# 2007 Trigano Tribute 550 & 650 Snagging List



## 104856

For new people browsing this forum who are thinking of purchasing the new Trigano Tribute 550 and 650 and are looking for feedback on it , as I was, this is what I have picked up over the last month from posts:

Just to Summarise then from post of people who have the new Tributes and these are not necessarily my personal view: 

One owner felt that the interior quality/ finish of his new motorhome was on par with a "contractors portacabin".

Front swivel seats will not swivel with the hand brake on. 

Many people will not fit on to the toilet due to the lack of space in the WC cubicle, especially the 650 

Shower cubicle access on the 650 is near impossible due to the narrow door. 

over cab cupboard unaccessible. 

Lounge seats and sofa far too high making them uncomfy to sit on as your feet do not touch the ground ( bit like humpty dumpty)

you may or may not get spot lights 

the rear ladder is for decoration as its too flimsy to climb up, loose in some cases. 

double bed max person height of 5ft 10ish 

single beds use front swivel seats which is not liked by many. 

lack of rear window on 650 ( was there on the pre-production) 

No Air Conditioning and is not an option, expensive retro fit.

can not fit multi directional tv ariel where its supposed to go as fridge is in the way 

Carpets are dangerous 

That only leaves the fridge, freezer and cooker which you do not get much of on the 550. 

Have I missed anything ? 

This I feel is very disappointing and is far more than a snagging list and requires major surgery to put right. 

For goodness sake CI / Trigano get your act together.

Hope this helps but I recommend you make your own decision by going and testing one.


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## 102476

After just 7 weeks we decided to get rid of our new 650. Mainly because seats were so high and very uncomfortable. Your points about the loo are right and we only used the shower room to store bedding. Very expensive mistake but enough was enough.


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## fridgeman

oooooh dear !,that covers some of it, i though i had done well with my IH as a p/x, but i,am begining to wonder, the bed box on mine is comming to bits [650], i,am going to take it to a private company and have it beefed up with a steel version ,frame that is, on the whole the van is exellent,the appliances and fittings are good quality but the screwing together and fitting must have been done by the muppets ! :evil:


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## LAZZA

*Trbute snags*

Hi all 
We have had our 650 for about 3 months now,and yes we have had a few problems ,Most of which we have overcome.I think no matter how much you spend on a new van you will be very lucky to find a van with no problems at all.I have had two brand new vans before my Tribute,both were well known coachbuilt,both of these vans had signs of damp on there first habitation service,they also had faults with build quality,all of which were put right under warrantee.In my opinion all of the manufactures need a good kick up the backside,to make sure all of these niggles are sorted before the customer gets them.
We still love our Tribute and hope to keep it for a long time.
Cheers Lazza :lol:


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## Otto-de-froste

Have to admit I was the one who compared fit out to a portacabin. Not the best comparison, but to clarify a little more I had come from a Bessacarr E445 which had nice looking furniture. The Trigano seemed a little less domestic in appearance, but that applies to a lot of vans.
In retrospect the cabinet work is proving to be hard wearing, and since it's mostly ply wood as opposed to the papier mache cabinets used in some more upmarket vans it is really quite robust.
*Front swivel seats will not swivel with the hand brake on.
Ours will

*Many people will not fit on to the toilet due to the lack of space in the WC cubicle, especially the 650
We manage and we are definitely well upholstered

*Shower cubicle access on the 650 is near impossible due to the narrow door.
It's a two berth van we tend not to use the loo together so it's no problem to us

*over cab cupboard unaccessible.
we get 2 sleeping bags in

*Lounge seats and sofa far too high making them uncomfy to sit on as your feet do not touch the ground ( bit like humpty dumpty)

*you may or may not get spot lights
we did, and those who don't should ask for them

*the rear ladder is for decoration as its too flimsy to climb up, loose in some cases.
I wouldn't send the wife up there without proper training in any case, but we do accept it a s decor only

*double bed max person height of 5ft 10ish
no shorter than the dinette on our previous Bessacarr

*single beds use front swivel seats which is not liked by many.
How many? They work for us, and after the first night or two you don't notice

*lack of rear window on 650 ( was there on the pre-production)
Cabinets go right up to the door - no point in having window

*No Air Conditioning and is not an option, expensive retro fit.
Air-con on our Bessacarr was costly to repair - wouldn't bother with it personally

