# my Burstner T Star 680 ---13 months down the line



## Denboy

In general a very satisfactory experience ( a nice van overall )but not without niggles.
On arriving home after collection from Chelston we were surprised to find the step well swimming in water--- It must be a miracle that this never occurred in the months preceeding that the vehicle had been on display.
It took two visits to the Chelston Service Centre before the source of the water ingress was identified. to find it took 3 days.
The bathroom door was found to be warped and the first replacement found to be damaged when unpacked , the second arrived months later.
New Dometec fridge and freezer catches broke immediately---we treat the replacements as though they are made of twigs.
The leisure battery lost its charge too quickly for comfort ( 8 days ).
Chelston inspected and concluded that there was no drain on the battery which is not the same as concluding that the battery was nearly dead after light use over 10 months usage.
Hence it was presented again for inspection of the battery with the same result ie in Chelston's eyes nothing was wrong but simoultaneously they offered an upgrade to 110a at £50.00 or a new standard ( 90 a ) battery for free.
I refused the former on principle and accepted the latter.
Since then the new battery has peformed as you would expect with minimal discharge over 6 weeks.
The outstanding issue is the gear change which I consider crap.
In this case Chelston agree with me but Mercedes have rejected my complaint.
This now an ongoing issue.

Denboy


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## pandj

We've had our T680 since April last year. Very happy with it. It's our first notor van after years of tugging, and we really like the layout and general Teutonic build quality.

Quite agree about the fridge catches though, - keep having to dismantle and re-assemble the freezer one. We also had a Truma heater fault, undiagnosed, but replaced without quibble by Truma near Derby. Otherwise any snagging niggles (and they are very few and minor) have to wait until we re-visit the Lakes or somewhere nearby and have first annual check done by Barron's of Coppul - perhaps we shouldn't have impulse bought while so far from home?!

Our gearbox is fine - it's the Sprintshift - and I mostly use it in automatic except if negotiating steep and windy bits or narrow twisting bits. Had a system like it before in a Smart roadster, and unlike most critics I like it.

Just booked ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam for a month in the Alps in the summer, so starting to look forward to beating last years 50 nights in the van. Off to Braemar next week - hope the snow has arrived!

Cheers, John


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## 110914

*TEUTONIC BURSTNER V. WELCOMING CHAUSSON?*

HI DENBOY - WONDER IF YOU OR ANOTHER BLOGGER WITH BURSTNER EXPERIENCE CAN ADVISE.

WE ARE THINKING OF BUYING A LOW MILEAGE T680 WITH A RENAULT 2.5DCI 140 BASE. THIS COMES WITH A SIX RATIO GEARBOX. YOU COMPLAINED ABOUT YOUR BOX LINKED TO THE MERCEDES - HAVE YOU OR ANYONE ELSE GOT ANY FEEDBACK ON THE RENAULT OPTION PLEASE?

ALSO, COMPARED TO THE CHAUSSON ALLEGRO, THE BURSTNER LOOKS A LITTLE TEUTONIC - MODERN AND EFFICIENT BUT NOT AS WELCOMING AN ENVIRONMENT AS HER FRENCH COUSIN. HAS ANYONE FITTED CARPETS WITH ANY SUCCESS TO HELP REDRESS THIS?


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## Bigmal666

*Burstner*

See our previous posts about our new burster elegance 710i with a myriad of significant faults and dealership issues.
Hope yours was sorted we are hoping, one year on to sort ours in the near future.
Watch this space!!!


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## suto

Hi freedomplanner

Our last motorhome was a Renault 2.5 sprntshift, couldn't fault it !

regards suto


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## MalanCris

We bought our T680 in April 2006 and it has now covered 21,000 miles. It is a Mercedes 2.7 with the six-speed sprintshift which I cannot fault. I love the way it eats up the winding roads in the Pyrenees and smoothly cruises on motorways.
The only time I have had to use the semi auto is when parking on my drive which has quite a steep angle, and also at Camping Los Manzanos in Northern Spain, which also has a steep access road.
The main problems with my van have been the electronic habitation control unit which gave up the ghost whilst in France and we had to get Barrons to post one out to us, and the water tank sensors which we have changed three times.
We are off to Towtal tomorrow to get a rack fitted to carry our scooter to give us bit more freedom of movement.


