Caravan back panel cracked
We have an Elddis Affinity 540 caravan which we purchased new in August 2013 four and a half years ago..it was voted caravan of the year??!!!... as it was our first caravan it seemed like a good bet??!!
Having had the back panel repaired both sides at the base under warranty in March 2015 it has now cracked along top edge badly with several small cracks down edge of awning channel..
Elddis have informed us they will not help as warranty has now run out...we studiply thought the ingress warranty would cover us... NO.. South Coast Caravans where we purchased it from are also not willing to help
has anyone else had these problems with the Elddis affinity
has any one got any suggestions of the way forward please?
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Have you accidentally reversed the caravan into a tree , in which case you could claim on insurance?
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Did it get hit by a falling branch during that gale next week ?
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Sam and Jo,
There is a thread on this under the 'Caravan" topic heading on page 2 entitled 'Elddis Group Cracked Panels'.
I have posted our experience on page 3 of the thread.
We had our first crack repaired under warranty but Elddis refused to repair a second crack.
My wife was keen to appoint an independent arbitrator. Elddis will pay for the costs of arbitration, subject to the owner paying a £250 deposit. If the arbitrator finds in favour of the customer, then the deposit will be returned.
Due to various circumstances we had the crack repaired at our own expense but you may wish to try the arbitrator route?
It is clear from experts I have spoken to most of these cracks are caused from the panel fitting in the workshop which then manifest themselves at a later date after mileage on the road.
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Swift Group have had similar problems at the top corners of some rear panels of similar vintage, which have been rectified by applying acceptable looking ABS 'patches' over the affected area
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My vote would be the sale of goods act as Elddis had a big problem with cracking panels of this year you just need to google to find out more. This fault would come under the inherent fault, there at time of manufacture but manifest itself later, in your case 4 years. It is probably due to the corners being put on too tight against the wooden frame underneath, this was the problem with the Elddis panels.
With the sale of goods act you have up to 6 years to claim against the dealer (not manufacturers).
Did you pay for some of the van on a credit card, deposit may be or take a loan out to purchase. If either of these you can get help from the companys as they also have a responsibility.
Good luck with it but I would not be letting the dealer get away with doing nothin for you, let us know what happens
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This is correct, but if you do not keep up your services in time, Swift do not accept this known problem under warranty and will not pay for the labour cost of rectification. However they will out of the goodness of their hearts provide the parts as a goodwill gesture. Not to bad if it is just the additional caps involved, which are used to prevent cracks.
If the panel had already cracked, spread and allowed water ingress, the bill would be considerable.
The service issue should not be a consideration on a known problem, especially as no re-call was ever issued to owners.
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Hi All
I have an Avante 540 purchased 2013 and the back panel replaced in 2015 for cracks under warranty. Now have cracks on top of back panel and this is clearly a fault in manufacture. I am looking into legal action if anyone wants to join let me know. charlesnicklin@gmail.com
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Sam and Jo. We have the same dealer as you, and the same cracked panel issue which appeared around a month ago on 2014 Elddis xplore 304. Maybe we would be wise to join forces and help each other? Indeed, a junior engineer at this same dealer acknowledged that this is a manufacturing fault. Therefore the sale of goods act 1979 ought to apply (up to 6 yrs from purchase date).
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