Damp in Bailey caravans - an utter nightmare!
I am fed up to the back teeth with damp Bailey Unicorns and awful dealer service!
In February we purchased a used Unicorn Valencia 1 from a well known dealer in Derbyshire. The sales person promised it definitely had no damp and would be rechecked as part of the PDI. We took it away happy with a new damp report showing a dry floor throughout and a few days later used it on a trip. While away I looked under the van and was shocked to see extensive rot over the rear quarter of the caravan to the extent I could push my finger through the floor. I immediate phoned the dealer who aggressively denied it was damp and said I was wrong. They reluctantly agreed to examine it and their faces dropped when the body shop technician found readings of 80% over large areas. We were offered a refund or replacement so chose a newer Unicorn Valencia 2. While we were looking at the vans on the forecourt we found that every Bailey had areas of damp rotten floor, but the one we chose was checked by the technician while we watched and we accepted it.
The first trip away in the newer Valencia we found a faulty hitch head and towing electrics that were rusted through in the 13 pin plug, so after much arguing we got the owner of the dealership to have it PDId again. This was 2 week ago and they found extensive damp under the fixed bed. Having heard about shower problems I asked them to check if it was coming from the shower, but they refused until this week when my insistence made them look, and low and behold it is damp there too. It seems this can also needs extensive repair, and it has taken effort and extreme persistence to get the dealer to investigate thoroughly. The owner has the attitude that he knows best and will not back away from that attitude even when proven wrong. He is currently refusing to ask Bailey about known issues and fixes they may have devised even though he is an approved Bailey dealer.
I cannot tell you how fed up we are!
Comments
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I think you need to take it back, get your money back, as much as you can, and then go to somewhere else. But, and it's a big but..........before you decide on your next van, get inside it, have a look around every single nook and cranny, every fixture and fitting, inside and out. Take your own damp meter, or someone who knows what they should be looking for with a used van, and don't consider parting with any money until you are fully satisfied that absolutely everything is how it should be for the age of the van.
On a used van, you can expect a few things not to be right, some wear and tear, but only you can decide how much wear and tear you are going to put up with, and start the bargaining and list of repairs required from there, not after you have driven off with your purchase.
We have only ever bought two vans, and one MH. We virtually took them apart, tested everything, before we handed cash over. We still have one of the caravans, and the Motorhome. You need to walk away from anything that isn't right, and never ever trust a salesperson. A hard lesson I am afraid, and I hope that things do come right for you. The Club's legal department might be able to help. They get plenty of practice sadly.
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If doesn’t matter whether the dealer contacts Bailey or not as it is the dealer who is responsible. Consider rejecting the van and threaten court action if they won’t agree.
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I recently traded in my bailey cartegena 2015 and was absolutely gutted to find the dealer found damp in the front under the seats and also the back strap had snapped,the 3year warranty did not stand for anything as I was the second owner and missed the final service this was a very expensive lesson to learn as it cost me a further 3100 on top of the 7987 for the new swift I own will not miss a service with this one
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I have reported before on this forum about the damp on our Bailey Valencia which was discovered after about two years and twice went back to the factory for repair. The sting in the tail was that when we traded it in for a motorhome it was resold by a different branch of the dealers and the unsuspecting buyer then discovered damp BUT the dealer (a) failed to advise the buyer to transfer the Bailey damp warranty which was still registered in my name and (b) provided a warranty limited to £1000 against a repair bill of £5000. Caveat Emptor.
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This should put someone off buying a used van even if its less than a year old, if you read the small print the manufactures original warranty is limited.
So you may pay almost as much as a new van but if you have any damp issues and lots do it may not cover anything like the new van warranty.
Do they want to sell used caravans ? customers are not made aware of the limited warranty, its typical of an industry that is not very interested in customer satisfaction.
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I am amazed just how many people buy used LVs of any make and not check that the warranty has been or is being transfered to them,it also shows how poor any handover is (if from a dealer) that one of the most important documents(imho)is not forefront,as most damp ingress warranties are at least for 6yrs
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What can I say other than you have my sympathy, we had a Bailey MH all ok for 2 years, then in the 3rd year we discovered damp. It was repaired by the dealer under the Bailey warranty, then at the next 4th year service it was again damp, this time on both sides of the van behind the wheel arches. The 5th year it was declared to be damp free, however earlier this year we once again found damp in the floor at the rear of the van. The dealer felt that this time it was not ingress but condensation but we decided we'd had enough. We traded it in for a caravan (not Bailey) only time will tell if this caravan is free from damp.
