We eventually decided to go to France - later than hoped for but whilst lying in bed in a Normandy campsite, I happened to notice a strip of the wood effect trim under the cupboards on the near side seemed slightly corrugated, hadn’t noticed it before but what worries me a little was that the cupboard was directly under the roof joint, woke up the next morning and it was raining outside so didn’t have to wait long for my fears to be confirmed, this time a small trickle of water on the offside - right in line with the roof joint, fortunately it’s good weather till we get home and van is in for annual service mid October. Just goes to show that years after Bailey introduced Alutech they still don’t seem to have resolved the roof joint issue
Ours has the same problem. Joint has been sealed and awaiting the water damaged kitchen woodwork to be replaced under warranty together with a new roof seal.
Still find it frustrating they put a join in the middle of a flat roof.
I think perhaps the sealant struggles with teh high temperatures we get now. Ours has only been in UK.
Ours has now got two strips of gorilla tape from side to side to cover the joints, rang the caravan workshop where ours is booked in and he will look at it in three weeks, wanted some pictures of water running down the inside caravan walls for the warranty!!! Errr you’re ok mate, it’s taped up so hopefully won’t be seeing any water in the caravan
Well… got back from France on 4th October and dropped my caravan off for a service and roof strap repair on 15 October, apparently they have also found damp in the end bathroom and at the front of the caravan - not bad for a 5 year old caravan, fortunately all warranty repair work but won’t be seeing my caravan for about 4 weeks, seems Bailey Alu-tech caravans aren’t that good after all
Warranty work was £1200 that paid for roof strap, new flooring in bathroom area (under toilet) re sealing around flush fill flap, cassette locker door and rear bumper and also resealing around front near side grab handle and bumper. Then service costs paid by me of almost £500 which included replacement of 3 tyres and a fog lamp bulb - glad I decided to keep my MB&G gold warranty or might have cost me a bit more, just for reference, my service last year didn’t pick up any damp
Mines in having centre strap replaced and damaged interior wood replaced all under warranty.
Nothing basically wrong with Alutech construction. It's all the openings and joints which let water in.
The good thing about it is that the walls and structure are not damaged like a wood construction would have been. Doesn't seem to have damaged floor which I think is wood.
We went for a Swift in 2015 instead of a Bailey because of the leaking. We were on a campsite in the rain and a chappie opposite in a Bailey was woken up with water dripping on his head. It was only fourteen months old.
You would think that with the length of time these companies have been making caravans, water ingress would have long since become a thing of the past, yet it seems to be getting worse. Built down to a price or built-in obsolescence comes to mind.
Well, final update on this, after cleaning my caravan a few weeks ago, I was checking for damp around the front of the van and guess what? Yep that’s right the exterior floor around the hitch was wet and spongy - result was caravan sold to a dealer.
I find it unbelievable that a 6 year old caravan can have so many damp issues, don’t think I will be buying a Bailey caravan again
Paul & Nikki, I doubt it's just Bailey. From what I have read on here it seems that many new or nearly new vans suffer from similar problems. I have read all sorts of horror stories about not-very-old Elddis caravans, but mine is now 30 years old. Ok it's not perfect, but then I wouldn't expect it to be, but it's still perfectly usable and doesn't seem to suffer the kind of problems that your Bailey had.
In my opinion, the standard of caravans built in the past 10 years or more has definitely gone downhill, and manufactures are now using buyers as their unpaid "quality control department".
Funny thing is Colin, I’m not seeing many other Pegasus 4 vans having issues so either mine was poorly put together or one of the first to start with damp issues, obviously the roof straps failing are a common problem - easy to keep an eye on though, just look for water stains on the inside walls directly in line with the plastic roof strap trim inside the caravan, obviously the quicker you spot it the less damage it can do, I’d also advise Bailey owners to keep an eye on all four corners of the van underneath for wetness and also to push the flooring with fingers from underneath - mine passed a damp test inside but was still spongy outside.
My advice to anyone looking to buy a nearly new or used caravan is to take out a warranty on it, ours was with MB&G and they have been absolutely brilliant, they have paid out all claims without issue or delay, well worth the £250 a year for peace of mind and they pay out to the value of the caravan on vans up to 7 years old.
Quote: Originally posted by Paul and Nikki on 21/9/2021
Just goes to show that years after Bailey introduced Alutech they still don’t seem to have resolved the roof joint issue
They created the problem by putting a join in the roof!
Our older (2012) Alutech Rimini has a one piece roof and front panel, right from the back panel to the A frame.
Probably cheaper/quicker to build with the join.
------------- I came into this world with nothing and I've still got most of it left.
Trouble is the panel just curls under and fixed to floor thus water runs down and under soaking it.All that was needed was a vertical strip stuck at bottom for water to drip off and not run underneath.Did ours back and front when new. Remained dry until sold for a new Swift.
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Topic: 2016 Bailey Pegasus 4 leaking
via mobile 21/9/2021 at 9:04pm
