Monday, Jun 01, 2009 at 19:18
Hi Di,
We brought the Erin Mark 2 which is a 17' single axle poptop. We love it and I know the screens and blinds were a real selling point to my wife. As to how long they last I don't know but they appear to be quite durable.
We are really happy with the van and its list of standard inclusions is excellent especially the hot water service. One negative is that they sit too low to the ground although you can request an underslung axle like we did and this problem is fixed.
Have tested ours out in recent torrential Queensland rain and it remained nice and dry. The Dometic roll out awning is great and very easy to set up and put away.
Construction method is completely different to vans like Coromal and they have great insulating qualities as the walls are created like a big sandwich panel, with an outer skin of aluminium. The nose and tail end are one piece.
Ours is only a couple of months old so time will tell in the long run. Upholstery and fittings inside are great and I can't fault them at all. Innerspring mattress is also very good quality. Plenty of cupboard space and cabinet work appears to be a of a good standard. Full size sink with flickmixer tap and a back up 12 volt pump to get water from the tank makes a nice setup.
We did a lot of looking prior to buying and in fact a Coromal was next on our list but we just liked the Avan for our needs a bit better.
Now that we have it I can tell you that it tows
well behind our Hilux and is a ten to fifteen minute job to set up so it makes a good touring setup. The only extra we had installed was a Dometic B1900 rooftop air conditioner which can be fitted to Avans as they come out of the factory with the roof built in such a way as to be able to support the rooftop unit. Part of the installation process is to install stronger gas lift roof struts and ours lifts without any problems at all.
Haven't had any warranty issues at this time so I can't comment on that. We brought ours from a dealer on the Southside of
Brisbane called CruiseOz and they were great to deal with.
All in all we are really happy with it but at the end of the day you pick what works for you. Have a lot of fun looking.
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