you should always contact your dealer first and they will contact Autotrail for you if they think it necessary.

I was at the factory on Friday for a tour and I would recommend that you do the same if you are seriously considering buying an Autotrail. Their build quality and attention to detail is fantastic. I have seen the whole van built up from the chassis to the finished product.

Would I buy another one? Well, 10 years ago probably not. Today, yes definitely, without hesitation!

Tony


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## lindyloot (May 20, 2007)

Hi, we brought our Auto Trail Chieftain G 18 months ago. Its on a 55 reg and had 13,00 miles on the clock. The build quality was one of our criteria when choosing and we felt auto Trail just had the edge on all the others we had looked at. It also had a galvanised chassis.
The only problem we had was that after our first trip out we noticed several minute horizontal cracks in the shower wall. Our dealer Hampshire and Dorset had it back in , no quibble and was put right by Charles and Sons of Poole. Excellent job, and a much stronger panel now.We would not swap our 's , we love it.
Lin


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## hblewett (Jan 28, 2008)

We bought our Apache in January 08. We have had a fair share of niggles not to do with the Autotrail bit, which have been put right by dealer, and two which are: 

3 replacement external door handles. Apparently a new (more secure) design, of which they had a 'bad batch'. It seems like we got the original and two replacements from it, as the last one has a different 'feel to it altogether. 

The floor delaminated. Immediately accepted as a problem and taken to factory to be sorted out under warrantee. I understand that this is just a 'bad luck' thing - maybe 1 in 1000 affected, and I have read on here of others having lengthy and heated discussion in order to get action. 

Our dealer was also West Country Motorhomes. I guess the thing about how things are put right makes a lot of sense, as we are delighted with our van, despite the niggles, which have now all been sorted.


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## ob1 (Sep 25, 2007)

Pete and Mo

With no axe to grind, but having owned a 747, a couple of points come to mind.

You are going to swop the Alde central heating system for Truma blow air I think. If so there really is no comparison.

The 747 is fully grade 3 winterised (I don't just mean heated tanks) is the Chieftain? 

As for build quality compare the bottom body sills on each vehicle to get some idea. Again, no comparison if my memory serves me right.

Ron


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## lindyloot (May 20, 2007)

ob1


> You are going to swop the Alde central heating system for Truma blow air I think. If so there really is no comparison.
> 
> The 747 is fully grade 3 winterised (I don't just mean heated tanks) is the Chieftain?


We spent christmas 2007 in Cornwall on top of a cliff we used our trauma heating and found we were warm as toast. Outside was wet and windy. We have found the van very comfortable for warmth when you need it.
Lin


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## metblue (Oct 9, 2006)

*autotrail*

Hi,the question asked was "would you buy another Autotrail ? " well my answer is a resounding Nooooo ! Build quality,non existent,factory help /back up, useless !! Colin Treacher, same.Never again will i think of buying anything from that Company.Like so many other purchasers that were sold shoddy goods and taken measures to have their money refunded fell totally let down by supposedly one of UK's better companies.
As the old saying goes " you pay's your money and you take your chances".


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## DJP (May 9, 2005)

We are on our 3rd Autotrail 1st Mohican 2nd Chieftain 3rd Cheyenne 840d
All superb vehicles. The current 840d on the x250 chassis is a dream to drive. OK there are problems with reverse gear judder, but that's the same for all makers usung the x250. Had a couple of minor problems, faulty fridge light, dead radio after 10 minutes. Neither of which were Autotrail manufacture faults. Both sorted out very quickly by supplying dealer, West Country Motorhomes in Somerset.
Would I have another? YES, YES, YES  Would I buy from same dealer YES


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## ob1 (Sep 25, 2007)

lindyloot said:


> We spent christmas 2007 in Cornwall on top of a cliff we used our trauma heating and found we were warm as toast. Outside was wet and windy. We have found the van very comfortable for warmth when you need it.
> Lin


Lin

Cornwall at Christmas would have been quite mild in comparison to some peoples use of their van, I am talking about -15c. We don't know what Pete and Mo use their van for but if they need high grade winterisation they need to bear this in mind. I'm also talking about radiated heat (like at home) which is much better than blown air if you have the room for it.

Ron


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## tviall (May 1, 2005)

*Re: autotrail*



metblue said:


> Hi,the question asked was "would you buy another Autotrail ? " well my answer is a resounding Nooooo ! Build quality,non existent,factory help /back up, useless !! Colin Treacher, same.Never again will i think of buying anything from that Company.Like so many other purchasers that were sold shoddy goods and taken measures to have their money refunded fell totally let down by supposedly one of UK's better companies.
> As the old saying goes " you pay's your money and you take your chances".


It's a pity that you feel you have had a bad experience from Autotrail. As you can see from my other thread, this is certainly not the experience I have just had. Nor, the experience I know others have had when I met with them recently.

