Fisherman
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We bought our new chausson 510 welcome last year from Knowepark in Livingston near Edinburgh. They are the only chausson dealers in Scotland. Before I talk about our van can I say that purchasing a van miles away from your home is not advisable. If you have any problems as we did, you can only go back to where you bought your van, not other dealerships, as you can with a car.
Well my wife and I did not intend to purchase a van until spring 2017. We were aware that fiat had designed a euro 6 engine and that chausson had a new van coming out this year, the 530. But much to my surprise the dealer made us a great offer, adding thousands of pounds of equipment to entice us including, kenwood integrated system, canopy, avtex tv and arial, barbecue, additional power points 240 and 12v, solar panel, exhaust cat protector. I have been driving automatic cars for 15 years now, so I required an auto meaning that I was restricted to the fiat ducato which I am very pleased with. But to be honest if a ford auto had been available I would have preferred it. They have better cabs, and offer more extras than the ducato.
Chausson build excellent, vans we looked at many others but value for money we felt that chausson were by far the best option. I thought about a larger 7m 610 van, but it would have been tight in our drive, and more difficult to drive and more importantly to park. So we went for the 510 which comes in at 5.97m and on our frequent trips to the isle of Arran it's the same price as a car return just £30.20.
We love the seperate shower and toilet, we decided from the start this was a must, the front lounge with the electric or manual drop down bed for a van of its size is impressive. The mattress being every bit as comfortable as ours at home. You can even create another bed for another two below the drop down bed. It's a 4 berth which means we can take the grand kids which is great, they just love it. The kitchen is small but with lots of storage, but lacks an electric hob when on hook up. The oven/ grill works great, but it's set a bit high making it difficult for those of small stature to operate. We carry a fold away step to assist here. The led lighting in the van is quite frankly wonderful, it creates a lovely ambience at night, adding to the feeling of luxury you get when inside at night. The control panel is situated close to the door and offers controls for the diesel heating, cooling fans, lighting, water pump, battery levels, awning light, control light level,and main standbye switch. Above the cab there is a large curved skylight wich combined with the skylight above the kitchen provided lots of natural light, and is great for ventilation. The captains seats with matching covers are the most comfortable for watching tv.
The fridges is quite frankly an enormous 170l we have never came near to filling it.
The 10 L truma boiler works from gas or electricity with two settings 50 & 70c, and works great, my only complaint being the controls are poorly positioned and the grandkids hit the switches with their feet messing things up. The table can be manoeuvred to suit requirements and is more than adequate, and can be lowered electrically at night to accommodate lowering the bed.the habitation door has multi locking and a window and is centrally locked. The cab has blinds that are very effective at night. All doors, windows and both skylights come with blinds and insect mesh to prevent unwanted visitors. Outside you have a garage great for all of the equipment and surprisingly large for this size of van. The electric and water inlets are all available in what they call the techni box great idea. The mains hook up just outside this. The shower has a vent and the toilet window can be opened giving you a through vent reducing substantially the effects of stream condensation from the shower. Chausson reckon you can get a 13kg gas cylinder in the locker, bug I found this extremely difficult and carry two 6kg cylinders instead.
The fiat cab is fine but I hate plastic steering wheels and bought a leather cover which took me 2 hours to fit, but was well worth it. I bought it on eBay for £16. The steering wheel lacks radio and phone controls something that's on the new models. But I am impressed with the 150bhp engine and the auto box a joy to drive, giving me plenty of oomph, and cruises at 60mph. We have cruise control, speed limiter, abs, and air con in the cabin. In winter you can run with the heater on as it is not powered by gas, but with diesel.
The Karndean flooring with removable carpet is yet another fine touch in this well turned out van, that surpasses many of its competors in value for money and quality of finish. I could go on and on but suffice to say I am now a sworn chausson admirer.
But I have a few complaints,
The sink in the toilet is to small with a fixed tap preventing you from getting your face close when shaving or washing your face. I fitted a swivel tap myself to help with this. Access to the outside near side cupboard is awkward from inside. The boiler and table controls are poorly positioned and could prove difficult to access for someone with a physical impairment. The reading lights are positioned at ceiling height, find if you are using the bed in an elevated piston but to far away if fully lowered.
