Caravan Review: Majestic Caravans Navigator 196

Majestic Caravans has been in the business of building caravans for more than 20 years. That’s two decades spent evolving with the caravan industry, applying new build techniques or refining existing ones. The Tiara was the fist Majestic I reviewed, back in 2008, when the internal cabinetry of virtually every van in the country was hand-built and customers could opt for any cladding type provided it was ribbed white aluminium. Back then, having a second 100Ah deep-cycle battery in your van along with a 1000W inverter was considered the height of technological luxury. How things have changed.

I was reminded of all this when I was hauling the new Majestic Navigator 196 along the freeway towards Torquay, a surf town at the start of Victoria’s Great Ocean Road. I wanted to take a look at Bells Beach – it’d been years – and so I made Bells my day’s destination. With the Navigator 196 on the back of my borrowed Amarok, I was a pretty happy camper. 

While the Amarok struggled up some hills as it hauled more than 2500kg worth of caravan, the Navigator itself was a picture of composure the entire trip. No wobbles. No pitching on the towbar. Come to think of it, it was one of the better-towing caravans I’ve had the pleasure of towing lately.

FORM AND FUNCTION

When I stepped inside, I was greeted by a light, bright, attractive interior. I felt immediately at home, and that’s perhaps the highest compliment I can pay to this rig. The layout, while conventional, seemed nicely balanced. There are always compromises to be found in layout design; however, I felt the Navigator 196 offered an effective blend of form and function.

A queen-size bed is in the front, with a padded vinyl headboard (with stitching to match the dinette). The bed is surrounded by wardrobes and overhead lockers. Now, because bedside tables aren’t provided in this layout, Majestic has fitted generous niches to each wardrobe – with wireless charging pads for your smartphone! Nice.

The space under the bed is occupied by the housing for the tunnel boot, but there’s a point to make about this van’s setup. You see, Majestic has covered the equipment fitted under the bed, including the diesel heater, with a sheet of finished ply, meaning you can still use the space above for storage, safe in the knowledge that the gear beneath the ply won’t be damaged. It’s a sensible design element that more manufacturers should consider. Overall, it’s an attractive bedroom with plenty of space around the bed – you can even watch the telly thanks to the swing arm mounted to the leading edge of the kitchen cabinetry. Or you could swing the arm around and watch from the comfort of the dinette. And on hot nights, you’ve got two 12V fans mounted to the ceiling, at the foot of the bed, to keep you comfortable.

Speaking of the dinette, it’s perfectly comfortable and Majestic has not forgotten to include some 240V and 12V charging points in the leg area – brilliant.

The kitchen comes with a four-burner gas cooktop, a griller and an oven.There’s also a 2L flatbed microwave fitted within the kitchen’s overhead cabinetry – it’s a very neat finish, too. Further, bench space isn’t a problem in the kitchen, especially with the lid above the cooktop closed.

Other features that you’ll find inside this van include a Dometic Dust Reduction System, a reverse-cycle air-conditioner and, moving into the bathroom, a front-loader washing machine mounted to the rear wall. The vanity is good and large – no storage shortage here – and the bathroom also gets a cassette toilet, of course, along with a sizeable fibreglass shower. The cubicle is a one-piece mould, so it should never leak.

Something else I noticed: in one offside overhead locker, Majestic had included a 12V point. Because the van is pre-wired for Starlink, with an RJ45 connector on the offside, this locker would be the perfect place to fit a 12V power supply for your Starlink router, such as the Cosmo.

MAJESTIC CARAVANS NAVIGATOR EXTERIOR

The Navigator 196 rides on tandem axles with independent coil suspension on a 4in SupaGal chassis with raiser. The extended A-frame sports a DO35 coupling, two 9kg gas cylinders behind a mesh stoneguard, a fresh water tap (with stoneguard!) and there’s also a checkerplate storage compartment with offside slide-out tray that would perhaps suit a small generator.

The van comes with three 100Ah lithium batteries, which are on the offside chassis rail behind some checkerplate protection – a standard installation, these days. Speaking of protection, I’d like to point out the protection given to the grey water tank’s PVC outlet. It’s literally just a piece of ag pipe secured by zip ties, but that’s all that’s needed, and I honestly don’t understand why all caravan manufacturers don’t offer this as a matter of course. Sure, you could do it yourself… but it’s this sort of attention to detail that tells me the manufacturer of the van has engaged their grey matter.

The Navigator gets a reversing camera, too, not to mention an external shower with hot and cold water. This shower is of the traditional variety that you’ve probably seen before; however, a van of this quality might instead benefit from a flush-mounted shower. These have quick-fit hoses that you remove when not in use. I have a similar view on the gas bayonet. Anything that can be flush-mounted, rather than screwed or bolted on separately, seems like it would be a good move.

The Navigator 196 doesn’t come with a slide-out kitchen, but thanks to the aforementioned gas bayonet, you could plumb your Ziggy or Weber Q directly to the van’s gas supply, and perhaps later on fit some rails to the tunnel boot for the permanent installation of your barbie.

Externally, the Majestic is not short on equipment. The nearside hosts a Fusion sound system, with one inside too, a roll-out awning, a picnic table that thankfully requires no keys to open, and let’s not forget the anti-insect awning lights.

It’s framed in welded aluminium and clad with composite aluminium along with acres of checkerplate. The roof, however, is a one-piece fibreglass sandwich panel, while the floor is a hardwood ply. The result: a sturdy van that conveys a sense of purpose, as though it was built to go the distance.

As I mentioned, it was a pleasure to tow. Weighing in at 2589kg Tare, it comes with an ATM of 3500kg, so there’s plenty of payload capacity provide you have the tow vehicle to suit. The unladen ball weight was 117kg – no issues here.

GORV’S VERDICT

There are eight layouts in the Navigator range. Our 19ft 6in rear door van was the second smallest – the range starts at 18ft 6in and goes right up to a 22ft 6in rear club lounge model. In my opinion, though, this 196 would be a very good choice for touring couples – it offers an excellent blend of equipment for its size and weight.

THE SCORE 

FIT AND FINISH –

LAYOUT –

INNOVATION –

HITS & MISSES

COMPLETE SPECS