Tony


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## pomme1 (May 19, 2005)

I have had two Auto-Trails from new and have just ordered a third. I am more than satisfied. I've had a couple of minor niggles, but the dealer, Richard Baldwin, has always put them right without question and I am confident would do the same in the event of more major issues. I've also had a good response from A/T's technical support on the odd occasions I've spoken to them.
I looked really hard to find something different this time, but when I did the quality/layout/equipment/price comparison, A/T came out tops again. 
I think you will also find that there are people on here who are not entirely satisfied with Burstner.
I do agree with a previous poster on one point, however. Alde heating is fantastic and I wish A/T would offer it.


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## Tucano (Jun 9, 2006)

Pete and Mo,
I don't want to appear too negative here but my opinion for what it is worth.

We bought an Apache 634u new from Richard Baldwins.
The habitation door was replaced after months of complaints, I took the door to pieces myself, many times, to identify the problem. Baldwins admitted that they would never have found the fault, they just kept on re-hanging the door.

The internal combustion casing of the fire was cracked, replaced as a safety issue at my request, it wouldn't have been a problem Baldwins said.

Water pump broke on a two month tour of France/Spain. I wasn't allowed to replace it myself because that would have invalidated the warranty.

Gaslow connection poorly fitted by Baldwins with the result that rain would track through into the wardrobe. Refitted by Baldwins, poorly again, so re-fitted by me.

One of the lounge blinds had a glue type substance over it, six months to replace with a slightly different colour because the original colour had been superceded.

They battery bay, two 110 amp batteries, had no supporting structure with the obvious result that one day it stopped supporting. Baldwins comments, "never seen that before" 

Cycle rack hung "out of true", rehung correctly by me.

Shower walls badly cracked, replaced.

Lounge seating cushions, edge piping fraying from day one, still "on order" 18 months later when I sold the van.

As a recent poster has just said, check the lower bodywork GRP panels, extremely flimsy in my opinion. This was our first motorhome and we had nothing with which to compare it at that time. I am now extremely impressed by the quality of Autosleepers GRP panels.

Comment from one of Baldwins workers on one of many 120 mile round trips to complain, "we don't have time to do a proper PDI we leave it for you to tell us". I had strange looks when I asked for a stepladder to inspect the roof of the vehicle, WHY they asked. My response, because I have also bought the roof. Discovered the first two, of many, Gelcoat faults/holes.

We had constant problems with the vehicle battery flattening but this appears to be quite common with Autotrails.

I found Baldwins guys to be friendly but incompetent. Obviously lots of people reading this will disagree with what I have said but I am only telling it as I found it.

Would I buy another Autotrail, No, would I purchase again from Baldwins, NO.
Good luck with whatever you purchase.

Regards,
Norman


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## CREAKY (May 23, 2005)

Hi Pete and Mo,
We bought our Chieftain G from brownhills a year ago just before their "mbo". We'd been looking for a Chieftain for around 6 months, & brownhills happened to have 5 used ones in stock. We instantly knew witch was the van for us, & they gave us a really good trade in price, which to me at the time outweighed some of the negative comments on here about them. BUT, after doing the paperwork bit & giving them the cash, so to speak, you definitely got the feeling of "we've had your money, now go away we're not interested anymore". (just my opinion). Apart from a lengthy handover involving a dodgy radio, all was & still is fine. 
Ours is an '05 plate & had 10,000 on the clock at purchase. No major issues so far. Our motorcycle fits nicely in the garage, We've camped at -6 on the south coast at new year & stayed warm. This is our 2nd Autotrail & We'd definitely buy one again.
Cheers CREAKY


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## ob1 (Sep 25, 2007)

pomme1 said:


> I think you will also find that there are people on here who are not entirely satisfied with Burstner.


Agreed, we all have our preferences, and this applies not only to manufacturers but also models within any particular manufacturers range.
On build quality issues we've owned a Burstner 747 which was a cracker, and a Burstner A Class which was a complete disaster.


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Hello all, I am sorry if what I am going to say is unpopular with some of you. But...., we bought a new Mohican two years ago and had endless bother, habitation door, roof leaking water in three places, shower base cracking up and leaking into the van and numerous other minor faults. The dealer was slow to help and even after a year some problems had not been resolved. We traded that van after one year and will not buy another Autotrail. Having said that our previous four vans had been Autotrails and we had no major problems. IMHO build quality has fallen off badly at Autotrail in the last few years, Regards, Alan.


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## luckyshot (May 1, 2005)

*Auto Trail Chieftan G Build Quality*

Hi Everyone

Thanks for all the replies, I think the person who said "all vans are much of a muchness, it all depends how they fix the problems" is probably right,
unfortunately you dont always know how good someone is until you actually have a problem and it too late then. We have had two swift motorhomes with no problems, we have a Burstner 747 now and have a problem with a water ingress problem, due to poor build quality from the factory. The motorhome is a 2003 model, so obviously its not under warranty. The reason we were looking at autotrails, we looked at the new Burstner 747 (and this is a personal view) but we didn't particularly like the look of it, we didnt like the graphics and it looked like an old shaped body on a new chassis, although the layout has improved, and just the general WOW factor wasnt there, then we had a look at the autotrail and thought WOW!! this is nice. Again its all very personal opinions, I am sure that plenty of people do like the new 747.

Once again thanks for the replies
Regards
Pete & Mo


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