Swift caravans
What is the build quality of Swift caravans like these day please .any comments .good or bad welcome.
regards Brian
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Hi Brian.
You will probably find a moderator will be along and move the thread to the Caravan section further down. You'll find a few discussions on there at the moment relating to various makers and some will mention Swift.
I can't comment on the current quality as I've not owned a Swift for over a good fifteen years.
Hope you get the info you are after.
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We have a Swift Sprite Major FB 4 bought brand new in 2015. Very impressed with quality of appliances, upholstery, mattress and "look" of everything but had numerous issues.
Delamination of cupboard doors, leaking shower tray, problem with bulkhead "coming away" from floor, tap stopped working when just out of warranty, heating pipes not attached properly, lots of loose screws in various places. Maybe we were just unlucky but in comparison to our previous pre-owned 2001 Elddis Typhoon the Swift build quality comes a miserable second!
However, I think from reading the experiences of others on the forum build quality across most British caravans is more or less the same.
Having said all that all of our issues are now resolved and we have no plans to trade it in😊
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Based on numerous comments on here and elsewhere, it might be better to buy a good second-hand one with a known history. Buying new, of any make, is a bit of a lottery.
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Before we brought our Coachman last year we looked at a Swift, can't remember the Model but it had bunk beds in the rear. Loved the layout but some of the quality looked suspect i.e. mouldings. In the end we changed our minds with regards to layout. Good advice from CY
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I second this. We had gone to view a pre owned top of the range Abbey caravan but once at the dealers we saw the brand new Sprite was only a couple of thousand pounds more than the Abbey. We got into the mindset of "well we can have a brand new one for not much more"....Our Sprite is an entry level caravan (despite having the "extras pack" such as large sun roof, music system etc, whereas the Abbey was a luxury van in its day.....A bit like comparing our pre owned BMW with our brand new Corsa 😂
Edit: we also considered a brand new Bailey in the same price range but the upholstery etc were very thin and the cupboards felt rickety....
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Because of all the problems we had with a particular Swift we were invited to Cottingham for a factory visit. What we saw really shocked us and we were not impressed at all.
Must admit that in my early days of caravanning had 5 new Elddis models but over the years they got progressively worse and worse for quality and since then have only had Swift variants. Have had my problems but found the real secret is to have a good reliable dealership hence I don't travel miles to get the best discount. I am due for an upgrade but have been put off by all the negative comments about Swift models so will leave it for the time being.
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Thanks for the feedback guys , after 20yrs of motorhoming we decided that when we started up again it would be with a caravan and we just liked the look of the swift conquerer but the feed back is not good is it.
regards
Brian & Jo
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To be fair I'm sure there are lots of owners who haven't had any problems: it does tend to be the ones who have that talk about it!
However, the service engineer who fixed all our problems said "well you've got a good van now and I wouldn't recommend trading it in for a new one as you'll just be back to square one"!!!
We were just disappointed because after stretching our budget and buying brand new we felt let down. It isn't an experience we'd ever repeat. At least with pre owned you don't expect a perfect product and pay accordingly😊
Good luck with whatever you decide to buy.
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Hi Brian,
We recently purchased a 2019 Swift Sprite Alpine 2 with the diamond pack and sunroof, we have only managed a couple of trips away due to current circumstances.
Overall the build quality of the van seems very good for what is essentially an entry level van, all the doors and cupboards open and close with no issues and all internal fittings are very secure, the shower and sink are all leak free in the bathroom, if there is one niggle it is the exposed wiring in the wardrobe this could have been hidden by some trunking, this was not the van we originally went to look at but the quality in some other makes did not seem as good with loose trim etc.
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Agree.
We have a 2008 Swift Group van and it is still going strong, just had the service and new tyres fitted before the lockdown so hope we may be able to make use of it later this year. We have kept it as we have not found a new one we like better.
There have been a few things fixed over the years under the warranty, nothing major, and our dealer gave it a very thorough going over before the warranty expired (6 years).
Other things I have fixed myself as they were of equipment such as a tap, the toilet flush, the toilet cassette, and the Alde heating.
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We can't wait until our warranty is up so we (by that I mean hubby😂) can do maintenance and repairs ourself rather than at our dealer. We will also switch back to an independent caravan service place we used for our old van, where the workmanship and customer service far exceeds what we're currently receiving.
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I think one of the reasons that some have problems with their LV purchase ,as i said in an earlier post is down to the after sales
,Over the years (more than the avatar bu have been unable to change it)we had had numerous c/vans and even two m/caravans, the last two caravans are both Baileys ,and the dealer aftersales have been good,
I understand dealers are paid by the manufacturer to do a thorough PDI before handover to the customer ,but some it seems with the faults that are reported just skimp the PDI knowing that if any "warranty"? work that is required ,is more money from the maker to rectify which should probably have been picked up if full PDI had been done
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I’ve no doubt that PDI and after sales care, or lack of, contributes to the problems and I fully understand JV's point but it’s been my experience that quality of build is the major contributing factor. For example, screws left out or only partially tightened allowing furniture to move and creak can only be due to lack of care and attention during the build process.
