?Cheap? haha Tracker recommendation required

[TJBi]

The tracker has to be insurance certified with an annual fee .

Fee doesn't have to be annual; mine is three-yearly.

 

[TJBi]

The X550 looks pretty good and got a good review from Peter Vaughn, chief reporter of MMM.
Before you go for one, check how far down the bed comes - can you get in and out without a ladder? and do you sleep lengthways or sideways, each of which might have difficulties.
I just looked at the photos on the Chausson web site. Is the wash basin in the washroom one without a drain plug? If it's one of those which dump water from the tap straight down the drain then for me that is an instant refusal. You have a limited amount of water on board and the last thing you want is to dump it all straight down the drain when you turn on a tap. They are hideous abominations and the designers are without excuse for incorporating them.
We had a Chausson some years ago and ours was fine.
We had a new Rapido a few years ago and the electric bed saw it sent back to Brownhills three times to get the bed to work reliably. Either they couldn't fix it because they were incompetent or the workshop manager didn't give the technician enough time to find the fault but in the end it was left to me to get the bed's installation and operation manual from the manufacturer in Italy (Project 2000) and fix the electrical fault myself. The uncaring assembler in the Rapido factory coultn't be bothered to push an 8 pin plug and socket together properly. So much for they quality control - it's non existent. Then the bed collapsed in one corner - luckily I wasn't driving at the time. So that was the end of my enthusiasm for electric beds and I wouldn't have another one.

About a decade ago, I viewed a Chausson with an electrically operated bed. I was not satisfied that there was a suitable fallback if the electric motor or associated components failed - particularly problematic if it failed with the bed down, as it came down over the cab seats.

 

[gasgas]

I've been conversing email-wise with Rachel Stothert, editor of MMM. She said of Chaussons:

Renault based motorhomes​ Inbox Gas Gas 20 Mar 2023, 18:20 Have you ever done a review of a Renault Master based motorhome or campervan? I can't see any in the outandabout reviews, probably because I don't know which co 6 Rachel Stothert​ 22 Mar 2023, 16:24 to me As with all brands, the more complicated the well kitted out the motorhome, the more things that can go wrong. We’ve had some brilliant Chaussons for review, but on the flip side, some readers have reported numerous faults, while others none at all. If you looking used, then most of the initial niggles will have been fixed and for vans out of warranty, you may not get Chausson specific parts, but you also have more choice and be able to shop around for none OEM kit which may fit. ... [Message clipped] View entire message Gas Gas <guzzi7509@gmail.com>​ 22 Mar 2023, 16:51 to Rachel Thanks Rachel. I looked on AutoTrader and there are lots of post-2016 Ford Autos, all Chausson and all but one are 7 mtr long or more, and that is tooooo long for me or my driveway. They do shorter ones, I'll have to keep looking. And the insides aren't nearly as nice as my Hobby. I think I am persuading myself to keep it! There is that peculiar X550 that Peter did a video of, but not many for sale. And of course now I have seen a 2017 Welcome 630 Ford Auto with 15,500 miles (sold) at £55k, it becomes a benchmark by which to compare others. Andrew Gas Gas​ 22:46 (0 minutes ago) to Rachel Hi Rachel. I have finally settled on a Burstner Nexxo Van 700 new from EmmBee in Bury. I went there to look at a Hymer but it was a bit worn inside, and 3850kg with hardly any payload if it were downrated to 3500. While there we saw a Nexxo 590, at 5.99mtr but the bed needed a ladder and we thought in say ten years time we will be too old and creaky to get in and out of it. EmmBee placed a forward order with Burstner a long time ago and have a build slot for a Nexxo Van 700 in May for customer delivery in June so I measured my driveway. It' s 8.5mtr from flower bed to pavement so it will fit after all. The 700 has an island bed and this one has the height adjustable option. So in addition to an accessible bed it has more storage and a full height fridge, and oven / grill and all that I think is worth an extra £5k on top of the 590 which we would have got irritated with in a year or two. So we are due for a 6.9mtr van after all . . . . . Regards Andrew

About a decade ago, I viewed a Chausson with an electrically operated bed. I was not satisfied that there was a suitable fallback if the electric motor or associated components failed - particularly problematic if it failed with the bed down, as it came down over the cab seats.

As I wrote in an earlier post I bought a new Rapido with drop down bed. The moron in the factory didn't push the 8 pin plug and socket together properly so one pin was intermittent, but I didn't find that out till Brownhills had three goes at looking at it - which is probably all they did. It went back to Brownhills three times for them to fix it but they failed. . I'll never again get a Rapido now I have experienced their quality control, and I have no intention of having an electrical bed.
By the way in my earlier post about the Burstner Nexxo 700 I mentioned the variable height bed, which turns out to be manual, you wind it up and down a bit like an awning. There's an excellent review of the exact model here: