Is it just me or do other people feel cheated by the high prices and questionable quality of new caravans.
I have been caravanning for around 30 years now and have had several new caravans over this time.
There have been problems with all of them and I have ended up sorting them out myself or with the help of a Caravan Engineer if it was more specialised than I could or should be doing
I find that quite disappointing - but after you have taken it back to the dealers a couple of times and the problem is still not sorted - or worse still they have made you a new problem - then you soon realise if you don't sort it yourself then you will have to live with it.
After 5 years with my Swift Challenger and with it in tip top order and everything working as it should, it was time for a new caravan
We did the round of the main dealers looking at the new offerings and this time decided on a Coachman 545 VIP and after a lot of warm words and promises of fantastic customer service it was ordered from a main dealer in Grantham - despite it not being the nearest by far - there are probably 5 or more Coachman Dealers nearer to my home.
So the optimists among you are expecting a happy ending to this and the realists know what's coming.
The Dealership made a big big deal of presenting and handing over the Coachman to me when I collected it and assured me that it had the most thorough of inspections prior to my arrival
I found 2 quite serious defects straight away - damage to the hitch cover and an internal light cover hanging loose and wiring showing - both of these faults were immediately obvious without trying .
The onsite workshop came out and sorted it straight away - but that was probably influenced by the fact I had not paid the balance for the van at that point.
So having got over that, it was time to demonstrate the motor mover and hitch up to my car - nothing can go wrong now - or can it ?
The motor mover had been wired up wrong and the forward button sent it backwards and the left and right buttoned sent it the opposite way - and so I had to wait whilst that was sorted out.
Finally it was time to drive home and that was uneventful and it towed nicely.
We now come to to my first trip - a quick weekend away at a local site - all appeared to be going well until it was time to run the Alde Heating - nothing worked properly and the pump was making a strange noise.
It was now 5 pm on a Friday afternoon and I called this Coachman Main Dealer who said that was unfortunate and to bring it back at my convenience - so what do I do tonight - well that's up to you Sir was the reply.
So I went out to a Supermarket to by a blow heater to warm my new Coachman.
Then I set about trying to get to the bottom of the problem - luckily a fellow caravaner had a similar system in his Swift and offered to help me.
We quickly found that there was no fluid in the heating header tank and so the system would not operate - so we filled it up with the correct antifreeze mixture and bled the system - it know works nicely.
Not a difficult job if you like DIY - but at the thick end of £25k I didn't expect to be doing this.
There are another couple of small issues that I will sort in a few minutes and I will leave the detail of these as I don't want to appear too picky at this point.
Overall the 545 VIP is a wonderful van and without doubt is top end of caravanning - but sloppy build quality and poor dealer attention do not help - so bare this in mind when parting with such large amounts of money - it's ok if you are a competent engineer or DIY fan though and you like a bit of a challenge.
Of course I will make this into the dream van I was promised in the brochures and by the dealer.- with or without their help and will keep you informed
You are not on your own as one of my caravanning friends bought a brand new Coachman 'VIP' 460/2 about two years ago and there were about 5 problems with it but the major one was water ingress at the front nearside roof area where the new design front skylight is. After having a damp reading taking it was recorded as 50% damp so after going back to the dealer with the problem he said it was down to poor road surfaces and pot holes that the company wasn't accountable for. My friend said that Coachman caravans were tested to the extreme (as shown on the youtube video) so it doesn't reflect the build quality or standard of workmanship. The dealer's reply was, "Yes, but that the caravan in the video isn't the same model as yours!" which when you look it is actually a 'Pastiche'. Nevertheless, it just shows the ignorant attitude and broken promises regarding their customer service but to cut a long story short he threatened to take the company to court for failing to adhere to the warranty which finally led to his caravan being transported to the Coachman factory in Hull to have the necessary work undertaken due to the severity of the wet timber. They had the caravan for near on three weeks as it had to go into an oven to dry out all the damp timber before any work could be undertaken but on return all the problems had been rectified so finally it was a happy ending.
In all fairness though, nobody really wants all the time consuming hassle when you have parted with thousands of pounds of your hard earned cash to be fobbed off with pathetic excuses to say the least.
My Coachman caravan is now 16 years old but I reckon the build quality is far better than the new caravans of today.
I guess plenty of us have good laugh at these threads. A 5yr old caravan in tip top condition? Then you are sorted for your caravanning needs for the next 20yrs, surely, what on earth possessed you to even imagine it was time for a new caravan?
My caravan was built in 1985, £300 off ebay and I'm on my 5th season with it in France, I guess I've spend another £300 odd on service and tyre costs total, this for about 3k towing miles per yr. So there is an alternative to all this headache, see the CoC thread. They are all just boxes to sleep in at the end of the day whatever you pay for 'em.
