A 1968 Caravan that was waterproof!!

[Dustydog]

If they could make them waterproof in 1968 what has gone wrong over the last 55 years??

View: https://youtu.be/v223HkqHJbo

 

[ProfJohnL]

Ah but it was only waterproof at the bottom!

 

[JTQ]

IMO they could make them water proof today, in fact they have way better products available to achieve this, its just "they" don't care enough to invest the attention to do so.
Take "they" as a wide spectrum of those who are employed in this industry.

 

[Buckman]

IMO they could make them water proof today, in fact they have way better products available to achieve this, its just "they" don't care enough to invest the attention to do so.
Take "they" as a wide spectrum of those who are employed in this industry.

Probably isn't care, but cost?

 

[ProfJohnL]

Probably isn't care, but cost?

Fact; Some (but not enough) caravans do actually stay watertight for a reasonable number of years. That proves the design can work but in many cases doesn't becasue the production facility is not set up to ensure the assembly is correct every time. As far as I know, all UK mass produced caravans are assembled using piecework employment for the shop floor work, and that drives production quantity over quality. You only have to look at the UK car industries record from the late 1960s to see the effect.

Quality has to be instilled into an business and all employees from CEO down has to accept they are personally responsible for ensuring that whatever they do is as good as it can be, and fit for purpose for the next stage or the final customer. If a problem does arise, it should be investigated to see how it occured, and actions taken to amend the relevant processes or design to eliminate to if possible prevent it happening again, or to detect the nonconformity before it get assembled. Careless design and manufacturing is the biggest cause of issues for customers of UK caravan products.

Historically since 2000 ( and possible earlier) at least 20% of caravans have faults where the new owner invokes a warranty claim, this ignores all the other much smaller issues that make the caravans less than perfect which the owner fixes themselves, but never the less are faults. My suspicion is that probably over 50% of new caravans are imperfect on hand over, but UK customers have been brainwashed by so many years of poor product quality they accept some minor faults as being "standard" which is contrary to the legal expectation that supplied retail goods should be fault free under the CRA.

There is an element of cost, in the issue but the major manufacturer's are still making significant profits by effectively overcharging their customers by factoring into the MRP a substantial levy to cover the warranty costs caused by their lack of care and consistency during assembly. I estimate present day caravans could be up to 10% cheaper if the manufacturers actually began to properly apply good practice quality management to their businesses, but they are clearly so remote from their end users, they do not understand the the customers point of view about poor quality choices the manufacturer makes.

Cynically I could suggest the manufacturers are deliberately producing caravans with a limited life expectancy or designed obsolescence, so customers are forced to buy again sooner rather than later.

 

[JTQ]

Probably isn't care, but cost?

"Care" does not have to cost, doing an assembly task in a carefully allocated time period, costs no more than doing it carelessly, however doing it carelessly costs big.
Ultimately, as exampled by the "Prof", manufacturers where throughout there is a lack of care find the final buyer moves elsewhere. Just that with caravans, the UK punters are proving themselves to be slow learners.

 

[Buckman]

As under current legislation there is no comeback to the caravan manufacturer, there is no incentive to improve the product. Simple and cheaper to leave it to the dealership to resolve issues. The hope is that the majority of people will ignore many faults or quality issues. Ignorance of CRA 2015 has been helpful to caravan manufacturers.

 

[Dustydog]

As under current legislation there is no comeback to the caravan manufacturer, there is no incentive to improve the product. Simple and cheaper to leave it to the dealership to resolve issues. The hope is that the majority of people will ignore many faults or quality issues. Ignorance of CRA 2015 has been helpful to caravan manufacturers.

Don’t forget the Dealer’s do get paid by the manufacturer for warranty work even though it is a stingy hourly rate.

 

[toad a caravan]

Perhaps the video provided by Dusty was an early" buccaneer "
prototype .Was the car driver called Roger, jolly looking chap😁

 

[borderbilly]

Perhaps the video provided by Dusty was an early" buccaneer "
prototype .Was the car driver called Roger, jolly looking chap😁

nah, looks more like Rupert with the wife Cressida.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Don’t forget the Dealer’s do get paid by the manufacturer for warranty work even though it is a stingy hourly rate.

That is very true, but the manufacturers also tie the dealers up with red tape which often means what might be a niggling but technically a warrantable issue is too time consuming and and complicated to get it approved by the manufacturer and its frankly not worth the effort for the dealer to claim it, so they just cover it to avoid customer complaints.

You have commented on several occasions about the manufacturers financial statement's that include the warranty cost contingencies, but I am certain that if the true cost that dealers cover where the claim is either rejected or not put forward to the manufacture were also included the picture would be considerably worse than the manufacturers finance statements suggest. I do wish that dealers had a similar set of statutory rights to those afforded to customers under the CRA, then manufacturers would really begin to feel the pain their shortcomings really create.

 

[Dustydog]

Maybe the tide is turning against the manufacturer. This year we have seen the downfall of some major caravan dealers eg Broad Lane Leisure Limited. One of their senior executives was a senior executive of the NCC. Maybe they protected the Manufacturer for too long.

I have said before manufacturers should provide a”toolkit” at point of sale as most seasoned caravanners fix a lot of issues themselves ! Less hassle.

Fully agree. Recent years have seen some smoking guns and mirrors where the amounts reserved for Warranty claims have been reduced , relying on underspend from earlier years!. And yes as I know first hand from a friend, my local dealer employs a full time Warranty Claims Manager . All claims are dealt with by the Dealer who as you correctly point out never recover the full amount actually expended. I guess the original deals and margins give the Dealer some room for manoeuvre but not much!
At the moment the funds allocated look like 10%of the Gross Profit.

Naughty boy Prof. 😜Suggesting the Dealer has a CRA tool against the manufacturer would put the cat among the pigeons and I suspect be a massive wake up call. Gets my vote👍

 

[otherclive]

I wonder if staff that have been shed from caravan makers and dealerships are now working in the housing construction industry. It seems to me that buyers of new homes have no real consumer protection when defects are found. The NHBC (Akin to NCC) 10 years cover is a joke as it only covers really significant issues. For the biggest new purchase of your life you are on your own, unless you take out a civil claim.

New-build homes: Wrexham residents plagued by problems

One man says his £250,000 home had kitchen sockets hanging out of walls, and holes in the ceiling.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Buckman]

I wonder if staff that have been shed from caravan makers and dealerships are now working in the housing construction industry. It seems to me that buyers of new homes have no real consumer protection when defects are found. The NHBC (Akin to NCC) 10 years cover is a joke as it only covers really significant issues. For the biggest new purchase of your life you are on your own, unless you take out a civil claim.

New-build homes: Wrexham residents plagued by problems

One man says his £250,000 home had kitchen sockets hanging out of walls, and holes in the ceiling.

www.bbc.co.uk

Our eldest daughter had terrible problems with their new built home 1996 which including a huge crack from top of stairs to bottom happening within first 6 months. The the floor started sinking with skirting boards sitting at least an inch about the floor itself. Others in the same complex had similar issues and the homes were not cheap.