Our last and only brand new caravan (2006 Bessacarr - yep, a Swift) was riddled with such flaws as was the 2007 Bessacarr MH we stupidly followed it with. At that time Swift's reputation was pretty lousy but I think other manufacturers soon matched them. ☹️
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Our latest Bailey Pegasus Genoa 2016 has been relatively fault free ,considering the amount of use it igets,
We had a call from our dealer when it had been delivered asking if we would like to seeit before it went in for PDI, it was an eye opener of what the PDI involved, which included checking for loose and missing screws ,
,The saleman said that all dealers are paid to carry it out ,as they do not have time at Bristol for more than a check because of the amount being turned out, to ensure it is road worthy as some are on the delivery vehicle and one normally on the tow hook.
And he said it is the same for other makes ,and they are also Adria and Coachman dealers
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We have a 2015 Challenger Se 480 which we bought barely used, under a year old, but traded in because the previous owner had downsized and regretted it. Haven’t had any problems with the caravan itself, but some of the fitted equipment has been problematic, namely the microwave shorting, grill element on Thetford Aspire 2 cooker coming loose and hanging down, and the toilet pump giving up the ghost.
Very happy with our van.
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We have had 2 new Swift Caravans the first a 2014 dealer special Celebration 524 kept for 3 years with no issues whatsoever and now a 2020 Celebrate Super QEB and again no issues in the limited use to date. In between we had an Elldis Affinity 550 for two years with no issues.
Would agree that the dealer is as big a part as the caravan. We have had 3 brilliantly well PDI Caravans from Glossop Caravans with excellent support for services etc.
We have obviously been lucky with our vans or is it just that happy customers don’t shout as loud about their experiences!
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It is a bit of a lottery buying a new caravan. You might want to look at the Practical caravan satisfaction survey if you want to buy new. Adria and Coachman fare the best. Advice in previous posts about selecting a good dealer (somewhere near home for when you return it) and the possibility of perhaps buying a 2 year old van that someone has ironed out the faults on are good ideas. Good luck.
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Similar experience to thebells
Challenger 2017
At 3 year service another load of faults.
brakes again.. Alko faults for second time. Only replaced 12 months before
Bulkhead recall ..major work
Tyres cracking
Grill burners defective (used 5 times)
Seat hinges coming away...only one screw in each hinge side when holes for three.
Locker locking mechanism fell apart.
Defects are constant really. Bits keep falling off
TV point external socket and wiring never works despite being repaired three times
I’m not sure any Uk manufacturer is any better. Lunar sound worse than Swift.
But with CV..we will be buying ever more caravans !
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All i would add is when i asked my mobile service engineer about caravan quality he suggested avoiding Bailey might not be a bad idea. Otherwise it is a bit of a lottery although after a couple of factory faults due to poor QC and dealer induced faults when serviced (hence now use mobile Independant) we are still happy with our Swift.
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I may be biased! My 2017 or 2018 model is awaiting a low loader to return it to the factory for repairs to the front end following the Swift Recall. Apart from the initial letter in early January and the confirmation letter handed to me on the day their engineer visited I have received no contact from Swift. I have the impression that Swift furloughed their staff and closed completely. In these difficult times email and Royal Mail still operate so I consider they have missed a PR/marketing opportunity.
My caravan sits on my drive as a wasting asset. It can’t be towed even if sites were open. There is no indication of when the repairs will be carried out. No offers of compensation of any kind and another owner I know was told the his caravan would be away for up to 4 months!
So, can I recommend Swift? No. Yes, they owned up when these faults became known yet how a company that operates a QA policy could build my caravan with these faults built-in is beyond me. Maybe I could tentatively book a site for mid 2021. Who knows.
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I`ve had three Lunars with hardly any issues - pays your money takes your chance with any make of caravan and motorhome ( the worst internal drenching I`ve had was a panel van via Heki oh and the overhead locker dropped by about 5mm whilst driving)
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Well judging by the comments on this thread I think we may have made the wrong manufacturer choice ,time will tell eh 🤞🤫
Brian & Jo
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Hi, same here , My swift classic 2017 went in for annual service end of February, my dealer found the bulk head had screws missing and needs the bulk head repairing ,it’s still there waiting for Swift to send parts, but as they never reply to emails and you cannot phone who knows how long it will be, there quality is poor and there after care is shocking !! NEVER TOUCH ANOTHER SWIFT , dealer has been good to be fair trying to get to the bottom of it
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