# new motorhomers seek Chausson Allegro 83



## 106277

*[align=justify:8a92b46892]We are new to motorhoming and really fancy buying a Chausson Allegro 83, can anyone give me any feedback as to their reliability etc. and also has anyone got one for sale, preferrably private, thanks joan g[/align:8a92b46892]*


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## geraldandannie

Hi, Pastymaker

Highbridge have a special offer on a brand new one. Of any interest? What sort of budget do you have?

Gerald


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## chrisgog

Pastymaker.
We have a Chausson Allegro 83 2006 model and are very pleased with it. Don't know if it is still on your list but ask any questions you want.
Chris


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## tony50

A mate of mine bought one wasn't quite level shower water went out of door floor got wet and lifted,but in saying that like all motorhomes/cars/electrical goods they are built to a specifacation and the price you pay is reflected in this,ie,you can't buy a Mercedes car for the price of say a Fiat


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## geraldandannie

tony50 said:


> A mate of mine bought one wasn't quite level shower water went out of door floor got wet and lifted,but in saying that like all motorhomes/cars/electrical goods they are built to a specifacation and the price you pay is reflected in this,ie,you can't buy a Mercedes car for the price of say a Fiat


Well, I have no idea what this was. "Wasn't quite level"? Was it parked on a slope? You are implying 'what do you expect? You're buying a budget motorhome, so you should expect the shower to leak.'

I've spent the last year looking at motorhomes, and as far as I can see, Chausson quality is at least as good as any other motorhome. It is built on the same chassis as many other (more expensive) motorhomes, it has a 5 year water ingress warranty, it uses Truma and Dometic interior equipment (same as a lot of other motorhomes), and the quality of the furnishing is top rate. In addition, it has a number of quality ideas and features coming from the huge numbers they sell and hire out in France.

I think there's a lot of snobbishness in motorhomes, and some people think that because you pay top dollar, you get a far better product. It ain't necessarily so. The price of a motorhome isn't related to the quality of the manufacture - it's related to the price the manufacturer thinks people will pay for it. How can manufacturers justify the higher cost of a 'premium' range - through slightly thicker sponge, different furnishing material and a different shape to the cupboards? Is this really worth several hundreds of pounds or more extra?

You will always get people who, faced with a simple choice, will always buy the more expensive option. It's human nature. Not only do they think they're getting a premium product, they also want to show they can afford a status symbol. This is why people buy Rolls Royce cars.

Gerald


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## chrisgog

Must say the quality of the fittings and warmth of the Allegro 83 is a lot better than equivalent priced vans. When we bought ours we couldnt get over what we were getting in our van for a couple of grand less than other vans and most of them required add ons such as cab air conditioning which is in our price.

The permanent bed is brilliant and comfortable. The layout suits our needs. The Renault master is fantastic.

One problem with Chausson is after sales (Typically French and slow) so make sure you get a good delear to get you the parts.

As I said if you have any questions then fire away as I am sure geraldandannie or I are happy with our vans. My cousin went out and bought the large overcab welcome with bunks and he cant believe the quality he gets for his money either.


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## eddied

*Chausson*

 Buon giorno a tutti !
A little surprised at your comments re Chausson spares. In my experience of my Chausson, anything that could go wrong is not actually a 'Chausson' piece, but a Dometic, Truma, Thetford, Fiamma etc piece. so why do you need to rely on 'Chausson' for spares? After all you have to rely on Fiat or Renault or whatever for the cab/chassis spares.
Had a cracked WC washbasin to change (DIY) and found that the piece was actually produced in Italy, and came through with a 'Chausson' part number, but directly from the factory in Como.
saluti,
eddied


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## chrisgog

Unfortunately I speak from experience.
Needed a new plate for the vehicle as it had been graded 3.5tons and should have been 3.8tons, needed new bathroom door mechanism too which was specific to Chausson and they took over 6 months to arrive after constant reminding. They sent the wrong plate out twice too. My original Dealer stopped working with them so I have had to transfer to another Chausson dealer so have had the metal cage under the large pull out draw under the sink changed as it went rusty! 
Just ordered (through dealer) an exterior door retainer as ours broke off at the port. Again this is a part unique to Chausson and the new dealer has ordered one at an approximate cost of £15. Will wait and see how long this takes to arrive. The cage took just over a month so that wasn't too bad.

We scraped the van and were advised to get it repaired rather than wait about 6 months for new panels too.

We nevertheless love our van and have just come back from a great weekend away. The bed is brilliant and the quality of the furniture etc is solid and well made. We are snug as a bug in the van in all weathers too. Really quality insulation.
Chris


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## Spacerunner

We have an '07 Welcome 85 since May, and really, really pleased with it. In fact we love the Chausson range so much we are casting covetous eyes at an Allegro 93. Just our luck that the dealer a mile up the road has become a Chausson franchisee. Ooooh the temptation!!.. :lol:


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## geraldandannie

:roll: Guess who's been doing a forum search for "Allegro 93" then? :lol: 

This is a slightly old thread, and the strange thing is that Joan subscribed, asked one question, and was never seen again - she hasn't even logged on since 8O 

The Allegro 93 looks awfully similar to your Welcome 85, John. Why would you want to change it? 

