The best built one you ever had.
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Thank you AD.
Yes it was a Bailey Banger, why a banger well if you were to hit it I'm pretty sure it would fall to bits.
There might well be some Bailey owners out there that have good vans be it MH or caravans but their quality of work is awful. It would appear that the new MH's are even worse than their first and second attempts.
Don't get me wrong we loved our MH but I am very grateful that I have a very handy and capable OH who can usually fix things, (although 99% damp he draw a line under) 6 years on and the new MH's are still recording the same problem in the same areas. So much for their advanced technology.
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"There might well be some Bailey owners out there that have good vans be it MH or caravans"
There certainly are! Sorry to have to go against the rather smug anti British made comments of some (not you, TG), but our Bailey Ranger, now approaching 10 years old suits us just fine and, touch wood, the only problems we've had in all that time were a toilet flush (repaired under warranty) and a fridge light bulb and cover replaced for just under a fiver. Hoping for a couple more weekends out before putting it away for its Jan/Feb break.
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best one we had abbey spectrum year 2000 brilliant caravan
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Glad to hear you have a good one M
I think its the new generation of vans with the new technology that's been causing the problems with the damp. It would appear that although the roof and walls are impervious to water ingress, the floor is still wood and they haven't managed to find a way to seal the two together, that is 100% water proof. Certainly in the MH's the problem is still very common. The sealant in some places is none existent and in others just poorly applied, so that doesn't help. The 'pride' in the workforce is sadly lacking.
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Point scoring yet again, David?
If you read my post carefully (the way you so often suggest others should do), you'll spot that it was the "comments" I referred to as "smug". What folk choose to buy and why is entirely up to them of course!
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You might well be right there, TG. And it might also be reflected in our most recent experiences of dealing with one of Bailey's leading distributors (from whom we bought the van new in 2009). 2 consecutive annual services with jobs clearly left incomplete meant that we switched to a local independent dealer last year and got a much better job done at a lower price.
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Informative post David, I'm sure it will be of use to many contemplating buying a caravan.
BTW - The best caravan I ever owned was a late 1980's Avondale Mayfly.----- Never had a bit of trouble during the 5 years we extensively used it.
K
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I agree, TG.
Whilst these new methods are using water impervious 'closed cell' insulation panels not all have been using this for the flooring.
Swift had had Smart but it wasn't until Smart HT (I think) that this encompassed the floor.
...and floors can become wet from the bottom up as well as from poor sealing above...
our two Swifts both had poorly treated timbers with direct exposure to wheel thrown road water.....just a matter or time before it rotted...
many now have very strong composite floors with GRP outer (and inner on some) skins to keep things clean and dry.
given today's materials, it can't be that difficult, can it?
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Bit of a choice here Castleton Rovana HL 1991 had to go as we could not register it over here in the Lot, Adria 642 UP twin axle very well built just a bit to big now so 9 year old Hobby 495 UL also well built and no issues. Enjoy your new Hobby AD. Had older Bailey's in the past.
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Probaby the best built caravans we have owned were Carlights. Fantastic quality. They were not immune from the dreaded damp and of course were traditionally built However, they were capable of being dismantled and repaired by a competent carpenter, which modern offerings are not. In theory, if looked after, they would last forever. The things is, that nowadays, we seem to want to have something new every couple of years, so the longevity aspect does not seem to be so important. Hence modern stuff being built down to a price I guess.
We have had a couple of 'modern' 'vans since and currently own a Coachman Vision 520, which we have had from new in 2015. It has not had any issues and does seem pretty well screwed together. I cannot see us changing it to be honest.
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To draw a parallel with cars, back in the 60s I had an Austin A35 for a while. It proved to be faultless. But then again, it was so basic that there was next to nothing that could go wrong, unlike the EBD computer failure which caused havoc with the braking on my more contemporary model. Having owned six caravans, starting in the 70s I can happily report that the first, had a bucket and chuck it toilet which never went wrong, whereas we’ve had three faults with electric flushes in newer vans.
So why change anything? That first car got me from A to B, that first caravan saved me trevking to campsite ablutions in the rain - what more can a soul ask for?
Well, I guess that I rather enjoy today’s voice activated music changer, with rain sensitive wipers and a multitude of other conveniences that modern cars offer, just as I prefer the timed and thermostatically controlled heating in today’s van. But that old, fume emitting gas heater in our first van, undeniably heated it up. So, like our cars, we swap vans for todays conveniences, which are many. There are a fortunate few veterans who’ve never suffered any form of damp over the decades. Which I can only congratulate them on. And I know that the remote alarm setting on our key fob, could go wrong. But I’ll take that risk when the alternative is no alarm at all, as was the standard fit on our first van.
Though maybe it shouldn’t be so, there’s one inescapable truth with any form of electrical or mechanical device. It’s very useful to have a sufficiently practical bent, to be able to make minor repairs yourself, and to be able to diagnose major problems too. A travelling toolkit still can’t be considered a luxury in recreational vehicles, though cars have developed to a point where most repairs do require professional attention. We’re a long way from that nirvana with our vans today.
Our best van? Today’s high tech Swift.
The worst? That 1972 sieve.
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That’s good news. We still have our Cotswold Windrush, no fancy computer things to go wrong. Autosleeper Gatcombe is withstanding all we have thrown at it as well. Roll on.........😁
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Interesting to read that a couple of other posters comment that their Piper 1400s were totally reliable. I had one in the early 80s and I also upgraded it as others did. It was 100% reliable, albeit it was a basic caravan, and I sold it for more than I paid for it! Before that I had a Sprite 400 it too was totally reliable. I now have a 2009 Bailey Ranger Series 6 GT60 520/4. Bought second hand in 2012 we have done at least 15000 miles, mainly on long continental trips. I have had only a few minor problems. I have had are a warped cupboard door (the long one above the front window). I have not been able to straighten it but magnetic catches now do the job. Where the rubber front window seals join there was a little rain coming in when driving in heavy rain; easily sorted. New seal required round the door to the under bed storage. All these simple diy jobs. Once had a Fleetwood Colchester, it was a lovely little caravan but it developed massive damp problems around the front windows coming in from the roof join above the windows; discovered too late to make it worthwhile repairing so lived with it for a couple of years before disposing of the caravan. Like some others I have never bought a new caravan.
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We have had a Piper as our first caravan. It was reliable but there again there was very little to go wrong. Probably the best built caravan was a Coachman Mirage which we kept for 10 years without any real problem except for an appetite for water pumps.
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