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We saw a Coachman Amara 535 at a dealers last week and thought what a lovely van. Its layout is what we have been looking for. Although we did originally want an island fixed bed we have now changed our minds to a side fixed bed, as they aren't as long and don't have seperate showers which take up a lot of room and we don't want a shower.

Could anybody who has a Coachman caravan give their views on build quality, problems they have had etc.

Adsheadv, i see you have a Coachman - have you had it from new and have you had any problems with it?

nora, which model do you have? If yous has a fixed bed have you had problems with the mattress? daijames says his mattres after 3 months of use has hollows in it already. As my hubby is a big fellow and i'm 11 stone,  this is slightly worrying. Will we be replacing the mattress quite regularly?

You say the Amara is excellent, are you not happy with the Pastiche and is it worth the extra thousand or so to get the Pastiche. Are the differences only cosmetic? I noticed you lose some kitchen work space due to the bigger sink that has a draining board, over the Amara?

Hiya, we have the 550/5 Festival (dealer special of the Amara).  We love it!  We had it new in January - got a brilliant discount on the 2009 model as we ordered in Sep.

It's gone into the dealers today for a couple of minor niggles to be sorted - kitchen tap came loose, clock stopped working & drawers between seats at front not quite aligned properly.  Only minor things but we paid for a new van & exect everything to be bob-on.  Other than those little things the finish is lovely - feels light & airy but snug & warm at the same time.  Fabrics are light but durable, sprung seats etc... & the Sony entertainment system is fab!  Oh, it tows well too!

Been chatting to the guy in the service centre this morning & he reckons Coachman are one of the best.  He was saying the roof of a Coachman is as strong as thhe floor so you could walk on it if you wanted to (tho why you'd want to I've no idea!).

They are quite heavy - our MTPLM is 1590kg, but I think apart from Lunars most newer vans seem to b getting heavier because of all the extras - microwave etc... adding weight.

We'd definately buy Coachman again.

I wished they made Motorhomes, after enjoying a Coachman Genius from new back in the 90s i would love to own one again, but their weight was just too heavy for our present car to pull, and with a few health problems and Arthritis creeping up on us, the next one we buy will probably have to be a Motorhome to keep set up to a minimum.

Julia  

Hello we have a Coachman Patiche,2008, fixed side bed, REALLY LOVE IT, having changed from an Abbey 6 berth, (wrong layout) we have found the build quality fantastic,excellent built in dvd and sony sound system, sprung seating, and finally we have a new mattress, which is a memory foam, this was changed by the previous owners they said the mattress was £600 !!!, judging by the thickness and quality i believe it would have cost that

.I have slept the best in this caravan compared to the others, would definately buy a coachman again, she feels very classy !! if you decide to go ahead, enjoy your van,

Thanks everyone for your comments - mostly good.

Adsheadv - is yours from Glossop? As we live in Glossop i've been to have a look but we use storage in Huddersfield so would use a dealer there as it would be more convenient for servicing etc.

We bought a new Amara last July (550) and having had new Swift caravans previously, and a Swift loyalist, we are smitten.  We would certainly buy again and will do so in a couple of years, although definitely not from same dealer (Reading Caravans) as sales experience not good but that's another story.

The build quality is excellent and we cannot fault it (except the weight, which has been mentioned but everything comes at a cost!).  Have just returned from a 3 week Europe trip with 2 young children (3 and 10 months) and it stood up to use brilliantly.

It had a couple of warranty snags (rusted external FM aerial which was replaced and ominvent fan faulty) but to be fair, these were sorted out by another Coahman dealer without quibble and is less about coachman and more the auxiliary parts which all caravans fit.

Whilst they are not cheap I don't think for the entry level range, the Amara exceeds the Swift Charisma benchmark (in my opinion), which was the van we were going to go for and as I said, I was hesitant as have always had Swift vans and been very happy with them.  The Coachmans just feel excellent quality by comparison, and less "mass manufactured" so would say go for it, I doubt you'll be disappointed.

Ben.

Quote: Originally posted by Lassie on 19/6/2010

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nora, which model do you have? If yous has a fixed bed have you had problems with the mattress? daijames says his mattres after 3 months of use has hollows in it already. As my hubby is a big fellow and i'm 11 stone,  this is slightly worrying. Will we be replacing the mattress quite regularly?

You say the Amara is excellent, are you not happy with the Pastiche and is it worth the extra thousand or so to get the Pastiche. Are the differences only cosmetic? I noticed you lose some kitchen work space due to the bigger sink that has a draining board, over the Amara?

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lassie

no i didnt want a fixed bed. im the only person i think that do not like fixed beds.

we had just down sized to a two berth. we have the pastiche 470.it has an L shape kitchen. i was worried that i might not like it but its lovely and i do like the lay out.

we had a compass 524 before i also loved that van and lay out . the same lay out in the amara or the pastiche was much bigger (longer ) and heavier. this put us off so we down sized. its not much smaller in length , but we had said we didnt want anything bigger. because of storage / towing etc.

Yes, ours is frrom Glossop & even tho they've had some bad press on here we can't fault them.  We got a good part ex, they kept hold of the new van til we were ready to take delivery, towed our old one from storage to their site (we'd changed tow car & had the wrong electrics for the old van) & aftersales service has been brilliant.  We got a free full awning & ground sheet thrown in as well as the 'Gold Pack'.

As for Coachman, they were recommended to us & we'd recommend them to anyone else looking for a good, solid van with a nice finish.

Do you holiday a lot in Yorkshire & that's why you store your van over there?  I was born in Huddersfield!