Bailey Motorhomes

Gixer

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Had lots of help deciding whether to go Campervan or Motorohome - any body got experience of Bailey as a brand, we have a local deler and they are offering money off and a load of extras. Looking at the 70-6 as the rear lounge could be left made up as a bed leaving the front for day to day use.

Otherwise any advice on brands that are well supported and relaiable - not totally sure on new / used yet but generally people seem to look for under 7m.

Thanks in anticipation
 
I would advise anyone buying a motor home to use the nearest dealer to home .as you would very likely have many return visit's for warranty work ,the time and miles really add up especially if the van has to be left over night .
 
Molly 3 said:
I would advise anyone buying a motor home to use the nearest dealer to home .as you would very likely have many return visit's for warranty work ,the time and miles really add up especially if the van has to be left over night .
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I would second that. Focus on what local dealers have to offer first and if they do not offer a vehicle in the range on offer that meets your requirements only then look further afield. If you do look further afield investigate if there is an approved local service agent who can do any warranty work and servicing.

We spend more time in our Swift MH than we do at home. We have only had very minor issues with our Swift and nothing that has prevented us from using the MH as we please. All major components have worked flawlessly and reliably and we are very happy Swift owners. The fact is Bailey and all UK manufacturers use pretty much the same habitation kit so the only difference is how they assemble it all and this is down to build quality. Swift use a Fiat chassis and Bailey use Peugeot so compare service and running costs.

Because we do a lot of European touring, a mixture of wild camping and stays on sites, we needed a large garage for storage of tables, chairs, folding ebikes, parasol (no canopy for us), windbreaks, clothes, tools and more. Something to think about. For this reason the rear lounge option for us was out as it provided insufficient storage for our needs. And clearly the camper van option was definitely out for full time living.

Make sure you have enough payload capacity for your needs. We have 550kg which for a couple doing months away is fine but we would struggle if we were a family.

We have fitted refillable LPG tanks and a solar panel. Check out the gas locker capacity. It’s handy to have 2 cylinders fitted preferably 11kg although we are happy with our 11kg/6kg arrangement. If you want to remain cosy on cold nights you will probably use 1 to 1.5kg gas daily. A lot less in summer. A lot of Spanish sites charge for electric use by the KW at around €0.4 per KW so even when we are on site we use our refillable LPG for heating and hot water as it works out cheaper than using the sites electric.

We wanted a fixed bed as we did not want to faff around daily with bedding. If you are going to spend months in your MH you will regret not going for a fixed bed arrangement!

You will have a great time in your new mobile home whichever vehicle you go for.
 
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Check out the reputation of the dealer as well as the reputation of the manufacturer very carefully before buying. There will always be a few problems to resolve in a motorhome and this is very much easier if both are good and cooperate. I would rather put up with the inconvenience of travelling further to get things sorted out than fighting a disinterested dealer.
 
Agree with the above with an emphasis on Payload. Some vans are heavy off the production line with very little carrying capacity, check carefully before signing on the dotted line.
 
Shorter/narrower vans let you get in town centres where bigger vans will struggle to park, height obviously for low bridges but if you want to get somewhere in a bigger van and are half decent driver you will, just not be able to park lol

All the advice given is good so take what you can from it, I won't add any more as I am an impulsive buyer if I see something I like I will check what I 'think' is important and if I can get at a price I think its worth I do the deal. I ended up buying from a trade dealer in Epping Forest (I am closer to Manchester in High Peak) with a 3 month warranty. Immediately found a few minor discrepancies, (no gas bottle, no EHU lead) but would only ever have gone back for a major problem anyway due to distance. I must stress I may well have been very lucky as I didn't know anything at all about motorhomes or payloads and after 10,000 miles since Easter I still think we got the right one for us and a good deal :)
 
On FB their is a Bailey owners club. I do know they bottom out in the middle as low to the road ...
 
We have had a 2015 740 returned to dealer 90 cent damp in floor.

Spoken to a friend who is a dealer regarding a new Bailey recently simple anser don't

Also the extra width on Bailey vans make parking and small rd very difficult.
 
