Avan cruiser or cruiseliner

You should consider a tear drop camper as well?

We had a Cruiseliner for 18 months and loved it. Light, airy, a dream to tow, plenty of storage, 30 second setup and take-down.

We decided to sell it when we realised it wasn't strong enough for the outback trips we wanted to do. The decider was when we took it from Sydney to Carnarvon Gorge (Qld) and back. Only 50km of good dirt each way, but those bouncy sealed roads in black soil country took their toll.

Cabinet work inside is not glued together, it uses plastic fittings with diagonal screws to pull right-angled joints together. Every one of those (50 or so) had to be tightened after the trip. The microwave met us at the door. And the long hinges at the base of the triangular sides were cracked for about 6 inches at each end.

None of that would have been a problem in normal light duty useage, but clearly there would be on-going issues if we did the extended outback heavy-duty touring that we have since done with its replacement, a Kimberley Karavan.

So, for light duty touring it's perfect, IMO. East coast National Parks, etc. But in our experience, the Cruiseliner is not designed for more heavy duty work.

Cheers

I would agree with the previous posts. We have an Avan and love it but wouldn't go off road with it.

The only criticism is that I found the support from the manufacturer is poor. A couple of times I have requested advice and received no response. Luckily I have had no problems that I couldn't sort out myself.

I have heard similar things about them, however I recall the Camp Host at the campsite in the Bungle Bungles had one and had got in the terrible road and across the water crossings by having it lifted a couple of inches ( axle flip) and taking off the rear jacks.
LOL.
He also had failing piano hinges.
You could probably fix the cabinetry by going around with a drill and a lot of right angle steel brackets and some good wood glue and making a little dam to stop the microwave from falling out, although I have seen that happen on a Bushtracker.

I have also heard of the windows in the roof falling out on the highway , and met people who have had very bad warranty service on other Avan products.

Regards Philip A

Ask your question on the Caravanners forum might get more answers

We had a Cruiseliner for 6 years, been to Carnarvon Gorge, Lawn Hill and Adells Grove had no problems.
The Cruiseliner has Alko rubber suspension with shockies this rode quite smooth.
We had external shower gas hot water and aircon, rarely used the aircon as they are well ventilated and insulated. My uncle had an Aliner one of the early ones, actually number 13 he took it around Australia at least 3 times did most of the off road tracks and had to replace the piano hinges with stainless steel ones but it had a very rough life and survived.
Avan support is non existant

Myles

Thanks for your input guys, a common theme seems to be the quality is a bit so so and AVANS customer service and after sales service is non existant. I think i may sway from AVANS and look into a pop top as the layouts offer a bit more, i think. My biggest problem is that i have to store it in my double garage so I'm very limited, it just might not happen. Thanks again.