Any Adria owners who moved from a British van

The user and all related content has been Deleted User

I tend to agree with Deleted User User. The only other consideration is the location of your prospective supplying dealer and your attitude to travel. As stated above, most of the caravans share generic equipment and fittings. At some stage, unless lucky, you will need to return it for warranty work or repairs. If you don't mind or have the time to travel, then no worries. Similarly, although you have consumer law to help in any disputes, it is much better to deal with a good dealership that is going to provide good service and not challenge every claim.

All obvious advice I guess, but sometimes the allure of a particular product can make us temporarily forget about some of the practicalities when the shiny new product is just about to be ordered.

Good luck with your choice and I hope you have many enjoyable holidays. 

We have had an Adria which suited us at the time and no issues with it had it for 6 years.  We have had a friend who also had 2 Adria's and bought a brand new Elddis and had nothing but issues where it ended going for a compete new floor, cupboards falling of the walls and so many leaks that he gave up as it was coming to nearly 3 years and has gone back to a 3 yr old Adria and is very happy to have gone back to Adria and said he would not touch a British van again.

Many "warranty?"problems in our years of having both caravans and motor caravans,   we have found is down to how /if any predelivery checks are carried out ,   which manufacturers pay dealers to do, a good dealer in a local area even if not giving a "fantastic?"sale offer  ,is by far much to be thankful for,as we have ,found with our last Two purchases,

I have had 3 sprites 3 Bailey's and currently own an 2015 S3 unicorn and an Adria Altea of 2009 vintage. The Bailey's had a new axle, new roof strap (leaked) new brakes 3 sets, collapsed bed frame plus many minor irritations. The interior design space wise and decor of the of the bailey are good the engineering and build execution poor. Our previous Bailey's were far better, not lightweight to the threshold of flimsyness

The Adria is basic, robust, no leaks so far and no chassis issues.

I have pencilled in the Adria Dart as a maybe future option as it has a sensible load margin upgrade to 340Kg which indicates the superior design spec. Adria have just announced the AdorabTiber with the same layout but more bells and whistles.

We have never owned an Adria, but I have looked in a new one in a dealers and was very impressed with the build quality. We have a German built Knaus after having British vans for 30 years. The last one was an Elddis which was the worst one of the lot and finished us for good with UK made vans. Our Knaus is 3 years old and we brought it new, it's built solid and will last a life time.  We should have brought one 30 years ago. 

Likewise CGB.  We have had our Knaus for two years now and the build quality is in a different league from our previous Bailey Barcelona.  Although we've had a few 'niggles' - noticeably with the useless Dometic toilet which has now been changed for a Thetford - nothing has dropped off or broken - damp readings for the last two services have all been 5% or below.  As you say, should last a life-time and it's 'timeless elegance' isn't going to date as quickly as some UK vans seem to do.

In our time we’ve bought a total of 8 UK caravans from new. In the early days (1970 - mid 1980s) we found the design and build quality was fine. From the mid 1980s both the design and build qualities started to deteriorate in my opinion. We continued to buy British into the new millennium (despite the disappointing quality) but in 2009 we bought a new Fendt. We still have that caravan and apart from a few minor problems with the installed appliances we’ve had no problems with the build quality whatsoever. We’ve bought 2 Adria motorhomes from new and in both cases had zero problems with them. It is, I’m afraid, a sad fact that the UK manufacturers appear to have lost their way when it comes to both the design and build quality of their caravans. 

I totally agree with you.  Probably the best van we had was an ABI Jubilee Diplomat many years ago, that van had non of today's extras but we had a fridge and oven fitted after we brought it, and for us it was 5 star. Todays UK vans come with these extras factory fitted,  but also a load of problems. Stick with your Fendt. 

I purchased a brand new Adria Isonzo some 5 years ago. After 40 years of caravanning and owning many different brands of UK built vans. I thought it was normal to have "things to fix" or leaks to repair, cupboards falling off or warping, screws just falling out for no reason, windows leaking, electrics failing etc etc. So I spent two years researching caravans. Finally, after talking to many owners, caravan engineers and reading an article in the Clubs'  'Design Awards' I purchased my Adria. (I was further convinced, when, with cheque book in hand, I went to view a new and exciting new 'award winning' British van and pieces of trim literally came away in my hand!) Did I make the right decision? After 5 years and thousands of miles covered, I have to say a big 'Yes'.  I would agree that British caravans are beautifully designed, but until they're constructed better, quality control taken seriously and dealership warranty issues handled professionally, you'll never tempt me back.

There are obviously many who are delighted with their purchases and never have problems, but for me, it was all about minimising the risk of something going wrong. The customer satisfaction reports bear that out. Adria are well built, but they're not infallible. However, the risks are much lower. The modern designs are not everyone's cup of tea, but I just love the space and build quality and it tows better than twin axles I've previously owned, which again, is down to a different chassis from AL-KO and longer A frame. 

Enjoy your new purchase, when you get the chance and don't be too surprised when you're on site and folks ask if there's any chance of 'taking a peek inside!'