Gerald


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## Spacerunner

We were only looking Guv' 'onest. Well it is higher spec and got more bells and whistles. The trouble is Gerald the more you get to know about this addiction of ours the more you start to refine the perfect motorhome. However I cannot think of any improvement on our present 'van that could justify spending several £ooo's on. Allegedly. :roll:


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## geraldandannie

Spacerunner said:


> However I cannot think of any improvement on our present 'van that could justify spending several £ooo's on. Allegedly. :roll:


 :lol: :lol: You just want a new toy, don't you, John? :wink:

I have a few "if only" points about our van:
1) Front curtains don't meet in the middle :roll: (Annie to fix :wink: )
2) Heating / boiler control could be by the side of the fridge, not where it's almost impossible to see low down on the bed support
3) Mains sockets - currently one under the cooker and one at the back of the TV locker :roll: - to be fixed / added to when the weather's better. I want to add one on the side of the wardrobe (kitchen side) for kettle, and one (or two) somewhere accessible in the lounge area for charging lappies etc.

Apart from that - it's perfect!

Gerald


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## Spacerunner

Can't quite believe your points Gerald, they are exactly the same as ours. Some temporary solutions, Clothes pegs on front curtains, and slide cab seats forward towards table. Use a cassette-type extension lead plugged into TV power point to make extra power points available under table. Rent-a-Dwarf to adjust the boiler controls.


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## 109663

had the same problem with lack of sockets on the Chausson...... , solved the problem by getting into thecupboard and finding the cable that supplied the 'single kitchen socket' and chopped the cable and installed a double rubber socket under the false cupboard floor then u can can run extensions to wherever u want...............I put a double socket above the worktop then a double from the cable that supplies the TV so I could add another double socket under the table !!

Confused !!.............it is 11:30pm

Let me know if you need an update

Martin


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## 121674

*chausson allegro 83*

joan g if you are interested in allegro 83 ,i have one for sale .
as yet it has not been advertised , but it is being placed on dealers forcourt .
if interested please phone 01656724170 for all information .
super camper
regards william


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## 108511

Hi all! we're new here..but as we've recently bought ourselves an "83",I thought that I'd chip in!  
In the short time that we've had it,we're very pleased it.The Renault,although "crudder" that the current Fiats/Peugeot is excellent and feels more "planted" and a lot less skittish than our previous Peugeot..(..AND it can reverse up a slope!)..and being the dci150 it don't 'alf shift!  

I agree totaly about the lack of sockets though(..it's on the "things to do" list) and also the front curtains being to short to close with the cab seats rotated is another poor error..
What we have done for now is to use the curtain from around the bed and fit that as a third,centre section..
We've then used a telescopic curtain pole and a tab-top curtain in order to create a changing area,by being able to seperate the bed and bathroom area off.
My biggest gripe would be that the loo is on the small side(..mind you,I'm not a great fan of the swivel loos anyhow.. :wink: )
EDIT: Oops! I think I may've posted this in the wrong place?


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## geraldandannie

pepe63 said:


> EDIT: Oops! I think I may've posted this in the wrong place?


Nah! There's no wrong place to post about Chaussons 

Mind you, the original post was well over 2 years ago now.

On "curtaingate" (well, everything has to have a "-gate" suffix these days), Annie swapped one of the front ones for one from around the bed. There's just enough to close them, and it makes a surprising difference in the cold weather (not that we use it much in the cold  ).

Since my last post, I've added two sockets to the underneath of the overhead lockers, above the table. Perhaps not the most convenient of places, but it allows us to charge up laptops, cameras, iPods, phones, etc etc. I've still done nothing about the position of the boiler control / thermostat.

Since then, we've also had a hunking great big solar panel and a Maxview crankup fitted on the roof, and they've been great investments. We've had the damaged rear bumper  replaced, and a hab service done (no problems). On the Fiat side, we've just had the reversing judder fixes done. Not that I had the judder very often, but if at any time we did want to sell / part-ex the thing, having the mods done will help I'm sure.

Next thing on the list (when it gets a bit warmer :roll: ) is a long-delayed Gaslow conversion. After that, there's absolutely nothing more that needs to be done to it (mind you, I've said that several times before  )

Gerald


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## tempest

Hi don`t know about the van your looking at but i have the new chausson suite, and so far i can`t fault it the furniture is exellent the ride is great & the price was better value than any other of it`s size would recomend chausson anytime. before u bought this we had a hymer but i don`t think the quality is there on the new ones


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## 108511

One of the major things we want to get sorted out is a rear bumper and towbar.Towtal at Stoke,being the closest,are the favourites at the moment (but their bumpers do look a little "agricultural" to my mind,so Im not sure yet.. :? )
Secondly,I've looked at getting air assistors for the rear springs.Not so much for the ride comfort etc but for the extra ride height..although £500odd is a lot a money for a couple of extra inches clearance at the back.. 8O (..after all,the side door and exhaust will get ripped off _way_ before then! :wink:


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## MikeCo

We did have a Chausson 83 which was new in March 06, we kept it for 2 years then changed it for a Burstner.
The main reason for the change was the llimited external storage and the small wc/shower room.
Apart from that the Renault side was good with plenty of power but a bit noisy.

