a matter of opinion?

[nickmac73]

hi all,
in our quest to find the van for us i have been trying to find out which manufacturer is the best...and who to maybe avoid...which is proving to be the usual minefield of opinion...so ive come up with this, here is a list of car makers, you know, if someone said rolls royce you would hope to be getting something solid, well made and reliable but you pay top dollar...likewise maybe a trabant would be bottom of the list..
here goes...working from top to bottom..
rolls royce..bentley.. morgan..
ferrari..mercedes..lexus..
volkswagon..volvo..bmw..
ford..vauxhall/opel
(anything french)
toyota..mazda..fiat...
(anything spanish)
british leyland..
trabant...
how would you list the van makers?
nick

 

[Martin24]

Van master

Coachman

Elddis/swift

Bailey

 

[Sproket]

You wanted a quality product ?

 

[Damian]

For build quality, forget any british maker and look to the continental vans, Adria, Hobby, Hymer, Dethleffs, Knaus, etc.

All British vans have faults which should have been sorted out years ago, but have not, so its a lottery as to whether you get a good or bad one.

P.S. I would have put any French car below Trabant, they are all rubbish.

 

[forestgump]

i agree ive gone to adria from swift and iam very happy trabants go on for ever

 

[Martin24]

Totally agree on the car front! Anything with a french badge should eb avoided at all costs, and an italian one at that. Always surprises me how VW and Audi have slipped on the reliability front but the Skoda storms ahead. I would certainly put any amount of Jap C@*P above almost everything else, Defender being the exception!!!!

 

[woodsieboy]

It is probably just me but of all the cars we have had over the years the worst for reliability, were a LR Discovery,and Ford Smax,followed by a Fiat Doblo,best for reliabilty have been Mitsubishi Shogun,VW golf and wait for it................ Peugeots, we currently run 2 Partners one is a van and one has windows,both have been just as reliable as the Shogun and Gulf,and then there is the OH BMW, but that doesn't do enough miles to find out how good it is.Again it could be me but in terms of reliabilty, our Bailey Senator Series5 Wyoming, was our least problematical caravan, and we kept it the longest.

 

[MeonIan]

Well in 25 years of driving I've only owned 4 makes of car, Ford x3, Vauxhall x2, Citroen x1, Skoda x9. The Skodas including one of my current 14 year old ones have been the best, followed by the Fords, then the Vauxhall and finally the s###roen. In caravan terms my last two, both Baileys have not given any major concerns or problems.

 

[caravaninspector]

I have had tourers for the last 25 years and many years of statics before that, having dealt with all manufacturers I can honestly say the quality of build, after sales warranty repairs from all manufacturers have one level, "give me your money and I don't care about the customer". Its a case of accepting the poor quality or find a new interest, if the caravan is any better than that you are doing well. Dealers go hand in hand with manufacturers sorry to say.

 

[Parksy]

It's true to say that over the years British caravan manufacuters have had a rather chequered reputation in terms of build quality but we have to bear in mind that caravan related internet forums are comprised mainly of content containing details of things that have gone wrong, we rarely hear from satisfied customers (of which I'm happy to say that I'm one)
The wider availability of the internet, the advent of the 'silver surfer' and greater awareness of consumer rights legislation enshrined in the sale of goods act has begun to force caravan manufacturers to address the problems of build quality, poor design and shoddy workmanship, and not before time.
Far too many brand new caravans still leave the manufacturers with problems so there is still a long way to go, but manufacturers now know that when a problem arises, especially one of poor design, the information can be within the public domain in a very short time because of instant mass communication.
We should never accept poor quality and information shared by people on forums such as this one help to make sure that we don't have to.

 

[colin-yorkshire1]

well said Parksy,
I am one too since going back to touring we have had just one van the bailey now 6years old and it is as good if not better than when we bought it there have been no warranty issues and the only work required having been a new filter housing because I broke it!! and new stiffer tyres with after market Alko shockers because the originals were rubbish, considering the leaps and bounds that caravans have had since our last van a fleetwood colchester the difference is remarkable, we could have had a Adria for the same price size ect but the trim level was more akin to the colchester than a modern van. not for us sorry
as for tow cars "how longs a piece of string" no matter what the make someone will have had a bad one as well as those who swear by them worst we had was a volvo best was probably the mondeo although the wife would dispute that as she loves the meriva we have now,