At the start of the new Season, we welcomed Practical Motorhome’s Nigel Hutson and wife, Kay, to the Elddis factory in Consett, County Durham…and waved them off in our all-new Autoquest 150 60th Anniversary Edition, to enjoy a few fabulous days on the magnificent Northumberland coast.

Their review has made the ‘Big Test’ in the January 2025 Edition of Practical Motorhome.

Here is Nigel and Kay’s Elddis experience, in full:

Elddis launched its Autoquest 150 back in 2021, to compete with the ever-increasing numbers of rear-island-bed models that were being imported. But whereas most of those imports have compartmentalised layouts, the Elddis is far more open. The downside to this – if you could call it that – is that the bed is always on display, unlike other floorplans, where a door closes off the bedroom area.

Next year, Elddis (now part of the Erwin Hymer Group, of course) will be celebrating its 60th anniversary, so as you’d expect, the company is marking this special occasion with the Autoquest 60th Anniversary range, which includes the 150 model. At the time of writing, final pricing had yet to be confirmed, but likely to be £68,299 plus on-the-road-charges.

Although there aren’t any massive changes in the 60th Anniversary ’vans, they’ll all come with exclusive graphics to mark the occasion, along with a few other tempting extras. Inside, the woodwork is ‘Tibero with Platino and Linum Haithabu’, in other words, light-coloured panelling with cream and grey/brown trim. Our test vehicle was a pre-production version with slightly different hues, but we have seen the aforementioned colour scheme, which we give a thumbs-up. ¬

The upholstery is ‘Mara’, a very light beige colour with contrasting piping and ends to the seat cushions. You also get special 60th Anniversary branded scatter cushions and cab seats. To find out what the Autoquest 150 60th Anniversary Edition is like to live with, we took it to Northumberland for a one-week tour.

Exterior and cab

The Autoquest is based on the Peugeot Boxer 2.2 140bhp HDi turbodiesel low-line chassis, mated to a six-speed manual gearbox. ¬ The cab is in the same white as the GRP Sunsation High Gloss body, which is Grade III certified for all-year touring. Smart but discreet red/maroon/grey graphics break up the expanse of white on the sides and the rear, while more 60th Anniversary logos identify these ’vans as special edition models. Included in the 60th Anniversary specification are alloy wheels, a leather steering wheel and chrome surrounds to the air vents. Our test vehicle came fitted with some options, including the Dometic wind-out awning (£622) and gas BBQ point (£113), a touchscreen with sat nav and Apple CarPlay/Android Auto (£826), a rear-view system (£424) – which we found very useful as it acts as a rear-view mirror when you are driving – and cab blinds (£516).

At 7.34m long, 2.69m wide (which includes the door mirrors) and 2.82m high, the 150 60th Anniversary Edition is a sizeable beast, but that’s not to say it’s difficult to drive. On the contrary: with good all-round visibility (assisted by that rear-view system), it was easy to place on the road and also to reverse precisely. Although the trip from the Elddis factory to our site was only around 60 miles (on all kinds of roads, from dual carriageways to narrow country roads), we’d have been happy to travel for longer, such was the ease and comfort of driving, aided by the standard-fi t cab air conditioning and cruise control. Of course, with a vehicle of this size you do have to be sensible about where you go, and perhaps plan your route in a little more detail than you would in a smaller ’van, but we had no issues doing a bit of touring the area during our break. We did do some research about parking beforehand, though.

In terms of rattles and squeaks, the Autoquest 150 was very good indeed. Before leaving the factory, we checked locker doors and drawers were secure, but everything inside them (and the oven/grill) was left as the staff at Elddis had packed them. After arriving at our site, we filled up the onboard 100-litre water tank (we were advised by Elddis not to travel with a full tank) and soon had the kettle on. So our first impressions were very good, and our driving experiences were equally positive.

Lounging and dining

In the Autoquest 150, the lounge features a pair of facing sofas and is located completely forward of the entrance door, so plenty of space can be dedicated to it. ¬ ere is a small step up to the lounge, which was actually more of an issue for us when stepping down into the kitchen with the table up, because we forgot about it a couple of times.

The nearside sofa is slightly shorter than the offside, but would still seat two, albeit cosily. Add to the sofas the two swivelling cab seats and six people could socialise here quite comfortably. Each of the sofas houses a foldable, forward-facing and seatbelted Aguti travel seat. ¬ Thanks to a large rooflight above and a window on each wall, the lounge is flooded with light and feels spacious and airy, and this is certainly enhanced by the light woodwork. For ventilation, if opening the rooflight and windows isn’t enough, the lounge is also directly forward of the entrance door (which has a flyscreen and a fitted waste bin).

