Baileys V Lunar ?
Comments
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i believe Fiamma now make a 'rain gutter' that fits in the small gap between the unit and the caravan side wall. no more drips, apparently.
They do but depends on where your Fiamma is fitted, we have an F45 on a Bailey M/H but its fitted just sitting proud of the roof line. The dealer tried and so have we all the types of guttering that Fiamma have but none fitted.
Interesting that some have them fitted on the side walls (DK) and others we know, then the guttering does fit and I believe does a good job. Why our wasn't fitted that way I do not know.
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I have seen older motorhomes with side mounted canopies and some do leak water down the side of the van so from an installation point of view I would say that roof mounting is better, however, if our AS is anything to go by, it is a long stretch to operate
the winder because the canopy is quite high.0 -
hitch, do you have the telescopic winder? works a treat....
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We have a Thule (omnistor) 6200 fitted (glued) with extending winder handle, to the roof of our c/van same as DSB no leaks, and still leaves awning rail in use so can use porch awning if wanted,and even have canopy rolled, out to give extra protection from "midday sun"
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But what about all those mad dogs?
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hitch, do you have the telescopic winder? works a treat....
Yes, we have the telescopic winder but after about five years with the side fitted Fiamma I just find the extra height a bit more awkward. Not a big problem.
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Getting back on topic.
I have changed from Lunar to Bailey for several reasons. Both Lunar vans I have owned had problems but the 2nd., a Cosmos 554, developed several water ingress faults over my 20 months of ownership. It also suffered from the front window catches opening in transit. Spare parts took from 6-18 weeks to arrive. Campbells always needed the vans for a week to carry out the annual service or for warranty work. Except on one occasion when the parts finally arrived after reporting the fault 4 months earlier and the service department had checked the van twice. The job took 2.5 hours and was done to a poor standard. They fitted 2 out of the 6 modified window catches upside down.
My experiance with Bardsea Leisure could not be better. My Bailey Pegsaus Rimini arrived within a couple of days of the quoted delivery date unlike Lunar who were weeks late. My mover was changed over and the Service Department made a professional job of it. Fitting 'Quallity' tyres was not a problem. I could have stayed on site for 2 nights during the handover but it's a bit parky in Cumbria during February.
I have had a total of 71 days away between April & November, covering 2,916 miles. No bits have fallen off or failed. I have made 1 modification to the blown air heating however. I have fitted Webasto Insulation to the washroom ducting. Now the washroom gets warm instead of the R/H bed locker. All the heat escaped through the thin walled duct pipe before it reached the outlet.
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Getting back on topic.
I have changed from Lunar to Bailey for several reasons. Both Lunar vans I have owned had problems but the 2nd., a Cosmos 554, developed several water ingress faults over my 20 months of ownership. It also suffered from the front window catches opening
in transit. Spare parts took from 6-18 weeks to arrive. Campbells always needed the vans for a week to carry out the annual service or for warranty work. Except on one occasion when the parts finally arrived after reporting the fault 4 months earlier and
the service department had checked the van twice. The job took 2.5 hours and was done to a poor standard. They fitted 2 out of the 6 modified window catches upside down.My experiance with Bardsea Leisure could not be better. My Bailey Pegsaus Rimini arrived within a couple of days of the quoted delivery date unlike Lunar who were weeks late. My mover was changed over and the Service Department made a professional job of
it. Fitting 'Quallity' tyres was not a problem. I could have stayed on site for 2 nights during the handover but it's a bit parky in Cumbria during February.I have had a total of 71 days away between April & November, covering 2,916 miles. No bits have fallen off or failed. I have made 1 modification to the blown air heating however. I have fitted Webasto Insulation to the washroom ducting. Now the washroom
gets warm instead of the R/H bed locker. All the heat escaped through the thin walled duct pipe before it reached the outlet.Sounds more like a tale of two dealers rather than manufacturers. Both Lunar and Bailey turn out their fair share of leaky caravans and it seems to be more in the way the dealer reacts that makes the difference.
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It makes no difference what Leisure vehicle one buys,these days ,as depending on how many are produced there will be "complaints" and the more turned out by each company the more percived faults will be
Ahhh The old they are all as bad as each other argument makes yet another unwelcome return.
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We bought our first Alutech van in June. The wall construction seems very strong and much better than the traditional builds we have had in the past. The internal fittings and outside trim are satisfactory, but we have had one or two small warranty issues
which have been sorted now. On the whole we are pleased with the Bailey van, but I guess we we only really know after a longer period of time when we are abe to judge how the van with live up to use, wear and tear. So far we have had about 65-70 nights out
in the van and are generally satisfied. We certainly love the Alutech construction and the Alde heating.David
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It makes no difference what Leisure vehicle one buys,these days ,as depending on how many are produced there will be "complaints" and the more turned out by each company the more percived faults will be
True but the number of problems is far too high for all of them.
