Swift Motorhome - Never Again
The title is emotive and for good reason. In late 2018 my wife and I, after 40+ years of camping and caravanning, purchased our first new motorhome, a £65k+ Swift Bessacarr 599. The design and layout suited our desires and we expected it to see us out in our remaining touring time.
Disappointingly issues began within months. Firstly, the Dometic fridge door shelves broke and we had several sets replaced under warranty before we realised they are not fit for purpose. The fridge handbook states “Only store heavy objects such as bottles or cans in the refrigerator door, in the vegetable drawer or on the bottom shelf”. We did indeed store milk cartons, butter and jam etc and these shelves repeatedly broke. We now know other owners have had this issue but it has never been overcome.
The awning and solar panel both had attention from Swift travelling engineers to fit additional security. I understand an awning nearly came off a van travelling on a motorway, so this was a serious safety concern for Swift and perhaps an indication that build standards were not satisfactory.
The 599 model comes with an external, under floor pannier drawer, which was the next issue that became unusable within 18 months. There is no protection for the drawer runners against road spray and dirt so these became corroded and jammed. More shocking on a vehicle of this supposed quality was to find the drawer runners are the same type to be found in office filing cabinets, i.e. made of mild steel and guaranteed to rust in a very short time when placed where they are. It has taken my dealer nearly a year to get replacement runners from Swift. As an engineer I took it upon myself to fit baffles and stainless steel runners to alleviate the problem. So far so good but the original design and materials are not fit for purpose. This feature I believe, is still available on 2022 Swift Kontiki models, the equivalent of mine.
Our shower wall has developed a crack which is still waiting a replacement from Swift after 6 months! Whilst we realise we are in difficult times, it is small comfort to know we can buy a new Swift motorhome quicker than get warranty parts for ours.
Recently, cracking in the paintwork was discovered on the front nearside wheel arch. The cause and responsibility of this is still being debated and of course a warranty claim has been submitted by our dealer.
In all, no communication has been received from Swift to explain the appalling delays or apologies for them. We are terribly disappointed in our new motorhome when we should be proud and happy. Never again.
Comments
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From discussions I have seen on some forums I hadn't got the impression that Swift or Bailey had a great reputation for quality.
My first MH was a used 2004 Swift that turned out to have a rotten damp floor due to a design fault, which didn't endear me to the brand!
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Commiserations, SeeFarers.
We had a similar experience with a Bessacarr e795 of 2007 vintage. I won't go into a protracted breakdown of the faults but they could be summed up under the heading of build quality. We got rid of it and made the same "never again" vow and have stuck to it.
Unfortunately, it seems Swift were ahead of the game and most other converters are now building down to Swift's standard😕.
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Not much Swift can do about third party equipment like Dometic. Their fridges are fitted to many thousands of motorhomes. Getting parts is a major problem. Our motorhome had damp and parts were ordered in May. We traded it in but the dealer still can’t get the parts to do his own repair.
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H, they could-switch their suppliers, they could fix it quicker, they could design, manufacture & fit their own robust fridges. Making excuses on their behalf or accepting crappy goods & service will never solve the issues it is just ensuring continuing shoddy goods. They’re becoming the British Leyland of the 21st century.
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There are quite a number of complaints on various threads about the poor quality of both Dometic fridges and toilets. So much so that people have actually changed the fridge and some have changed the toilet to Theftford.
I wouldn't buy any model of caravan or Motorhome if it had a Dometic in it at the moment and to continue to ignore the problems is not only shoddy but gross negligence.
Pity we don't have a Club that is prepared to take these manufacturers on.
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I now have the same fridge door shelf problem in my Bailey - but it has taken 15 years to appear. It appears the shelf is now able to flex a bit under load, so I'll try a rigid "insert" to help it.
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And the NCC is a trade organisation looking after its members - manufacturers, dealers, clubs…. It’s not interested in the likes of us customers.
The fridge is only a part of the OP's problems and most of the issues can be attributed to build quality.
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I can't think of any companies who build or convert vans who make their own fridges or similar components, industry doesn't work like that so we're dependent on those components being reliable and well made. However the equipment in vans is subjected to the sort of usage not found in a domestic environment so it's difficult to gauge over time just how robust things are. Sorry to hear there are problems with the OPs van.
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Just because industry doesn’t work like that at present doesn’t mean it can’t do so if there’s a will.
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I have had a share in a narrowboat for 18 years and during that time we have had at least 4, 12 volt, Shoreline fridges, which work using power from the leisure batteries. If the battery power is low the fridge simply turns off and the people using the boat are only aware when they open the fridge door and notice either a flashing light (which is difficult to see as it is situated behind a plastic box) or they notice that the fridge is warm. One very hot summer's day the fridge stopped working so I phoned up a chandlers to enquire about buying a new fridge as I knew that the batteries were charged enough to power the fridge. They didn't sell them but suggested that I pull the fridge out and tilt it backwards and forwards to re-distribute the gas. I tried that, turned the fridge back on and was astonished to find that it actually worked! I don't know whether it can be tried with a caravan fridge and don't know whether it would solve any of the the problems which people are commenting on here but just thought that I would mention it in case in could be of assistance. What I do find infuriating is that manufacturers of domestic fridges update their models all the time and there are hundreds of models to choose from which cost far, far less than fridges/freezers for boats, caravans/M/Hs and the models for them are rarely updated, not even it seems to even include an audible warning for when a fridge is not receiving any power!
