Elite vs Panther Build Quality

[starrymarkb]

Just had a return trip to London with NatEx (operated by Parks/Trathens)

The Elite on the way up was very very rattley (on even minor bumps) with a lot of thumping from the suspension. It also seemed quite jerky - especially in the traffic around Earls Court

The MegaPanther* on the way back was much smoother (as were the Megabus examples I had a couple of months ago)

Question is, was I unlucky to just get a knackered Elite (I know the Parks ones also do the Cornish and South Coast runs which would be tougher then the MegaPanther's mostly Motorway work) or are they not built as well as the Panthers?

*15m Panther similar to those used by Megabus

 

[mbonwick]

Both the Elites and Panthers are built in the same Scarborough factory by Plaxton, so I'd say varying quality between the 2 builds is unlikely.

Parks elites are worked quite hard though....

 

[radamfi]

You would have thought that Elites would be particularly good because of their use on Citylink Gold which has premium fares. There was a thread earlier this year complaining about problems with the new Elite Interdecks for Megabus, and that thread mentioned that some Panthers had to go back to Plaxton for fixes.

You can't go wrong with Van Hools, but unfortunately they don't seem in favour with British coach firms, other than Megabus for their double deckers.

 

[vicbury]

I'm no expert but most of the problems that the original poster describes with the Elite would appear to be down to the chassis and not the body. To make a comparison between the two, one would need to ride on both with the same chassis. I don't know if both bodies are available on the same chassis.

 

[mbonwick]

Both are available on the same chassis, although from experience its normally not the chassis that is the problem. Volvo make a good, solid product.

The reason Van Hools are not prevelant in the UK is down to cost - back in the 80s every operator aspired to one day operate a VH T9, and that is still true today. Yes they're good coaches, but they'revery expensive.

 

[starrymarkb]

You can't go wrong with Van Hools, but unfortunately they don't seem in favour with British coach firms, other than Megabus for their double deckers.

VanHool and Bova tend to be more common in the South West - probably because a large dealer is in the area...