A manufacturer's viewpoint on 2021
Found this video from Bailey that some might find interesting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS1eIjTRyoU
David
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Interesting video….supply of components is obviously the tail that’s wagging the dog. They don’t seem too keen to develop and innovate at a pace given the demand for existing products. Maybe a consequence of that will be less choice for all of us in the longer term?
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Interesting video, which shows a conservative approach to the current supply chain constraints. Someone out there will be innovating and about to seize a competitive advantage by launching a range of electric vehicle 'friendly' caravans, and will find a way of doing this regardless of the current supply chain restrictions.....
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But their caravans have “mood lighting “ so they are sure to sell well. That plus fashion conscious colour co ordinated upholstery to match the curtains in the up to date 2022 colour range - the customers will love it
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Actually my eyes were taking in the design, I didn't like the flimsy half curtains, the green lighting which is always unpleasant and the cheap thin plastic window frames at the front!
The lack of imported cabs must also be affecting progress with motorhome production. So all in all not very impressive for the industry as a whole.
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Last year decided to change from MH to caravan and put in my order for 2022 Unicorn Cadiz back in October. No idea when it will be delivered as both dealer and Bailey not forthcoming. Anyone else in the same boat? Demos not even around yet! Doesn't seem to be a problem with Swift's.
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We very occasionally stop off at some big local dealer and have a bit of a look around. Invariably do we come away thinking we will just stick with what we have. Given that our van was built in 1984, and our small MH in 2001, it’s a dire inditement of the quality of the majority of what’s on offer generally in the UK. Only things that have made us go hmmm🤔 in the past have either been overseas brands, or some bespoke offering. They can stick as many fancy gadgets, colour co ordinated fabrics and whatever other tempting little “extras’ they want into an outfit, but if it’s damp, falling to bits, badly put together and likely to spend more time in workshop than on a Site, we aren’t interested.
Had to spend £6 on repairs for our 21 year old motorhome this last 12 months. Repair done on drive, took 30 minutes yesterday. It owes us nothing.
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Yes, sometimes there are little trade offs, but rather small inconveniences than major issues that might keep an outfit off the road. All we require is a comfortable bed, warmth all year round as we are 12 month tourers, a decent shower, as we are happy using onboard, and reliability of fixtures and fittings. Last decent van we looked in was an Eriba, however, as we don’t do the Caravan Shows, we haven’t been inside many continental brands. The UK makes always look nice at a glance, but then you start to notice the quality and the finishes. Dodgy…..
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The fact that people may well base the purchase of a new van on how it looks is far from silly in my view. I don't know what the average length of ownership is for caravans? In our case I would reckon about 6 years. We were fortunate enough to be in a position to buy four new caravans over approx 23 year period. All were British made and all were fortunately trouble free. When deciding what new caravan we wanted we would make a list of the equipment we wanted, what layout we wanted and once that was decided it was the actual internal design and furnishings that would probably be the deciding factor given that the main criterion had been met. No one is going to spend £25000 on a new caravan and not like how it looks inside? OK, some will be more demanding than others on that score but given that you are likely to live with that van for several years the internal design is equally important. Although on forums you tend only to hear about the bad aspects of manufacturers there must be tens of thousands of people who are perfectly happy with the performance of their caravans, but we never hear about those because the owners just enjoy them.
David
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We have had all British built LVs and in the early days of softwood frames thin aluminium skins hardboard interior wall panels glass non double glazed windows, and catalytic heaters we still enjoyed our holidays even "over there" with the hole in the ground toilets
Only one caravan we have had real problems with and that was mostly down to poor or nil PDI was an elddiss
Other later caravans we have had from Bailey have been good ,but the we have learned to buy local from a reputable dealer , ,our current Pegasus has been almost trouble free and with good dealer backup any faults have been quickly sorted
The two motor caravans we have had were both very reliable and well built we have learned never to use one of the big chain dealerships who ,after getting our money ,were not interested in customer service
And so had our last MC serviced and any warranty work done at the manufacturers premises,sadly now part of the swift group
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The fact that people may well base the purchase of a new van on how it looks is far from silly in my view.
David, our Lunar caravan looked great. Wonderful decor, layout that suited us but delaminated after hitting several potholes. Nice styling definitely never trumps build quality.
In an ideal world I would have ADs Hobby build with my current Coachman layout with excellent shower and cooking facilities. The internal stuff like curtains and even squabs and colour patterns can be changed.
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Strange World, we have had Lunars for the past 25 years and not a single problem and I myself can be very critical . I do except others have had all the problems that have been stated and there has been a decline in quality . However this has always been a problem ! ...................it is accepted and nothing is done about the shoddy workmanship of all Caravan Manufacturers. Personally I cannot think of another industry that dupes the public more. My opinion.
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ADP, we bought a Lunar as the caravan we were part exchanging was a Lunar that we were perfectly happy with. Go figure.
I think your point could be replicated by many satisfied owners of other UK manufacturers who have never had issues but unfortunately there are quite a few disgruntled customers who have (had issues).
As you say nothing is ever done and I partly blame the CAMC and C&CC clubs. I don't think they bring enough pressure to bear on the manufacturers bearing in mind the number of members they represent. It seems from the, adimttedly, outside that the relationship between them all is a tad too cosy.
I hope no-one brings up the old trope of advertising revenue as an excuse. The fact is the manufacturers need the club a lot more than the other way around. Imagine denying yourself advertising to almost half the caravan buying/using public because a club decided to bring some criticise build quality?
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We were tent camping in Europe from the 70’s. The only time we have come across them (literally a hole in a plank over a trench) was in East Germany, just after the wall had come down. They weren’t in use, as they had been replaced by the modern flush variety in porta cabins.
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Wherenext said:-
As you say nothing is ever done and I partly blame the CAMC and C&CC clubs. I don't think they bring enough pressure to bear on the manufacturers bearing in mind the number of members they represent. It seems from the, admittedly, outside that the relationship between them all is a tad too cosy.
I think you do have to ask yourself whether it would make any difference? If the manufacturers feel, as they do, that their products are of the required standard there is very little the Club can do about it. They would just quote warranty repair figures, which no doubt would prove that 95% of their products were considered trouble free. If the Club persisted one casualty would probably be advertising revenue but more importantly the Club could put themselves at risk of legal action. Now the Club could drill down into the complaints be members of poor workmanship by using experts to make an assessment of individual cases but I would have to ask whether that is the role of the Club. They are a provider of campsites and associated services not Which or Martin Lewis?
David
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Didn’t realise you meant that sort JVB. More or less all the small sites we used in France throughout the 80’s had that sort. Even last time we went in 2019, a couple of the municipal sites still had a few. I can’t see a problem as long as you make sure your car keys aren’t in your shorts pocket.😂
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Oner caravan that, a few years ago, I liked the look of was the Hymer Nova but it was substantially heavier than its UK equivalents. With the impending advent of EV's and the requirement for lighter vans, the durability of construction of UK vans, at least, is unlikely to improve.
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D K....I was not pointing the finger at the Cub. I think that the acceptability standard of what is a good product set by the manufacturers is far too low. It is also at a low in which the buyer accepts the product, which only serves to compound the problem. In my opinion a bench mark should be set and all manufacturers should have to conform to that mark and an independent body set up to see they do control and conform to the standards. The cost of new caravans today is mind boggling, big money and yet the same complaints now of shoddy workmanship as of 10/20/ years ago.
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