Damp in Bailey caravans - an utter nightmare!
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There are no factual surveys as far as I am aware and judging the quality of a van by comments on forums such as this would be a pointless exercise. We were fortunate in having a sympathetic dealer when our Unicorn suffered severe damp and was returned to the factory twice (then subsequently had further damp problems after we sold it as I have reported beforej.
The workshop manager told us that despite the new Unicorn construction the correct application of mastic during assembly was vital and had been bad in our van. This occurred 6 years ago now yet we still here regular reports of damp in Bailey caravans.
So whilst it is impossible to say which manufacturers are worse the fact remains that there are far too many instances of damp in caravans caused by faulty design or bad workmanship. It would be nice to think that an independent body would do some research and name and shame but I can’t see that happening anytime soon.
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Thanks for that. I currently have a 2008 Senator Arizona, with no damp issues. I will next year be in the market for a new van, and a Bailey would be the front runner, given price, style and layout. I realise that Bailey sells a lot of vans, so reports of damp might be a bit scewed, but even so, all this talk of damp makes me nervous.
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Do not be nervous ,as if there was a major problem? as some would like others to expect ,then the water ingress warranty of up to 10yrs would have bankrupted the manufacturer with claims,
Even them from "over there"have problems ,but as the ownership in the UK is minuscule compared to UK built then the problem is far less publicised
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You will have an extensive damp warranty but if you get repeated problems I would sell the van. Make sure that services are carried out to maintain the warranty and also if you are buying second hand make sure the manufacturers warranty is transferable. Damp repairs can easily be £5000 plus with no guarantee of a complete cure.
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I was looking back over the Leisure Vehicle Survey the club carried out a few years ago. I discovered I had saved a copy in iBooks. Well somebody had to.😀
It clearly shows how popular Bailey caravans are, so all things being equal you would expect more complaints. Unfortunately the report did not name and shame by brand. However, the percentage of owners who had their caravan put out of use by a fault is truely shocking. By far the highest proportion of these on new vehicles is water ingress / leaks, closely followed by damp / mould.
These sort of figures on new vehicles are just not acceptable. Unfortunately they are likely to continue and any information on good and bad makes is anecdotal at best.☹️
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Well, that’s at minute of your life that you will never get back! Practical caravan in conjunction, with I think the camping and caravanning club publish an annual survey, which while by no means perfect does at least name, names.
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What a terrible situation to be in Mike. Unfortunately it seems that you are not the only owner with a leaky Bailey. I wish I had a pound for all the fellow caravanners I've met who have spoken about Bailey's build quality in less than glowing terms.
K
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Blimey Boff you've just frightened the life out me, I was looking forward to a new Pegasus Grande Messina next year it will probs be me last van cos being 74 wont be towing for much after the dreaded 80th, not so sure now, and Freddy, I had a 2006 Senater Oaklahoma and when I part exchanged it the dealer went straight to the two top front lockers and found damp in the left one, only knocked £500 off a price that I thought was good anyway so no probs, he said it was a bit of a weak spot on Senaters so forearmed and all that, good luck mate..
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With any "survey "and percentages it will depend on how many of each product replied to it
On the pitch opposite us just now is a 1year old Bailey Unicorn and when speaking to the owners this morning (during a break from the rain)they said it was their 7th Bailey and apart from the known problem with the water ingress via the front grab handles on their series one unicorn,they had not experianced any other "damp"problems on there other Bailey's and were very surprised that some? had experinced problems and they are members of the Bailey owners club,which as he says would have been the place for it to be discussed
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Our Feb 2017 Vigo started leaking at the roof strap last week, we're gutted. As we were on a site only 4 miles away from our dealer we went and told them, first thing said " did you buy from us " then you'll have to pay us £51 to investigate the problem which is refundable if Bailey accept a warranty claim. I couldn't even drop it off to save towing it 30 miles home only to go back 3 days later, no workshop personnel available on Sunday's, ok so why can't the salesmen book me in, we were the only ones there, can't they multi task. Once it's been investigated I have to then take it home again while they wait for the claim and parts then have to take it back again, what a waste of my time and diesel, maybe if they had to pay our expenses they might just up their game and produce better product.
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Then you need to contact Bailey as an engineering notice?was sent out last year to advise of the possible problem,which should have been checked at your last service,our dealer advised of it when our was serviced and they had some stock of the modified straps,you need a good dealer
ps they replaced ours
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Err no a % standardises the number of course the more items sold the more accurate the result is likely to be.
The good news from Halkinbush’s point of view is that 3 out of 4 Bailey customers are satisfied. Of course if you bought certain other brands and that might increase to 9 out of 10 and that’s still a shame for the 1 in 10 who are disappointed.
Anyone who has invested time, money and let’s face it emotion in buying a caravan that has turned out to be an unreliable lemon, you have my sincere sympathies. For you because you have a sample size of 1, you have a dissatisfaction rate of 100%. Something that certain apologists for, deniers of poor quality and the presence of inherent faults should realise. But they won’t
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in the C&CC survey, the three top brands in caravans (Adria, Eriba/Hymer, Knaus) have all been well respected for 'quality' for a good while in the MH world...
the CC graphic shows that 30% of MH owners surveyed had continental vans....it seems MH owners are taking note that quality/reliability can be found by looking beyond the 'obvious' home choices.
yet, despite this, only 3% of caravan owners surveyed bought from abroad.
perhaps there is more perceived 'difference' in layout etc within the caravan world or, as David says, a very poor network of continental caravan dealers...
certainly as Continental MH dealerships have opened, sales have continued to rise.
personally, I'm happy to have bought a fair distance from home as I've not needed the dealer in 22 months...(although I have an arrangement with a nearer dealer should I ever need them......not yet.)
id rather this than have a dealer on my doorstep and the van spending half its life there.
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