# Autotrail Comanche



## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

Hi


I would really welcome some feedback from owners of the above regarding how they are getting on/enjoying the experience of owning a Comanche.


When we retire (could be 2 years...less if the Premium Bonds come up...even £100k would do...I'm not greedy:grin2 we aim to spend the winter months somewhere warm so will be away 3/4/5 months in our MH. We will also be using it in thee summer back at home for mid week trips. Our initial thoughts are to get an RV however I am now thinking maybe a Comanche with a good awning could do the trick.


We want the double settee arrangement plus a fixed bed. We cant live with an overhead bed due to my wife's disability.


To my mind it would give us the arrangement we want; better mpg; better ease of use at home; more options on sites (due to size); presumably a good payload (I haven't checked). Plus the build quality should hopefully take away any niggles at the back of my mind about finding a "good" RV.


The biggest downside is that the RV would have slide outs for the extra space. Also they are well appointed with 'stuff' but I would look to get the things we need/want added to any MH we bought anyway.


As I say, Id welcome your thoughts.


Cheers


Graham:smile2:


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## deefordog (Dec 31, 2013)

Just one personal thought - no Alde heating and Autotrail still seem behind the times in offering Alde in their top of the range Frontier MH's.

For some in-depth thoughts on full timing in a Comanche, take a look at https://ericandshazza.wordpress.com/


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## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

Thanks DfD - I'll have a read




...and thanks for the info regarding Alde




Graham:smile2:


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## cabby (May 14, 2005)

When you say a fixed bed, can we assume you mean an island bed and not a French bed. Do keep us in the loop about your research into your dream motorhome.

cabby


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## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

Yes an island bed


Will do Cabby!


We could retire now I think but our lad has just finished college and is embarking on his first job until he is 20 when he will join the Royal Marines. I think we'll hang on the 2 years for that.


I'm not sure I can handle more than 2 more years teaching tbh...:frown2:


Therefore the discussions now are merely fact finding. Mind you Mrs GMJ is keen on going to see vehicles so you never know :grin2:. I need a 'fingers crossed' smiley :smile2:


Graham:smile2:


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## deefordog (Dec 31, 2013)

Graham - why are you thinking of changing your current Bessie E795?


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## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

I'm not thinking of doing it now: we are very happy with the Bess however when we retire we will be looking to spend 3-5 months away at a time in southern Spain probably, so I wont want to make the bed up every day for that.


Having the 2 settees for lounging around really works for us in the Bess, so we'd want that in any new MH in the future. We have to have a low fixed bed due to mobility issues hence also the requirement for an island bed.


Space is the only issue which is why I am looking at RV's preferably with slide outs however with the addition of a girt big awning on a Comanche, it may tick all the boxes.


The original plan was for me to retire at 55 in 7 years time however my wife isn't getting any better (slowly getting worse) plus my tolerance of each new cohort of students is getting less: they are coming through worse and worse in terms of their literacy, numeracy and behaviour; and it is then left for me to ensure all that gets sorted with them as well as teaching my subject (Business Studies) AND I do masses with them to sort out their first job, apprenticeship or Uni etc. I enjoy the 2nd years but not so much the first years!


Therefore we could enact our plan sooner hence the potential for 2 years when the young un is sorted. It still leaves an issue with Sarah's dad who is in his late 70's and is slowing down noticeably now but I cant see how we can sort that as he wont move to west Wales with us (part of our retirement plan) nor come away with us in the MH when we do go to s Spain.


Anyway that's my life plan bared for all to see:grin2:


Graham:smile2:


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## cabby (May 14, 2005)

As you mentioned disability, can I say check the height of the island bed, some of them are quite high, this has stopped us from going ahead with one of our choices.Fleurette discovery.

cabby


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## Revise (May 13, 2012)

GMJ

It sounds a great plan to me. Go for it.

We are in a similar situation. My son passed out last year in the marines when he was 19 and is now away on duty and is loving every minute of it. Daughter is coming and going on her travels and is looking for a place of her own. 

I am self employed and was also looking to retire at 55. But too many friends have passed away lately far too young and I want to take the chance sooner. So decided to start 5 years early. My new Kontiki 649 is picked up next week and we want to tour the UK in the first year. Hopefully next year we will be heading south for months at a time and only coming back to sort bits of business out to help financially. I go to bed dreaming about is already.

Might see you on our travels...