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We are have had most makes in the years we have had c/vans and m/vans,we are on our second alutec the first for three years and over 400 nights away,and no leaks and nothing fell off ,,the only "problem"was the noisy whale blown air heater ,which we overcame by useing oil filled heaters instead, our present alutec is still not leaking after 122 nights away, the only problem so far has been the dometic tall fridge whch has now been hopefully sorted
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We are have had most makes in the years we have had c/vans and m/vans,we are on our second alutec the first for three years and over 400 nights away,and no leaks and nothing fell off ,,the only "problem"was the noisy whale blown air heater ,which we overcame
by useing oil filled heaters instead, our present alutec is still not leaking after 122 nights away, the only problem so far has been the dometic tall fridge whch has now been hopefully sortedWe have our first Flagship UK thrown together caravan, 51 nights away, 15 months old, 25 faults including elctrical control unit failure, Alde heating sensor failure, LED lighting failure, 4 bits falling off, internal doors delaminating, kitchen end panel
delaminating, Heiki vents falling apart, omnivent falling apart, fridge vents falling apart. None perceived, all actual physical faults. Some have been fixed, over half to be fixed mostly by replacement and rebuild at a specialist repairer to the manufacturers
account.We had a MH for 9 years with 1 table leg casting breakage.
Our experience is far worse than yours and is the only experience we can factually report.
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We are have had most makes in the years we have had c/vans and m/vans,we are on our second alutec the first for three years and over 400 nights away,and no leaks and nothing fell off ,,the only "problem"was the noisy whale blown air heater ,which we overcame by useing oil filled heaters instead, our present alutec is still not leaking after 122 nights away, the only problem so far has been the dometic tall fridge whch has now been hopefully sorted
We have our first Flagship UK thrown together caravan, 51 nights away, 15 months old, 25 faults including elctrical control unit failure, Alde heating sensor failure, LED lighting failure, 4 bits falling off, internal doors delaminating, kitchen end panel delaminating, Heiki vents falling apart, omnivent falling apart, fridge vents falling apart. None perceived, all actual physical faults. Some have been fixed, over half to be fixed mostly by replacement and rebuild at a specialist repairer to the manufacturers account.
We had a MH for 9 years with 1 table leg casting breakage.
Our experience is far worse than yours and is the only experience we can
I could report on a couple of "friday"vans that we have had they were also "flagship" models but the two models we have had from this company have been fine,it has only been bought in equipment that has failed which sounds the same as most of you faults,which are found in 99%of all leisure vehicles
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The above rather begs a question.
What exactly do LV manufacturers make? As far as I can see they cut the holes out walls so the (bought in) windows can be fitted and then assemble it together. The manufacture of your LV is responsible for the selection and installation of these components.
To basically say that the caravan manufacturer has no responsibility for the failure of bought in components is ridiculous.0 -
The above rather begs a question.
What exactly do LV manufacturers make? As far as I can see they cut the holes out walls so the (bought in) windows can be fitted and then assemble it together. The manufacture of your LV is responsible for the selection and installation of these components. To basically say that the caravan manufacturer has no responsibility for the failure of bought in components is ridiculous.
...The bought in equipment that is used throout europe is fitted as said , to about 99% of all LVs and although the manufacturer via the dealer should of course honour the warranty the equipment manufacturer will also have a seperate warranty, as has been the case with our Dometic fridge where their own service engineer attended
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We have in recent years only had one LV that has had a real damp problem and that was a Swift which also had floor delamination ,and a Luner that had 19 faults including cracked grip roof ,other than that no damp/water ingress with any and all our LVs get a lot of use,but then we in the UK tend to buy UK vans as they suit our needs ,so thousands are sold each year,compared to "over there" makes , so a comparison is not really comparable
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There is an issue with generic items like fridges and I wonder how many here know that Dometic Fridges are actually enclosed in a plastic not metal case, I do because mine broke up and was replaced by Dometic under warranty. However the main issue seems
to be the inability of UK manufactures to create a waterproof box to contain these fittings. I have owned two German vans ,Hymer and Fendt and these too have had problems with third party equipment but they were both bone dry after years of extensive use.Write your comments here...My 7 year old Avondale, Senator, Challenger, were also dry.
You certainly don't need to buy foreign to get a dry caravan.
