2 years and damp ?

[rodders2]

had the 2nd annual service on my swift at the dealers i got

the caravan from it is an 05 van first registered feb 06

they tell at this time it has high levels of damp at the rear on both sides a reading of up to 30 on their tester,

they had to wait for new mouldings from swift,

this took from 28th of march until this week to do the work

but i now am told that damp had actually worked through to

internal wallboards and have ordered replacements,

the van is still under warranty until feb 2009

ihave considered calling swift to ask if warranty may be

extended but dealers said it is unheard of

but how good is van going to be will i get dry rot or anything else to worry about that could arise after warranty has expired

would it be unreasonable to ask for damp warranty extention?

do i now ditch van which is painfull in my pocket ?

or is the dealer trying to swerve their responsibility

any advise would be good as i dont think it would be unreasonable to ask for damp warranty extention as tis problem

has arisen so early in the vans life as i hope to keep it a good few years as the kids grow up

your advise and knowledge would be appreciated thanks,

as i now have pick up to use it and book in again

cheers

rodders

 

[SwiftGroup_374327846]

Rodders

Do you want to contact us and let us have a look at your case?

My email is kpowell@swiftleisure.co.uk. If you send us your van details and telephone number we will give you a call on Monday.

Regards

Kath

 

[bigbilly]

Unfortunately the van will never be the same after that amount of work is done on it.

Don't forget to check with the dealer doing the work what his warranty on workmanship covers.

Bill

 

[RayS]

Others will know better than I but this sounds as if the van was not fit for purpose and perhaps you should be looking for replacement rather than repair.

 

[Robfooty]

this fit for the purpose argument is getting a bit over used isn't it - it's an 05/06 van it's now the middle of 08 there was maybe no damp previously and now for some reason there is - let the van manufacturers deal with it under warranty - we had a van that needed a whole new front under warranty - it was done and the van was better than before as it has the modified front with the problem rectified. My friend with a van the same make van as us has had a new rear panel - again the van has come back better than before - if the workshop take off the wall board and the wood is damaged then they'll probably replace it. We don't own a swift but it shouldn't matter what manufacturer you have a warranty and that's it. Warranty work didn't affect the trade in we got for the van when we sold it in fact the dealer was pleased it had been done as it was a recognised issue with that van

 

[rodders2]

thanks for your replies

have spoken to swift and my dealers

they both come back very positive

and with all the right answers

as i work in service and install

i do understand that you need to go with

repairs most of the time and if not

happy then take this up with

the relevent party once they have

had chance to rectify problems

especially at this time of the warranty

period,so i am happy at present

and if repairs etc are to the original

standard then i shall be happy then to

cheers

rodders

 

[antrimboy]

rodders, regarding your damp warranty extension, unless I'm mistaken, I think you'll find that your 'van already has a six year warranty for damp/water ingress.

 

[rodders2]

thanks eddie but checked that out and it was 3 years at time of purchase i think it may have been changed to 6 years in 07 or when model got upgrade to one piece side panel

cheers

rodders

 

[ValA.]

Rodders (or other Swift owners) - check the rear floor, too, in the corners. The design of the rear panel can lead to water running down and on to the plywood floor panel in both rear corners. We've recently added a 'watershed' to the underneath of the rear panel, and underneath the two rear corners, to deflect this flow of water. If you pour water down the caravan at the rear, where it runs down after rain, and look underneath, you'll see what I mean.

Several other makes of caravan have a moulded panel, which leads to water shedding off the bottom of the curve, but Swift rear panels just 'end' which can lead to a bridge of water wetting the floor, which swells, which adds to the problem. We've had a sneaky look underneath several Swifts on our storage compound and this rear corner damp appears to affect several of them (even newish ones - we have mentioned it to the owners). Maybe it's something Swift should examine in their design department?

 

[otherclive]

I have had an Eldiss that required the front to be replaced and some internal wall boards. This was carried out under the insurance warranty as it was a second hand van and six yaers old when we bought it. In the final fours years that we owned it all damp checks were AOK. Our 05 S5 Pageant requires a new front as the top of the panel has been found to have cracked and allowed some damp to develop. It was found during the Feb 08 service and it goes in for the work in July. I have no qualms about the dealers abilty to carry out the work as they are a major Bailey dealer with first rate workshops. I have been told that sometimes Bailey wil take the van back to their works for similar repairs. In some respects I am glad that the problem has been found half way through the warranty period as there is ample time to make sure that the repair has been succesful.

Other Clive

 

[Barkas]

Hi All, If reading any of the above doesnt put you off caravaning then nothing ever will.

 

[PaulHull]

Hi Paul,

Look on any forum, cars, washing machines etc. It's where people share their problems and try to sort them. If you took everything on these forums at face value you would never purchase anything.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Paul, (not Hull)

You are correct that the balance of posts could make you think that some products are are not worth buying. It must be remembered that most people do not make a song and dance about a product that works well, they expect it to work so why shout about it, so the impetus to write to a forum is usually when something goes wrong. But even then it only usually after the first stages of resolution with the seller have failed.

In most cases the reports on these forums are just a few incidents that have not worked or been resolved quickly. However just because they are a small percentage of owners experiences does not reduce their significance. A good business should be looking at all occasions when a product has not performed in accordance with the customers expectations, and use the information to review the design, instructions or marketing. They should use the opportunity to show all customers that they really care.

Ironically the reports that seem to be raised here area actually more critical about the poor service customers receive than the fact that a product has a defect.

We have a legal right under the sale of Goods act's to products that are free from defects, but we have traditionally accepted that sometimes we will receive a defective product, and we rely on sellers to put it right. So we have a live with it or repair it, rather than a prevent it culture.

And for that reason alone, manufactures really should be putting more effort into ironing out defective designs or processes when they are exposed, rather exposing customers to defective products.

Forums such as PC will inevitably be biased to wards exposing defects, but that does not necessarily mean that all similar products suffer with the same difficulties.