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When I was at school, my Saturday job was in a domestic appliance shop when electrolux (.now dometic) domestic absorption fridges either electric or gas were quite quite popular, and often went out with engineers on faults and it was often to absorbtion fridges not working ,and we just turned them upside down to get them working again
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Or do the smart thing & don’t buy shoddy🤷🏻♂️. They will never change all the time they get away with their current practices. We all have choices to make just make the right ones👍🏻
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I thank those of you who have made a contribution to this thread. It is interesting to see the differing points of view.
I accept it is highly unlikely Dometic will redesign the shelves for my model of fridge, unless Swift get concerned their reputation is going down the pan and sales are dropping off due to its choice of equipment supplier.
The plastic used for Dometics shelves seems unsuitable for the job and is surely used in other models, so unless owners broadcast their problems, the scale of the issue is unknown. I have replaced numerous shelves under warranty but at the end of that, each one will cost £30+, so not an issue without long term implications.
I have made repairs to one set, using aluminium angle which is not pretty but works.
A point raised about changing to a Thetford is a choice I would like but Thetford do not make a version of the same dimensions to fit my van.
I would like to hear from new owners of the latest incarnation of my model, now called the Swift Kontiki Sport (sic) to know if they have similar parts, particularly the appalling panier drawer runners. How will they feel after shelling out £80k+ when they get the same issue I have?
Keep the comments coming in.
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I think vbfg and JVB66 have missed the crux of my issue with my fridge. It is a DOMETIC fridge, not a domestic fridge and it is the internal door shelves that break when used in accordance with the manufacturers user guide. No amount of gymnastics with my model will solve that.
Perhaps there is an opportunity for someone to produce replacements using 3d printing.
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I got individual 3D printed parts from e-Bay that were far far cheaper than buying a complete lock mechanism from a Dometic dealer.
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I was aware that you were referring to a Dometic fridge, NOT a domestic fridge - I have one in my motorhome and I was also aware that your problem was with the plastic shelving in the door. Sorry that I could not help with any advice about that, but as your post mentioned a problem with a fridge, I thought that I would mention a problem which I had with our 12 volt, fridge (also not a domestic fridge, as such) and perhaps assist those who may have had, or may have a similar problem in the future. For my future, I will try not to digress from the subject matter nor try and give unwanted advice!
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I will remember the advice about tipping a fridge upside down, even if others do not.
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vbfg - no disrespect intended in my response to you and others but it is often the case that the focus of an original topic is lost when postings veer away from the subject matter. In this case it is my contention that my Swift Motorhome has original fittings that are of poor quality, not fit for purpose and that despite being in warranty, it is taking many months to get replacement parts. Ultimately they are responsible for the equipment they choose to install.
Swift should get the message that their existing customers are more important than their prospective customers. Because we existing customers may well dissuade the prospective customer by broadcasting our grievences, which have been allowed to fester.
For example, I have a friend who has a small motorhome that often attracts interest from passers by, but because of long standing issues and lack of action by the manufacturer/supplier, my friend is an unhappy owner and actively dissuades them from pursuing their interest.
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Thank you. You do have a point as I have lost posts which I have made (I am not very tech savvy) so have sometimes missed an answer or reply. I do sympathise with you and agree that it is only by giving a company bad publicity, that they may make better efforts to help resolve their customers problems.
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I wish I had a quid for every bit of bad publicity Swift have had over the years!
What difference has it made? Absolutely none 😖
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Or almost every other caravan manufacture, (or caravan assembler of third party parts).
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Yep, there isn’t much to choose between any of them.
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I do think that due to the more recent habit of posting internet reviews and social media posts, bad publicity IS more likely to do some harm to manufacturers than it used to previously, but it takes some time to do so. In the case of caravans, motorhomes, 3 way fridges/freezers etc, much of the problem is that we are in a way, a captive audience as there are only certain companies which make them which puts us at a disadvantage as there are so few brands to choose from. it is very surprising really when you think of the technology and innovation which there is in new cars, TVs, computing, etc but this technology and innovation does not seem to extend to vehicles used for touring or the fridges/freezers which they are fitted with!
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Its a question of scale vbfg. The caravan/motorhome market is very small compared to cars, tvs, computing etc. using your examples. For example a bought a brand new car in 2019, a BMW, designed in Germany, parts manufactured globally, assembled in South Carolina USA, and shipped to me in the UK. Can you imagine such a production run for a caravan?
As it happens I have just ordered a new caravan for delivery next spring (fingers and toes crossed), I was speaking to a dealer who contacted Bailey on my behalf and found out the production run for the model i was interested in had been cut from 14,000 units to less than 4,500 units. Needles to say, i didn't order one, and i haven't ordered a Bailey.
To balance things i have had my current Swift Challenger for 11 years from new and i have only had 2 minor problems with it that were corrected under warranty and i've been very happy with it.
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I have had a few minor issues with my Swift van, but these have been so minor that I have sorted them myself - mostly internal fittings coming loose or cupboards not shutting properly. It had to go back for a recall issue - a new roof covering was fitted to cure a translucent roof problem. This was dealt with properly and without fuss and, of course, without cost. Otherwise no major issues at all and nothing else for which I have had to go back to a dealer for repair or rectification.
I think these things are a bit of a lottery. It shouldn't be - it should always be right - but sadly motorhome manufacture remains rather like car manufacture was 30 years ago.
I would be quite happy to buy another Swift - but I might have my fingers crossed!
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Whittakerr wrote "To balance things i have had my current Swift Challenger for 11 years from new and i have only had 2 minor problems with it that were corrected under warranty and i've been very happy with it."
In which case, given there adverse comments about the major manufacturers current standards, perhaps you should keep the one you have. What will a new one give you that you don't already have except perhaps "exciting new decals"?
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