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## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

cabby said:


> As you mentioned disability, can I say check the height of the island bed, some of them are quite high, this has stopped us from going ahead with one of our choices.Fleurette discovery.
> 
> cabby


Will do cabby - it's on the check list :grin2:

Graham:smile2:


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## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

Revise said:


> GMJ
> 
> It sounds a great plan to me. Go for it.
> 
> ...


Now wouldn't that be grand:grin2:

I'd do it now tbh and looking at the finances I think we can but the lad has to be 4 years clear of asthma so cant join until he is 20 (probably a good thing) and he wont be able to afford to move out prior to that.

Mind you if he misbehaves he might not get the option>

Regarding my FiL: where we move house to will be 2 hours further or so but he has close friends and neighbours around him; also where we stay over winter is bound to be near an airport if we need to fly back in an emergency...so I guess we'll just have to factor that into our plans.

I know that you shouldn't wish your life away but time is so precious and we live with a 'ticking time bomb' with Sarah's MS so I am pretty desperate to do this thing if truth be told. At the moment we go away for 2 nights every other weekend fairly locally and it is superb: it means a holiday every 2 weeks and makes the days in between fly...although I have been known to be a bit grumpy on the Monday after a weekend away as I know it is 2 weeks until the next>.

Last half term we went to Cambridgeshire; Easter a round tour up and through Scotland; 3 weeks time we are off to Cornwall for H-T; and then the summer is the 30 nights away down to the Italian Lakes...interspersed between these trips are weekends in Slimbridge/Melksham-Devizes/ Forest of Dean etc.

We did more miles in the MH in our first 6 months of ownership than the previous owner did in 3 years!!!

Lovin' it:grin2:

Graham:smile2:


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## deefordog (Dec 31, 2013)

Revise said:


> GMJ
> 
> It sounds a great plan to me. Go for it.
> 
> ...


I decided to "retire" in October 2014 at the age of 54 after a long spell as a site manager at a school in Buckinghamshire, wife is on a gap year from work. We don't have a lot of money put aside but enough for us to have a few years touring around UK (perhaps EU next year?) so that's what we've been doing for the past 7 months on and off - do what we want, when we want.

Likewise, we could have waited until we were both in our sixties but as you've said above, too many of our friends and acquaintances much younger than us were either falling ill or passing away. That made us realise that life's too short and it would be better to start our travelling sooner rather than later whilst we are still in good health. We have four grown up children between us and all are independent now so that's one less thing to have to take care of.

Good luck to you both in the future and realising your dreams - believe me, it can be done :wink2:.

Graham/Ian- my son was set to join the RM a couple of years back. Got to the final task on the 3-day assessment at Lympstone and got a leg injury. That made him take a long hard look at his future in the RM - suffice to say he didn't pursue what he thought was his "dream" in life. Just saying that things can change in life and we can't always wait around to see what might happen. IMO, best to get out there now and do what you want to do. We were labelled as selfish by some but heh ho, that's all in the past now and life couldn't be better for us and our families - and the sceptics have been silenced lol.

There's also another good blog centred around an Autotrail Chieftain but due to the massive interest over the past few months, viewing I think is "by invitation". https://twerntontour.wordpress.com/

Now, back to looking for that new MH for Graham.............


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## DJP (May 9, 2005)

If you don't mind spending 3 minutes making a bed up every night, look at an Arapaho.
The BIG difference is the Arapaho has a gas/electric fire and a mid van partition door, when closed with the fire on the lowest setting it is toastie warm. Far better than any Alde system and on gas uses no battery power.
Have a look you will be impressed, we were!


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## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

Update


Well, we WERE going to stay at the CC site at Moreton in Marsh next weekend (despite only living in Cirencester...we thought we'd check it out) however we are NOW staying at Channel View near Brean as West Country Motorhomes have a new Comanche which we will go and see.:smile2:


I HAVE NO INTENTION OF BUYING IT....honest :grin2:...the kind of money the chap said on the phone doesn't fit until we sell our house to part finance it otherwise it would wipe us out of all our immediate savings. Bit of a shame though as they had a 2011 model on their website and "just" sold it that day...hmmmm!!


I guess seeing one will either 'scratch that itch' and we will find it will suit us; or we can discount it.


It might mean that Sarah will let me retire early(er) as well >


Putting the bed up every day is a line in the sand (or "red line" as our politicians are want to say these days) otherwise we'd open up loads of options. We need it up all day so Sarah can lie down if needed when she needs to without the clart on of putting it up (and losing the valuable habitation space if required). We also want the double settee arrangement at the front and do not want a dinette.


