We have a brand new Troll 535 GT from Automotive Leisure, got it end of May and just spent 3 weeks touring in it. For context, we bought a brand new Triton 420GT from AL in early 2014 and spent a total of about 18 months touring in it during the 4 years we had it, so we got familiar with Eribas.
When we upgraded to the Troll it was to get more room, and a layout that made access to storage easier. We also decided that we'd have some creature comforts, like heating and hotwater, as we aren't getting any younger. We added a mover and a factory fitted wind out ormistor awning. We also paid to have the electric elements put in the combi boiler. A high spec/high cost van, but this is now our van for life.
We have some issues to resolve with the van, which I have confidence that AL will deal with.
The fridge is a great size but ours may be faulty, as it's not consistently cold whilst hooked up to electric all the time. Now we are back home I am going to use a fridge thermometer to test this. This is the same type of fridge (running off the leisure battery) that we had in our T5, which was fine, so I think there is a fault. The display isn't showing as it states in the handbook, so something is amiss. I will report back on here how this progresses. We have no issues on not having the gas back up, as we stay on sites with electric all the time. We only used the gas option on the fridge in the Triton once in like 30,000 miles of touring. In the T5, if not driving or on hook up the fridge rinsed the battery really quickly, so we won't be running it on the battery. The fridge has a night time quiet mode for light sleepers which also reduces the power used slightly, but we sleep like logs and are always on hookup, so not needed.
The cost for the electric elements in the boiler (N.B. not possible to retrofit) was high but, as said above, we stay on sites with hookup all the time, so don't want to rely on gas when we have paid for electric. Also, abroad, gas bottle replacement is a pain, so we have only ever used gas when necessary. Even though we had great weather the last 3 weeks, we tested the heating at night and the hot water and found it was pretty good. We could get pretty fierce heating with just the electric option and the water heated quickly too. The boiler is quiet, you can set it to electric only, to use dual fuel but to favour electric, or just use gas. I think you would only need gas if outside temperature was very cold and you were heating the van up from cold. Once reasonably warm inside you would only need electric to maintain.
We love the kitchen area and this was one of the biggest reasons we chose the 535. The pan drawers are great. Everything can be easily stored and easily accessed with no bending down. Our top pan drawer is defective in that is comes open when in transit because the lock is defective. AL will fix this but for the time being we have to use a cord tied across to hold it in.
The smaller wardrobe hasn't bothered us in the slightest. It's thinner but taller than the Triton and you can get a lot of stuff in it, just not a lot of stuff on hangers. Overall, the storage in the Troll is about the same as the Triton, given that the boiler takes up most of one side of the front dinette. However, its all much easier to access. The bed is fine, despite me being 6'1" and neither of us being petite in stature. We have the rear dinette/bed option and I personally wouldn't have a fixed bed option. AL gave us reinforced poles, so no issues of the bendy poles some have encountered.
The bathroom door is a little warped at the top. We'll see what AL can do about this but in the meantime a bungy during transport solves the problem of it opening as the bowing to the top of the door can force it open in transit.
Awning - we had a Unico Verona full all weather awning on the Triton and it also fits the Troll. We love the Unico awnings and are so grateful that we didn't have to change it. The Unico Bologna which is specifically made for the Troll is a tad wider but the difference is not enough for us to take the financial hit on changing it. We have the factory fitted wind out for short stays and good weather. Expensive but very convenient.
Our motor mover manually engages with the same winder as the steadies. Unless you have mobility issues I wouldnt bother with one that automatically engages.
No idea about the batteries and charging options, we just have what the factory fitted!!
That's all I can recall for the moment!
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