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It depends which one fits the bill for your needs, Our last two vans have been Abbey's and we have had very little problems with them, you are always going to get some little teething problems, but nothing dramatic, we also like the build quality of the Abbey van, but I'm sure you there will be other members along shortly giving their opinion on their prefered make. We also pulled it with a Citreon C5, not a problem. Which ever one you go for have fun and enjoy.

Stu

Elddis caravans tend to be heavier, but if thats not an issue then it won't be a problem for you.  We are pleased with ours, made by the Swift group and all their new 'vans have a 6 year water ingress guarentee.

We went from a Conway Crusader to a fixed bed caravan, just make sure the single seats are long enough to be used as singles. I also slept 3 teens across the front of the van, quite comfortably last weekend by removing the chest of drawers.

The new Bailey Pageant Burgundy and Senator Indiana also the Swift Challenger 540, new this year, was it launched at the NEC?, are nice layouts but the seats are quite short.

However, if you decide to go for the transverse bed, you then get a proper bathroom rather than a wet-room, ie the Bailey Pageant Vendee and Swift Challenger 550, but then you have no private dressing area which is essential for us with the teenagers.

Also worth looking at is the Avondale Eagle, a different layout altogether, but with fixed bed.

Sorry this is a bit like War and Peace, lol!

Hi,  We made the move from pathfinder to caraven six months ago and had the same find of choices. There are lots of vans with "front to rear" fixed beds and side bathrooms and one or two like the challenger 550 that have the bed across the back. We decided that gave us more space. Then we looked at TD layouts and that gave us the choice of using the rear bed made up at home for when there is just the two of us but a 5 berth if some of our kids and grand kids feel like joining us. We opted for the Sprite Major 5 because of the price we got it for in Oct. but decided that the Swift group vans had the nicest fittings etc.

So don't rush look at as many as you can and good luck.

Pete

Anybody know anything negative on the Swift Charisma 550?  We've been told the current Abbey product, appears to have flimsy cupboard doors, so we would be wary there.  Does anyone have experience of damp in the bedroom from steam in the shower cubicle of a fixed bed caravan?

Cheers

Judith

the swift owners club are a friendly lot,  with a big choice of rallies.

Michael

Hi Michael, well our trip to Austria has finally come around, we leave on Saturday.  Staying in  St Wolfgang again.  What is it like over there at the mo?  Seems to be lots of the white stuff around!!  Have you had some good trips this winter so far?

Ali

 If I was able to have a new van I would go for the Bailey senator wyoming as it has a fixed bed and a proper bathroom and changing area, all this means it is a twin axle. The indiana is nice, it is single axel, not so long but it has the shower/ toilet affair which I don't like.

Hi Pennine Plodder

I`ve got the Elddis Crusader Aurora which is the same layout as the 540. We bought it new and picked it up just before christmas and we think it`s fantastic and we think the quality is second to none that`s why we went for that van but obviously that`s our opinion and everyone has their own likes and dislikes.

I just asked hubby re the 12v power point and the socket outside and he said yes it does have a socket outside but not a 12v power point.

Hope this helps. Good luck in whatever you buy.