I am ploughing through the blog referred to at the start of this thread however are there any actual owners out there of this type of beastie? If so I'd really welcome your thoughts (PM me if you want).:smile2:


Cheers


Graham:smile2:


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## deefordog (Dec 31, 2013)

One thing that we took to heart from a "worldly" full timer with a Swift Kontiki - go for the over cab/luton bed every time. Firstly it gives you the option of a second sleeping area if the need arises but more importantly it gives you a large storage area for lightweight items such as coats, spare clothing, bedding, toilet rolls etc.. Couldn't imagine where we'd put half our gear if it wasn't for the luton on our Kontiki 669.

There do seem to be more new Comanches out there than say the Kontiki 669.


Best to contact Eric & Shazza (Big Momma) for their thoughts on the Comanche. You can also get hold of Eric (Big Momma) on motorhome365.com


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## grandadbaza (Jan 3, 2008)

We have had our Comanche since new in 2010 and have been really pleased with it ,it suits us perfectly and has been relatively trouble free and the back up we have had from Autotrail with any problems as been really good .
As some one mentioned it does not have Alde heating ,when we where looking to buy this van we wanted Alde as we had it in our 2 previous vans , but we have got on well with the Truma system


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## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

Thanks Grandadbaza


We have Truma heating in our Bess and it seems fine to me/us...then again I suppose we don't know what we are missing.


Could I ask what its like to drive, stability wise? Also mpg's if possible? I guess the 900+kg payload is more than acceptable too?:smile2:


Cheers


Graham:smile2:


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## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

deefordog said:


> Best to contact Eric & Shazza (Big Momma) for their thoughts on the Comanche. You can also get hold of Eric (Big Momma) on motorhome365.com


Thanks DfD....I have emailed them and got a very comprehensive reply indeed.

Very positive too I might add :smile2:

Graham:smile2:


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## grandadbaza (Jan 3, 2008)

Hi Graham,
Will be brief as I am in France at the mo and Internet not great .
I find it very a very easy drive ,it's manual as that's what I prefer ,never really had any stability problems except in extremely windy conditions, mpg wise is variable depending what sort of roads we are on and how heavy my right foot gets:wink2: but I would say on average about 22/24. The payload is usually quite adequate unless we are coming back to the UK loaded with vino:wink2:
We some times tow a Citroen C1 on an a frame and that hardly effects the mpg
Cheers 
Baza

[
QUOTE=GMJ;1426321]Thanks Grandadbaza

We have Truma heating in our Bess and it seems fine to me/us...then again I suppose we don't know what we are missing.

Could I ask what its like to drive, stability wise? Also mpg's if possible? I guess the 900+kg payload is more than acceptable too?:smile2:

Cheers

Graham:smile2:[/QUOTE]


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## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

grandadbaza said:


> Hi Graham,
> Will be brief as I am in France at the mo and Internet not great .
> I find it very a very easy drive ,it's manual as that's what I prefer ,never really had any stability problems except in extremely windy conditions, mpg wise is variable depending what sort of roads we are on and how heavy my right foot gets:wink2: but I would say on average about 22/24. The payload is usually quite adequate unless we are coming back to the UK loaded with vino:wink2:
> We some times tow a Citroen C1 on an a frame and that hardly effects the mpg
> ...


Cheers Baza

That's useful info - thanks

We are off to look at one on Friday just to start our primary research:smile2:

Graham:smile2:


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## Landyman (Apr 3, 2010)

We have recently traded in our Auto-Trail Delaware which is the shorter version of the Comanche I think i.e.. not a tag axle.

We had it for three years and covered 23k miles all over the UK and France with no major problems.
The build quality compared with our previous new Swift was much better, I didn't need to go round with rubber wedges before driving anywhere to stop the rattles.

Stability on the road was excellent and the 150BHP engine pulled it really well giving 25mpg over the 23k miles (Real mpg as logged on an app from new).

The bed was easy to get in and out with plenty of room around it and super comfortable and plenty of space in the washroom/shower.

The only problem I can think of when going abroad in winter is that the tanks are slung below the floor and would be liable to freeze in the middle of France, one reason why we have now changed to a double floored van.

Richard.


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## deefordog (Dec 31, 2013)

GMJ said:


> We are off to look at one on Friday just to start our primary research:smile2:
> Graham:smile2:


And by this time next week you'll be the new owner of a Comanche - just in time for your half term jaunt. And you won't have to cleanse the Bessy tanks, just the Comanche ones lol.


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## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

deefordog said:


> And by this time next week you'll be the new owner of a Comanche - just in time for your half term jaunt. And you won't have to cleanse the Bessy tanks, just the Comanche ones lol.