The GB is no longer a manufacturing country mainly because of the poor quality, unreliability, a lack of investment from management and very little training for hands on experience. We only have to look at the car and motor cycle industry alone for evidence of that but they never learn from their mistakes and the UK caravan industry is following exactly the same pattern.
Quote: Originally posted by tango55 on 08/8/2015
The GB is no longer a manufacturing country mainly because of the poor quality, unreliability, a lack of investment from management and very little training for hands on experience. We only have to look at the car and motor cycle industry alone for evidence of that but they never learn from their mistakes and the UK caravan industry is following exactly the same pattern.
Think it's a bit more complicated than that but certainly it's not getting any better and whilst computing has softened the effects, skills loss is going to cost us dear in the future.
If the Coachman had the quality of my new Volvo it would be a much better state off affairs:
______________________________________________
The reason for that is because engineers are working to a very minute tolerances (a few thousands of an inch) on steel components whereas chippies and fitters are working to +/- 1 mm. in timber and sheet metal so the built quality is totally different.
That's why new caravans always have problems with the bodywork and fixtures and never the chassis components.
I think it is partly luck .... have had several new 'vans, the last few from Swift Group. None have had any issues and we use our vans for 80+ nights a year so they are not sitting idle.
------------- 2020 Volvo XC60 B5 R Design Geartronic / 2018 Swift Elegance 580
Sorry to be blunt. I fail to understand why you would make the same mistake time and time again. The only things i can think of, is that youre hooked by the new vans, and they become a must have. And youre prepared to spend a lot on feeding this addiction.
This not caravanning or about caravans really. Its called GAS. Gear Aquisition Syndrome. A piano forum I belong to is full of such people. It takes all sorts, i wish you well!
Im not parting wi Daisy May for a long time. Shes into her twenties now. . .
------------- Peripheral people don`t have as much excitement but they sure live longer
We're just wanting to change our van as we need a bigger one - growing kids to blame!
But, after all the vans we've viewed, we're going to aim for a euro van, and don't care if 'the door's on the wrong side'...
My opinion....
UK vans seem to be built for 'fancy' not function.
Yet euro vans come across way much better built, and insulated.
If I had £25k to play with, I'd be off abroad looking for a caravan.
Sorry to the UK manufacturers, but if you continue to build to what looks like 'cheaply' yet sell for mega bucks and come across as GREEDY, you've only got yourselves to blame!
An example...
The milk industry. Supermarkets are saying to farmers 'we're only going to pay you this much', but sell it at a great profit the you're not going to see!!!!
Greed!!! Simple as.... The UK is becoming GREEDY!
Utility companies are another, they only want one thing - PROFIT!!
I like buying new caravans and cars - the point I make is that through all the hype caravans are very poor value for money.
I know that you don't get value for money but I accept that - my question was not why do I do it - but do other people feel the same.
If I was to start another business I would definitely be a caravan dealer - easy money and people accept the poor customer service.
In my business world I provide a proper service and real value for money and I enjoy the rewards - but fail to understand how the caravan community just accept what they are given
I work in different factories everyday and there is very little skilled workers around - we do have them but not at caravan manufacturers - it is obvious to me that they use a lot of unskilled casual labour - that's their decision but it doesn't make for a quality product.
Years ago it was possible to buy things that were part built and you finished them off yourself - it looks to me that's what I have been supplied with - so if Coachman want to send me say £7k back then I think all would be balanced.
Of course that's wishfully thinking on my part - but it' would be value for money
For those of you who were wondering why I continue to buy new vans -
Motorcycle industry-Triumph are taking on the best of the Japanese and Italians and beating them in some cases. Norton are producing some nice bikes to a niche market.
Car industry-the Nissan plant in Sunderland produces more cars than the French and Italian motor industries combined and export cars to Japan. Jaguar land rover are more successful now than at any time in their history. Honda build cars in Swindon, Toyota build cars in Derby, did I mention the Mini? the Rolls Royce? Bently?
Ok the owners of the companies may be foreign but the workmanship is British.
It amazes me the number of people who will shun a British made Nissan/Toyota/Honda for a Ford/Vauxhall and believe they are buying a British car. The only Vauxhall made in Britain is the Astra, the only Ford made in Britain is NONE OF THEM
We have had 2 swifts in 6 years, new one is just 3 months old. Never had any issues, build quality is brilliant. Dealer also brilliant. Dickinsons. Bradford. 67 trips away. Oh and our 15 plate xc60 is pretty good too. We retire in 5 days. New car, new caravan. Hopefully 20 years happy caravanning. J x
From your OP I can't see any issue for Coachman. All the issues you mention are down to you buying from a poor dealer who didn't PDI or fit the mover properly.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: New Caravans and Quality Issues