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I dont folow the logic, I have bought 4 vans in 20 years, 2 German and 2 UK. Both UK vans have leaked like sieves and the Abbey even had a new floor fitted back at the factory. No ingress problems at all with the Hymer or Fendt so to me thats 100% dry German
and 100% damp UK.As regards the thousands of vans sold in the UK, I firmly believe that were a continental manufacturer to develop a nationwide dealership network British manufacturers would go the same way the car and motorcycle industry went when confronted with quality
competitionWrite your comments here...Never going to happen, not everyone likes net curtains and heavy expensive caravans.
Only thing that would sell like hotcakes in the UK would be a caravan built to UK tastes, made in china or Korea, and dirt cheap, made from a totally woodless construction, like my Swift Conqueror on order.
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My nine year old Abbey is dry, or at least it was when I last checked it earlier this year. It does seem, however, to very much 'pot luck' with a UK van.
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we actually have Roman Blinds in our van, never deployed them (although they are quite attractive and very well made) as we use the cassette blinds.
perhaps the Blinds are nicer than 'English' velour curtains, i wouldnt use these either....
again, the MH market seems to be leaps and bounds ahead of the caravan mkt, in that there are now a half dozen German sub-brands (no Chinese yet,but on the cards eventually...) selling exacltly what you describe....woodless construction, light weight, solid
construction, water tight, and 15% at least less than the brands from their parent companies......and, guess what.....theyre selling like hot cakes....
i still feel that MHers seem more receptive to a changing mkt, and are more keen to try something new....
perhaps they dont reject a blooming good van just because it has Roman Blinds
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Going off later today with my obviously inferior German caravan. As this time will be spent in a sea of Bailey's, swifts Coachman and Lunar's. I will have ample time to reflect on my folly. As I wait for the underfloor heating to kick in as it does combat
with precisely no drafts blowing through the fridge vents. Not even enough breeze to ruffle the derided net curtains. Then I realise that nothing has fallen out during transit because all the cupboards have proper locksI hope that I can count all your sympathy as I endure my plight
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Going off later today with my obviously inferior German caravan. As this time will be spent in a sea of Bailey's, swifts Coachman and Lunar's. I will have ample time to reflect on my folly. As I wait for the underfloor heating to kick in as it does combat
with precisely no drafts blowing through the fridge vents. Not even enough breeze to ruffle the derided net curtains. Then I realise that nothing has fallen out during transit because all the cupboards have proper locksI hope that I can count all your sympathy as I endure my plight
It's a hard life!!
but it's your choice!!!.0 -
I dont folow the logic, I have bought 4 vans in 20 years, 2 German and 2 UK. Both UK vans have leaked like sieves and the Abbey even had a new floor fitted back at the factory. No ingress problems at all with the Hymer or Fendt so to me thats 100% dry German
and 100% damp UK.As regards the thousands of vans sold in the UK, I firmly believe that were a continental manufacturer to develop a nationwide dealership network British manufacturers would go the same way the car and motorcycle industry went when confronted with quality
competitionWrite your comments here...Never going to happen, not everyone likes net curtains and heavy expensive caravans.
Only thing that would sell like hotcakes in the UK would be a caravan built to UK tastes, made in china or Korea, and dirt cheap, made from a totally woodless construction, like my Swift Conqueror on order.
We too have a woodless construction caravan made from smart new materials.
One of the 25 faults on ours was the piece of black stained wood used at the factory to support the drain pipes under the floor. The piece of wood fell off causing the pipes to unjoin and pi55 soapy water over a pitch, hence how it was found. The dealer
affixed the correct pipe clips at the first service as should have been done at the factory.Your shower lights will be fixed to pieces of wood in your new on order caravan.
The assembler, I refuse to insult manufacturers who produce quality products, right first time, on time in ful as the mdern jargon employed in the true manufacturing sector, will tell you there is no wood to get damp, not that the caravan wont leak as has
been known on said smart construction. The known leaks have been at joints in the structure where front / sides / roof / rear ajoin, or not as happened. The first you will know is water flowing down walls, into lockers and wardrobes. There is no damp test
as the materials used do not facilitate penetration of the test prongs.You may be lucky and not be in the 23% of faulty caravans as recorded in the recent CC survey.
You may be luckier than us with 25 faults on the flagship smart construction caravan.
Some of our faults have been components, some poor fitting of components, but most are thrown together common parts falling off or breaking due to lack of interest by the assemblers.
Tread carefully before you hand over your hard earned. Yes it looks smart and has fancy gizmos and gadgets; but it may not have been put together with quality in mind.
HTH
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