*can not fit multi directional tv ariel where its supposed to go as fridge is in the way
we did, and it works fine

*Carpets are dangerous
Didn't get carpets, don't want carpets, floor can be cleaned in seconds

*That only leaves the fridge, freezer and cooker which you do not get much of on the 550.
our 650 fridge is much bigger than we need and the freezer holds plenty
550 fridge is smae as we had on Bessacarr

*Have I missed anything ?
Yes - it costs £30k for a cool looking, well specced van

*This I feel is very disappointing and is far more than a snagging list and requires major surgery to put right.
Disagree, having used ours in Europe and UK over last 3 months.
No major problems, just niggling little issues which in some cases I have sorted myself
Maybe we shouldn't have to, but look at reports on some or the more expensive vans.

For goodness sake CI / Trigano get your act together.

Hope this helps but I recommend you make your own decision by going and testing one.
I agree completely with you LAZZA. Nothing major has happened, and all the snagging wqorks have been put right.
Is there anything I would like to improve on in terms of quality?
Yes, a few minor rattles from window blinds, but it is a big panel van, and I've cured most by just tightening a few screws - like I did in the Bessacarr most weekends. 
We like ours, and accept the design limitations - again - as we did with the Bessacarr.

Hope this helps - to put things in perspective.


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## 102062

*tribute 550 650*

hi all,
Had my 550 3 months now and done 3 thousand miles, 
posatives, 30 miles to the gallon,superb turning circle, great looking,
f
fantastic drive, still havent put any oil in it yet,
negatives, a few niggles but as a keen diyer i can put up with them,
Still get buzz when i get in it,
all the best triumf,


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## 105062

I must say I did find this post helpful at the time as it was a genuine list of OWNERS comments and not someone just taking a swipe. 

I printed it out and took it with me when checking out the tribute before taking delivery and I must say I agreed with most of it. I decided that I could either live with or do something about the issues listed as they were not "Show stoppers" to me.

I have now worked through the list and tackled everything I did not like or was important to me. 

To sum up, in my view the van, equipment and fittings are very high quality and better than some £40k panel van conversions we looked at. It was the putting together that let it down. I understand they are put together by people with special needs so its the quality control that in my view is to blame. I have now removed just about all the insides and re-fitted them carrying out some modifications to design problems along the way, some of which I have posted.

Two major mods have been done this week and that was to carry out Lazza's Toilet wall / door conversion ( which I hope to finish tomorrow and will post pics for anyone who is interested) and unlike you Otto both wife and I can not do without the air con so that has been fitted and with a 5 year warrantee we should not have any costly repair bills ( never had any bother with the air con in the cars over the last 20 years though).

So, if I stop remembering that I have paid some £32k for a vehicle I have had to refit and mod, I think the tribute is wonderful and loved every minute of exploring her hidden depths! Someone posted a while ago that they should have produced a Tribute self build kit, well I fully agree but it would have probably ended up taking 3 times as long to build and cost more!


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## fridgeman

think most of us are thinking the same, you get a lot of van for the money but by not having a good workforce to assemble them it will hurt the brand in bad publicity, i,am just going to press on and iron out the niggles to customise it to my standards, i dont mind too much paying out a bit here and there but dont want to cash it in and pay out another 15k for a van that may or may not be any better


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## grumpyman

Even though I am no longer a Tribute owner this comment is 100%

*fantastic drive, still haven't put any oil in it yet, 
negatives, a few niggles but as a keen diyer i can put up with them, 
Still get buzz when i get in it,* 
Probably next to the new Van I am buying it is also the most stunning visually on the road.


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## 105109

*snagging list for Tribute*

Can't speak for 650, my OH is 6 foot, no problem with the bed length.

Re fixtures and fittings - none of us has paid the extra to get top of the range. We can therefore put a little extra in to suit individual needs.

We have complained of niggles, poor workmanship on cabinet fittings, nothing which can't be fixed.

You pays your money and takes your chance!

Jacobite


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## framptoncottrell

This is just largely anecdotage so treat as appropriate.

Mrs Roy and I arranged to hire a Trigano Tribute 650 for a fortnight from a well-known hire company. When we arrived, the salesman said that we were getting a La Strada (with the same layout) since of the twelve Triganos that had been delivered to them, eleven had had to be returned to the dealers as having too many unacceptable faults.

I cannot say whether that was exaggeration to justify the La Strada or not.

