Tag Axles and Hobby Vans????

mrbadger

Guest
We were looking at a large Hobby MH with a double axle (at the back!!). Very nice looking bus, with loads space and TWO full length wardrobes. Wotsername would have bought it there and then for the wardrobes alone. However, we were actually leaving next day for Ffrench Ffrance, so that was that..

Since then we have mentioned it to several people and have had surprising reactions, so we wondered wether any members here had any thoughts.....


We were warned that buying a Hobby gives you a hobby for life, keeping it going!! Are they unreliable?
It seemed solidly built..


Then we were warned against double axles generally, as they were associated with Gypsies (their words, not mine!) and we could be refused admission to certain sites, and possibly discriminated against.... We were shocked, but is it true?
I know there is discrimination of all kinds in some places, its a sad fact of life, but just because you have 6 wheels on a MH????? Really?????

Anyone know anything?

Badger an 'erself.......

Currently in a friends garden, in France, in the rain..... But its warm rain, and vertical instead of the horizontal British kind.. Had two fantastic weeks in Trier, the Mosel Valley and the Rhine valley. Seriously HOT!!! Dunno where next..... Le Clerc for more wine probably.......
 
I've had my Hobby 750FML for 10 years having bought it new in 2002.

My personal experience has been very good. A few teething troubles when new which were quickly sorted. (By Brownhills....)

Since then, nothing really except for some frost damage to the shower tap, the door retainer catch has broken several times (must think of a better solution) and general bits likes the odd bulb and fuse.

I full timed in it for 18 months in 2003/4 and have had numerous extended European trips.

The tag axle has never been turned away from any camp site but it can be a bit tight to get in some places. The van usually only gets positive comments.

The Fiat base has also proved to be completely reliable. Around 25MPG. Front tyres about 35K miles. Rears still original with no signs of wear at 50K miles but must be changed soon due to age. Service once a year and a cam belt at 6 years old. Just replaced front brakes discs and pads for the first time.

So, all good for me - but I am touching wood now!
 
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There is definitely a resistance by some sites to Hobby and Tabbart caravans as they are used by travellers apparently. I think that the choice of travellers to use these makes actually says a lot about the quality of the 'vans as travellers live in them permanently and have vast experience of them. I have also noticed on the odd site (one was a French municipal) where twin-axle caravans were not allowed. This was supposedly about the length and weight of them, but I'm convinced that it was their way of banning travellers without falling foul of race relations legislation.

Anyway, on to Hobby motorhomes. I have a two-year-old Van Exclusive L on a Transit. I chose it very carefully as I wanted a 'van that had all the comforts but will go anywhere that a car will go. I bought it new and in the two years have done 22,000 miles and spent over six months on various holidays. It has travelled on bone-shaking roads all over Europe and the 'van itself has never had a single fault. I did have a problem with the oven-door catch but that's made by Dometic and can hardly be blamed on Hobby. I didn't even bother the dealer with this and contacted Dometic, which sent out a service agent who fixed it in my warehouse where the 'van is stored.

So my experience is very good. We have slept comfortably in temperatures up to minus ten degrees Celsius and it's really well insulated. When I decide to have a new one, Hobby will be at the top of my list.

Needless to say of course there will always be others whose experiences are not so happy. Motorhomes are extremely complex, with so many things that can go wrong, but for me, the most important thing is to have a good dealer within a reasonable distance, which I have. My initial researches led me to a Frankia, but when I learned that the dealer was 200 miles away I wrote it off my list. Anyone daft enough to buy a 'van from someone so far away has no right moaning if he has to make a few long trips to get things sorted!

Finally, there was an incident on site in Scotland where a Hobby motorhome was refused a booking. In the end I think it came down to an inexperienced assistant who knew about the ban on Hobby caravans that the site had and didn't have the brains to understand that it shouldn't apply to motorhomes. I've not heard of any such examples since.
 
Thanks for that, its good to hear positive experiences!. Funnily enough, the one we looked at was in Brownhills!
Cheers
Badger
 
A friend of mine has a 2001 Hobby and swears by it.

The two of them over winter in Spain or Morocco and say how well built it is compared to their previous Brit ones.

Obviously any thing like a motor home, canal boat etc will always require regular maintenance to keep it in tip top condition as does a house (our MH gets first priority!!) and if you purchase one that hasn't had the maintenance kept up to date, can find a number of often minor but irritating problems.

As far a being classified as a Gypsy and barred from sites, I've never come across it.
 
We read once, not sure on which forum, someone writing that it was a good idea to buy as big a van as you can afford as you will appreciate the space. We are absolutely positive that not every one would agree with those sentiments, but we could see the benefits and we bought an Autotrail Chieftain (tag axle).

We tour Europe a lot, including taking people on touring holidays as a business. On all our travels we have only been refused entry to one French camp site on the basis that they didn't allow twin wheel caravans.

The only restriction we would consider when buying the Hobby tag you're looking at is, have you got room for it at home? If yes buy it, you'll love the space, or more importantly HerTMBO will!
 
I have a tag axle Hymer B694, almost 8 metres and have only ever been turned away from a Campsite once because of the tag axle and that was in Holland, they had a policy to ban double axle Caravans so were not sure about my Motorhome, they directed me to a nearby Campsite that turned out to be great so no loss there. I have had my van for 9 years and have had no major problems with it, you will hear that tag axles wear out the tyres quickly, this is not true in my case. My centre tyres are original and have done 74000 miles and are still good, I had them checked out recently when I replaced the fronts.we are currently thinking about getting a smaller van[ well SWMBO ] is ,I am very happy with my van.:cool1::cool1:
 
We have a hobby750 never had any problems going on campsites in Scotland or anywhere else the last time being 6 weeks ago ccc on Loch Lomond although not been on that many sites in the 5 years we have had the van,
Over the last nigh on 30yrs having vans this has got to be the best built van we have owned the only problem we have found is the rubber ring mountings on the exhaust are forever splitting we have had three differant types and all seem to split,
After going to three different exhaust companies they all say it is the norm for these vans apart from this they are excellent and we only get positive comments when parked up,
 
We love our Hobby 750 the only problem has been with long wet grass & mud, it tends to get stuck in rather than moving out!
 
Hooby caravans are the number one 'van to be stolen
There are signs that since the rules in Eire changed regarding Caravans parking up where ever they liked that big Motorhomes are becoming the next target.
Hobby motorhomes will, obviously, be high on the list
 
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