bailey withdrawn 10 year guarantee

[TonyG]

So much for their much vaunted Alutech bodyshell!! Bailey have announced that they are dropping their free 10 year bodyshell warranty, and bringing it back down to 6 years on all their new motorhomes!
Evidently, you can pay to have it extended, £189 in the first year, and £229 every year thereafter. They have done this so "we can remain competitive on price" Seems they reckon a 10 year warranty would be too costly to cover themselves. Owning a Bailey Motorhome just got a whole lot more expensive! How long before they follow suit on their caravans?

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/Motorhomes/News/Manufacturers/Bail...

 

[NigelHutson]

Perhaps it's not all it was made out to be then? ".........10 year warranty would be too costly to cover themselves" shows a) a lack of faith in their own product, and b) there have obviously been a great number of claims made on the caravans.
Interesting.

 

[Dustydog]

It seems rather unusual to have to buy the extended 10 year bodyshell Warranty up front. I would have expected a cost option at year six.
However the Bailey bean counters have miraculously worked out you will pay an extra £2,250 over the 10 year period for what in effect is an extra four years cover which in real terms is going to cost you £562.50 per year covered.
Say at least 50% of new purchasers enter into this scheme and say 10,000 units are made each year, a manufacturer in year one will earn an extra 5,000 X 189 = £945,000. Year two onwards they will get 5,000 X 229 = £1,145,000.00
A very nice earner indeed even allowing for the claims that may ensue.

Are Bailey or an outside third party Insurer underwriting this Warranty?

 

[Surfer]

Maybe they are having so many problems with leaking and the ALtech bodyshell, they decided to cut their losses and reduce the warranty.

 

[Stephen1956]

It was a brave move on the part of Bailey to initiate a free 10 year body warranty and it left other manufacturers playing catch up now Swift and Elldis also have a free 10 year body warranty, it is a even braver move to abolish it.
In times when sales are difficult it makes me wonder why they have made the move difficult to comprehend unless they expect the other manufactures to follow suit or there is indeed some issue that has come to light about the expected durability of the Alu-Tec form of construction.

 

[Royston]

With regards to the caravan side, I just wonder how many people actually keep their new vans for the whole 10 years , based upon past comments within this forum 2-3 years seem to be the norm.
The local dealer still only offers a 2 year warranty on second hand vans up to 5 years , then 1 year 5-10 years .

 

[TonyG]

Yes but the water ingress guarantee of 10 years would still stand regardless of the dealers guarantee so long as servicing etc was adhered to

 

[Dustydog]

As an aside a new house gets a NHBC 10 year guarantee subject to lots of small print.
No car manufacturer yet beats Kia's 7 year warrnaty.
Maybe Bailey saw an opportunity, financial, as I said earlier.
Don't forget the original 10 year water ingress guarantee, and the six before, are subject to some fairly rigorous terms.

As no Alu-tech is not very old I doubt there is realistically any meaningful data to say problems will arise between years 6 and 10.
Ah, but this info isn't available to us so maybe Bailey know something....

.
My Wyoming is still dry, touches the Woosie round table quickly

 

[NigelDonnelly]

Essentially, prices going up and warranty going down are hard stories to dress up. It's bad news for punters. I would say however that a 10-year warranty is still available for an extra £190. That is less a sign of build issues and more a sign that since rival manufacturers have matched up the 10yr warranty, there is little commercial advantage to be had from offering it for nothing. If the £190 hadn't been added as additional cost for warranty, it would have been added to the price rise as an extra 1% or so on top of the 1.5% which has been applied.

Maybe this is a bit mean, but I'd suggest that most dealers will 'lose' that £190 in the deal, whether by nibbling into their margin, or (more likely) tinkering with a part-ex value. Probably both.

Suffice to say that most Alu-Tech caravans will still be sold with a 10yr warranty - but owners will pay for the privilege.

 

[NigelDonnelly]

Oh, and the news story is on the PC site too - Click here.

