Problems with new Coachman VIP
After 6 years ownership of Bailey Unicorn Madrid ownership finally traded for a Coachman VIP after continuous problems with paint delamination and water ingress on the Bailey. "Out of the frying pan into the fire" - the Coachman has been worse than the Bailey with problems of water ingress into the front locker amongst many other issues. Dealer has tried several times to fix issues and we now hope that a new enclosure door and seal has fixed the problem but concern remains that water will still enter the front enclosure especially when towing in the rain. Coachman don't want to know about the issue (have written to MD and had no reply) but which I believe is fundamentally a very poor design and wrong to expect that the dealer will be able to sort it out. Am I the only one to experience continuous problems with a new Coachman?
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I think every van we ever owned had holes in the front locker floor. It's ventilation in case of a gas leak. The gas, being heavier than air, will drop out through the holes. Gas out = water in, a fact of life (or caravan ownership) I'd say.
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I am lucky, my front locker stays dry all the time, even if I don't close it properly and just let it rest in the closed position. If one make of caravan can do it then all caravans should be able to stay dry. It's pathetic quality control in the early stages when designing a new shape.
I don't want the contents of my front locker continually getting wet. Not surprising that I have no enthusiasm to go out and spend a lot of money on a new caravan. It is sheer incompetence.
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You wouldn’t want any water to get in your front locker as the caravan floor extends into that space. If the base of the locker becomes wet, any damp will spread through to the internal living area.
The drilled drop holes should have splash shields fitted under the van, to stop standing water from the road splashing up into the gas locker space
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"You wouldn’t want any water to get in your front locker as the caravan floor extends into that space".
That seems with most designs a high risk build strategy for a caravan of any make to extend the van's floor into the front locker.
It's simply asking for problems in those cases where they feature a front facing opening door that then is required to completely seal against slamming forces when towing and probably water rundown when pitched.
All our vans have treated it as an “add-on” compartment forward of the van floor, with its base having been either a placed in GRP moulding or sheet of alloy checker plate. They have had rudimentary lid edge seals and gutters but not of a design offering any seriously intended chance of completely sealing out water, nor placing the van's integrity at risk from any water getting in there.
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The front locker on our Hobby caravan does let in water when towing in rain. However, it is not designed to be watertight. The main body of the van is completely self contained and no water enters the van itself.
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What caravans are you referring to ocsid?
Buccaneer/Elddis - the base of the front locker is the caravan floor, albeit from experience the seal around the hatch is quite substantial and I’ve never seen it get wet in there. Even leaving the hatch open when packing/unpacking in wet weather, no rain enters the locker as the hatch in the upright position forms a good shelter with any water flowing around the outside of the seal along the front panel mounding.
Bailey - its well know the side lockers if not sealed properly results in a damp floor
Swift - no idea, the last one we owned was a 2007 and the base of the locker was the caravan floor, later models may be different
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"What caravans are you referring to ocsid?"
Our current 2008 Hymer Nova 546"S" and our previous 2002 Hymer Nova 454 both terminated the van's floor at an internal front bulkhead and have sheet alloy checker plate floors in the front lockers.
Our previous 1991 Castleton had the same internal bulkhead except the locker floor was just moulded GRP.
Plus our 1980s Gobur had a totally freestanding gas locker in front of the bodywork.
So in all cases the van's floor was not part of the front locker, I just see doing that as simply asking for problems.
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A British built to a price practice then. Little wonder Hymer caravans are so expensive, nice vans and built to last.
Of all the vans we’ve owned, the Buccaneers have been the best for a dry front locker (all the Elddis bashers out there, they can sometimes do something right
) The panel at the front is considerable larger than the hole it covers and there’s a great big fat seal in place.0 -
Bailey - its well know the side lockers if not sealed properly results in a damp floor
True, just traded my Unicorn S2 for a new Clubman SI...first thing the dealer looked at was inside the front side lockers for damp...says its a known issue. Fortunately there was none but would have been covered by existing warranty...
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My 2014 460 VIP has no water ingress in the front locker Which Coachman is yours l believe 2017 onwards are a different front locker design. My previous van 2015 Clubman SB front locker was always wet after towing in the rain but like others said it had vents in the floor plus l don't think it was connected to the floor may be wrong and would stand to be corrected. Just been to the dealers to have some minor warranty work done while l was their had a look at the new Coachman VIP, looks a totally different design from mine. plus 25 K for the 460 VIP, oops ! that's pricey
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Your front locker problem isnt a problem. They simply are not designed to be watertight. Front lockers with gas bottle storage needs gas drop holes as in your Coachman. Not designed to be watertight as gaps are all around the perimeter to facilitate ventilation. They will and do dry out as fast as they get wet. No cause for alarm.
Tj
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i cant believe that external lockers 'arent meant to be waterproof'...
our gas locker (which can hold 2x13kg bottles) has a huge 'gas drop' slot in the bottom but is totally waterproof.
the locker door (like all other locker doors on the van) have been cut from the sidewall so are of the same construction (not the flimsy efforts Ive seen on many a budget van), fit perfectly, are double sealed against the weather and have proper locks.
there is no way this locker is designed to be damp and 'will dry out'.
everything about the construction is designed to keep the locker warm and dry, just like every other locker......
if it was running with water they could have it back.
perhaps caravans are different in that just about every post on here in the caravan section is about damp.....perhaps its the norm?
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You don't seem to be familiar with the concept of gas lockers in caravans, BB. They are generally at the sharp end built on the A frame and very different from the sealed lockers you are used to.
Way back when, caravans didn't have front lockers and the gas bottles were perched out on the A frame exposed to the elements (see my avatar - no nose cone). The modern day front gas locker is little more than a cover over said A frame.
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well, im glad i dont have one of they're full of water....just like some of the other parts of said caravans judging by the threads in this section.
seems like half the caravan owners on here dont either, TW, as they expect them to be dry...and so would i.
what's the point of building a 'locker' including a (so called) 'seal' and then suggesting its perfectly fine for it to be full of water, bizarre.
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You're obviously not meant to be a Caravanner, BB.
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TW, you're probably (obviously
) right....
though, no doubt JVB will tell you (and everyone else) that im a 'motor' caravanner
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JV, will you never learn not to bite?
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I think you might have hit the wire, JV.
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not nice, but in the interest of forum decorum, i'll pass on this one
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Been caravanning 30 years, 6 vans in total a mixture of swift, abbey, elddis and presently coachman vip. Bought new in 2015 and has been the worst van I have owned. Currently back at the factory for damp,repairs and three other major problems. Plus I’ve fixed numerous minor bits and bobs as you do. Let’s see how the factory do with the fix but I have to say I’ve been waiting months for it to go in and communication has been dire. Am I confident it will come back 100% for the first time since I’ve owned it. No.
heard the horror stories about bailey, swift, lunar and Elddis and went for coachman for better build quality.!,!
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Really? Under My oven in the van there is a hole for gas drop, that’s water tight I have a hole in the floor under one of the beds which is water tight so I would expect the gas locker to be water tight and if mine wasn’t I’d be getting it sorted the floor will rot
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If it's water tight, it's also gas tight, Kev, and that's no good for a gas locker.
I've never had a van where the front locker floor is part of the main floor of the caravan.
PS. We didn't meet. When you said West Cornwall I thought we had but Treamble is more Mid-Cornwall.
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