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euroman

Hi,

We are more or less set on buying a secondhand Chieftain within the next few months, if anyone has any tips on any troublesome points to look out for it would be appreciated, also does anyone know in what year they started to fit the full size fridges?

Thanks in advance
Steve

artona · Moderator

I recently met a lady called Mrs Jones from Wales. She bought one new earlier this year and it took her half an hour to describe all the problems she had with it.

On the plus side it was a beautiful van and autotrail were putting right all the problems and paying her compensation for her trouble

stew

PaddyWhack

hello there Euroman,We have had three new arapaho's,same as the cheiftain but with end lounge,we now have a cheyenne 840,same tag axle,never had any serious problems as such. Ferry's and european tolls can be a pain,because of the length,turning circle takes some getting used to,but we enjoy the space,especially on extended trips.
Ps,we have ordered a new 840 on the new ducato cab,does anyone know where I can access details of this vehicle? I would be interested to find out if the gearbox/engine has been changed,I know the engine is now three ltr.I have been informed that MMM have a four page reveiw on it,dont get that mag anymore,fed up with the advertisements.regards,paddywhack.

jimjam

Hi, I have owned two Autotrails and never had a real problem with either of them. The first in 1991 a Pullman (talbot) and this year an Arapaho which is on the same chassis as the Chieftan. In between I have owned Swift and Bessscar (which is also a Swift) and have found the build quality on the autotrail to be considerably better. But this is just my experience.

A colleague of mine had a Leica M6 that had a faulty shutter. So what you might say, but the Leica is the BeesKnees of cameras and cost as much a terraced house in Wales at the time, but it was a dog.

A guy I worked for had a Bentley Turbo Mulsane motorcar, it cost as much as detached house in London, it spent much of the first year in the garage, it was a dog.

I think Autotrails are great, but there will be dogs out there, get the van checked out by someone who knows what they are looking for. Its a big investment to make without a proper survey. If you cannot get a survey then at least go over the van yourself with a fine tooth comb using as many of your senses as possible. sight, touch, hearing, smell and common being the most important. And then negotiate the best warranty that you can.

Get a long test drive, see if you can blag a whole weekend test drive in it, Ive managed that before. or at the very least you should do good hour on differing road conditions.

If your happy, the price is right and the deal feels right, go for it, the cheiftan is a great van and will give you many years of fun.