There is a link at the bottom of the story to bring you back here afterwards

 

[NigelDonnelly]

It was a brave move on the part of Bailey to initiate a free 10 year body warranty and it left other manufacturers playing catch up now Swift and Elldis also have a free 10 year body warranty, it is a even braver move to abolish it.
In times when sales are difficult it makes me wonder why they have made the move difficult to comprehend unless they expect the other manufactures to follow suit or there is indeed some issue that has come to light about the expected durability of the Alu-Tec form of construction.

I really think it is to put the other manufacturers under pressure. Do they start charging or abolish it. Either of those will look like they are simply reacting to rivals. Keeping things as they are is the only way to react, I'd say.

 

[Stephen1956]

I believe Swifts 10 year warranty is carried by the manufacturer so there is no cost outlay from the manufacture at point of sale unlike Bailys insurance based last 4 years, I am not sure about Eldiss, so it would appear to me to make a deal of commercial sense providing the product is good enough to push the all inclusive 10 year warranty as a selling point they obviously thought it was important or they would not have followed Baileys lead.

 

[Whittakerr]

Nothing is free. Warranties are a cost to the manufactures, this cost is built in to the purchase cost. If the manufacture gets their sums wrong then either the purchase cost goes up or the warranty comes down.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Yes but the water ingress guarantee of 10 years would still stand regardless of the dealers guarantee so long as servicing etc was adhered to

Hello Tony,

Just from your posting it seems you may not appreciate the way manufacturer guarantees operate.

The water ingress guarantee is a contractual agreement between the caravans first owner and the manufacture. The rights under the ingress guarantee do not automatically transfer to a new owner, unless the guarantor agrees to re-assign the benefits - but you have to ask the repsective manufacture.

Some manufactures are usually happy to transfer subject to certain conditions being met, such as continuous record of service and inspection that complies with the required schedule. Some require an administration fee or additional premium, which actually is quite a good thing for the consumer as it establishes the change of contract beyond reasonable doubt.

Just remember that no contract can change without the agreement of all parties.

 

[Surfer]

Essentially, prices going up and warranty going down are hard stories to dress up. It's bad news for punters. I would say however that a 10-year warranty is still available for an extra £190. That is less a sign of build issues and more a sign that since rival manufacturers have matched up the 10yr warranty, there is little commercial advantage to be had from offering it for nothing. If the £190 hadn't been added as additional cost for warranty, it would have been added to the price rise as an extra 1% or so on top of the 1.5% which has been applied.

Maybe this is a bit mean, but I'd suggest that most dealers will 'lose' that £190 in the deal, whether by nibbling into their margin, or (more likely) tinkering with a part-ex value. Probably both.

Suffice to say that most Alu-Tech caravans will still be sold with a 10yr warranty - but owners will pay for the privilege.

The question is of coursee whether the (additional 4 year) warranty can be transferred if the caravan is sold at any time within the 10 years?

 

[Surfer]

Yes but the water ingress guarantee of 10 years would still stand regardless of the dealers guarantee so long as servicing etc was adhered to

Hello Tony,
Just from your posting it seems you may not appreciate the way manufacturer guarantees operate.
The water ingress guarantee is a contractual agreement between the caravans first owner and the manufacture. The rights under the ingress guarantee do not automatically transfer to a new owner, unless the guarantor agrees to re-assign the benefits - but you have to ask the repsective manufacture.

And if the caravan is sold and the warranty transfered?

 

[Royston]

Cannot see how the 10 year damp warranty is transferable as, I know that if you buy a two year old van the full comprehensive warranty only covers two years , you get a new service manual to be stamped for each years service, you can at the end of two years purchase another warranty.
Just been on my dealers website , they are now fully authorised to carry out aly/tech repairs, also notice how dear these new vans are regards service 1st year £150 plus additional costs 2nd year £250 plus, 3rd year £350 plus 4th year refert back to standard servicing,
So glad that I have resisted the temptation to purchase a aly/tech model.

 

[TonyG]

You can wrap it up in as much cotton wool as you want, and speculate reasons for it but..... by Bailey ducking out of the 10 year guarantee just smacks as a lack of faith in thier product!!!

 

[TonyG]

Yes but the water ingress guarantee of 10 years would still stand regardless of the dealers guarantee so long as servicing etc was adhered to

Hello Tony,

Just from your posting it seems you may not appreciate the way manufacturer guarantees operate.

