DON'T buy a
Bushtracker caravan if you don't want fellow campers wandering around your van and admiring it!
Don't buy a BT if you don't like showing people through your van!
Don't buy a BT if you don't like people staring as you drive past!
BUT, if none of the above bothers you, and why should it, then buying a BT is certainly worth considering.
We picked up our new
Bushtracker Caravan on Dec. 8th and to say the van BT built for us exceeded our expectations is a gross understatement. With my building and design background, I've developed a keen eye for detail and I don't believe in perfection, but the finish on our van came close to perfection as humanly possible. The van is BRILLIANT-BRILLIANT-BRILLIANT.
The delivery day started out bad. We were five minutes out from the factory when a passing truck lost something of its back tray and it smashed into the side of my car. But, from then on, the day just got better and better.
Paul, from BT was there to greet us and proceeded to show and tell us about all the workings of our van. He was thoroughly professional, friendly, and being a fellow surfer, his layback approach meant for an enjoyable easy day.
As I was planning on moving on that night, I was determined to check out every working component in our van before I drove away. So there wouldn't be any excuses, I brought up a full gas bottle to run the gas appliances, a hose to fill the water tanks to check the pumps, a power lead to get power to the air conditioner and a bottle of diesel fuel to run the Webasto heater.
Well, I need not have bothered. BT had already filled my 2 gas bottles, every tank had water in them, they had diesel in the Webasto tank, and the air conditioning was blasting away as we entered the van in the heatwave conditions that day.
While all of this was happening, BT fitted my 750lb H.R. WDH. for free without me even asking. I bought it from Caboolture Caravans for $530.00 which was over $100.00 cheaper than another local quote.
Andrew from Sound In Motion showed us the gear he installed and then we hooked up the van. Paul even did a few laps around the block with me to make sure the van was balanced and the brakes were adjusted correctly. After one final nice surprise from BT, we said our goodbyes and we were on our way to get our annexe walls fitted in Brisbane the next day.
Our van is 18ft, queen width island bed, cafe dining, larger ensuite, rear sink and four solar panels. It towed well and from Brisbane to Kempsey my Nissan Patrol 3.0L t/d manual returned fuel consumption figures of 19.2L/100 kms, or 5.2 kms/L, or about 14.7 mpg. Take your pick!!! Cruising speed was 95kph.
A couple of funny things happened before and after delivery. Prior to delivery, I had a dream that BT had fitted shopping trolley wheels to our van. Aren't dreams weird! After delivery, on our way home at a rest stop, we were having breakfast when there was a crashing sound on the van. I jumped outside expecting to see someone throwing rocks of clay at my van, but there was no one there, no overhanging trees, so, I wrongly assumed a solar panel had exploded only to find a can of coke had exploded in the freezer.
Well, nothing more needs to be said, so we're going, going, gone.
Al and Robyn
