PRICE FROM £46,495
PRICE AS TESTED £46,495
ON TEST SINCE 10 October 2014
MILES ON DELIVERY 15
MILEAGE NOW 197
BEST MPG 21.1
OUR MPG 21.1
Full review
Dealer specials – Majestic, Lifestyle, Envy, Suntor, Hi-Style, Evolution, Musketeer, Signature and Sunseeker – there have been a good number of them over the years (these and more!), mostly based on more mundane Swift or Elddis motorhomes. They could even be seen as a carry-over from the caravan world, where it seems almost every dealership has its own ‘special’.
But just what is so special about them? Well, extra kit and extra value is the argument espoused. Take a mass-produced mainstream model, and add extras, possibly even items that are not usually available on the ‘regular’ version.
It’s certainly a market that Marquis – the UK’s largest motorhome dealer network – knows all about, as it claims to be the largest customer of both Swift (makers of its Lifestyle range) and Elddis (who manufacture the Majestic line-up). And with the latest – Black Edition – Lifestyles looking more attractive than ever, now seemed like the right time to take one on long-term test.
The six-model range covers many of the key popular floorplans – rear lounge two-berth (622), front lounge, rear kitchen/corner bathroom (624), front half-dinette, small rear lounge (644), half-dinette, rear French bed (664), front pullman dinette, rear lounge (686) and front lounge, rear bunks (696). It’s the family-friendly 686 that we’ve chosen as it’s such a classic British layout, popular since the days, long ago, of the Kon-Tiki 640 and still offered in one form or another by all the mainstream British marques bar Auto-Sleepers.
We collected our 64-plate ’van from Marquis Northants but also took the opportunity to discuss special editions with MD Mike Crouch at the recent NEC Motorhome and Caravan Show 2014. He immediately described Lifestyles as “entry-level without looking entry-level” and pointed out that Marquis’ history with Swift goes back to the company’s first motorhomes (the original Kon-Tiki) in 1986/7. Today, the dealership offers Swift-built Lifestyle ranges of both caravans and motorhomes, each following the same colour schemes but with the motorhomes now adopting the black cabs of the more expensive Swift vehicles (Bolero and Kon-Tiki). That decision follows a particularly successful year with Black Edition Kon-Tikis and Marquis stresses that having just the cab in a dark colour will not cause the hot weather issues (too warm interiors in the summer) that slowed sales of some very dark paintwork options on various van conversions that Marquis retailed.
The strategy with Lifestyle – like any dealer special – however, is a simple one: one spec, one price (the only choice is the standard six-speed manual gearbox or Comfort-Matic auto – for £1,695 more; they all come with the 130 engine, irrespective of body size). That makes life easy for the retailer and cuts out confusion for the customer. And as the dealer can order vehicles in volume, hopefully there’s the opportunity for the buyer to get a better deal. Certainly, Marquis is the most established player here too, with its Lifestyles and Majestics being amongst the few dealer specials listed in the trade’s bible on secondhand prices, Glass’s Guide. That adds credibility and reassurance to the Marquis brands.
The scale of Marquis’ operations – now at 11 branches, from Durham to Devon, from South Yorkshire to Sussex – makes it hard for rivals to match what it can offer in terms of a dealer special, but why have two competing ranges from two rival manufacturers? Quite simply, Mike points out, Lifestyle is the more family-orientated range with more overcab models (four out of six), while Majestics are more usually two-berth ’vans.
However, the 686 we are testing for a few months is the one layout that has a direct Elddis/Majestic rival – in the form of the 180 – although batch building means you are unlikely to see both models on the forecourt at the same time, while neither 686 nor 180 is a clear sales leader in comparison with the other, says Mike.
In either case it is the spec of the conversion and the base vehicle that is enhanced, with upgraded cabs being seen as a clear marketing plus for today’s buyer. But Marquis isn’t just thinking of the new vehicle market, Mike stating that the company philosophy is to “sell new today what you want in two or three years for the used market.” Thus the Marquis network is able to promote ‘whole life ownership costs’ of its vehicles, claiming that strong residual values make them a better buy than cheaper alternatives. The Marquis branded vehicles are easily recognised too and, Mike says, sought after by rival dealers who are keen to take them in part-exchange (and therefore make conquest sales to Marquis customers!). Even finance deals can be more attractive to sweeten the pill of slightly higher initial purchase prices compared with lower spec vehicles.
Despite the obvious appeal, however, Lifestyles (even such family-friendly versions as the 686 and 696) are not bringing in the industry’s holy grail of younger first-time buyers. Only 0.2% of Marquis customers are under 40 and most buyers are seeking two-berth ’vans. Some want 2+2-berths, though, and the 686 appeals also to rental fleets and non-typical motorhome purchasers, including those wanting hospitality vehicles.
Whichever layout suits you, Lifestyles sit in the most popular £40-50k sector for new motorhomes (in fact, from £42,495 to £46,495 to be precise). The 2015 models also get Swift’s new wood-free Smart construction, although otherwise it is very much a proven product that evolves only gently from season to season (new fabrics and new table storage are of note this year).
Of course, this year the paint colour isn’t the only change to the cab either, as the Fiat front has had a fundamental facelift. It’s prettier – of that there is no doubt – but still with the Euro V 130bhp engine that dominates the mainstream market. The new look is already stimulating demand, though, even without much in the way of practical benefit (except for extra kit, including a reversing camera and tyre pressure monitoring added on Lifestyles), and Marquis has increased its order of Swift vehicles by a whopping 50% over this time last year. With stocks of late used motorhomes in short supply, this sort of value-lead vehicle will clearly be an obvious alternative to buying nearly new, so we could see plenty of people starting off their motorhoming life this year with a Lifestyle.
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