The water ingress guarantee is a contractual agreement between the caravans first owner and the manufacture. The rights under the ingress guarantee do not automatically transfer to a new owner, unless the guarantor agrees to re-assign the benefits - but you have to ask the repsective manufacture.

Some manufactures are usually happy to transfer subject to certain conditions being met, such as continuous record of service and inspection that complies with the required schedule. Some require an administration fee or additional premium, which actually is quite a good thing for the consumer as it establishes the change of contract beyond reasonable doubt.

Just remember that no contract can change without the agreement of all parties.

john you are quite right i know nothing about water ingress guarantees as i change the van every 2/3 years, so six years or ten years does not really matter to most people

 

[forestgump]

i think it was a sales stunt for bailey and it worked these last years but they know they have to stop it before it gets out off controll ?as for the rest like swift just what is coverd by the 10 years front and back or all sides?

 

[Dustydog]

I've thought about this guarantee issue for years.
At our farm storage it is quite noticable who's in and who's out. You can tell from the absence and the way the grass grows!
I suspect the majority of caravans are lucky to see six weeks on the road. And I mean 42 days driving. The makers know full well that actual time on the road causes flexion in the body and helps degenerate the seals. Staying on one site or hardly moving year on year wont really stress anything. So I reckon only a minority will truly leak, "friday afternoon "models excepted.
The annual service check costs little more than the anti corrosion check on my car so what the heck...

 

[Martin24]

I think the automatic assumption to all us lay caravanners is that Bailey for whatever reason have a lack of faith in their product, especially as there was so much hype at launch about the 10 years. If kia went back to three we'd all say the same, as we would with any product. I don't think it a wise move to make a fuss about how wonderful your product is and then reduce your warranty on it. They are playing about with an awful lot of ventures and ideas at the moment and I just hope for their employees, dealers and customers that they don't soon join fleetwood and Avondale.

 

[MichaelE]

With the original 10 year warranty you had to have it serviced every to maintain this and as already pointed out a fair percentage use there vans once or twice a year or have it on a permenant site and dont bother to have the van serviced so invalidates the warranty anyway.
Are people worried if they offer 10 years free or not, the first impressions i got from was " well i dont keep my van for 10 years so its no use to me?"
Why should you pay for something you dont want?
As pointed out from the start it was more to benefit the secondhand market.
To be honest if you are going to keep your van for 10 years then paying £190 extra against a 20K van is not a lot.
I would be more worried about the extra money you will be paying because of the scrapping of the fixed servicing costs!

 

[ProfJohnL]

This thread demonstrates a point I have made prevoiusly.
Whilst I do not have a Bailey caravan or sight of the relevant manufacturers guarantee documents, I can only make generalised comments as follows:-

Manufacturers are not legally required to offer any sort of after sales guarantee to the end user, and when they do provide one the terms and conditions are not subject to any standards (except that they cannot be unfair) and they can contain any limitations the manufacture wishes to apply, such as service intervals, who can provide the service, and charges etc.

In the eyes of the public it may seem a Manufacturers Guarantee is standard issue these days, but it is in fact a conditional gift.

Whilst no apparent money may change hands for the guarantee, it is as much a legal contract as any other type of transaction, so once it is agreed and in place, if any party deviates from its Terms and Conditions, that is breach of contract, which may render them liable or the agreement void.

What this means is that once you have agreed or accepted your guarantee arrangements, the manufacture cannot change the T&C's for your guarantee. So whilst Bailey may be reducing their standard term for body cover from ten to six, if your guarantee documentation states its ten years that remains the case for your caravan. teh revised period of cover only applies to caravans supplied with the new agreement.

I have to add a word of caution, because in many contracts of this sort, there can be get out clauses in the T&C's - things like the 'The manufacturer reserves the right to amend or revise the period or extent of cover at any time' and there may be a method of notifying the caravan owner of how these changes may be made and notified.

However if a manufacture did reduce the period of cover in an existing contract without due cause (in other words as a saction in response to some incident) I suspect that such a change could be challenged in court.