Lunar Caravans Administration
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yes to both WH and Oneputt. Especially as I assume they (the dealer) has already paid Lunar for them and if they don't shift them somehow they will be out of pocket?
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Talking to our local dealer they say that they have already bought the stock. Any warranty work that they have carried out is given to them as "credits" to be offset against future transactions so they will probably have to swallow that themselves.
Spare parts will become an issue but we'll probably change in the next year or so.
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I was at a local dealer and ready to buy a 2019 Lunar Venus 590. The dealer said, just to make you aware they have gone into administration but if we thought there would be a problem, then wouldn’t sell them as sure they would be bought by one of 3 of the other caravan manufacturers.
So now I’m debating, should I buy or not. Heard horror stories of water ingress with lunar vans and all I’m getting with this one is a 3 year guarantee.
would there be a problem re repairs under warranty?
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Who is giving you the warranty? It isn't Lunar and it can't be the prospective buyers of the business. I doubt that anyone buying Lunar as a going concern will pick up existing warranty work/obligations. If it's the dealer then get it in writing.
Personally I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole, as the saying goes.
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If the dealer gives you a discount then you have to weigh up the risk of a serious problem against the saving. There is no right answer to that, it is purely a matter of judgement of the risk. It may be possible to buy an insurance policy to cover problems but have not investigated that.
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One would expect the Insurer to write it off as technically it's irreparable, unless there is somewhere that holds some parts and are capable of doing the work. How they would arrive at a New for Old figure, if that is what the policyholder has, is anyones guess. Same applies to current values.
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The problem with Lunar for the last 8 years or so is their supply of spare parts where they tried to practice the Japanese concept of ‘just in time’ which in our case they missed by a country mile. I have no idea if the factory has any spares on their stock list and if so would the administrator want to sell them off to dealers before someone buys the company as a going concern
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An admission ........ don't laugh!
I made a few posts whilst on our 6.5 week tour. However on 16th July (I think) I heard that Lunar had gone into admin. My van is 20 month old. I was not unduly troubled as we like the van. However on the next day (17th) after a 3 hour plus drive we arrived on a CC site at Burford. I drove around a roundabout on site and was totally off. Caravan mounted a kerb and hit a low hedge. No significant body damage but destroyed the wheel spat! I was so annoyed at myself. Asked OH to pick the bits up
We set up and sat in the shade. Within the hour I had been on the internet and found a secondhand spat from a breaker. Whilst I was sat two other caravans mounted the same kerb but did not sustain damage. I thought 'not just me that relaxes too much after a drive' but was still peed off at my own ineptitude after nearly 40 years of towing.
The place that I phoned about the part, SFM Caravans, was brilliant. Lass on the phone went to check the part and the labelled part number and phoned me back. Agreed to hold dispatch for 6 days so that it would arrive after the post hold was removed (another call to arrange that to be earlier). We arrived home Saturday, part arrived Monday as promised and caravan to dealers wednesday.
Took caravan in yesterday to have brakes sorted on Alko chassis and the wheel spat as well.
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Mmm, words fail me. 😬
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There are a lot of Lunars out there and they will inevitably need some panels. I would expect a firm called Caravan Panels will produce them to order as they do with other Lunar models. I do not know just what Lunar owe their suppliers though and it might put some out of business making their spares a problem.
The insurance policy will limit a claim for any unavailable spares to the last list price which will be a problem when some spares start to run out.
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The fact that Lunar have gone into administration has come as a nasty shock to me! We collected our brand new Ariva from Highbridge Caravans on 11th July and took it off for two weeks the next day, during which we encountered a few of the usually expected little issues with a new van. These included problems with the Truma heating/hot water due to incorrect set-up at handover, and a couple of light switches that took an hour or two to locate!
Yesterday I spoke to Highbridge after care regarding the kitchen sink cover that was clearly not designed for our van. They had promised to look into this three weeks ago, with no result. At that time I commented that I thought the van had in some ways been designed by someone who had never been caravanning, and they jovially agreed, but at no time did they break the news that Lunar had gone bust, and I'm now the owner of a brand new caravan probably without a warranty.
In 25 years this is our 4th new caravan from 3 different suppliers. The first was a Lunar Stellar, followed by a Bailey and a Swift. All of them required several hours of tinkering and improvement by me before they were fit for purpose. Screws loose, hinges falling off, cupboard doors fitting badly, shelves incapable of supporting modest items etc. etc. The Ariva is just the same, and it appears to be sadly typical of the way so many vans are built. I have also always found that the suppliers are brilliant and helpful at the point of sale, but that all changes when you try and even talk to someone in after sales at a later date.
I'm a reasonably practical man with a modestly equipped workshop, and I actually enjoy improving and personalising our vans, and this is just as well, because they all certainly fall far short of what we should expect where quality is concerned. Having said all of this, I have always found it very peculiar that when The Club reviews these vans, they nearly always give them all about an 80% score. I have yet to ever actually read a review that would indicate that any particular make of van should be avoided.
Finally, It's rather sad that despite my long experience, at no time did I get so much as a hint from any source that Lunar were going bust.
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Probably because that was commercially sensitive information. Until it happened, it wasn’t for public consumption.
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I read a piece about Lunar going into administration last week when I was having a look at a used caravan website. We have a 2016 quasar 462 branded Conquest. It is our first caravan after converting from motorhomes. We baught the van at just over a year old, and within six months had damp issues. It still had the balance of the warranty and Highbridge immediately agreed to do the work. We took it in in September last year. Interestingly Highbridge had to keep it longer then planned because of problems with spares, eventually they did the job using parts that they had instock. I have to say that Highbridge did a good job. We still have about three years on the warranty, so I dont know how we stand there. All in all we like our van, it is comfortable and well appointed. The damp was due to a roof strap failure, probably bad workmanship, but I think that all the UK manufactured vans probably are of similar quality and it is just luck wether you get a bad one. The value of our van has probably fallen through the floor, but hay ho. We said that when our 2017 tow car has had it, then we will give up caravaning, as by then Diesels will be as rare as hens teeth, so the van will just have to last as long.
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This is what Swindon caravans had to say:
We can confirm the following policy has been put in place by Swindon, Oxford & Reading Caravans to support our customers:
Swindon, Oxford & Reading Caravans will continue to support existing warranty claims on all faults reported under the Lunar Warranty. Any customer who already has work being carried out or booked in should attend site as agreed to collect or drop off their caravan. Parts and Labour covered by the warranty to be provided at no additional charge.
For all outstanding claims, we will endeavour to source spare parts from third party suppliers to complete work as required. Where parts are specific to Lunar and we cannot source them from a third party there may be a delay as we work with the Administrator to establish an ongoing supply of parts.
We understand it is very early in the process for Lunar and we will work to keep customers updated of any changes to the situation as and when required.
Should you wish to speak to someone regarding your Lunar Caravan please call any of our 3 branches.Haven't seen any other Lunar dealers make statements about spares/warranty on their website
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Robinsons Caravans have also confirmed their intentions to be the same as Swindon.
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Allegedly, a buyer has been found see >>> here>>>
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