Always something

[Martin24]

Last time back in 2007 it was the fridge that wouldn't work and with so many others that year needed to be replaced. Now in 2010 it's the cooker. The one time I'd wanted to use it since getting the van at Easter and it wouldn't work at all!!! at least the hob managed to light! Now there's a major issue the minor stuff that was waiting until first service can all be done at the same time!!

 

[waffler]

Sorry to hear about the problems with your Coachman. We've had our Coachman 15 months- the first one for us-I understand that Coachman take their warranties seriously. What is your dealer doing? (We have had two other makes and can't believe the difference, quality and after care. One of our went to the dealers on average every month for three years!!!)

 

[Dustydog]

Hi Martin
Whatever make of caravan you buy ,the majority of the habitation equipment comes from a common external manufacturer, eg spinflo, truma etc.
Now is it Coachman's fault the hob failed

Would this fault have shown up at the PDI?
Over the years I'd say it has taken me 12 - 18 months to "iron out the bugs" on a new caravan. With the help of an excellent dealer that process was not too painful. As I have said on previous posts I have also done my own running repairs to save time and inconvenience.
Ah the pleasures of a new caravan

 

[Martin24]

Not criticising coachman, as usual it's the external suppliers that let all manufacturers down!!! I still say there's nothing to beat Coachman in the mass, affordable market!! Don't use my dealer for warranty work as have an excellent approved workshop that I always use!

 

[Philspadders]

Over the years I'd say it has taken me 12 - 18 months to "iron out the bugs" on a new caravan.
Why ?. If there is a fault with your new caravan, take it back.

if you bought a new car and the door handle fell off would you fix it yourself or take it back to the dealer ? And would you blame Ford, Toyota or whoever made the car ? . surely you should blame the company that made the handle.

 

[Dustydog]

Over the years I'd say it has taken me 12 - 18 months to "iron out the bugs" on a new caravan.
Why ?. If there is a fault with your new caravan, take it back.

if you bought a new car and the door handle fell off would you fix it yourself or take it back to the dealer ? And would you blame Ford, Toyota or whoever made the car ? . surely you should blame the company that made the handle.

Phil
It's all to do with economics and sensibility. When the three way water system tap broke this summer it was easier for my dealer to post me a new one, next day delivery, to site . It took me 5 minutes to change.
Your way would have meant three weeks on holiday with no water and then a whole day spent travelling back and forth to the dealer. A no brainer imo

 

[ProfJohnL]

I feel that I should try to readdress the balance of this thread.

I am very confident that none of the manufactures involved in producing caravans or the equipment in them deliberately set out to make faulty products.

Unfortunately some parts do fail and whilst the problem may appear to be with an OEM part (heater, hob, light fitting, door handle etc), the cause may not rest with OEM supplier.

For my sins I worked for a number of years for a major OEM supplier to the caravan industry. Despite enormous effort on our part to ensure the products we made were all 100% tested for correct and safe function before despatch. We even implemented joint project with the manufacturers that resulted in special paletted packaging that ensured that all parts reached the caravan manufacture in pristine condition, the number of products that were found to be faulty or missing bits at the dealers PDI was shocking.

We were amazed that one manufacture retuned close to 100 units to claiming they were faulty. What we found was the product had been stored outdoors and was soaking, and that the kits of fittings had been robbed from the packaging. The actual product was all tested and found to be fully functional but due to its rain damage was basically scrap! (worth approx £20,000).

It was later found that on caravan manufactures production line the fitters were pulling product from the pallet loosing the bag of fittings, and rather than looking for them on the floor taking the fittings from next pallet and claiming it was faulty.

This continued to happen even after we supplied additional sets of fittings to the production lines.

This is all down to the fact that many of the production lines at caravan manufactures worked on piece rate and this does not encourage operatives to take pride and care in the jobs they do.

Just because a manufacturers product fails does not necessarily mean it’s the fault of the OEM.

 

[trickydicky]

Philspadders wrote If there is a fault with your new caravan, take it back.
Sometimes it's not as straightforward as this because there isn't a dealership in every town or approved workshop,which can mean travelling long distances to get something fixed,and taking days off work.
Eg today I've done a 50 mile round trip to the dealer to get my fridge checked,as I'm having problems with it.I don't know how to sort it out myself,so had no option but to take the van back in.However if it had been say a handle which had dropped off,then it would have made economic sense to have it posted to me.
I think dealerships could be more proactive,by having a mobile engineer attached to each dealership,with a radius of say 30 miles, so that problems could be sorted out at home.Obviously it would be better for the customers,and the dealer would also gain because there would be less caravans on their premises awaiting repair,and so they would have more available selling space.
Cheers R

 

[Dustydog]

Prof John said :-<!--[endif]--><!--[endif]-->
We were amazed that one manufacture retuned close to 100 units to claiming they were faulty. What we found was the product had been stored outdoors and was soaking, and that the kits of fittings had been robbed from the packaging. The actual product was all tested and found to be fully functional but due to its rain damage was basically scrap! (worth approx £20,000).
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John
I bet they aren't trading anymore