Baileys V Lunar ?
Comments
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It alright saying that foreign vans are the best, less troublesome than British vans, less prone to leaks, which may or may not be true. However if you don't have a dealer in the area you live you are pretty much stuck for servicing and should you require
it warrenty work. As it is we have a 180 mile round trip to get our van seen at the dealer and that's a UK van, if we were to go to a continental van it could be much further than that, not really practical in some cases.I agree with you over the distance thing but look at all the replies to this forum. People are saying it's a lottery on whether you get a good van or a Friday van, saying to choose the dealer wisely as they can be good or bad. It shouldn't be this
way. It should be a great experience in every case!Now wouldn't that we a nice world. If they do that then sales would be down, folk would not keep getting rid in the hope of getting a better van. Oh dear am I a cynic or what.
I agree with you by the way.
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I have met several people now on ferries or waiting to go who were on their way to Germany or Belgium to get their vans seviced. I dont like going 20 miles so wouldnt consider it but it says something pretty bad about the UK industry when there are folks
who do.We use a local NCC Approved company. They come to us and are well priced! Other plus's are that they rely on their reputation so you get good service etc, also the warranty is uneffected (in most cases but check with Manufacture 1st), so no going back to
dealers, (apart from warranty of course).0 -
i guess it might be possible to get the service done as part of a trip somewhere...you know, call in on the way, drop the van, go for lunch etc...rather than the traditional out and back...
i know some with continental vans who arrange to visit the overseas factory for service/warranty as part of a tour, staying on 'site' while work is completed.
being a great distance from the dealer can be a pain, perhaps if we engage more with them and try and get them to play ball, we can all benefit.....however, in some cases i can see this will be difficult, especially if the dealer/supplier wont take your
calls..
even if a dealer is on your doorstep, ots still a pain if theyre hopeless....
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The advantage ypu have for servicing with British caravans is that as NCC members you can have them serviced by any NCC workshop and maintain the caravan. Foreign caravan manufacturers are usually not members and may not allow the ability to chose your
workshop and their dealers are far thinner on the ground. If you think the foreign caravans are better and this justifies the inconveniance on servicing then they are the caravans for you.0 -
The advantage ypu have for servicing with British caravans is that as NCC members you can have them serviced by any NCC workshop and maintain the caravan. Foreign caravan manufacturers are usually not members and may not allow the ability to chose your
workshop and their dealers are far thinner on the ground. If you think the foreign caravans are better and this justifies the inconveniance on servicing then they are the caravans for you.Fact. This is wrong. Hymer and Adora do allow NCC approved servicing. I've checked with both. I'm not sure on the other foreign manufacturers.
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I'm agreed with you on the price thing, with the £ dropping against the Euro the price will only go one way. There was no Hymer dealer near us so we travelled to Travelworld in Telford. They're not your usual caravan dealer. Very good IMOThey must be for you to consider a 300+ mile round trip for servicing.
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I'm agreed with you on the price thing, with the £ dropping against the Euro the price will only go one way. There was no Hymer dealer near us so we travelled to Travelworld in Telford. They're not your usual caravan dealer. Very good IMOThey must be for you to consider a 300+ mile round trip for servicing.
Travelworld are primarily MH dealers....
they have a very strong link with Hymer, selling the Hymer brand itself and (IIRC) Carado (a sub brand), the Hymer Car Panel Van Conversion range and are also the UK sole distributor for Neismann+Bischoff (Hymer Group top brand).
i have no direct experience of them, other than conversations with their sales team when researching our last purchase, but they do deal with high end ranges and probably with customers who know exactly what they want and wont accept a second rate product or service....
the Hymer brand has a strong reputation for a quality product and service, perhaps TW carry that ethos through well?
i hope they look after you
ill be doing a 200 ml round trip to Southdowns in early Jan for my annual damp check, its a long way (i could have gone to Chelstons I guess, but they've been a bit backward in coming forward in some ways) but SD have looked after me well, so far, so i am happy to keep the relationship going.....its a two way thing, isnt it?
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I'm agreed with you on the price thing, with the £ dropping against the Euro the price will only go one way. There was no Hymer dealer near us so we travelled to Travelworld in Telford. They're not your usual caravan dealer. Very good IMOThey must be for you to consider a 300+ mile round trip for servicing.
It can be serviced by our local NCC approved independent without warranty implications! They come to us. What could be better. Even if I did need to do a 300 mile return trip for servicing it'd be worth it rather than hand over my hard earned on more Bailey
tat.0 -
A new member from Germany on the Caravan talk forum has just bought a Swift, having previously owned a long list of european ones.
