Our Golf Bush Challenger 1 was purchased at the Sydney show in 2014 with all the bells and whistles. We recently experienced issues with the automatic roof lifting mechanism and were directed to Brendan, the Customer Service manager in Melbourne. He was incredibly helpful and arranged complete replacement of the roof lifting mechanism with the upgraded Challenger 3 lifting system free of charge. This was all performed outside their 12 month warranty period. It now works better than ever and are very happy with the workmanship. Other than th...Read more

We were deploying the Van on the south coast before Christmas 2016 when at about 2/3rds up with a loud crack and bang the roof came crashing down. Very inconvenient. We managed to lift, push and jack it up and support the roof with the four corner posts until being able to diagnose the problem next day. The main wire rope from the winch to each of the four corner ropes had snapped. A visit to the hardware store for wire rope clamps got us out of trouble and home whereupon I subsequently replaced the wire rope with 8mm Dynamica synthetic rop...Read more

Brought our wildtrak new in 2015 after looking at their web site, and talking to the Brisbane sales person. As it turned out it was the worst decision we made. Wheel bering seized due to over tightening and there was no grease in the hub. Golf did replace the whole side suspension. On the Birdsville track the shockies collapsed, the shockie hangers fell off the chassis,as they are only rivited on, the underneath plumbing was distroyed by rocks. We limped into Alice Springs for repairs, and golf said we would be reimbursed for out of pocket expe...Read more

We bought this Avan Golf Bush Challenger second hand, it's only 15 months old. Looks brand new, But!
Looks nice, electric roof works great, awning quite a nice little unit, but needs to come down in a big storm. Beds work fine but the mattresses are rock hard, may as well sleep on a cold concrete floor.
The tap was a cold water only little flick mixer, the handle was stuck in the up position, wouldn't pump water, so had to get replaced. Ours had an air conditioner. There is no connection fitting to the outlet for the grey water hose nothing ...Read more

My family and I purchased a Golf challenger in 2012 and to this day have travelled over 16,0000 km. The camper design has met our expectations, however it has been the opposite for the manufacture side of the camper. Like all owners we also have had issues with door latches breaking and other minor issues. The major issues we have had and can be supported through forums is concerning the roof, and thus needs to be highlighted for anyone considering buying a AVAN golf challenger. The reason is because it is dangerous and from our experience ope...Read more

Initial issues with the supplied Thule annex. The van did not have the sail track fitted to the van body (under the awning frame) so impossible to erect - we had to advise the dealer who did not know this was required and it was then installed. Annex now takes around 15 minutes to erect which is OK. Watch out for very sharp edges on the door entrance and bed roller frames - most of the family has been cut by the aluminium profiles which were left raw and jagged at the cut ends. Need to be filed and smoothed off - but should have plastic profil...Read more

We found that the unit was easy to tow and back onto tight sites. It was generally well set out and served two seniors perfectly on a recent five week trip around Queensland on all manner of roads.
Negatives. 1. No manual. 2. Poor hand over. - We were told that the roof supports only needed to be used in windy conditions.3. We found the water tank gauge to be foolishly sited near the floor under the table. For want of a few metres of wire it could be sensibly located in plain sight. On a recent camp, the roof collapsed just as my wife was abo...Read more

We purchased our Golf Bush Challenger Extreme new in 2013, and had many teething problems. Fridge would not ignite on gas, hot water system kept cutting out, apparently due to hot weather and the door, when kept open reduces air flow to the unit. Pump had to be replaced twice, stoppers on the pull out beds all broke, cupboard door closers broke on about half the cupboards and the knobs on the cooker all broke, even the one we had never used! The hinges on the door where it swings down sheared off and had to be re welded. The golf dealer in Bris...Read more

I brought a Golf Challenger Bush despite what I have read on this site. The reason I brought the Golf Challenger Bush is that it comes with all the extras I need, Solar panel, gas and electric hot water system 60 to 70 degrees, water tank, Rola Roof Racks, Battery charging system, 12 volt water pump, independent suspension, two tv sockets, 5 double power sockets, electric roof lifter, microwave oven, three way fridge which we haven't had any problems with, in fact it works great, my wife makes ice cubes, the stove top has three gas and one ...Read more

We had a 1981 viscount van and saved up hard to buy a newer, off road van. We settled for a 2011 golf bush challenger, planning wonderful relaxing family trips away. How wrong we were. The van was great as far as space and light/airy feel. However it was COMPLETELY unreliable. Not once, but TWICE the wind up cable snapped in less than 12 months costing a small fortune each time to get fixed. You can't open the door to get inside when this happens, leaving important medication trapped inside within the fridge. We were left stranded and had to g...Read more

Bought brand new with electric roof and independent suspension. Sold it after first majot trip, prepared to wear the loss.
The fridge installation was terrible. The fridge worked it's way out of the cabinet, the retaining screws were stripped into the timber, the assembler must have known this but it was still sold like that. The shelf above the fridge was very hot indicating nil or poor insulation. Any temperature above 30 deg and the fridge could not cope, a couple of computer fans helped but not much.
The draw latches did not hold the ...Read more