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## Delfin680

Hi Freedompartner.
I am running T680 with the Renault base and the 6 speed spintshift box, it is a dream to drive and I can highly reccomend the vehicle.
Best wishes,
Don


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## MalanCris

Just an update, we couldn't get a scooter rack fitted as Towtal kindly pointed out that the T680 chassis would not take the added weight of a rack and a scooter. So we asked them to fit a towbar and we would think about what we were going to do from there. We had an 'A' frame fitted to our Jimny on Saturday by Chris Cox and were really suprised at how easily it tows. We will now wait and see if we get any flak from the boys in blue!!


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## MalanCris

Just an update, we couldn't get a scooter rack fitted as Towtal kindly pointed out that the T680 chassis would not take the added weight of a rack and a scooter. So we asked them to fit a towbar and we would think about what we were going to do from there. We had an 'A' frame fitted to our Jimny on Saturday by Chris Cox and were really suprised at how easily it tows. We will now wait and see if we get any flak from the boys in blue!!


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## Gainsborough

*Carpets*

Hi, Had carpets fitted to my Marano 595 used *Kustom Sport * at Barnsley
Tel 01226 203347 first rate job very pleased both with workmanship and service. Can't quote you a price as there are so many variations, mine cost £220 slightly dearer than Burstner but done while you wait.
All the best.
Fred.


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## jetsets

Interesting about the weight and the scooter rack, we are looking at a delphin 680 and were thinking of having it and a rack fitted, looks like we need to think again.


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## Sandy_Saunders

*Re: TEUTONIC BURSTNER V. WELCOMING CHAUSSON?*



freedomplanner said:


> HI DENBOY - WONDER IF YOU OR ANOTHER BLOGGER WITH BURSTNER EXPERIENCE CAN ADVISE.
> 
> WE ARE THINKING OF BUYING A LOW MILEAGE T680 WITH A RENAULT 2.5DCI 140 BASE. THIS COMES WITH A SIX RATIO GEARBOX. YOU COMPLAINED ABOUT YOUR BOX LINKED TO THE MERCEDES - HAVE YOU OR ANYONE ELSE GOT ANY FEEDBACK ON THE RENAULT OPTION PLEASE?
> 
> ALSO, COMPARED TO THE CHAUSSON ALLEGRO, THE BURSTNER LOOKS A LITTLE TEUTONIC - MODERN AND EFFICIENT BUT NOT AS WELCOMING AN ENVIRONMENT AS HER FRENCH COUSIN. HAS ANYONE FITTED CARPETS WITH ANY SUCCESS TO HELP REDRESS THIS?


Hi Freedomplanner

I have a Burstner with a Renault 2.5 120 base vehicle. This has the automatic gear box with six gears and I am very pleased with it. I certainly wouldn't hesitate to buy another.

Sandy


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## Sandy_Saunders

Denboy said:


> New Dometec fridge and freezer catches broke immediately---we treat the replacements as though they are made of twigs.
> 
> Denboy


Hi Denboy

Sorry to hear about your experiences, I hope it all pans out OK eventually.

We had the same problem with fridge and freezer door catches. Having spent the excessive sum of 20 euros to replace them, I did some modifications.

I took some brass strip out of an old household electrical plug. This I cut and bent to size to form two angles and fitted them with glue to the outside of two lugs which move the lever as you slide the catch over. (These had snapped off on the original) So far this has proved effective and we don't need to treat them as though they are made of twigs. I also repaired the old catches and modified them as well, so there is a set of spares.

If you think it will help, I can take a photograph and post it here.

Sandy


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