We had a British built motorhome which we loved. However we spend a lot of time in Europe and we had problems getting parts for some items. We now have a European built motorhome with a dealer network across the whole of Europe. Just something to be aware of if you plan to travel a lot abroad.
 
nabsim said:
Shorter/narrower vans let you get in town centres where bigger vans will struggle to park, height obviously for low bridges but if you want to get somewhere in a bigger van and are half decent driver you will, just not be able to park lol

All the advice given is good so take what you can from it, I won't add any more as I am an impulsive buyer if I see something I like I will check what I 'think' is important and if I can get at a price I think its worth I do the deal. I ended up buying from a trade dealer in Epping Forest (I am closer to Manchester in High Peak) with a 3 month warranty. Immediately found a few minor discrepancies, (no gas bottle, no EHU lead) but would only ever have gone back for a major problem anyway due to distance. I must stress I may well have been very lucky as I didn't know anything at all about motorhomes or payloads and after 10,000 miles since Easter I still think we got the right one for us and a good deal :)
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Yes Nabsim is right..However if you are planning to "live in the Moho" for say 2 months. or more when sometimes the weather is bad..Then the extra room of a coachbuilt is a godsend...even for the atheists or agnostics amongst us...
Pros and cons... we use ours for 5 full months in the summer and despite the advantages I/We would not change for a shorter or narrower vehicle
Just FYI this is identical to ours
http://www.moranmotorhomes.com/motorhome_information/4bc8636a81568/Lunar-Premier-H622
You money Your Preferences Your Choice
 
I'm certain someone on here has a Bailey but I can't remember who! It'll come to me eventually :oops:

As to the rest, I know it's all personal opinion, preference and choice but, whether in a campervan or a motorhome, I'd never have a fixed bed. I know so many people love them but spending a few minutes night and morning sorting out the bed is such a small price to pay for having the entire 6m of my van available for living/socialising space... and I definitely don't want a bigger van. It helps that I've got a wrap around rear lounge with 2x 6ft sofas/beds. It's a fabulous space during the day and if I were ever... ahem.. incapable of making up the bed, then I could just sleep on the sofa :LOL: I have an over cab bed but still choose to make up a lounge bed.

Agree 100% about refillable gas, solar and plenty of battery power but these can all be added afterwards, so not deal-breakers when you buy.
 
I agree with the earlier comments about size and payload.

I don’t worry so much about length as width, I changed from a Coachbuilt that was 2.34m wide to an A Class of 2.22m and was amazed by how much less stressful driving it is. I didn’t realise it was narrower when I bought it but noticed straight away on the first narrow road I drove down. It doesn’t sound a big difference but it is, it also keeps weight down leaving more room for payload. Some might think you are sacrificing internal comfort but we haven’t noticed it. A maximum width of 2.22m is now very high on my list of requirements.

Payload is a minefield. The dealer I ordered from earlier this month said he had some makes on his forecourt that were barely legal before loading them. Remember that brochure payload figures are based on the basic vehicle without any extras. Even the factory fitted extras have to be deducted from the payload, a good manufacturer will list the additional weights involved.
 
Had Bailey caravan for 15 years very good build quality ...no water ingress on its 20th birthday. Sold it a couple of years ago when we switched to a MH of 2008 vintage. However we have noticed that many newer MH, Bailey and Swift included have added lots of features but have diminished the build quality ....perhaps to make them light. The van we ended up with is a Euramobile and it really pains me to say it the German build quality still leaves many of the shiny new UK built vans in the shade. I think everyone would agree no one van has all the right features and you compromise on something. Whatever you get don't rule out a second hand cherished vehicle. Good luck.
 
I had a 740 Autograph. I was very happy with it. Loved the space, the Alde radiator system worked really well and kept the van toastie. Good lounge, kitchen and large bathroom with seperate shower. Build quality was good. A good dealer network so you should find one locally.

The only thing I really hated was the grey water waste pipe and tap. I don't know if this has been updated on the newer models but on the 740 it was terrible. Was so slow to drain and the plastic tap was not secured to the pipe very well so when you opened the tap the whole thing would move.
 
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