05feb18 -
I completely agree with Mumkin re take a look at the new to USA dealers, Banff units. I suspect and hope the new Sunlight V2's and the Carado Axions have been provided with similar improvements from bow to stern in the coaches Hymer speed assembles.
Speaking about a few of the changes in the new Carado's; I still am perplexed why their online site does not promote features very well. And still does not keep in sync, other information in a Support section including current Owner manual PDF for Axion, let alone the Banff. I know I harp on this but go to the WB site, locate and download the 128 page 2018 Travato 59K with color images here and there for example. You get the idea that WB understands the North American market better than EHNG. it may largely be due to more cash flow that is re-invested into areas that the NA side of EHNG simply cannot do on their own yet.
But Rev B of the EHGNA RV models DEFINITELY show improvements, including the shower track that is now a flat track attached to a flat surfaced area on a new ceiling panel. The forward driver side bathroom wall is sticking to the wall panel now, at least for now. I think I saw a few screws that might be helping this too.
I saw no issues with the still windowless, passenger wall warping outward either. And while I do not recall the Carado's having the same issue with their waste pipe hangers as did the Sunlight V1; all three of the V1's I saw that weekend had the same dropped down waste pipe. When I crawled underneath, it appeared to me that these V1's were missing a bracket to hold the right side of this pipe up in a proper position for correct gravity flow over to the driver side outlet.
The ludicrous bathroom privacy door I now refer to as the Mr Ed door (watch the old TV show) has been improved. I do not call it the perfect solution but given the entry level Class B price point it is a good solution. The lower cabinet piano hinged door for the lower half of the Mr Ed door is gone. The upper piano hinged door unfortunately still exists but it is now fairly quick operation to hinge it-out into privacy position. Then you pull the new accordian door across and the bathroom is now a relatively private room in less than a minute. The full on Mr Ed door, properly positioned with previous experience and latched into place would have you soiling your clothes before you got it all setup. If it was your first try at making it all work together, you would have also been very annoyed (I can think of stronger wording to put here...) your sales person sold this contraption with a straight face, and soiled your clothes too.
The WB Travato 59K ass an alternative rear bath solution costs a whole lot more but it works! WB put in double walls on both sides of the coach whioch are spaced to contain what is essentially a pair of pocket doors found in some stick built apartments and homes. True, the door can be bumped off the track by looky-loos, probably with over active kids that push or yank on them in the wrong place. If the WB doors are somewhat gently pushed or pulledl in the right spots, I think they should work the life of the RV. I mean after all, we are talking about a mere $108,000 MSRP Class B here, made for us poor folks that want an RV built to the highest standards but have to go cheap. If you consider $108k which is only a typically inflated MSRP number, cheap. (insert gasp, cough).
For EHNG to implement the WB bathroom door solution would cost a lot more with the dual pocket door walls and door assembly. Perhaps a more significant issue is that this solution takes up w precious asdditonal inches of space for a pocket door wall in these 19'-6" RV's versus the slightly higher cost 3500EXT ProMaster used with the also higher priced coach of the Travato 59K built into, over and under that chassis-van. Which comes standard with steering wheel controls and large LCD multi-function system in the dash and integrated backup camera by the way. Choices for lifestyle and budget.
While my wife and I will examine the Banff first hand this coming week (if it arrives), we are presently planning to buy another brand this Spring/Summer that minimally is a full $10k more. And there is that much difference in quality and features in the 1 foot longer RV we intend to buy. However, the Banff is definitely worth our time to look at. Unfortunately they do not have the VoltStart feature that some RoadTrek and the EHNG Activ 1.0 and 2.0 offer. I do not think it is something one can retrofit after the fact, at least not easily, even if buying this outside of your financed loan with a big lump of cash or credit card expenditure to try to acquire & retrofit this proprietary feature, or reverse engineer it was on the table.
The other RV we intend to purchase has a fossil fueled, noisy and maintenance required generator. We expect for our type of travel that it will see little use but we still had to pay for it and still have to keep the carburetor clean enough to stumble the gas engine into running. These generators are way ess expensive than an underhood 2nd, 280 amp alternator, matching charger/inverter for EcoStart, lithium battery, let alone add in tht Voltstart option on those RV models that offer it. It thus makes sense to continue to see the generator on many RV's until such time that someone figures out how to bring the price points of the totally simpler additional alternator w/electronics solution nearer to the traditional generator price.
Nonetheless the slightly stripped ProMaster and lower cost coach configuration of the 1 foot shorter, 3 windowed and lower priced Banff with shall we say, revision B fixes to production issues gets our attention enough to check it out. $400-ish to add Froli bed system to twin beds for air/moisture control and comfort. $120-ish for a pair of tilt up head rests. $350-ish to toss the basic AM/FM in the dash for a backup camera capable unit + cost of backup camera added back into the stripped ProMaster (will confirm that this week) and garage sale the Suburban heater with a $1,000+ conversion to a Truma Combi. Not saying we would do all of this to a new Banff; just rolling these ideas around in our head to see if we might entertain some of this and perhaps more over time. We know we would add the Froli if for no other reason than to improve the sleeping comfort between hard surface plywood and thin mattress. Call it "Home Improvements"... (grin)
I am told a Banff will arrive at our local dealer possibly this week. It is a candidate for our purchase we will definitely look at before we commit to the other RV we are otherwise intending to purchase this Spring/Summer as noted above, within our budgeted number.