We have ordered a new Elddis Crusader Tempest (diamond jubilee) at the show. Weve never owned an Elddis before, what do current owners think of theirs? We are selling ours due to the fixed bed layout not working for us. Any feedback welcome good or bad!
We have an elddis avante firestorm 636 2005 model. It says a lot about a caravan that after all those years and 4 children, the eldest who is now 14 and 6ft2 that the van still looks new. We like the separate living area and the kids watch tv etc in their half of the van. The fixtures and fittings are good quality and we have never had any problems with ours. As a twin axle, it's a big van to manouvre so we bought a motor mover. We also like the winterhoff hitch lock which comes as standard and is strong and robust if a bit fiddly at first. It is still to my mind one of the better built caravans and they hold their value because of this. I hope to still be using mine in the next 10yrs. enjoy!
We have a 2004 Elddis Avante 505, our first caravan bought last year. So far we love it - it does not look like an 8 year old 'van - the build quality is superb compared to others we viewed in the same (& often higher price bracket). It is showing no signs of age.
Nice to have a rear bedroom for our 2 kids.
Given the age of ours I can't comment on the warranty and after sales customer care and I am sure someone on here will have had a bad experience at some point, but hey you will always get that.
We have not had a very good experience with new vans, that why we are changing manufactuer, we are on our 3rd Bailey and we wont be buying another. This is our final chance at buying and if we have the same hassle that weve had with our other vans then we will be giving it all up. We have always gone for a fixed bed layout but our kids are growing up and need their own space now so the fixed bunks at the back are our best layout, they will have their own space and we will have ours. We liked this layout as the door is at the front and the beds cant be seen until you stand next to them, the bathroom is across from them, the bathroom is smaller than what we are used to, but, having the side dinette and bunks will hopefully make up for it. Its nice to hear you saying that the build quality is good, the companies are good at making them look fab, then once you start using them they fall apart! We are really anxious about it all as its alot of money and we are losing money on our van. This van seems to tick all the boxes. Your feedback is appreciated.
We have a 2011 Elddis Crusader Super-sirocco, we bought it brand new 6 months ago from Catterick Caravans, we had some small issues with the van which have been resolved, but still waiting on a spare key which we never got with the van & was told a spare was going to be ordered that same day, that was in July 2011 & were still waiting for the spare key.
The van itself is excellent, it suits our lifestyle. & looks amazing, proper eye catcher. its our first van & we love it.
I have the 2011 model same as yours . We love it but we're distraught at first service in October when it had 40% damp in an area . But it was fixed in 2 weeks under warranty ... Just keeping away from shows as wifey likes the new one like yours but I flat refuse to lose so much in a year the idea was to keep this one as it was her perfect van ... Why did I fall for that !!! Enjoy it I'm sure you will
Caravans are about compromise when you balance all of the features you want, work out an order of priority and then balance all that with cost. We have the Odyssey 540 fixed bed end bathroom. Were going to buy a Sancerre and about to sign up when the salesman showed us this van. A bit more expensive to comparable layouts. Can't really think of much in a bad way to say about it. Build quality appears good and the internal features look a much better finish then comparable caravans from other suppliers. Would have preferred not to have the long off side bedroom window, and I see that the current versions have removed this in favour of a solid wall and dressing table arrangement with mirror. Sensible
Decent sized front locker you can actually see into. Space for two gas cylinders whereas some vans just have the one which is not of much use when you run out part way through cooking dinner!!!
Hugh bathroom, with proper space in the shower with folding doors. Towel hook near shower would have been useful so we added one. Why don't manufacturers think of these things?
Tows nice and comfortably, but then we tow at about an 82% match and make sure that nose weight is correct and loaded properly.
Would certainly recommend an Elddis.
Phil
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We had an older Elddis and were really impressed with the quality of the fixtures and fittings. The first van we had a brand new Abbey Vogue and the Elddis was more solid and cupboards etc seemed vastly higher quality.
hope that helps.
fiona
Hi Cheryl.Mark, we have the same van in the 2010 model. I've had no major problems with the caravan,couple of minor ones though,Gas struts on the locker lid,New dinnette table leg and New front centre window,this was due to the 2 panes rubbing together in the centre,this a fairly widespread problem caused by the window manufacturer and is not exclusive to Elddis. All beeen fixed no problem. We love the layout,we have 3 kids aged between 11 and 7 so they use the bunks and the dinette acts as a spare and also somewhere for the kids to sit if they get up earlier than us. The kids also eat at the diniette and we just use the pull out table at front above the drawers,miles easier than digging the free standing table out. At new year we comfortably sat 6 adults and 3 kids to eat a 3 course meal. We've always had a side bathroom with combined toilet/shower,in my last caravan the shower tray had cracks in 3 corners due to the heavy foot traffic so the seperate shower tray in the Tempest was a must and i think the space has been perfectly managed. There's plenty of room in both toilet and shower and i'm 6ft 4 and 20 stone. Mt only criticism is the comfort of the main bed,it's not the best although is improving with use,i have considered a mattress topper but in the end it hasn't bothered me enough to actually buy one.
If you put a full awning on it is absolutely huge and gives you acres of space,the fridge and freezer is to die for,i like a cold beer as much as anyone and you can easily turn a full shelf in the fridge over to keep the beers cold,so much so that my 3 way 'beer fridge' has been redundant since i bought the eldiss. I'm sure you'll enjoy your purchase as much as we have our,happy days.
jtaw45
wow-thanks for all that info! Im sure we have made the right decision buying an Elddis and the layout is def going to work for us. Weve always had a fixed bed and love that luxury, but, the topper does make it more comfy as we used to sleep on the front and the girls in the bed so we know what the front beds can be like. I wanted a tall fridge as this is in our current van, its a must with a family. I liked the bathroom in the Tempest even though its smaller than ours I felt it was just right, we contemplated buying the normal model but the Diamond Jubilee model wasnt that much more and we loved the quirky interior. I also wanted the ALde central heating (dont want much do i?) i think we will go back to a fixed bed once the girls are grown up, we need the extra living space that this layout gives. I cant wait for it to come. Weve also had the same problems with windows on our other vans I think it was a common fault on certain dates when they were made, you expect some faults on new vans its the norm! From the feedback im getting they seem to be decent build quality which is what we want.
Thanks
Our Elddis - our first caravan - is brilliant. We still go to dealers to have a browse and nothing compares, even newer more expensive models. We like the little extras (the dealer told us they are typical Elddis) like the wooden duckboard in the shower room, the pull out work top above the fridge, the drop down flap beside the cooker, the wooden folding door for the end bedroom, all contained in a light weight suited to our car. Love it
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Topic: Elddis caravans?
