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hello all

i am new to this site, and i would like a bit of advice please.

we are thinking about buying a avondale argente as we like the layout of it.

but i have read a view bad reports.

does anyone on here have anythink good to say about them please?

sorry forgot to say its an avondale argente 640/6 2004 model.

Hi Mick,

Welcome to UKCS. Many people have the Argente, it's proved to be one of their most popular 'vans. We have a Rialto 555/4. We love the layout, but the 'van suffers a bit from shoddy build quality in my opinion. For the money though, they're not as good as the Baileys. At the end of the day it's your choice who you spend your brass with, and you should expect, no, demand a decent product for your money! 

Hi Mick

We had the Argente 530/5 which we used for 2 years before swapping it. It had the Lux pack so was pretty well spec'd, it was a great van and served us well, everything was still in as new condition when we sold it.

Only niggle we had was the now infamous cracks to the front panel, which you should look out for before you hand over your cash for that van. We had the panel replaced under warranty and everything was fine after that, although we've since swapped the van purely for a different layout.

I'd certainly have another Avondale in the future.

Mick

thanks for your replies!

we have put a deposit on the avondale, and when i read about some of the problems i went back and had a good look around it.

i checked for cracked front and back panels and they look ok to me.

but perhaps it has been repaired before and thats why the other people got rid of it?

you never know

Hi - we also love the layout of the Avondale Argente 650 but are being put off reading these reports of stess cracks. What is the next best caravan with similar layout as we really love the layout in the Argente. Thanks!

There are a lot of vans with the same layout as the 640/6 (side bunks), but the only one I've seen with a similar layout to the 650/6 is a Fleetwood in Mendip recently.  That had wraparound seating and instead of large cupboard and tv shelf, there was a big fridge/freezer and microwave.  So you'd have to put the tele on a flap down shelf at the end of the seating.

I looked into the panel problems for ages before taking the plunge and they seem to have been worse between 2002 and 2004.  I'm hoping that the problems have all been sorted, which is one reason we bought a 2007 model, but I'll be keeping an eye out for the cracks! We don't tow so at least it won't have so much wear and tear.  The other reason for getting a new model was a slight change in spec - the new one has a locker for a microwave.  I wish it had come with an omnivent as standard though, I don't know whether to fork out to get one installed during the service in October.

We bought ours in October 2006 and have only used it a few times, opening it up on 17th March . This layout is the best for my kids (6 and 8), they have theyre own bedroom at the back. We can't hear them with the door shut!