Disappointed but now Happy!
Within less than two years of ownership we experienced many faults with the Lunar Delta TS including the must have internal dampness resulting in Lunar also reluctantly agreeing to replace the two single bed mattresses. And of course, the time honoured floor delamination issues. I will not go into detail about the other faults but suffice to say that we lost total confidence in the van not knowing what may go wrong next. We decided to trade the Lunar in for a new van.
Being our Ruby Wedding Anniversary last October, I made another proposal to SWIMBO, who readily agreed that we should make the best of a poor do so we ordered a new Buccaneer Cruiser Wedding Anniversary present to ourselves!
I collected our new van last Thursday and that dealership again found dampness in the Lunar traded in but that would again be covered by warranty.
I don't lose sight of our "tin tents" being hand built and not by computers like the motor industry so I expect there may be a few niggles in the new van given time but sincerely hope nothing like our past experience. The difference in the build quality alone is instantly noticeable as would be expected.
Having commissioned the van at home everything seems fine and after the reloading task we will shortly be Cornwall bound.
Dealers often get bad some press and perhaps some deservedly so but we dealt with Wiltshire Caravans in Westbury, Wiltshire and I cannot fault their sincerity and attention to customer care detail. Their handover was the very best I have experienced in 36 years of caravan ownership and I cannot recommend James Hibbs and his team highly enough. I think they have got it right!
Comments
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You were very lucky BAZ. When our daughter had damp under warranty, Davan caravans would not take the van until the work had been carried out as they did not want to add to their inventory vans they could not sell immediately.
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Hi,to all.we have also had warranty problems,and bad dealers.the problem is the warranty and the dealers,and manufacturers have the upper hand.
The government should legislate for the buyer to withhold twenty percent of purchase price,until they are satisfied all repairs and problems have been rectified.
this will improve quality of build and the dealer will make sure before delivery, the vehicle is fit for purpose.
and we should be able to select local,reputable and approved workshops for warranty repairs.
. Happy travels.0 -
As attractive as your suggestion sounds W I don't think it will ever happen. We must all remember that we have a lot of protection under the Consumer Protection law which in many cases is better than any guarantee. We must not be afraid to use our rights and always remember your claim is against the dealer not the manufacturer. As an aside, I once had a problem with a dishwasher which was just out of guarantee: the very famous retailer's local store initially said 'out of guarantee sorry' , my response was 'yes but I'm talking about the CP law and what is a 'reasonable time' '. They phoned their head office and problem was sorted immediately.
OP enjoy your new caravan and may it remain damp free. Like the dog!
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Hi Comeyras
Have to agree with you but after 70 years of building caravans all manufacturers should be an awful lot better at it by now!
My avatar is our old bitch Rosie who we lost three years ago - a lovely dog in every way! We have two other Labs, who as I write are asleep on the caravan floor here in Cornwall.
Bazalab
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I bought an Elddis Xplore 304 in April 2013 from Glossop Caravans. At just over a year old, stepping into the shower, I stood on the plughole area. With a load crack, it split, all around the plughole. With it being just out of warranty, I had to use the “expectation of use” and “of merchantable quality” to get Elddis to repair it free of charge.
In April of last year, an area of soft floor was reported during the annual service. It was now 4 years old, but it had obviously been less when it started. A subsequent full assessment found that virtually the whole of the floor area was suffering from delamination.
This is a known problem, confirmed by Glossops, and numerous examples on forums with some caravans as little as two years old having the problem.
Despite my best efforts of quoting “expectation of use” and “of merchantable quality”, Elddis/Glossops would not do the repair free of charge, so I ended up paying nearly £500 for the repair.
This problems would seem to be the result of manufacturers striving to reduce the weight of their caravans by using materials that aren’t up to the job. This is all very well, but why should we have to pay when these materials fail?
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