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I recently bought a elddis advante 554 we have only used it twice, we have had loads of problems with it the build quality is very poor really dissapointed with this van so mouch so we have traded it in for a new bailey ancona which we pick up in april.

I have not heard much about the ancona any reports would be great if anyone could help even though Ive bought it , it would be intersting to find out if there are any problems.

thanks

Quote: Originally posted by dlm7897 on 02/3/2011

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I recently bought a elddis advante 554 we have only used it twice, we have had loads of problems with it the build quality is very poor really dissapointed with this van so mouch so we have traded it in for a new bailey ancona which we pick up in april.

I have not heard much about the ancona any reports would be great if anyone could help even though Ive bought it , it would be intersting to find out if there are any problems.

thanks

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Unfortunately, as this model was only unveiled at the Manchester show at the end of January, then it isn't in general use yet - so I dare I say it if there are any faults and flaws to be found its likely to be early buyers like yourselves who will find them first.  Maybe some of the caravan magazines have done reviews on them and may have a couple of criticisms and of course plenty of praise.

That said I really like the new Pegasus, and have seen the Ancona inside & out.  I did find that the overhead cabinets above the kitchen were very flimsy and on a couple of models the button fasteners were broken (the actual button had fallen out) but Im sure thats easily fixed.  I just felt that although the layout felt spacious on first impression, if there were 5 inside the caravan then for us the rear triple bunk & dinette would feel more roomy of the two layouts and storage would be at a premium - but Im loving those big deep lockers!.

thanks for that hope we dont have any problems with the one we get .

we had a riva dandy (got fed up of putting it up and down) before we got our first van which was a coachman amara loved that but just not enough room in it for us otherwise we would have kept it..

I had an interesting converation with a couple of lads on a site last week about Baily.  I quite like the look of the new Alu tech fronts on the vans, though it's not everyones cup of tea.  I was talking to a mate about it and it seems like a marmite situation, he hates the look of them.  But his main point for not liking them was the issue of dents on the front of the van from towing.

I had look at a couple of vans on site, and sure enough this proved to be correct.  The owner said that his van was one of the first off the line, and that the cowling on the bottom of newer models was now higher to cope with this, and that Bailey offered a type of poly coating for the front lower areas, which they charged £50 a pop to put on?  However, from what I could see stone dents of decent sizes were evident quite high up the front.

I guess the way past this is to tow with a front cover.

I didn't realise how many stones are thrown back at the vans whilst we tow, it's probably the case that the fibre glass fronts is just much more capable than the alu fronts of putting up with this kind of hammering.

Tony B

Thanks  for all your help ..Ive bought some mud flaps for are car hope that will make a difference, think i might buy cover just in case ..

going away with the new van as soon as we get it because the dealer who we have bought it has given us two night at a caravan site which is nice never had that before when we bought are others vans....

Agreed.  Must admint this last break was my first in the wet with my latest pull.  When I got there the front of my van was mired. 

With the state of the roads recently, some of the pebels which you see laying around  are quite big, so if this much mud comes back on your van, your going to get a few rocks with it aswell.

I think I'm going to treat myself to a tow cover and some flaps aswell.

Tony B

we had a good look round the Orion today and are very taken with the 430/4. So much for our 7k budget. We're 99% certain we're going back tommorrow to put a deposit down on one.

Hi, I'm 39, we do have a 15 yr old and a 12yr old but the 15yr old rarely comes with us (likes to stay with grandparents). The weight, great bathroom and fact it will fit on our drive are the main selling points for us. The fact its got a fixed bed is a bonus as its what we wanted all along but wondered if we were being selfish as it dose take up a fair bit of space.

The compromise we are making is lack of cupboard space and the fact we started out with a 7k budget(lol) but coming from tents we have a couple of storage units we'll use in the awning for some of the food, games etc.