But for all of this its a great van highly reccomend it.
If anyone is looking for any further info please feel free to message me.
Well my wife and I did not intend to purchase a van until spring 2017. We were aware that fiat had designed a euro 6 engine and that chausson had a new van coming out this year, the 530. But much to my surprise the dealer made us a great offer, adding thousands of pounds of equipment to entice us including, kenwood integrated system, canopy, avtex tv and arial, barbecue, additional power points 240 and 12v, solar panel, exhaust cat protector. I have been driving automatic cars for 15 years now, so I required an auto meaning that I was restricted to the fiat ducato which I am very pleased with. But to be honest if a ford auto had been available I would have preferred it. They have better cabs, and offer more extras than the ducato.
Chausson build excellent, vans we looked at many others but value for money we felt that chausson were by far the best option. I thought about a larger 7m 610 van, but it would have been tight in our drive, and more difficult to drive and more importantly to park. So we went for the 510 which comes in at 5.97m and on our frequent trips to the isle of Arran it's the same price as a car return just £30.20.
We love the seperate shower and toilet, we decided from the start this was a must, the front lounge with the electric or manual drop down bed for a van of its size is impressive. The mattress being every bit as comfortable as ours at home. You can even create another bed for another two below the drop down bed. It's a 4 berth which means we can take the grand kids which is great, they just love it. The kitchen is small but with lots of storage, but lacks an electric hob when on hook up. The oven/ grill works great, but it's set a bit high making it difficult for those of small stature to operate. We carry a fold away step to assist here. The led lighting in the van is quite frankly wonderful, it creates a lovely ambience at night, adding to the feeling of luxury you get when inside at night. The control panel is situated close to the door and offers controls for the diesel heating, cooling fans, lighting, water pump, battery levels, awning light, control light level,and main standbye switch. Above the cab there is a large curved skylight wich combined with the skylight above the kitchen provided lots of natural light, and is great for ventilation. The captains seats with matching covers are the most comfortable for watching tv.
The fridges is quite frankly an enormous 170l we have never came near to filling it.
The 10 L truma boiler works from gas or electricity with two settings 50 & 70c, and works great, my only complaint being the controls are poorly positioned and the grandkids hit the switches with their feet messing things up. The table can be manoeuvred to suit requirements and is more than adequate, and can be lowered electrically at night to accommodate lowering the bed.the habitation door has multi locking and a window and is centrally locked. The cab has blinds that are very effective at night. All doors, windows and both skylights come with blinds and insect mesh to prevent unwanted visitors. Outside you have a garage great for all of the equipment and surprisingly large for this size of van. The electric and water inlets are all available in what they call the techni box great idea. The mains hook up just outside this. The shower has a vent and the toilet window can be opened giving you a through vent reducing substantially the effects of stream condensation from the shower. Chausson reckon you can get a 13kg gas cylinder in the locker, bug I found this extremely difficult and carry two 6kg cylinders instead.
The fiat cab is fine but I hate plastic steering wheels and bought a leather cover which took me 2 hours to fit, but was well worth it. I bought it on eBay for £16. The steering wheel lacks radio and phone controls something that's on the new models. But I am impressed with the 150bhp engine and the auto box a joy to drive, giving me plenty of oomph, and cruises at 60mph. We have cruise control, speed limiter, abs, and air con in the cabin. In winter you can run with the heater on as it is not powered by gas, but with diesel.
The Karndean flooring with removable carpet is yet another fine touch in this well turned out van, that surpasses many of its competors in value for money and quality of finish. I could go on and on but suffice to say I am now a sworn chausson admirer.
But I have a few complaints,
The sink in the toilet is to small with a fixed tap preventing you from getting your face close when shaving or washing your face. I fitted a swivel tap myself to help with this. Access to the outside near side cupboard is awkward from inside. The boiler and table controls are poorly positioned and could prove difficult to access for someone with a physical impairment. The reading lights are positioned at ceiling height, find if you are using the bed in an elevated piston but to far away if fully lowered.
But for all of this its a great van highly reccomend it.
If anyone is looking for any further info please feel free to message me.
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