Retreat Brampton caravan

Bill we were going to get a Brampton lovely van we ended up with a daydream instead. The only thing that will let it down is the 12volt wiring and the amount of time you spend chasing people to fix the stupid little problems due to lack of care when manufactured. i will be replacing it with another retreat when time comes we love it overall.

Hi Bill,

We have a Retreat Magnetic and it certainly is a very pretty van inside (and outside). The bathroom is great but the fiberglass shower is terrible. There is only one drain hole and it needs 4 (one in each corner). You have to be very careful hen positioning the van to allow water to drain out of the shower. It is also extremely hard to clean and keep clean. (This is compared to our previous vans, Lotus and Kedron).

This one has a built in 12 volt tv which is a great idea. we use it to show slide slows of our trips all day and remind us of places we have been.

At the end of the day it is a simple van (technology wise) and this is good for a breakdowns if occurr.Suspension is average with no shocks and straight axels. (this is a $86.000 van as well) A Brentwood is the same cost with much better suspension, as I imagine many others).

Summary: We both like it and it is very liveable for full time travel. It comes with a Dometic awning and I would Certainly insist on an Aussie traveller awning or the new Dometic electric awning. The reason is AT awnings are much easier to fit annexes and screens to.

Not had anything to do with after sales service but getting Retreats factory number is not easy either.

Hi Bill,

We have a Brampton which we picked up late March. Have only done a shakedown trip to the south coast of WA (we're in Perth) but will be heading North for an extended trip in a couple of weeks.

So far we're very happy with it, it tows well behind our Patrol. As the other Retreat owners have said, the van is very liveable and as we prefer to free camp, it's also quite self-sufficient in terms of power (solar) and water.

As far as build quality goes, I'd rate ours about 7/10 but I'm picky!! To be fair tho', I think Retreat vans compare favourably with similar packages from other manufacturers...we did a lot of research before opting for ours.