Good morning everyone, we are looking at getting our first caravan. We have decided to buy used since its our first foray into caravans, and all going well we can look at a new van in a few years. Looking through the many hundreds of available options and configurations we have narrowed it down to the Bailey Brindisi. Has anyone on here had any experience of this van ? Or can anyone advise on what we should be looking out for when viewing ?. We will be buying from a dealer and not private to hopefully take away some of the risk.
The Brindisi is Alutech construction. They can get damp,around the bottom edges and also leak from the join on the roof. The roof issue should have been sorted under warranty.
If you are buying from a dealer check it has been serviced and damp checked. There is a 6 year warranty against water ingress if it has been correctly serviced.
We are on our third Alu tech van, none have been damp. All purchased new. One or two smaller issues normally sorted under warranty.
------------- DS-There's more to life than football!!!
We bought the Brindisi 4, 6 months ago. Its just had a clean bill of health regarding damp etc., but was found to be low on the axle. I would check the clearance above the tyres to the arch. You want a good 40-50mm. Mine was about 30mm, and on its way out. Its currently in for an £1100 refurb - so dont make the - expensive, mistake i made, thinking it was enough. Other than this little eye-waterer, its a cracking van.
We had a 2016 Bailey Modena in 2019, we had an issue with the roof strap leaking and also damp on the rear off side floor and near front side floor corners and also in the middle at the front (above the tow hitch), it was all repaired with the help of an MB&G warranty that was supplied by the dealer but for a 4 year old caravan, it didn't fill me with confidence so we got rid of it after the repairs had been carried out
Quote: Originally posted by 664DaveS on 16/8/2023
If you are buying from a dealer check it has been serviced and damp checked. There is a 6 year warranty against water ingress if it has been correctly serviced.
Dealers cannot always be relied on to give you the best info. Just last week a repair shop told me they had a caravan n for repairs that the buyer flagged, and was assured (to get the sale) by the dealer that there was nothing amiss. The buyer took the van, had it checked himself, to find expensive repairs needed. However, the dealer was footing the bill as it had come up so soon after the sale. Down the line, and he wouldnt have wanted to know.
Like others have found, don't rely on the dealer being honest and automatically fixing faults that exist, they may fix things you point out, but they will likely happily sell you a van full of problems with the hope you don't notice! They do of course have a legal obligation to bring the van up to 'fit for sale' standard if you point out the faults before finalising purchase or soon after (there are time limits!), but getting them to do so can be time consuming and troublesome! Running the van back and forth to the dealer after delivery for fixes to be done is a PITA! Really worth considering how far from home/storage the dealer is if you have to return van for warranty work or agreed fixes!
When I purchased my 18 month old van s/h from a 'reputable' (matter of opinion!) franchised dealer, it was apparently in very good condition, far better than most I'd looked at, but despite being my first caravan, I'd done plenty of homework on points to look out for and being a professional engineer had an insight in to these things anyway.
Before I agreed to purchase my van, I'd picked up on broken hinges on the fridge icebox, a cracked external locker door, a cracked hinge on the BBQ gas outlet cover, missing spare wheel and carrier (standard fitment on van when new!), some cosmetic marks to rear panel. On picking up, I discovered the ATC light was faulty, and the 13pin towbar plug was broken. Dealer agreed to fix all these, but would have happily have sold the van with all these issues unfixed and unmentioned to me. That would have been many hundreds of pounds of fixes I would have been at risk of footing the bill for!
On first setting up of the van ready for use, I discovered the carpets which had been wrapped in protective plastic were in fact filthy and stained, all hidden by the plastic wrapping (far less aggravation for me to shampoo them myself than do the long trip back to dealers!), but the dealer had knowingly hidden that! The fridge was disgustingly black and mouldy in all the nooks and crannies which weren't easily visible until shelves and icebox removed, again easier for me to clean than take back to dealer. And perhaps more alarmingly, was that the tyres were massively underinflated and both of significantly different pressures! The journey back from picking up from the dealers had been 'lively' to put it mildly, after inflating to correct pressure it tows like a dream!
When I had the van serviced after a few months (to retain the manufacturers warranty), the engineer (not the selling dealer!) informed me the gas cylinder pigtail was incorrect (far too long!) and must be changed before he could sign off on the gas installation being safe. Again, the dealer knew this, they'd fitted a new gas cylinder for me.
I seriously doubt the dealer had done a single thing to the van after they took it in as part exchange, and I doubt they'd even done a thorough inspection, just marked up the price for a juicy profit! The van was not even safe and legal to tow on collection!
'Buyer Beware' applies just as much to dealers as private sales! They will likely not routinely fix existing faults, hoping you will not point out anything and go away in ignorance.
I looked at dozens of vans from assorted dealers (many of the big names!) before settling on mine, and I was appalled at the condition of some on the forecourts, at under 2 years old, some were wrecks with broken fixtures and fittings, serious water ingress damage etc., most had never been serviced and had lost the remaining manufacturers warranty by default (the water ingress part of that can be worth it's weight in gold!), but they were all being offered as 'excellent condition' and at full price! You really do need to know what you are looking at and for, don't trust the dealers!
Maybe I was just lucky, after getting most things sorted at purchase (through my own due diligence), it's been a gem of a van without issues for over 5 years now.
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Topic: Bailey pegasus Brindisi
via mobile 16/8/2023 at 10:35am
