Caravan purchase minefield
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"Choose the caravan you want, but buy it off a good dealer"
The problem comes when the dealer is good (Question. How does one find a good dealer?) but the services "engineers" are not up to scratch.
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We have a 2015 Swift Challenger Se 480 which we bought from a local dealer when it was just one year old, and barely used (some fittings, such as grill pan & microwave plate still in the packaging). The first owner apparently downsized and regretted it, so traded the van in. Anyway, we’ve had a few issues, but only one with the structure of the van- one of the covers on the fridge vents was loose and needed replacing because the clip securing to the van wall had broken. The other issues were all with fitted equipment- microwave was shorting, and making a buzzing noise, so replaced, the grill element on the Thetford Aspire 2 cooker came loose, and was fixed back in place, and the Thetford toilet stopped working, so the pump was replaced. With the exception of the toilet pump, everything else was resolved under warranty, free of charge. All in all we’ve been very happy with our caravan.
Our first caravan was an Abbey GTS. We had no particular problems with that, apart from those we inflicted on it, but there was some damp detected around the wet locker on the nearside, and around one of the front windows, plus the odd screw that kept coming loose, but all the damp was rectified under warranty by our dealer.
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"There may be caravans that are perfect. There may be caravans that owners happily fix faults on and say nothing. There may be caravan owners who accept poor quality as they always have done. In our ownership of a flagship caravan, we have had over 40 faults so far. What will we find on our next adventure? The tool kit, Fred Carno guidebook, bodge tape and sense of humour is all packed ready for the off."
Same approach with our Knaus Starclass 695 which we bought new at the end of December. Silly me, largely influenced by comments on here and elsewhere, I thought that in buying a German van (and their flagship model to boot), I would be buying the sort of quality that English manufacturers only dream of achieving. The reality is that we have had more problems in the 4 months of ownership than ever we did in four years of owning a Bailey.
We have just got back from our latest trip and I commented to my wife a couple of days before we left that, this time, we hadn't any problems. Spoke too soon - came to empty the toilet cassette and having pulled out the handle to drag it across the grass (Dometic toilet - rubbish design, by the way), found it wouldn't retract. Had to dismantle it to get it retracted but after ages messing around with it, still can't get it to work.
OK - so most - but not all - of our problems have so far been minor - and probably down to equipment rather than actual build quality - but I didn't expect to pay that sort of money and get nothing but aggro every time we used the van.
Very frustrating - and extremely disappointing.
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We had the same grill problem with the aspire 2 on previous caravan. Dealer fixed it year two. Same problem 2 years later so I gave the service manager a tube of strong theadlock to use when he reassembled. He did the job himself as the service area was very busy and I wanted it fixed before a 7 week Scottish tour. I dropped the van off and drove to a nearby town for a mooch round and a lunch later before collecting the van. Dealership 1.25 hours from home. When I collected he gave me back the tube of threadlock and showed me an even stronger one that he had used. No problems after.
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Update:
The dealer service department have today sent an email telling me to arrange a date for them to fix the problem they didn't fix last time, just under 2 months since they last had it.
Looks like the finance company have got through to them
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We were on holiday last summer when it happened. It looked as though the screw at the front had fallen out. I rang the dealer whilst we were away, sent them photos, other information etc.and they said to take it in to the workshop once we got home. They were prepared to replace the whole cooker under warranty if it were necessary, however it was just a minor problem due to the missing screw, as expected, but there could have been damage to the gas supply feeding the grill burner for all I knew. Fingers crossed it doesn’t happen again.
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What one did you decide on in the end?
David
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Wouldn't want to spoil a good old whinge thread, but our 2019 top of the range caravan has been 99.9% perfect after three trips (27 nights away and around 800 miles). The 0.1%? Shock horror, I found a screw had worked loose on one of the cupboard hinges. Did I shout not fit for purpose, scream at the dealer? Erm, no, I got a screw driver, put a dab of Gorilla Glue on the screw, and screwed it up tight again. oK, it's early days you will say, just wait and see what's around the corner. Well, from what I can see, everything else is screwed together very nicely, all drawers and cupboards are perfectly aligned, and everything works as it should. There are tens of thousands of caravans sold each year, and the vast majority are like ours. Of course there are some rogues out there, but that is where a dealer worth his salt will go the extra mile to sort things out. Sadly, the industry is let down by a few pretty poor aftersales departments in the dealer network. Many new products have problems - ask any pilot that should be flying the Boeing Max 8.
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Whinge thread?
I think Oneputt's experience can be classified as far more than whingeworthy.
It’s very early days yet but I hope for your sake you have nothing worse than a screw loose, nicho.
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That's the style we would go for, should we ever decide to change from this one. I'll be interested in what you think of your new van after you've had a good few trips out in it. Hope that it's much better than your previous one.
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I deduce nothing other than you seem to belittle others’ experiences.
To call this a whinge thread when it was started by a person who had extreme problems with his van was, in my view, an unwarranted put down.
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Bought ours new last year. There is some trim round the kitchen extension not stuck down correctly and there was a lot of plastic bits on the front shelf from where the blinds were fitted and they still drop out but otherwise fine so far. I know others have done far worse but some are decent.
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Happy for you and your positive experience. We had our van less than 24 hours, drove the van home and in that time, the omivent failed and all the the front window catches opened by themselves. Three months later, whilst in the Czech Republic all the drainage pipe work fell off the van. Just over a year we had parts of the floor replaced. We had over 15 major faults with the van. The latest faults are the floor needs repairing again, all the front windows need replacing, all the decals need replacing again. Now that’s a winge😪
One more trip in the Lunar then it’s in the past, so now looking forward to our new van in a positive light
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Whenever a thread like this is started you always seem to get at least one poster pop up to say. “ I’ve got a (insert name here) and to be honest mate I can’t fault it”
I always have the same reaction to these posts. Firstly if you can’t fault it you need to try harder. Secondly I always wonder how many good vans ie those who operate to specification and expectation does it take to negate a lemon? Some seem to think one good makes up for one bad example. Not in my book it doesn’t.
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There are some decent vans out there but it is all a matter of luck. You should be able to pick out the badly fitting doors and other faults but things like faulty plumbing are usually well hidden so you can never be sure. The PC annual survey does suggest that somewhere between 20 and 30% have no faults and given that people are more likely to complain than praise the figure is probably higher than most think.
We have had six new caravans and only one had no faults when we first got it, but other than a fridge that did not work, none have been serious and perhaps we have been lucky. I have met people who have had twenty plus faults who were not happy so I know there are some real problem models out there but they seem to be across the makers rather than any one, although the surveys do consistently put Eldiss bottom.
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Hi everyone, It definitely can be a minefield when buying a new caravan and the Club is always here to help you wherever we can.
We have some advise on buying a caravan on our website here: Buying a Caravan and if you are a a member of the Club you can also contact our technical team helpline: 01342 336 611
Best of luck and I hope you enjoy your new caravan.
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