A minor gripe here is that the door is held open with a magnetic catch, which in our experience didn’t feel quite strong enough to keep it open when there was a strong gust of wind. When it’s dark outside, there are four reading lights to aid the roof-level lighting, so nowhere in the lounge feels gloomy. Our test vehicle was fitted with cab blinds, but curtains around the cab area are standard.

When it comes to mealtimes, there’s no alternative but to put up the folding table, which is stored handily in a dedicated cupboard at the end of the kitchen unit. It’s not the largest of tables, but should just about work for four diners. Without the table set up, we did find that there was a lack of anywhere to put a cup or glass, other than on the pull-out extension in the kitchen. A TV point is fitted on the bulkhead between the cab and the offside sofa. There’s also a single 230V socket here, as well as a 12V socket, but no USBs. You would need to bring an adaptor with you if you’re likely to need USB charging while you’re away. All in all, we found the lounge a very comfortable, relaxing place to spend time, whether we were eating dinner or reading later on.

Kitchen

The kitchen in the Autoquest 150 is excellent, with a Thetford three-burner gas hob and a separate oven and grill, but the microwave is a £255 option. Although there isn’t a huge amount of work surface, a narrow area (wide enough for a kettle) with a pair of 230V sockets is at the right-hand end of the kitchen unit, next to the door, with a handy fold-up extension that hugely increases the worktop. At the opposite end of the unit is the sink (with glass cover) and more work surface, albeit chamfered (through necessity – more about that later). ¬ The removable drainer just about fits here, although with the cooker cover closed, it could be used on that side. ¬ There’s a tall Dometic 98-litre absorption fridge to the rear of the washroom on the offside.

As with other parts of the Autoquest 150’s interior, the lighting provided in the kitchen is really good. During the day, there’s an opening window and a rooflight above, both of which help with ventilation, too. At night, there’s bright artificial lighting at roof level and underneath the overhead locker. Beneath the chamfered worktop, there’s a thoughtfully placed shelf.

Washroom

The washroom is perhaps the biggest compromise in the Autoquest 150. It’s an unlined all-in-one unit, meaning there’s no separate shower cubicle, so things are kept dry(ish) by a shower curtain. ¬ e shower tray forms the floor and has a single drain. There is some intrusion from the wheel arch, but this is beneath the handbasin, so it isn’t really an issue. The basin – a diminutive but adequate salad-bowl-style design with a pop-up plug – is mounted on a small shelf. It’s likely to come in handy, because there’s not a huge amount of storage elsewhere.

Above the basin is a large mirror. There’s a fairly sizeable, but slim, wall-mounted cupboard, which we found spacious enough to store most of our washroom items. Although there’s no window in the washroom, there is a pop-up rooflight for ventilation and once again, good artificial lighting keeps things bright in here when it’s dark outside. Two points are worthy of mention here. First, the vertically mounted toilet roll holder. How many times do you arrive on-site and find the roll has unwound? With the holder mounted this way, we didn’t experience that. Second, there are two wall-mounted hooks, useful for hanging up towels (or coats). There’s also a vent for the Whale Elddis CompleteHeat system.

Sleeping

The Autoquest 150 is marketed as a four-berth motorhome, which it is, but we suspect most of these vehicles will be owned by touring couples. For them, one of the ’van’s main attractions is likely to be the rear island bed. ¬ The lack of a garage underneath the bed means there are no steps to climb to get into it, and it feels very spacious as a result. Fully extended, the bed measures 6’4” x 4’6”.

The bed itself is superbly comfortable and we had no problems getting an excellent night’s sleep. The bed retracts for daytime use, which is a good thing, because when it’s extended, there’s very little room at the end on either side (and hence that chamfered worktop in the kitchen). ¬ This means night-time trips to the toilet can be quite tricky. However, with the bed retracted, there’s plenty of floor space around it for accessing the wardrobes and the vanity unit area.

Each person gets a reading light and a small shelf for the morning cuppa. The Elddis designers have made a smart feature of the window surrounds and the bedhead, although we did also notice that it’s quite easy to catch the main light switch, which is located by the offside occupant’s head. Moving to the front of the vehicle, the lounge seating converts into a large single or narrow double bed (6’10” x 3’2”), or at a pinch, two small singles for children, and is separated from the kitchen by a concertina-type blind. In all cases, each occupant will have their own reading light.