Mike


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## Spacerunner

One thing on Chaussons that we have really appreciated over the last month is the insulation.

We spent three weeks away over Christmas and New Year and can honestly say that we were warmer and cosier than we would have been at home.

Considering that those weeks have been the coldest for thirty years it pays a big tribute to the insulation qualities.

BTW Cab curtains...we just spin the seats to face forward and the curtains meet fine.

Heater controls are really handy to turn on from the bed before getting up. gets the interior nice and warm before I expose the marble limbs!


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## chrisgog

We have the Allegro 83 model 2006 and we are more than happy with it. We look at other models but nothing compares in value and unfortunately a new van is now priced too high anyway.
Re. the curtains, we don't bother - just get internal silver screens and they block everything out and you dont have to go outside to put them on the van either. We found the curtains too fiddly and never use them.
The Renault base is brilliant . 4 years and 23,000 miles and we are averaging around 25-26mpg and boy does it shift.
Hope you enjoy your van.
Chris


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## longman

we too are thoroughly pleased with our Chausson welcome 58 though we also suffer from curtaingate. Spares do appear to be difficult to obtain but not sure whether this is dowm to our dealer of Chausson. We ordered a new table (as domino set landed on it and cracked surface) table eventually arrived 9 months later but was the wrong one. We have had a couple of minor faults but otherwise quality has been excellent. 

Andy


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## Jezport

We had a Flash 03 on a 2006 transit. We used it 2 seasons and other than a silly thing with the truma boiler (didnt work if parked at a certain angle when left over night) we have to say the van itself was great value for money and built very well.

They hold their prices well also, but make sure you dont pay too much for one.


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## eddied

*Chausson chanson*

 Ciao tutti, well my Chausson has gone  
Was shown a lot of interest at Carrara show, and then I finally part exchanged it with a Merc E270 CDI SW. The chap first wanted to swap it with a motorboat in Dubai, but since he wanted the Chausson, but I didn't want a motorboat in Dubai, he settled for aforementioned Merc and some cash to me. As I've mentioned before, you don't really need to wait for Chausson to come up with spare parts; unless it is a warranty thing. Most items I found if required could be had from accessory dealers and/or the actual manufacturer type Dometic/Truma/Thetford et al.
During the stopover in Carrara nightime temps. dropped to below freezing. I was almost too hot in the Chausson. Noticed in the mornings that other motorhomes did not have any frost on them i.e. heat was escaping through the panels and windows, not allowing ice to form. Minewas covered in ice on the roof/windows outside; showing that insulation was excellent.
saluti,
eddied


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## bozzer

Hi
We also have an Allegro 83 and really like it. At present we are out in Spain and this is our 5th relocation in the Motorhome. We like the fact that there are lounge, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom defined areas. We've taken the table out as although excellent movement it just got in the way for long term living - we'll be away 3 months. 

The main thing we dislike is the waste water outlet which is difficult to get at, if the rear is raised for levelling we can get a waste water carrier underneath. Unfortunately we're level at present without any help. In this case we have a small washing up bowl placed in the basin so water is taken out without using the waste water tank.

The other main problem was the exhaust was in a very silly place, lowest point mid way between the wheels and we caught it twice and knocked it off it's mounting. A friend took a section out and now it's further forwards and higher.

We've added solar panels, extra battery, towbar, air rides and a plate which allows the TV to be lowered to a much better viewing position.

Has anyone managed to get spare cab seat covers, ours are wearing however those are the seats we use most and we do use the Mhome alot.

Bozzer


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## Portuguesemike

*Chausson welcome top 58*

can anyone give me any advice with regards buying one of the above. We want to use it to travel around europe but do not know much about this particular one. Any feed back would be brilliant please be it good or bad!
many thanks


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## chrisgog

Hi
We were very happy with our Chausson Allegro 83 which we sold 18months ago. Chaussons are generally of good quality at reasonable prices. We had no complaints but changed for a garage model and just to update it. We kept it for 4 and half years and were very satisfied. They have a 5 year water ingress waranty too.
Not sure about the Welcome models but the model ranges have all changed in the last few years.
Chris


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## rayc

*Re: Chausson welcome top 58*



Portuguesemike said:


> can anyone give me any advice with regards buying one of the above. We want to use it to travel around europe but do not know much about this particular one. Any feed back would be brilliant please be it good or bad!
> many thanks


This is the Chausson brochure for the 2008 model year. I had a 2008 Wecome 75 and thought it was good for the price. At that time the Welcome range was midway between the starter Flash and the top of the range Allegro. 
http://www.kpcm.co.uk/downloads/chausson_mh/2008ChaussonMotorhomes.pdf


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## Alicat

Hi

I have dropped you a PM. I have an Allegro for sale, it is a 94, not an 83. 

Tony


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