# 2005 Pioneer Renoir and 2005 Marquis Starlett



## pepandspice (May 1, 2005)

Have seen the above vans recently and in both cases the second owners appear to have only kept the vehicle for about three months. This makes me a little wary! Have they had problems I wonder?

Please can you let me know if you have owned either vehicle and if so have you had any major problems"

Dawn.


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## Steamdrivenandy (Jun 18, 2007)

Are you thinking of going coachbuilt Dawn?

Andy


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## pepandspice (May 1, 2005)

Steamdrivenandy said:


> Are you thinking of going coachbuilt Dawn?
> 
> Andy


Hi Andy, yes we are but we are looking to stay as close as we can in terms of dimensions and build quality as our Tio. We like layout of renoir/starburst/starlett but we are a little nervous with regards potential problems. 
Dawn.


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## Steamdrivenandy (Jun 18, 2007)

pepandspice said:


> Steamdrivenandy said:
> 
> 
> > Are you thinking of going coachbuilt Dawn?
> ...


We're having thoughts along similar lines around the new Swift Compact van, strange really when there appears to be a mini rush by converters the opposite way into PVCs. The two things holding us back is the probability of having to run a third vehicle and giving up the custom made dog accomodation in the back.

What we'd really like is a van with a 2ft or so deep garage like ours with furniture above it rather than the obligatory high bed. Then a bed or beds elsewhere that are at floor level.

Andy


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## pepandspice (May 1, 2005)

Steamdrivenandy said:


> pepandspice said:
> 
> 
> > Steamdrivenandy said:
> ...


It is difficult when looking to change from panel van to coachbuilt because we have a vehicle with good dimensions at the moment in terms of parking and driveability. We are looking at the autocruise as it is still fairly narrow in width and a little over 20ft long and it would give us a lot more living space than we have at the moment.

Your vehicle is quite unique with the area at the back for your dogs. The compact vehicles we have seen with a garage all have the garage bed above, we saw the burstner travel van on saturday which does have a garage but the ability to lift the bed on gas struts and you still have a little more floorspace and access to linen cupboard and wardrobe, and sliding door access into the garage (you can see this van on Becks Motorcaravans website) but we think that there wouldnt be as much living space as we have at the moment with our rear lounge tio r.

Dawn.


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## TR5 (Jun 6, 2007)

Hi Dawn

I am a second owner of a Starlett ll, and yes we have had some problems, mainly electrical.

The 'van was returned about six times to Marquis (from where it was purchased), and after three months of not resolving the problems, with a threat of rejection before they employed the services of an independent motor electrician, who found that earth cables to the batteries where insufficient.

Hopefully all is now resolved, but we have not had the opportunity to try it out fully on site since this work was carried out.

Apart from this, we are pleased with the vehicle.

Any problems are only as bad (or good) as the dealer's willingness and/or ability to resolve them.

Hope this helps,

Michael

Update: 
Problems still exist. It appears that the leisure battery is not being charged enough, due to high voltage drop between both the mains charger, and the split-charge, which points to an inherent problem with manufacture - the cables are too small!
We have found that, the eberspacher diesel heater uses a glowplug to ignite, and this will not work below a certain voltage (quoted as 10.2volts) but with voltage drop between the battery and the unit, the leisure battery can read 12.2volts, and still not be sufficient.
A 12v lead acid battery requires a charge voltage of around 14.4volts to fully charge, and can take a maximum of 14.8 volts, before damage would occur.
On checking the output of the alternator, and the charge going into the vehicle battery, this reads 14.37 volts on tickover, but by the time it reaches the leisure battery, it is down to 13.3volts, so the leisure battery will not even reach 70% efficiency, probably a lot less. (At 13.85 volts it will only reach 80% efficiency, assuming there is no sulphation on the plates). Also the battery NEEDS 14.4 volts after discharging to reduce sulphation, which in turn will build up on the plates if only partly charged, again reducing efficiency.

The same goes for the on-board charger, built into the Plug-In systems board, only 13.3 volts at the leisure battery.
Pretty poor show really. I wonder if the dealer will undertake to replace the wiring, or if I shall have to reject the vehicle, as I cannot use it off of mains hook-up for more than one evening if the heating is required, and this is even after having spent well over £100 on LED's to replace the "greedy" halogen bulbs!

Marquis - over to you!


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## trigrem (May 1, 2005)

We have an Autocruise Starburst, just over 1 year old, 8000 miles no problems except for fridge ignition system which failed in first 3 months, replaced very efficiently by Dometic under warranty.
If you are going to Shepton Mallet show in January, pop in for extended chat.
Have noticed that the latest High Tops based on long wheelbased Ducato are wider and longer than our coachbuilt.
Doug


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## pepandspice (May 1, 2005)

TR5 said:


> Hi Dawn
> 
> I am a second owner of a Starlett ll, and yes we have had some problems, mainly electrical.
> 
> ...


Hi Michael,
Thanks for your reply. If we find a suitable van we will be forewarned to check that the electrics are satisfactory. Also thanks for your reply under stardream thread, I think we have now discounted this model purely due to its length and low stance.

Dawn.


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## pepandspice (May 1, 2005)

trigrem said:


> We have an Autocruise Starburst, just over 1 year old, 8000 miles no problems except for fridge ignition system which failed in first 3 months, replaced very efficiently by Dometic under warranty.
> If you are going to Shepton Mallet show in January, pop in for extended chat.
> Have noticed that the latest High Tops based on long wheelbased Ducato are wider and longer than our coachbuilt.
> Doug


Hi Doug, thanks for your reply, good to see that you have had no major problems. 
We too have noticed the length of the hi-tops and some of them look nice but we do not think the extra length gives that much more living space and the bathrooms are no better than ours.
Don't know if we will get to Shepton Mallet in January, if we do, will get in touch with you beforehand. 
Thanks again.
Dawn.


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## grumpyman (Sep 24, 2006)

Have a 2006 Renoir brilliant build quality excellent every time I meet other owners they have nothing but praise for them. Last owner I spoke to was a retired Cabinet Maker who went for the Renoir due to the quality of the fittings.
I did have a Tribute before not in the same league please ask away if you need any other info on the Renoir.


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