Autograph 79-6, pros v cons
Hello, we're making the move from caravan to motorhome with my husband, 2 sons and dog and have found that the Bailey autograph 79-6 offered the space and separate sleeping areas we need.
Can you please furnish me with any pros and cons of the 79-6?
Thanks for your time !
Comments
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if your sons are travelling with you, I guess they/you are quite young...
this is a large, wide, heavy van built on the fiat 'heavy' (4250kg) chassis so you will need the appropriate license groups to drive it and if you passed your test after Jan 1997 you'll need to take an extra test...
not sure where the boys are to sleep....one in each of the other beds?..but for such a large van the beds are very narrow as doubles and one of them is very short (assume you are having the rear double?
Bed Sizes:
Front Double 1.70m x 1.02m / 5 ' 7 " x 3 ' 4 "
Drop Down Double 2.01m x 1.25m / 6 ' 7 " x 4 ' 1 "
Rear Double 2.12m x 1.58m / 6 ' 11” x 5' 2"the vans's size (8m long and over 8' wide) might make you feel like you're in your caravan on site but will be a pig to drive on any 'slim' road away from trunk routes.
Overall Body Length 7.988m / 26 ' 3 "
Overall Body Width 2.489m / 8 ' 2 "with four of you and a dog, and in need of other transport, any particular reason for the switch?
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Lucy
Until earlier this year we had a Bailey Approach 740 SE which was one of the predecessors of the Autograph range. The 79-6 is a big beast but having said that we rarely found the width to be a problem. If a bus can go down a road so can a Bailey Autograph. Interesting that many caravan manufacturers are also introducing 8 foot wide caravans! The Baileys are pretty well equipped and are good value. We had our 740 for six years before going to a slightly smaller Bailey model. Did you know there is a Bailey Motorhome Owners Group on Facebook which you might find worth joining.
David
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Really helpful, thanks ever so much David.
My husband will be the main driver and has driven many large vehicles both pre and post military, so is very competent with driving, even on tricky parts that I no doubt would struggle with! We've just returned from 2 weeks in newquay and this would be a perfect scenario where I would want a hire car, just for ease of parking up, but weekends away or places on public transport routes or pretty flatish for the bikes we can just leave the van and go!
Again, thank you.
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Something to bear in mind – A family of 4 plus a dog & poor/rainy weather whilst away may mean you will need an awning & car to cater for such a scenario. I know nothing about the payload or towing capabilities of the L.V. but feel they may also need to be considered. Good luck.
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I worry for the dog😁 Trailer behind a bike? Suppose it depends on size.
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Jay, this van is built on the 'heavy' Fiat chassis, plated at 4250kg, its MIRO is around 3500kg so has a payload of 750kg ish...which should be enough but 2 kids (ages/weights?) and the passenger (nominal 75kg) need to deducted from that along with all other carried 'stuff'...
however, the fact that it's over 3500kg means it can't be driven in a car license but it seems the OP has a 'qualified' driver on board.
good luck, guys.
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"however, the fact that it's over 3500kg means it can't be driven in a car license but it seems the OP has a 'qualified' driver on board."
just to clarify (as the post has disappeared...) this statement does need qualifying to say
"however, the fact that it's over 3500kg means it can't be driven in a car license unless the driver passed their test before Jan 1997, but it seems the OP has a 'qualified' driver on board."
i did specifically write this proviso upthread, but omitted the same caveat in the later post.
hope this removes any confusion for the OP
this was the specific reason for me asking the age of the OP/family in my first post...
there is often a conflict between payload and license groups...
young families with kids and loads of stuff tend to need more payload but are often limited to smaller 3500kg vans which may have insufficient payload.
larger vans on heavier chassis might have stacks of the payload they need but they aren't licensed to drive them.
..whereas we oldies who are often couples (or even singles) might need less payload yet have license groups allowing for much larger vehicles.
good luck with the switch.
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Thankyou for clarifying that, BB. It was unfortunate that the explanation of the seemingly erroneous statement regarding the driving licence was Deleted User. It concerned me that someone would totally misunderstand the position and I have asked for a staff member to post the true facts. However, you have now made that unnecessary. 👍🏻
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I looked at the eye watering prices of hiring a car in the uk. It was far cheaper just to take ours with us so SWMBO followed me in the car. First leg of the journey to South Coast was nearly 200 miles. When I arrived at the site SWMBO was still behind me. After that we only moved about 50 miles between campsites.
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We have just moved from a caravan to a MH granted only a 6.2 metre one, we struggled at first to justify changing over in case we were stranded on site but have found we have overcome this by use of our bikes admittedly electric ones, we are OAPs thus have bus passes which are an help. We both golf so to take the MH to a golf course could be a problem, we ring them up first to check they can accommodate it, up to now we have only been refused once. The issue of towing a small car defeats the object in my view you may as well stay with a caravan. The best thing we have found about a MH is the stress taken out from towing never used to bother me when l was younger but has l got older l used to dread hitching up. One thing we make sure of is that we are on a bus route and only a couple of miles from a town or village, admittedly we can park our MH without much hassle just cant go on car parks with height restrictions. The most helpful thing we got was the Garmin Sat Nav camper which gives parking for your Motorhome plus height restrictions, just put your weight an dimensions in gives you all the info you need. Hope this helps with your decision, l wish we had done it a lot earlier.
Heethers
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