2014 Buccaneer Blues,Massive Water Ingress

May 4, 2009
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Hi

I feel that i need to vent my disgust and outrage at Elddis and the way they have handled the massive problem that i have been lumbered with.
Back in 2015 my wife Tammy and i found our ideal van in the shape of a less than one year old 2014 Buccaneer Caravel,the timing wasn't the greatest as were 8 months pregnant at the time,but we couldn't miss the oppurtunity as the van was immaculate and less than ten miles away from us.
We had several breaks away in the van this year the first being when baby Harry was just five weeks old.

Now,in September, i noticed that the brake drums were showing signs of corrosion and decided to freshen them up with a lick of paint.
This is where the fun starts,on removal of the O/S wheels i was confronted by two large holes in the face of the wheelarch liner that had clearly been caused by the wheels rubbing on the liner,on closer inspection i noticed that the wheels had also been rubbing on one of the bathroom water pipes although not yet rubbed through.

After recovering from the shock and removing a large amount of grit and road debris from behind the wheelarch, i decided to search the internet and to my surprise found a video from Greentrees Adventure Store warning people to check their twin axle Elddis and Buccaneer models for this problem,so much so that they recalled all of their twin axle models.

I took this video evidence to the original supplying dealer of the caravan who seemed completely uninterested due to fact that i had not completed a warranty transfer.

This was an oversight on my part due to the impending birth of my Son.

The dealer told me that they had no knowlege of this problem and had never submitted a warranty claim for one. As they were contacting Elddis i decide to look around their used stock,among which was a Schooner. I thought i'd have a quick check of the wheelarch and Bingo another holey Buccaneer.
From never dealing with this problem before the dealer now had two to deal with,one of which was their own sales caravan.
The dealer again seemed uninterested and dismissed it.

Since then there has been several emails back and forth with Elddis who are completely unwilling to accept any responsibility for this problem. A problem that could potentially see a less than two year old caravan written off due to the massive water ingress that occurs on any wet road surface not to mention to water pipe rubbing through.
This is not just a warranty claim but a clear manufacturing fault.

Elddis are just hiding behind the warranty transfer paperwork and will not accept that the van was not fit for purpose from new.

Being in the caravan industry ourselves (Static Site & Sales) we find in our best interests to keep customers happy and rely on their repeat business.

I realise that im not going to get anywhere with this but i would just like to warn all owners of post 2012 twin axle Buccaneer and Elddis caravans to check their wheelarch liners and act quickly.

Thanks

Neil & Tammy





 
Mar 14, 2005
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I am sorry to see the problems you have encountered with your caravan.

Look up the Sale of Goods Act, which I think could provide a proper remedy for you against the seller - not the manufacturer. Goods must be as described at the point of sale, and as according to your own posting, this problem is well documented, I think you could have claim against the seller for goods not conforming to contract because the have inherent fault which crucially was present at the time of purchase.

This does not involve the manufacturers consent, its the legal responsibility of the seller.
 

Parksy

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Nov 12, 2009
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Hi Neil and Tammy
First of all, you may notice that I edited your comments slightly.
I removed an inappropriate jest because you wouldn't read a similar comment in Practical Caravan Magazine who own this so website it can't be published on this forum however innocent it may seem.
I also removed a reference to the dealership in question to comply with
Rule 4 Forum Etiquette
There are legal reasons involving the defamation laws which prohibit companies or individuals being named and shamed on a commercially owned internet forum.

Having got the explanations out of the way, I'm sorry to learn of your situation and the allegedly poor response from the dealership involved.
The Prof has outlined an avenue to explore, your local trading standards office may be able to help or to advise you.
If by any chance you purchased your caravan under a finance agreement the finance company need to be informed of the situation, forward copies of your email trail to them and they should act on your behalf, and a similar situation exists if you paid via credit card, even if you only used a credit card to pay the deposit.
There are numerous pieces of advice about similar situations on this forum, use the search tab at the top right of this webpage and type SOGA into the dialogue box, have a browse.
Good luck, please let us know how you progress and good advice from experienced forum members is only a mouse click away.
 
May 7, 2012
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I agree with the Prof on the legal position. Go back to the dealer and point out that under The Sale of Goods Act, the goods have to be of merchantable quality and they are not having a serious fault. You have no remedy against Eldiss I am afraid as the caravan was not new and the guarantee was not transferred. It reflects badly on them but unless you can get a newspaper or similar to back you up you are probably not going to get anywhere with them.
Your legal remedy would be the courts. You can say the whole thing is so faulty that you want your money back but that would need a solicitor or you can get a quote for the repair and use that as the basis of a claim in the small claims court. The evidence found on the nett should be enough to show the caravan has a design fault but an independent report covering this would back you up.
If you are a member of either of the big clubs you could get more detailed advice from their legal helpline or you may find you can get this from one provided by your house contents insurer or a trade union, failing that the Citizens Advice also provide lots of help on their website and by phone.
I am afraid on the basis of the PC customer survey I would not touch a Buccaneer given they came a clear bottom for customer satisfaction behind their parent Eldiss who were second bottom.
 

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