Mind you, we had a few problems with the La Strada, but that is probably for a different discussion.

Dr (musical, not medical) Roy


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## fridgeman

it does not suprise me at all, and not everyones "handy" or will put up with the many niggles, i will as i think you still get alot for your money as has been said many times, i,am having the bed frame beefed up at present as its so feeble i,am suprised no one else has had a problem,the water pump fell of its fixings the other day,thought i could hear a knocking, that was easely sorted, will post some pics of the mods next week.


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## 105109

*Trigano Tribute 2007 Snagging list*

To all Trigano Tribute 2007 X2 50 van owners - I presume all are looking at the water ingress problems in another section of this forum.

What are the comments of the other Trigano owners re this. We are going to our dealer tomorrow to get out "snags" fixed, like cutlery drawer and fridge fan etc. We will be mentioning the water to him as we also need the gutter below the windscreen wipers sealed. Looking forward to his comments. Thank goodness for the helpful forum.

Jacobite


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## fridgeman

i have droped on another one that may or may not be to do with my after marker ariel, inside the side door area,the plastic trim where it meets the roof sheeting,i was threading a small FM ariel in when i noticed my finger ends kept getting wet !so there is water ingress from the roofline somewhere,

i had a ariel fitted in this area but it looks well sealed ,but thats next to check out, hope its not from anywhere else, can i suggest you check this out after a bit of rain,[should not have to wait long !] 8O


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## grumpyman

Not wanting to appear grumpy but what are you doing about your warranty when you have finished with all the DIY. You may find you have problems having Dealers/Manufacturers accepting any warranty work including water problems, only a thought.


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## 105062

No, Thats a good point Grumps. The major mods I have done like the cutting up of the toilet cubicle, hinge swaps, air con have all been done with the blessing of the dealer. The air con I deliberately did through them for that reason and the other stuff I have done myself I asked their blessing first. I guess if there was a problem directly due to my mods then it would be down to me to sort. I found the dealer very supportive and even offered some ideas for mods !!!  but the main thing is that there should be no shocks if I need a warranty claim


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## oldenstar

OK-this is me just back from 9 days and 8 nights away (alone) in our 550.
Ours has now also done about 3400 miles, and I just get to like it more and more.
It really is the most superb drive and so relaxing especially with the great cruise control (who else gets that on a van at this price point?). The cab and controls are simply great. Also just got a trip mpg of just under 34, covering plenty of town work as well as motorway, plus even about 2 hours of Diesel heating (in August yet!).
We have turned our washroom door round so it opens from the front side and it works well. The seats swivel fine, but IF you are using the drivers seat as part of an offside single then you need to release the handbrake to get the final few degrees of turn-as I always use the double even when on my own it doesn't bother me.
I find the bed extremely comfortable despite the jigsaw effect, using a good underblanket and quilt, and all this stores under the single rear seat plus an emergency blanket not yet needed.
I use a delonghi mini oven which I use parked on the pull down working flap at the back of the van, and this fits neatly in the base of the cupboard under the fridge when not in use.
Now that the washroom door is turned round I store the table overnight against the back doors ready for use again in the morning-saves opening the van to store it properly.
Had cold water wash one morning-my own silly fault for forgetting to remove the heater vent cover duh  
So all in all while I accept that there are quality control issues (I appear to be very lucky with this) I think it is a great van, especially when considering the value for money. Just check the price against all the other vans mentioned. Even the Adria Twin fans have to pay a lot more if they want many things which are standard on the Tribute.
Oh yes, and we get such admiring looks and remarks on the various sites.
So here is another well pleased Tribute owner.
Scotland here we come next month.


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## fridgeman

great posatives there, me too are looking forward to going away for 10 days after the kids go back , pretty confident i should have the niggles sorted by then, got some pics of the bed alteration but dont know how to upload them,any ideas? :?


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## grumpyman

Well Boys and girls the Tribute was finally taken away yesterday and so I am no longer part of the club hope you all go on ok, below the new en.


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## oldenstar

Don't worry Grumps- you will always be one of us.
Nice looking machine you have indeed and by comments seen on here Autocruise seem to have about the best reputation of the higher volume van makers.
How is the Bank Manager now by the way?


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## grumpyman

Thanks for that he is not to bad Insurance Company are right pi..ed off though.


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## BigChap

Can someone tell me the actual length of the single beds in the 650, with, presumably, the front seats turned and used as an extension? Thanks


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