Buying a Pilote Galaxy 270 AL-KO chassis general advise pls? Forums

cliver

Can anyone advise me?
We are about to purchase a PILOTE Galaxy 270, 2001 vintage, as the layout and storage seem to meet our needs brilliantly.
The base vehicle is a Peugot Boxer 2.8HDi.
Mileage about 43K. Question

Are these vehicles built onto the AL-KO chassis like the Fiat versions?
I am not sure how to look and check this. The Fiats we have seen have had a larger 3.8 Tonne plate, rather than the 3.5 weight of this particular one!
Also there seems to be a small amount of water staining in the rear underfloor storage areas, only going up an inch or so from the floor, and not wet now. I have looked at three of these vehicles, and they all look about the same. A dealer told me that it may have been caused by wet items being stored, rather than a water leak. Is this the likely cause?
Any help or general advice on what to look for would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks, Clive

bognormike · Moderator

Clive

a good choice! We have a 240 of '99 vintage - excellent van with different layout, but similar set up with Alko & double floor. If you look under the bonnet it should have a Peugeot plate, and an alko one, and another by pilote!
Our is actually a 3850 (pilote - the last one), but could run on 3500. It could easily be re-plated.

As for the storage area having stains, well that's possible, we have some as well, and I know that was when I overfilled the water tank and it overflowed into the "basement". I don't think you have a problem there.
Please let us know if you go ahead

Mikemoss

Never had a Pilote but always liked them, and they seem to be really well built. My only advise is to make sure you grease the two nipples on the Alko rear axle once a year with the wheels fully suspended. I can't do this at home so always ask the garage to do it when Bessie's in for her MOT test.

Other than that I'm sure you'll enjoy the ride.

cliver

We are hopefully off to collect our new pride and joy tommorrow, subject to it passing its MOT first thing in the morning.
I think we will have a huge learning curve, with so many gadgets and switches for all of the various onboard features. I am sure this will be fun though, as long as we do not break anything trying it out!
Thanks very much for your feedback, it is really appreciated.
When we were viewing the MH last Sunday, I noticed the plates under the bonnet, but did not take much notice of them. I will have a closer look tomorrow.
The Log book (V5) states that the chassis is rated at 3400KG
One of the under bonnet plates certainly said AL-KO
The Log Book rating seems a bit odd to me, as the normal cut-off I thought was 3500Kg. If we needed to uprate the chassis, after our planned trip to the weighbridge, is this likely to be possible? Confused

I am sure we will have many more questions in the days ahead, but thanks again for both of your responses, Regards, Cliver

bognormike · Moderator

Yes you can upgrade the chassis (do a search on here, quite a few threads), but make sure you can drive over 3500kg on your licences. Wink

cliver

Hi Mike,
many thanks for your reply. My Licence will be OKAY (sadly I am old enough to have passed my test many years ago) Wink

This will be something we will consider after the visit to the local weighbridge.

Here I am, waiting for the 10.00am phone call from the dealer to advise if our new MH has passed its MOT.

I will post again once we have collected it, and then spend time studying the various forums on this wonderful site.

Regards,
Clive

PS. You will be pleased to know that I have now subscribed to this site Smile

bognormike · Moderator

well done! and good luck with the "new" van. Wink

ingram

I see that Global in Hook have sold theirs: is that the one you have bought?

Only interested because they are the nearest dealer to me and am interested in feedback about them.

Thanks, and I hope it goes well for you today.

Harvey

thesnail

Hi,

We managed to get water in the rear locker of our Pilote Reference 266 by filling the water tank when the big inspection cover on the top wasn't fully tightened down! Our fault.

Good van, excellent ride we love the AlKo chassis.

Hope all goes through well for you, hope to meet you along the way.

Bryan and Rosemary