I hope he does not live to regret it
As the Swift in question is a 1993 vintage ( surprised that xtrailman forgot to mention this). I do think that it is safe to assume that most of the teething problems have been mainly sorted out.
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I would of thought an older caravan would be more prone to failures, not to mention damp.
The fact that he chose a old caravan made in UK rather than a German one speaks volumes to me.
If you're happy to with your UK van that's fine. My personal experience has been awful, so much so that I have decided to go a different route. Some people buy "classic" Allegros an Marinas for kitschness. Strikes me that you'd still be queing at the Leyland
dealer, if they still existed, for a brand new Austin Princess. Best of luck with that.0 -
I would of thought an older caravan would be more prone to failures, not to mention damp.
The fact that he chose a old caravan made in UK rather than a German one
speaks volumes to me.Not sure if you are aware, but Specsavers also do hearing aids these days.
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I would of thought an older caravan would be more prone to failures, not to mention damp.
The fact that he chose a old caravan made in UK rather than a German one speaks volumes to me.
If you're happy to with your UK van that's fine. My personal experience has been awful, so much so that I have decided to go a different route. Some people buy "classic" Allegros an Marinas for kitschness. Strikes me that you'd still be queing at the Leyland dealer, if they still existed, for a brand new Austin Princess. Best of luck with that.
Write your comments here...
Calm down, you may well be correct but not everyone is going to agree with you. ;-)
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I have only had four caravans. First one I had for nearly 12 years until about 1992 by which time it was 18 year old. It was fairly basic and little went wrong with it. When it was probably 10 years old a timber rail that supported the made up bed section
between the front seats failed. Sorted whilst on site. A local builder that I asked where to get supplies from who was working in a nearby village said 'give ne 10 minutes and I will sort you out'. He then ran me to his home a few miles away and sorted some
screws (local hardware shop had B-all). Then he took me to a coffin makers who supplied some matching oak rail of the right section. The farmer whose cl I was on lent me a brace and bit as I had the rest of the gear. Neither the builder nor the coffin maker
would except payment although the builder did let me buy him a pint to wash his lunchtime butties down. I did have some water ingress when the seal failed on an awning rail during the heaviest downpour I have ever seen when the van was 15 years old. Soon repaired
and as it made itself apparent quickly (cathing water in a bucket) no real damage and a fairly simple job to remove and reseal. Second van similar ages and not any problems. 2012 I bought a Swift. Water ingress at 2 years old and again when traded in 7 years
old. Up until 20 years ago I never came across anybody that I new having water ingress problems other than my catastrophic but easily sorted failure.0 -
I would of thought an older caravan would be more prone to failures, not to mention damp.
The fact that he chose a old caravan made in UK rather than a German one
speaks volumes to me.Not sure if you are aware, but Specsavers also do hearing aids these days.
Write your comments here...Yes i hear what you are saying.
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A new member from Germany on the Caravan talk forum has just bought a Swift, having previously owned a long list of european ones.
I hope he does not live to regret it
As the Swift in question is a 1993 vintage ( surprised that xtrailman forgot to mention this). I do think that it is safe to assume that most of the teething problems have been mainly sorted out.
Write your comments here...What you also forgot to mention was he also wrote this, i quote.
"Since i was 18 i am on the road with various (german) caravans like Tabbert, TEC, Qek and so on."
But has now bought a SWIFT.
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I would of thought an older caravan would be more prone to failures, not to mention damp.
The fact that he chose a old caravan made in UK rather than a German one speaks volumes to me.
If you're happy to with your UK van that's fine. My personal experience has been awful, so much so that I have decided to go a different route. Some people buy "classic" Allegros an Marinas for kitschness. Strikes me that you'd still be queing at the Leyland dealer, if they still existed, for a brand new Austin Princess. Best of luck with that.
...Sorry you have me confused with someone else.
I buy mainly Japanese cars, i've had one BL car, and one Audi, but haven't bought another.
Really whats BL got to do with buying a British caravan?
It's common knowledge that the UK builds some of the best cars in the world, the reputation of the Nissan plant at Sunderland is something to be pround of IMO.
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The origin of a caravan has little bearing on wether it is right for you. Some foreign caravans are usually far better built than UK ones but the layout and general design may not suit you. Basically you have to decide what is right for you and live with
it but having seen some of the foreign offerings other than Hobby and Knaus I think they look as dubious as their British counterparts problem models.0