Naughty naughty>

Not happening Dfd...as its brand new (and I wont buy brand new for all the well known reasons) plus at the amount they want I couldn't fund it via immediate savings and I don't want to eat into the investments as they are for retirement.

2nd hand (c.4 years old) are going for around 50 large, which with a part ex could work for me.

I AM however hoping that the Mrs will be smitten though so we can get one and perhaps I can wangle earlier retirement on the back of it :grin2:

I am looking forward to seeing one though I must admit...and then 2 days on the coast...lovely:smile2:


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## deefordog (Dec 31, 2013)

Happy days Graham - enjoy.


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## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

DfD...you must be psychic!


Beer - check
salted snacks - check
BBQ - check
MMM - check
wife - check0


Yep picking the MH up after college tomorrow. Weather being fine I'll do my bits'n'bobs after tea so we can get away sharpish Friday morning..The site lets on at 11.00am so it would be a shame to get there too late:grin2:


Fingers crossed for some half decent weather.


My only concern is that I'll be up until stupid o'clock watching the election results so best keep the kettle stoked:smile2:


Graham:smile2:


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## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

*Update*

Well, what a thing of beauty the Comanche is :grin2:

It ticked our boxes so it looks like a real possibility for the future. Mrs GMJ still wants to see some RV's (fair enough!) but I think I know where we are with it.

I think she has it in mind to change earlier than 2+ years time as well:grin2:

Graham:smile2:


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## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

Jobs a good 'un:grin2:


Off to see some RVs later this morning in Gloucester...just to give them a once over


If we are going to do it the Mrs thinks it would be a good idea to get a Comanche BEFORE we do our summer trip this year to save little old me having to make the bed up each day0


What a thoughtful lady she is:kiss:


Graham:smile2:


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## deefordog (Dec 31, 2013)

Here you go Graham, show Mrs GMJ this one http://www.stingrayrv.co.uk/sales/Sales-Details.aspx?mID=1620

http://www.stingrayrv.co.uk/sales/motorhome-sales-all.aspx


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## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

deefordog said:


> Here you go Graham, show Mrs GMJ this one http://www.stingrayrv.co.uk/sales/Sales-Details.aspx?mID=1620


Oh Lordy Lord have mercy!

I just licked my computer screen:grin2:

Might be a tad outside of our budget...perhaps they'll negotiate. maybe part ex my Bess for...I don't know...lets say £220k...and we'll have a deal.

Graham:grin2:


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## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

*Dilemma!*

RVs are really beautiful things arnt they?

I went expecting issues with build quality however there was none of that. All have been UK'ed up with electrics etc and all have LPG conversions. The quality seemed really good...obviously I didnt get a chance to crawl all over any as I would if this was a 2nd visit but on the face of it very neat, tidy, clean models.

Soooooo....Comanche or RV?

Also whether to change before the summer trip :surprise:.

If we changed and went RV I think Id need to revisit the whole trip and campsites:nerd:

If we went Comanche Id wing it>

Drat, drat and double drat:banghead:

Graham:smile2:


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## deefordog (Dec 31, 2013)

Personally, and this is just us, we'd go the Comanche route. If you were going to full time and not move about much, then yes, an RV may be the better solution. There's pros and cons for both but more cons for RVs in the UK mainly due to finding a suitable site that will take 30'+. If you're going to retain a base in the UK and spend say 6-8 months away, then perhaps a large tag axle MH is the way forward.

Depending on what you want from your "rig", how you intend to use it and how what you intend to do on your travels opens up all sorts of options - 5th wheel plus pickup, large caravan plus car, RV (plus toad), large MH (plus toad) and perhaps other possibilities.

Another couple of interesting blogs with an RV are http://www.theworldismylobster.org.uk/ and http://www.burfield-wallis.me.uk/. The latter, Gary & Ann Burfield-Wallis, have only recently changed to a 30' Damon Daybreak and they love it but it does have it's drawbacks. If you want to get some pointers on extended touring/full timing, there's also motorhome365.com

One other thing - if you have dog/s, this can have a bearing on what your rig will need to be and associated "getting around" transport.

Good luck but take your time and don't let your heart rule your head.


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## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

Cheers DfD


We will definitely be with a MH or RV due to personal considerations for Sarah, my wife (you cant access a toilet on the hoof from a 5th wheel, caravan etc!...if required in an emergency).


My gut feel is Comanche until we move and retire and then RV after that. I know that this involves a potential double change however the last one would potentially be a biggie so best to get it right.


I think this definitely falls into the category of a high class problem :grin2:


Graham


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