German rubbish ;-)
Yes, I'm being deliberately provocative, but I think there needs to be some counterbalance to those on here who seem to think that every 'van/MH that comes out of Germany is automatically excellent and everything that comes out of the UK is automatically rubbish.
So, on with the story. People down the road from us took delivery of a new Hymer 'van 3 months ago and have had nothing but grief ever since. They wish now they'd rejected it in the first few weeks, but they persisted trying to get things fixed and have come to regret it.
24 seperate faults so far, of which only 3 could be laid at the door of the dealer. And whilst the dealer has been reasonably good, Hymer have been disorganised and really haven't been that sympathetic. They are not happy campers 
And FWIW I took delivery of a new Bailey Unicorn last November and so far, apart from some brake squeal (easily fixed) it has been faultless.
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We've had a Bailey and a German van (not a Hymer) and both have been faultless. I'm sure all brands have problem vans coming out of the factory.
We have very specific needs in a caravan which are not met as well by the UK brands. The Bailey Pegasus 2 berth came close about 5 years ago but the interior wasn't to my taste. I've looked at a few 2 berth vans from various manufacturers since and concluded that we will stick with what we've got. It's showing no signs of age despite being 11 so no great hardship.
It's all down to personal preference. The UK manufacturers know their market and do a great job of meeting it. We may be unusual in not wanting what they produce
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All our Swift caravans were good, (minor adjustments on a couple) two new, one secondhand. Our two Autosleepers motorhomes have been good too. If you've got a faulty van whether it's UK built or not no doubt you'd feel differently but we were happy with ours. Not sure I'd ever buy new again but like JayEss, that's a personal preference.
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I don't think you are being provocative, maybe a little smug
We are on our third Hymer and our experience has been as follow:
No 1 2001 model bullet proof.
No 2 2007 model distinctively average build quality
No 3 2015, With exception of the washroom door outstandingly bullet proof. One of the soft close doors didn't close fully once.
One thing I have found Hymer outstanding at is spare part availability, not cheap but really fast service from Germany.
Trouble is with all expensive purchases, you tend to only buy one of them. So if a product has a 1 in a hundred lemon rate, and you are unfortunate enough to be landed with the lemon. Then for you it is a 100% failure. If your acquaintances are really getting no where then I suggest they get some legal advice, it should still be possible to reject. As ever the argument is between you and whoever sold it to you Not the manufacturer.
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Look at it another way Brian
The scenario you describe could be that the people down the road were just unlucky to buy the only defective Hymer van.
Whereas you were ever so fortunate to buy the only 2016 "Faultless" Bailey van...... Very well done
K
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Oh, sure. It's luck of the draw often, wherever you get a new van/MH from.
My point, though, was that the German makes are just as likely to a) produce a Friday afternoon lemon and b) provide bad customer service. Which some 'German make fan boys' that I've seen posting on here (not you Boff
) would not agree with ... 0 -
I agree that all makers can make Friday afternoon vans. I don't agree that you have the same probability of getting one no matter what make and which country of origin. At the end of the day you pays your money take your choice. But to the people who you mention that have been let down by Hymer, their argument and legal recourse is through the dealer not Hymer. I would give the same advice to anyone let down by Bailey.
PS anyone who says, I've got a 2016 Acme Wobble box SE and to be honest I just can't fault it. Just isn't trying hard enough.
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All the good bits in the bailey are probably German,also the chassis the wheels the tyre's the lights ect build quality will be british😜
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Ouch! Today was spent taking our 4 month old Lunar to have the water ingress assessed and deat with so not really in tune with your comments. We have had five vans from new and the only one that did not require a workshop visit to rectify issues was a Hobby bought in Germany.
I take no pleasure in mentioning this and would happily settle for a British van that was without faults.
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Well we are far from the naive people described in the OP's "those on here who seem to think that every 'van/MH that comes out of Germany is automatically excellent and everything that comes out of the UK is automatically rubbish."
However, having over the last sixteen years lived with two excellent Hymers, whilst friends have had a mixed bunch of UK built'vans/MHs including anything but excellent ones, its going to be a good product for us to join them.
Sadly, as we really want to buy from home builders, I have yet to look at any that tempt us, indeed they only endorse a wish to hang onto our 10 year old Hymer.
Of the reasons the dreadful payloads available is another "deal killer" point where come a change the UK will most likely lose out again.
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I have had an Eriba - part of the Hymer stable- for ten years. No leaks of course, but the tyres and battery have only lasted those ten years and now I need to change them. Should I complain?
