Small crack on Elddis 550 front panel
Hi found a small 1/2 inch originating from the awning rail on the front panel, I am pleased to report my dealership contacted Elddis and although my caravan is 3year old Elddis agreed to pay. For the repair.
Thankyou to both the dealership and Elddis for your efforts Caravan now back home and looking good.
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That's very encouraging.
When we owned a new Affinity 550 in 2016 we had a lot of extremely upsetting problems with our caravan and only received very limited help under the warranty from Elddis. We would never buy another Elddis.
But it's good to hear that there could be signs of improvement. Good luck.
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We decided to return to caravanning after 40 years away. We have a 2015 elddis affinity which we bought in 2021 the van is beautiful especially the interior with all the bells and whistles. But after the first year we had a leak from the rear skylight. I removed the skylight and re sealed it. The reason for the leak was insufficient sealant on one of the corners, poor manufacturing and or quality control. The next season we had a leak on the front skylight and as with the rear one insufficient sealant applied during manufacture. The next season we had a leak from the curved window at the front of the van, on close inspection it was apparent that a crack in the front panel running from the roof joint down to the window was the culprit here. Having read on various forums that cracks in these panels is common fault I checked mine closely and found several more. I did some research on this and found that the panels are made from ABS, a material that is prone to stress cracking and degradation by uv (sun light). Surely these panels should be made from GRP, a much stronger and more durable material. These panels are an issue that the manufacturers are aware of as you can now buy replacement panels in GRP. I also discovered that most of the framing is untreated soft wood so any moisture ingress will start the rotting process, added to that when some thing is screwed through these panels to the frame behind clearance size drills have not been used and impose more stress on these panels.
My whole working life has been in engineering and since my retirement in 2017 I have been working with boats and I must say that the design, engineering practices and materials selection used in caravan construction is, in my view appalling and we are paying for it.
To sort out my van it would need the front panel removed and replaced with a GRP panel and all the decaying wood framing replaced with at least treated wood if not hard wood. I have seen people on here talking of being quoted £5000 + for this work, not money I wish to commit to this van. I could do the work myself as I have the skill set to do this but I would need an indoor space to do it which is something that I don’t have. So I will keep doing the patch up repairs until the van is beyond repair and then scrap it.
I would never buy another caravan so when this one goes our caravanning days will be over. Much like many others whose stories I have read. It’s great if you can afford a new van every few years and just past the potential problems onto someone else but as people get wise to the short shelf life of these things selling second hand caravans will only get more difficult and more people will stop caravanning.
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Sorry to hear of all the problems that you've faced with your Elddis. We had awful problems with our brand new 2016 Elddid Affinity 550. It leaked like a sieve. The more we investigated the problems the more horrified we became at the way it was built, as we had paid for it with our life savings. As you say, poor Manufacturing and Quality Control.
We considered giving up caravanning but then we found Knaus! We traded in our rubbish Elddis for a 2017 Knaus Starclass 480. The difference in build quality is staggering, we are so pleased with this caravan. It has now had 8 years use but still looks like new! We will keep it until we do eventually decide to stop caravanning.
So, as Knaus have proved, Caravans can still be made with pride. Good luck.
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@handsj - that echoes my experience of Knaus, as well. We bought our Starclass 695, new, at the end of 2018 - and like yours - nearly 7 years on, it still looks like new. Yes, we've had a few problems with it over the years - as I've reported on here from time to time - but it's all been with 3rd party kit as fitted by most manufacturers. The actual structure of the van has been fine and the build quality is light years ahead of anything I've seen coming from UK manufacturers. Nothing's dropped off or broken - and we're away in our van every month throughout the year - so it's had plenty of use.
There's one minor feature which I keep referring to. We had a problems (twice) with our previous Bailey with the shower tray leaking because the sealant bead between the shower walls and the tray had failed - and it's not a problem confined to Bailey according to comments on various forums. The second time (out of warranty) it turned out to be an expensive fix. Knaus, tackle the 'problem' from a different direction. There isn't even a seal between the shower walls and the tray. They simply use a shower tray moulded with a substantial upstand behind the shower walls which is never going to leak. Why on earth can't all manufacturers employ the same simple solution? Cost - I assume?
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@richardandros Perhaps it’s a European thing. Our Hymer also has the upstands on the shower tray, which in our MH is the whole of the bathroom floor. Much better than our Bailey and Abbey caravans where I had to reseal them.
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@SteveL - sounds about right - obviously there's a manufacturer somewhere in Europe that's supplying a quality product to quality European RV manufacturers. I'm just amazed it hasn't been replicated over here - such a simple solution to a common problem.
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I don't think Brit manufacturers are interested in identifying and solving problems. You get what you get, a la 1970s British car manufacturing. It seems to be a case of "that'll do, because it looks pretty".
Well for me, that won't do - I'll just go elsewhere for my caravan, even if it is to a foreign competitor.
Very sad, but true.
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