Storage

Starting on the outside, while there’s no garage, there is underbed access and storage on the rear wall. Moving inside, at the front, a narrow shelf runs around the entire cab area at roof level. Back in the lounge, there are a pair of overhead lockers on each side and limited storage (because of the belted travel seats) underneath the settees.

The kitchen has excellent storage, with a couple of large overhead lockers, each having a pair of doors. The one above the hob is kitted out to hold crockery, while the other is divided into two – one side is full height (for cereal boxes), the other, shelved. Beneath the sink are three good-sized drawers and a drop-down flap at floor level. You also get small lockers above and below the fridge.

On the rear wall in the bedroom, there’s a narrow, but again adequate, wardrobe on each side of the bed. Beneath the wardrobe on the offside, there’s a set of three small but useful drawers. There’s none on the nearside because the area under the wardrobe is taken up by the gas locker (which is accessible from the outside). There is good storage under the bed, the mattress raising up on gas struts. Between the wardrobes and above the bedhead are a pair of overhead lockers, although some of the space in the offside one is taken up by the TV aerial. At the foot of the bed on the offside is a triangular cupboard and vanity unit, the latter matching the shape of the chamfered worktop in the kitchen. The lower cupboard has a bifold door and a couple of useful shelves. There’s a TV point here, too. Opening the mirrored door to the upper cupboard reveals three more shelves.

Equipment

Our test vehicle came with a number of options, although in our opinion, most of these were touring luxuries, rather than essentials (although they were admittedly very nice to have).

The base vehicle comes well specified; for example, there’s that full cooker in the kitchen. You also get Whale’s Elddis CompleteHeat water and blown-air heating, which we’ve always found very efficient and user friendly. Putting aside the fact that this vehicle did come with those options fitted, we couldn’t actually think of much that the Autoquest 150 would have lacked without them.

Perhaps the cab blinds and the rear-view system would be boxes to tick, and – because we’re so used to them these days – the microwave; but in truth, we didn’t notice the lack of the latter in the time that we spent in the vehicle.

If you are planning to spend time off-grid, we think that the optional solar panel would probably be a worthwhile addition.

TECHNICAL DATA (AS TESTED)

BASE VEHICLE

• Chassis Peugeot Boxer 335 L3 Tempo Libero 6.4 motorhome chassis
• Engine 2.2-litre 140bhp turbodiesel
• Power 140bhp @ 3750rpm Torque 340Nm @ 1750rpm
• Transmission Six-speed manual

Features include
Cruise control, auto wipers and lights, manual air conditioning, touchscreen and sat nav with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and DAB radio (£826), rear-view system (£424), electric windows, electric door mirrors, adjustable leather steering wheel, ABS braking, remote central locking and alarm, steering wheel mounted controls, headlamp height adjustment, 12V DIN socket, USB.

CONVERSION
Coachbuilt SoLiD Construction with GRP sides and rear and GRP underside protection.

LOUNGING AND DINING
Swivelling cab seats, parallel lounge settees with folding freestanding table, blinds, flyscreens to all windows (cab blinds £516), habitation door blind and flyscreen, 12V/230V/TV point, Whale Elddis CompleteHeat blown-air heating.

KITCHEN
Thetford three-burner gas hob, separate oven and grill, Dometic 10 series fridge/freezer, two 230V sockets

SLEEPING
Retractable rear island bed, lounge seating converts into a double bed, reading lights for all occupants

EQUIPMENT INCLUDES
Shower, Thetford electric-flush toilet, CompleteHeat water and space heating with easy-to-use controls

Highs
Spacious lounge • Excellent kitchen • Superb lighting throughout

Lows
All-in-one shower/toilet • Lack of space at foot of bed when extended

Buy if…
You are looking for a spacious, comfortable and well-equipped vehicle that doesn’t cost a fortune.

Verdict:

We enjoyed our time with the Autoquest 150 60th Anniversary Edition.

At just under 7.5m, it’s a sizeable vehicle, which does present some issues depending on where you’re touring, but with a bit of forward planning, that wouldn’t deter us.

Some of the options available aren’t necessities, but spend wisely and you can have a very well-equipped motorhome for a comparatively reasonable outlay.

Despite its size, we found it easy to drive (even on narrower roads), and on-site, it was spacious, practical and comfortable, and should give many years of happy touring.

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