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We got rid of a BakleB Unicorn when it was just over a year old. It went back to Bailey because of a broken axle and while they had it they found damp so serious that they had to strip the rear end to repair it. We traded it in for a Coachman as soon as it came back.
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Not limited to the Unicorn - it's all Baileys. Our Bailey Pursuit, bought brand new in 2014 as our retirement gift to ourselves, started leaking at just two years old. Unbelievably shoddy build quality too. Had various leak repairs done over the next two years, toilet locker resealed, new roof strap, side skirts, floor covering, but every service and every outing seemed to uncover new faults and a new source of leaking.
I got fed up towing it back and forth for leak repairs and I'd swear it spent longer in the workshop than on sites.
Two years old, what a disgrace! We've had 10 year old caravans in the past, bone dry. It's quite clear to me that Bailey did no proper long-term product testing of their Alu Tech rubbish and instead we customers are doing it for them... at our loss.
In the end we traded in the heap of junk and gave up caravanning.
Such a disappointment. I would NEVER consider another Bailey, that's for sure.0 -
Unfortunately we read reports of damp in just about every make on this forum. The number of reports is proportional to the number of caravans sold of that make, hence, Bailey gets the biggest negative press.
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Just look round any site and see what ratio Bailey are to other makes,and if the "problems" were as bad as some say,why are they still the most popular LVs around as Hitchglitch says with the amount being sold ( and they are not the cheapest) there must be an large amount (we are on our second)that minimal (as with all makes) faults, even the now American owned Hymer group
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pretty well all the (non branded) forums I've read have Bailey well to the fore in customers' complaints .....the key one (and most worrying) is the number of leaking vans there are....
a quick regular glance at the CT 'caravan' section will show thread after thread regarding poor Bailey quality...and, again, damp belng the top issue.
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But as has been stated with the thousands of Bailey LVs made each year things need to be put in perspective and it is probably the same posters on the "other"? forums venting their feelings as is the british way a few always complain rather than the other normally by far bigger majority who are satisfied,
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after reading this do I need to worry I've just purchased a new bailey 2018 caravan Will it be damp ?
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I am not defending any one but things need to be taken in perspective ,Why do try to knock the sites in the uk when you may stay at one /or two per year,when you do not have any real knowledge of what is available
Ps we are on our second and when as posted if they were really as bad as a few posters say, why are they outnumbering all other makes when noting site occupancy,
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Probably, but would be so low on the % scale that wouldn't be a concern. just make sure the service is done on time and habitation check carried out yearly so the warranty is still valid. you could always get a mobile service person to check just for damp every 6 months for your own piece of mind and probably not to expensive either. Don't worry and just enjoy the van and your trips away.
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it's perfectly possible to source and install European appliances (as you are obviously referring to Truma, Thetford, Dometic etc) correctly and get few issues....
it's also perfectly possible to completely ignore the manufacturers recommendations and fit them as one pleases....
but poor installation of reliable components as above has nothing to do with the regular reports of Bailey vans leaking....
this particular 'feature' is widely documented on many forums....
as AD says, you seem to have to head off every critical post...I see it keeps you very busy...
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All our over there trips were during peak times when our children were younger sites?countries Holland,France, Germany as we only had 2 wks in the summer and at other times since we have retired we now are "taken"by tour companies,coach or train as i do not fly
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What bothers me as much as the fact that Baileys leak but the way that dealers handle things. We agreed to buy a new Adria from stewart longton and were part exchanging our Bailey against it. I told them it had damp but was happy with the offer made. When we got there, 170 miles away, they said it was worse than I'd said and halved there offer. Based on their comments that it wasn't safe to tow we had very little option but to go ahead. Surprise surprise it was on tgeir website listed for sale, with damp for 4 times what we'd been given. Absolute blatent liars.
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With very few posters on here I just put forward my experiances with a product and observations on the numerous cc sites we use when spending between 150 to 200 nights away, and here at Seacroft there are 7 Bailey caravans in our area of 15 LVs of which 3 are motor caravans
Ps two of which are way off the 6mtr pitch markers
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