Carado Banff

[jon]

I meant for privacy they are better than a translucent shower curtain. There is a shower curtain for showering.

[jharu]

Originally Posted by mumkin

I would have to disagree with that one. A shower curtain is much more sensible than that unwieldy collection of folding doors. I would not want them getting wet... on what would be the inside of the cabinetry.

The big issue with the Sunlight/Banff was the poor workmanship captured on YouTube. The rail was flimsy, and there were cuts everywhere instead of bends. I have not seen the Banff yet, but on the Axion the rail has no cuts, but the curtain is still flimsy.
Can you fix it yourself?
Possibly.

But the bigger question is why did Hymer/Roadtrek market a vehicle with an excellent floorplan, but poor workmanship?

[jharu]

By the way, has anyone checked out the plumbing of a Banff?

[mumkin]

Their goal was to offer an option to the public that was cheap. And... you get what you pay for. The higher quality materials will cost you another $15-20+K.

[wincrasher]

Originally Posted by mumkin

Their goal was to offer an option to the public that was cheap. And... you get what you pay for. The higher quality materials will cost you another $15-20+K.

LOL. You can't be serious. They have a shop to cut any parts they need in-house. That door arrangement is laughable and looks like they cobbled together some left over parts from other RV lines.

Here's a crazy idea - why not cut their margin from the typical 20% instead of making shoddy product? You'd get younger customers in the door who would upgrade down the line - but with these, they are going to run the other way after their cheaply made RV falls apart (while they are still making those payments!).

I can't imagine the cost on that conversion being worth $10k. Especially considering they are spitting them out at a rate of 25 a day. That is very few man-hours per unit. With the van being $30-35k, I put cost at $45k with retail at $65k.

[mumkin]

LOL... and you know how much they value your opinion on that...

Of course part of the problem is that I don't think you understood what I wrote... cause your response rather goes off in an odd direction.

[GeorgeRa]

Material and components cost on my conversion was less than $20K in retail prices for top notch stuff. All cabinetry work is constructed in aluminum frame and HDPE, diesel furnace, diesel water heating with Isotemp marine water heater, Isotherm fridge, 300W on the roof, 1000W/300W full sine inverters, plus other except a Li mega Ah battery just a puny 230Ah AGM. Of course, I am not including my cost, for me, it was just a dollar.

[Ron J. Moore]

If Hymer isn't careful, they could become the Fiat-Chrysler joke of the RV world. Ron

[jharu]

Originally Posted by Ron J. Moore

If Hymer isn't careful, they could become the Fiat-Chrysler joke of the RV world. Ron

I think there is some truth to this statement. Remember, the Germans have made big mistakes before. Wasn't Chrysler bought by Daimler Benz at some point?

As much as I like the Banff floorplan and the fact that it comes with the underhood generator, there are a few things that are really turn-offs:
a) Why the 2 year warranty?
If the workmanship is good, why not offer the 6 year warranty of the Zion or the Aktiv?
b) The chassis is odd. The Axion seems to have a better chassis. The Axion I saw at See Grins had factory-installed backup camera, parking sensors, lane departure warning, tow-hitch, etc.
I have not seen the Banff physically yet, but I saw the "specs" on La Mesa's site and the chassis seems to be some kind of bare-bones van. I thought federal law required backup cameras, but they must have found a legal loophole.
c) Until and unless they are selling like hotcakes (which I am told they they are not) why this break-neck speed of production?

Am I missing something?

[jharu]

Originally Posted by GeorgeRa

Material and components cost on my conversion was less than $20K in retail prices for top notch stuff. All cabinetry work is constructed in aluminum frame and HDPE, diesel furnace, diesel water heating with Isotemp marine water heater, Isotherm fridge, 300W on the roof, 1000W/300W full sine inverters, plus other except a Li mega Ah battery just a puny 230Ah AGM. Of course, I am not including my cost, for me, it was just a dollar.

Wow! Did you do all the work yourself?
If not, I need the name of your handyman!
I'll buy a dirt cheap Banff and get the bugs fixed

[jharu]

Originally Posted by mumkin

Their goal was to offer an option to the public that was cheap. And... you get what you pay for. The higher quality materials will cost you another $15-20+K.

I wish I could do a Zion. The issue is that it won't fit on my driveway, and the city does not allow you to park your RV long term on the street.
The max length I can go up to is indeed a Banff.

No, the Winnebago Travato is not an option. Too long, warranty too short.
And the Hymer Aktiv is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay over-designed/over-spec-ed for 1 or 2 people.

The question is still remains, is the Banff worth the money?

[BBQ]

Originally Posted by jharu

...

a) Why the 2 year warranty?
If the workmanship is good, why not offer the 6 year warranty of the Zion or the Aktiv?

...

Am I missing something?

It is all marketing and accounting.

They need a lower price point to attract the entry-level customers,
reducing the warranty can save some costs.

Remember, the warranty is not free -- it is factored in the purchase price.

[GeorgeRa]

Originally Posted by jharu

Wow! Did you do all the work yourself?
If not, I need the name of your handyman!
I'll buy a dirt cheap Banff and get the bugs fixed

Thanks, my work only, based on 1977 and 1985 Westfalias.

[mumkin]

Based on your impressive work on your Voila, you could take that Banff and update it to just what you want or need...

[GeorgeRa]

Originally Posted by mumkin

Based on your impressive work on your Voila, you could take that Banff and update it to just what you want or need...

Thank you, I started my conversion in 2013 and finished to a camping state by the middle of 2014. I only did my own due to lack of layouts or appalling quality. The closest for us were some Safari Condo models but purchase from West US coast was difficult.

[Tami2]

Hi Guys. I was able to tour the Hymer Banff at the Hershey RV Show. I think you may have the quality of the Sunlight confused with the quality of the Banff. The Sunlight is the low cost, make it affordable, Hymer version. The Banff quality looked pretty much the same as the Aktiv, just a different floor plan. The Aktiv does had some upgraded finishes. The Banff does have a backup camera if you order it that way. The Promaster has made the backup camera standard, so it will become standard in the Banff.
Things I liked about the Banff - The floorplan, Underhood generator (second alternator), solar, lithium batteries, VoltStart, and bathroom macerator pump.
Hope this helps.

[mumkin]

The Carado line is their cheap line... the Banff and the Axion are certainly improved from the disaster of the Sunlight. That was an experiment by the factory to see how cheaply they could turn something out. But there is no way that it is the same quality (just look at the horrid cabinets... the crappy cook top on the unusable galley... look at the windows...) as the Activ.

It isn't intended to be equal and the price tag reflects it.

[Melplu24]

Originally Posted by jharu

By the way, has anyone checked out the plumbing of a Banff?

I am a master plumber and looked at the banff . What is the question?

[Tami2]

Agreed that the bathroom door cabinets in the photo on the earlier page are horrid (Post #17). Thankfully, they have been replaced with a “normal” door. This is a photo of the Banff from the Hershey RV Show. I’ll post a few more.

[Tami2]

More pictures of Hymer Banff from Hershey RV Show