I meet Dutch guys with Eribas that are 25 years old and they say "Oh, you have got a new one !"
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German rubbish my thoughts exactly.
The only reason you don't here of the problems is that they shelled out an hell of a lot of money for product that was adeemed to be perfect.l have heard of friends that have had problems Hymer caravans and Motor homes that have not admitted to. Same friends when had the british product couldn't wait to go on line and slag them off. l am not saying we shouldn't let our manufacturers know their down falls but lets have a level playing field an release the problems of foreign manufacturers
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Not true in our case but then we don't buy new. We let someone else find and sort the problems
Last year there wasn't a huge price difference between the German vans and their uk equivalents. Obviously there will be this year as the pound won't buy as much
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It is a great pity the Caravan Club never repeated the in detail customer surveys they did in the early 2000s into the "quality" and troubles owners had with the various brands, including some foreign ones.
Those surveys left no one in any doubt on this issue with vans of that era. One wonders why such a valuable service was never repeated in more recent times?
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FWIW ? Am I being a bit stupid
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For what it's worth
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Woodless no, Marine ply inner walls and floor. Balsa wood ply internal panels, well the ones I have drilled are Doesn't even claim to be class III insulation
You say, 100% woodless. I say plasticky interior. This is a personal opinion but I wouldn't buy a swift because I really don't like the interiors.
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Actually this thread is good knockabout stuff. But assuming that case quoted by the OP is accurate. The person involved is getting poor service and we all surely deserve decent quality products and good service when problems do occur.
One pointment, I must take issue with is the assertion that there were 24 seperate faults only 3 of, which can be laid at the door of dealer.
Sorry all 24 faults should be laid at the door of the Dealer. After all that's why we pay them the big bucks.
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Without proper survey data it is impossible to draw any conclusions about comparative quality but are we actually comparing like with like?
British manufacturers seem to have gone down the road of offering more and more fancy extras, most of which aren't needed, at the expense of skimping on the construction to save weight and cost. Three of the four caravans we have had suffered from damp, one eventually had to be written off the other was a Bailey Unicorn with a disastrous damp problem.
On the other hand, some continental vans have few extras but are very heavy, almost over-built. Some also have long A frames which may not suit British buyers.
We see lots of older caravans on Dutch run sites. A mixture of makes - Hobby (the most popular), Knaus, Fendt etc. Many have no leisure battery, no heating, no carpets and primitive water and waste systems. Seems almost like a different market.
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The older vans aren't really comparable with the ones you buy today though. You'd have to compare with an early 90s uk van.
Theres nothing primitive about my 11 year old German van - in fact it has features that weren't in many UK vans at the time. Full kitchen. Full washroom. No busily patterned upholstery though
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We see lots of older caravans on Dutch run sites. A mixture of makes - Hobby (the most popular), Knaus, Fendt etc. Many have no leisure battery, no heating, no carpets and primitive water and waste systems. Seems almost like a different market.
I think it is a different market. If the use of your caravan is in May-September in the South of France you simply don’t that much as you spend your whole time out of doors. We certainly do. So all the bells and whistles built into our van are largely not needed. Even in this country if you spend all your time on ehu sites why do need a battery unless you need a mover? On the other hand as I post this I am on a car park somewhere in Wales October no ehu, Oven on cooking tea. So I have different needs depending upon where I am and what I am doing.
Edit: Guess what of the other vans with us all British so I know and accept that me having a non UK van makes me in a fairly tiny minority. But then again I have never had a problem backing my own judgement , with my own money.
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hitch, i think you're right, it is a different market..
most of the continental users spend the majority of their waking hours outside (i know some on CT are 'always out'....) but im talking breakfast cooked outside, dinner (at anytime from 7-10pm) being cooked outside, visiting one of many local restaurants.
they also bring seperate cookers, fridges and freezers to put in a cooking/kitchen tent, again some do this in the uk but not in such numbers and over a longer daily period.
so, the manufacturers fit small basic kitchens, generally smaller lounges (as both these functions tend to be done outside) but fit large comfortable beds.
the Uk has a different focus... our weather often forces us to stay inside more....doing our cooking and sitting about watching the rain jas to ne made as pleasurable as possible....so we have roomy lounges to relax while we wait for the sun to come out...
so, i agree, different markets, different focus....
the continentals are 'tweaking' their models more these days, adding cookers and parallel seating options in lounges.
plenty for all of us to chew on....
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