Bailey Pursuit Platinum Edition 550-4
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Description
Platinum is a special edition of Bailey’s lightweight Pursuit range, from Chipping Sodbury Caravans. The difference in price between the standard Bailey Pursuit 550-4 and the Platinum version is just £515. For that extra £515 the buyer gets a caravan with £1913-worth of additional equipment.
Key Features
Model Year
2015
Product Class
Single Axle
Price from (£)
£14445
Berths
4
Full Review
Platinum Pursuits are now in their second year, proving to be a huge sales success for Chipping Sodbury Caravans, for whom this special edition package is exclusively tailored.
Why is the Platinum Pursuit such a success? To find out, we’ve driven for three hours from Lincolnshire, to the region where the Midlands stretches out towards the gateway to the West Country which is, after all, Britain’s most popular caravanning region.
The Chipping Sodbury team hitched up a 550-4 and led us to an open stretch of land half a mile from the dealership. It’s known as The Common and it’s where Chipping Sodbury arranges for its brochure photography to be carried out.
It’s pretty and tranquil and we can easily pretend it’s a caravan site; the mindset of picking up our Pursuit and beginning a tour of the West Country is easy to slip into. Only we have to give our Pursuit back at the end of the day. So the analysis has to be condensed into just a few hours. That’s not hard, for Platinum Pursuits are astounding value.
We picked the twin-bed 550-4 as an example of the six-model range because it’s one of the best-sellers.
First, the layout. It has a lounge capable of seating six, a kitchen with a good-sized surface and a dresser opposite for a little extra space if you need it. A Venetian-style blind at the rear of the dresser plus a pleated partition segment the 550 into two clearly defined rooms.
The shower room, containing the wardrobe, is cross the rear.
Now, the price and the added value. If you were to buy a standard Pursuit 550 it would cost £14,445 excluding the retailer delivery fee (£565), which brings the price to £15,010. Then you need to add on the cost of the Premium Pack of equipment with which the vast majority of Pursuits come. That’s £399 and gives you items including a microwave oven, a spare wheel (under the nearside bed) a radio/CD unit, a door fly screen and a hitch-head stabiliser. Now the price is £15,409.
Then comes the extra kit that turns a Pursuit into a Chipping Sodbury Platinum Edition Pursuit. That’s the AL-KO Secure wheel lock, worth £194, and the AL-KO ATC electronic stability control system, worth £399. Those two items bring the price to £16,315. And there’s more. There’s a sunroof, worth £359, a side-lift jack worth £120, and upgraded upholstery, which adds £200 to the value.
Platinum Pursuits have appealingly plain soft grey-brown seating fabric and curtains and cushions which use white plus minuscule amounts of green and purple to lift the look.
Unlike standard Pursuits, the Platinum 550-4’s seating and twin beds are made of the newly-introduced Ozio upholstery construction. It’s composed of a dense layer of foam sandwiched between layers of vertically-aligned polyester fibres. In our experience it’s every bit as comfortable as sprung upholstery. It’s treated with an Aquaclean substance which makes it resistant to stains; you can wipe off marks with just water.
Platinums are also equipped with Truma 100-watt solar panels, mounted on the roof. That adds £600 to the value, plus an exterior mains socket (£80).
* Find out about our great Caravan magazine digital subscription offers by clicking here.
* New to caravanning and want a wealth of advice on buying, owning and enjoying your caravan? Order your digital copy of Your First Caravan here.
Why is the Platinum Pursuit such a success? To find out, we’ve driven for three hours from Lincolnshire, to the region where the Midlands stretches out towards the gateway to the West Country which is, after all, Britain’s most popular caravanning region.
The Chipping Sodbury team hitched up a 550-4 and led us to an open stretch of land half a mile from the dealership. It’s known as The Common and it’s where Chipping Sodbury arranges for its brochure photography to be carried out.
It’s pretty and tranquil and we can easily pretend it’s a caravan site; the mindset of picking up our Pursuit and beginning a tour of the West Country is easy to slip into. Only we have to give our Pursuit back at the end of the day. So the analysis has to be condensed into just a few hours. That’s not hard, for Platinum Pursuits are astounding value.
We picked the twin-bed 550-4 as an example of the six-model range because it’s one of the best-sellers.
First, the layout. It has a lounge capable of seating six, a kitchen with a good-sized surface and a dresser opposite for a little extra space if you need it. A Venetian-style blind at the rear of the dresser plus a pleated partition segment the 550 into two clearly defined rooms.
The shower room, containing the wardrobe, is cross the rear.
Now, the price and the added value. If you were to buy a standard Pursuit 550 it would cost £14,445 excluding the retailer delivery fee (£565), which brings the price to £15,010. Then you need to add on the cost of the Premium Pack of equipment with which the vast majority of Pursuits come. That’s £399 and gives you items including a microwave oven, a spare wheel (under the nearside bed) a radio/CD unit, a door fly screen and a hitch-head stabiliser. Now the price is £15,409.
Then comes the extra kit that turns a Pursuit into a Chipping Sodbury Platinum Edition Pursuit. That’s the AL-KO Secure wheel lock, worth £194, and the AL-KO ATC electronic stability control system, worth £399. Those two items bring the price to £16,315. And there’s more. There’s a sunroof, worth £359, a side-lift jack worth £120, and upgraded upholstery, which adds £200 to the value.
Platinum Pursuits have appealingly plain soft grey-brown seating fabric and curtains and cushions which use white plus minuscule amounts of green and purple to lift the look.
Unlike standard Pursuits, the Platinum 550-4’s seating and twin beds are made of the newly-introduced Ozio upholstery construction. It’s composed of a dense layer of foam sandwiched between layers of vertically-aligned polyester fibres. In our experience it’s every bit as comfortable as sprung upholstery. It’s treated with an Aquaclean substance which makes it resistant to stains; you can wipe off marks with just water.
Platinums are also equipped with Truma 100-watt solar panels, mounted on the roof. That adds £600 to the value, plus an exterior mains socket (£80).
* Find out about our great Caravan magazine digital subscription offers by clicking here.
* New to caravanning and want a wealth of advice on buying, owning and enjoying your caravan? Order your digital copy of Your First Caravan here.
Our Verdict
Bailey launched Pursuit specifically for buyers who want lightweight caravans. They’re great value. And they sell well as a result. Add on extras and a different fabric look, though, and a Pursuit becomes a Chipping Sodbury Caravans Platinum Edition Pursuit. But with little difference in price. The two added items that we think most buyers will see as of chief importance are the electronic stability control unit, and the solar panel, valued by buyers looking for independence from mains power.
