Swift Kontiki advice required. Value for money? Forums

bandaid

fair enough

night mate Smile

maddie

Hi, I assume chrisndeb's comments are aimed at me Laughing

seeing as I made the comment on headroom and con liki Laughing

I looked at 2 kon tikis 2 yrs ago so I said /warned of what I found to be true in my opinion.Of the 2 I looked at 1 was wet through/hence my interest to do it up- the other was to put it bluntly a shed -with a what I think is still a nice looking body- upon which I climbed into the o/h cab bed and I could not turn over without my shoulders hitting the roof ! if you want to argue this point measure the mattress to ceiling and post on here. Laughing

I am sure if the person wanted to get from front to go to the loo it would make for a very cosy/experience. Laughing

I did not try to put off or knock the con tiki merely warned of what I found -maybe constructive comments for them to consider,indeed I went to the trouble of a little reseach to find another for them to give options.I have never knocked anyones vans whether /how old they are or condition,at the end of the day people enjoy themselfs and I do not care what others think as to the condition of there choise of van.Again my opinion but kon tikis hold there price very well indeed,but I think that is more because they do look good Laughing

from outside Wink

I was not, would not knocking any kon tiki owners at any point and say again they are nice looking vans Wink

terry

crag

Barry D, providing everything works ok and the engine is sound I think you will like the Kontiki. I bought one this old recently for more from a dealer although the mileage is less than half what the one you are looking at. The overcab bed I don't use but if I needed to, I could very easily do so. It may not have mega headroom but is plenty long and wide enough.
It also is my first motorhome and if I look back the only cock-ups I made are where I bought it from and maybe taking it for granted that all dealers would rectify the obvious problems.
The only other downside is cleaning it. I;ve spen most of the weekend with a polish (farecla) tyring to get rid of the yellowing and the flecky stuff on the sides and I haven't finished yet, and it's not coming up as well as I expected it to.

But for a first van it has given me a starting point, is more than big enough and I just want to get out there and use it.

Just take your time, and don't get overly excited about getting a MH until you find what you think is the right one.

Sonesta · Last edited by Sonesta on Sun May 11, 2008 4:31 pm; edited 1 time in total

Hi there Barry,

We bought our first ever motorhome in September 2004 and that was a brand new Swift Kontiki 645 with rear end u shaped lounge and we loved our Kontiki. We had a few niggly warranty problems (as seems the norm with most new vehicles I'm sad to say) but nothing major or that could not be rectified. I think the older style layout of the Kontiki is probably more useful than it is on the new Kontiki 645 model that we had as we found the long seat opposite the kitchen area was very rarely used and I would have preferred the fixed table dining area that the Kontiki you are thinking of buying has. To me that layout seems a lot better and made far better use of the kitchen/dining area

As for the over the cab pull down bed we often had 2 adults sleeping in ours and obviously like chrisndeb point out, it is not a spacious hotel bedroom at the hilton - it is after all only a motorhome making the most of every available piece of space. However, it was more than adequate to get a decent night's sleep in and the mattress was dead comfortable too. Granted, there is not masses of headroom but as an extra bed for a larger family it is an excellent feature and we certainly had no complaints about it.

The rear lounge on our Kontiki was very cosy, spacious and comfortable and also made up into a huge king size bed and to make it more comfortable we bought 2 single bed memory foam mattresses which really enhanced the comfort of this bed enormously and to be honest I would recommend anyone who has to make up a bed from the lounge area seating arrangement to get one as they turn the most uncomfortable mattress into a little nest of sheer comfort. Very Happy

A leaky Kontiki is not something I have heard of before I must be honest with you but I suppose it is like with any other motorhome by any other manufacturer, there are bound to be problems that arise from time to time and just because there may be a bad batch or a one off serious problem it doesn't mean to say that all models from that particular model range or manufacturer will be the same. That's life and sadly as annoying and frustrating as it is for us all - faults will occur and mechanically things do break down and as such they need correcting. Don't be put off though, just ensure that you get a proper inspection done on the vehicle before you commit yourself and make sure you leave no stone unturned!

All in all we were thrilled with our Swift Kontiki and the fact that they still make this model today speaks volumes and I would not hesitate to recommend them.

I am no expert on second hand used motorhome prices so cannot help in that department I'm afraid but is there not a guide or something that you can buy like there is for used cars which can give you an indication of what this vehicle might be worth?

Take my advice and if you are really tempted then go and have a proper look at this motorhome, take someone with you who knows what they are talking about and what you should be looking for and remember to get them to check for damp and possible leaks. If after this you are happy to proceed then offer the seller a price you feel is fair and take it from there.

Good luck and keep us posted as to how you get on and what happens.

Sue

chrisndeb

Barry D, Crag made a good point about the yellowing of the sides I have seen some Kon Tikis like this I thought thats how they should be not a problem that I could tell looked fine(shows what I know). Ours is 1998 and does not have this so swift must of altered the side panels at some point from 1995-1998, but I suppose it may affect the price going up in years. What ever you get you will have great fun and meet great people,Have fun Chris

Penquin

We have a 5 year old Kontiki and love it to bits, it's reliable, roomy, well equipped and does what we ask it to. All of the Kontiki owners that we have spoken to have been pleased by their vehicles although most have minor niggles about "if I was designing it I would have ....."

75,000 is not a lot for a diesel engine that has been properly maintained and that is the key feature to carefully check the service history which you say is available. Has the mileage been gained regularly or has it jumped in one or two years - that will give you an indication about how it has been used. Our garage says that a vehicle used frequently will have fewer problems than one that has sat around for 10 months and then been used for a few heavy weeks. We trust their opinion implicitly.

It is important to check that all the equipment works and to give it a good test drive - try for 20 - 30 miles and not just 2 - 3, try on a variety of road surfaces and speeds and have a good listen for "odd" noises. It will not be silent, no vehicles are (my wife has a 1 year old car with noise from one door that the delers have tried to rectify 7 times so far). but try to locate where noises are coming from.

Getting the vehicle checked independently is a good idea - the RAC and the AA do such checks for a modest fee, or if you have a tame garage ask them to give it a look over. A good dealer won't mind - if he does why? Remember warranties are of very limited value - they only cover certain items failing in certain ways - probably not the common failings!

If you like it, go for it, offer and haggle and be prepared to walk away, but remember if you like it it is worth what you pay for it. Enjoy owning it and join one of the caravan organisations - if you are not already - they have lots of advice available. Also keep using this forum - it's great to be able to get opinions from others, you don't have to accept them but they are all worth reading!

Good luck!