Jess M.
5/5
Just over a decade ago while sleeping in our swag beside the then twelve year old Defender 110, a dream was born to spend 2 years living on the road full time within the next 10 or so years, and we knew that sleeping beside the car was not going to work.
The next 12 - 18 months was spent researching camper trailers and off-road vans. To get to where we wanted to and for as long as we wanted to there was nothing (and still is nothing) on the market that suited us.
Then the research into extreme off-road trucks began for the substructure of our new house on wheels. After ruling out IVECO, MAN and Mitsubishi to name just a few and each for their own reasons over a period of about 2 years, the decision was made to use a Unimog for our build.
Now that was settled it was time to find the company to build our house for us and ensure the truck was as bullet proof as one can be, (this is a skill I do not have and one I didn’t have time to invest in learning while working full time). Initially there were 3 companies in Europe, 1 in Canada, 1 in USA, 1 in Brazil and 3 in Australia and each was carefully considered. I spoke to all via phone, email and video calls over a 3-year period and then also included reaching out to existing customers of all of the companies. The selection was finally down to 3 out of the 9 we started with: 1 in Australia and 2 overseas.
Unidan Engineering was finally selected and in 2021 and planning started in earnest for our new U5023 with expedition habitat. The truck was finished in December 2024 for its shakedown and then it was ready for us to drive out of the factory in early February 2025 and we have just completed 5000km on our journey from their location in Yatala QLD, to our home base in Perth WA.
Why Unidan? Communication, Communication and again Communication, coupled with quality of workmanship (visited the workshop twice before final decision was made) and just as importantly every single customer I spoke to including those I found randomly on FB had very positive feedback on after sales services.
Has everything gone perfectly and is everything working perfectly straight out of the factory? No, it is not and has not, however every step of the way Dan, Tiarni, Connor and the rest of the team have gone above and beyond to make sure things are corrected expeditiously and at their cost or under warranty – including where I am sitting now typing this in Daimler Trucks, Regency Park, SA. When you build a new house, you know that somethings will need fine tuning or repair within the first few months. You expect minor niggles to crop up over the next year or so and it is the same with a new truck with a house on the back of it. What is most important is how the company you choose responds when these things happen and Unidan Engineering scores 11 /10 in this area.
If you want a capable 4WD truck with fully self-contained expedition house on its back then Unimog is the vehicle and Unidan is the company. Expensive? Yes. Worth it? Yes
My apologies for the long review (not as long as you will find on moglifecrisis.com when it is fully operational in May 2025).
