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Hi

Sorry me again, someone said the Elddis caravans were bottom of the list I just wondered why as the reviews seem to be pretty good.

At the min the ones that catch my eye are Coachman, Bailey, Swift and Adria.
Whats your favourite and why please

Angie
 
Nov 11, 2009
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akd1961 said:
Hi

Sorry me again, someone said the Elddis caravans were bottom of the list I just wondered why as the reviews seem to be pretty good.

At the min the ones that catch my eye are Coachman, Bailey, Swift and Adria.
Whats your favourite and why please

Angie

Coachman seem to have good customer reputation and are nicely fitted out caravans, but quite heavy and with relatively low payloads on some models. Adria seem to consistently receive good survey feedback from new customer and as used caravans. Again though not lightweight.

As most of the kit in all caravans comes from the same suppliers (Thetford, Alko, Alde etc) the quality is in the design, manufacture and installation process, and PDI. With Eldiss being taken over by Hymer/Trigano there is an expectation that they will benefit from the Hymer approach to design and build. But it's early days in that cycle so any improvements may take a while to feed through and be seen. Eldiss may be suffering the Skoda effect for a while yet!

The dealer can make an almighty difference to the ownership experience. If you have a local dealer for the brand and you develop a relationship with the dealer I have found problems with the caravan are rectified more smoothly. I have use Chipping Sodbury Caravans for a Bailey that had to have both front and rear panels replaced, and Tilshead Caravans for a Swift rear panel to be replaced. No point in saving few quid if the dealer is 200 miles away.

All other aspects being equal in terms of layout, MTPLM, budget etc I would opt for an Adria.
 
May 7, 2012
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The magazine runs an annual customer survey. On customer satisfaction Eldiss have come consistently bottom and in the years when it asked about fault free caravans they were bottom again. Having said that they do produce some very nicely designed models and there are plenty of satisfied customers but on the basis of the surveys less than with other makes.
They were taken over by Hymer a couple of years back and hopefully they have improved, but it might be worth waiting for the latest survey to see if this has happened.
 

Mel

Mar 17, 2007
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The difficulty is that within any brand you get good and not so good vans. Elddis are consistently bottom, but I have had two Elddis, one new (2010) and one second hand (2013 model bought by us in 2017). Both were
/are excellent, no damp, no major issues, no warranty issues. Unlike our first van, a brand new Swift (2006) which was damp in different places on each of the first 3 services (got rid then).
Although the surveys will give you an idea, you must remember that they are opt in surveys and therefore not necessarily a representative sample of the caravan buying public.
As others have said, the more helpful consideration is the reputation of the dealer in putting right anything that goes wrong.
Good luck
Mel
 
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Mar 14, 2005
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Hello Angie.,

Reviews tend to be about brand new caravans and focus on layout and colour schemes, In most cases caravans for review will have been checked over with a fine toothed comb by the manufacturer of dealer and the obvious faults will have been put right before they reach the reviewer.

The satisfaction surveys are more about how the caravan has performed in the hands of real user's and as such are more likely to reveal any common problems with a particular model, as well as the most annoying.

Its as sad and proven fact that caravan manufacturers have an abysmal record as far as maintaining a high standard of product quality, An industry that congratulates itself on having a "good performance" whilst having about 20% or more of its products from new requiring attention needs to wake up to reality. It needs to drive the ethic of right first time from chairman down to through all its staff and employees, something that will never happen as long as they use piece work for production staff.

Having seen how some manufactures production lines are run, it hardly surprising appliances get damaged.

Because there is such poor consistency, simply relying on the results of a satisfaction survey and choosing the best performing manufacturer will still mean you have at best about a 1in 5 chance of receiving a new caravan with defects some of which can be serious.

I suggest you find the caravan with the layout that suits you best, Don't go for the cheapest deal if it means your seller is half way across the country, and whilst private sales of secondhand caravans can represent a great deal, the value of the deal can soon evaporate if you have no dealers warranty to sort things out for you.
 
May 7, 2012
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The surveys did suggest that the chances of a fault free caravan is in fact less than 30%, with some makes dropping below 20%. Basically those getting an over 80% satisfaction rating, and not all do, shows just how resigned we are to the rubbish these firms turn out.
 
Jan 31, 2018
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We took delivery of our Bucaneer Cruiser last week and went away in it for the first time Mon to Friday. We were in the very lucky position of having the choice of the new Coachman Lazer, the Bailey Alicanto Porto and the Lunar Alaria range-the lunar wasn't available for a proper look but to be fair the second hand one we looked at was lovely-seats best of all the vans we sat in, and loads of kit eg proactive tracker and levelling system for eg. I really didn't like the Coachman white plasticky looking towel radiator-getting fussy now but it was a lovely van but the Bucaneer did it for us with its underfloor heating, dovetailed metal drawer rails EP levelling and generally lovely airy feel. Who knows what faults may develop, i don't want to tempt providence BUT in terms of Eldis and their construction I can honestly say it is faultless; we are very fussy but EVERY cupboard door lines up, there is not a mark or fingerprint out of place inside, the finish externally is as perfect as we've seen on a new van (in constrast our Pegasus needed silicone sealant remover everywhere externally-even a blocked awning channeland we loved that).
Every van is a kit of parts and we've never had one that didn't develop a little fault or two, quickly sorted by our dealer or us (if it were a loose screw for eg) and they really get hammered on the road and in use so we are not silly in our expectations but we are and can say without tempting providence because we have the van and have used it and inspected it with a fine tooth comb that ;
on first impressions and on our van at least Eldis appear really to have got their act together if it ever slipped. It is really lovely, perfectly made and we are so far delighted.
 
Jul 18, 2017
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We have the 2018 Buccaneer Cruiser and are very happy with it. Excellent service from Northam farm. The are two Buccaneer Owners Forums on Facebook and both offer very good advice.
 
May 7, 2012
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It may be that the new ownership has improved things. The owners survey could still be showing owners of caravans from earlier years skewing the results for the newer ones and if so the report when it comes out needs to say this.
 
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Raywood said:
It may be that the new ownership has improved things. The owners survey could still be showing owners of caravans from earlier years skewing the results for the newer ones and if so the report when it comes out needs to say this.

Sadly not the case as people are still rejecting recent Buccaneers and Elddis caravans as we rejected our 2016 Buccaneer. We were lucky with our 2018. However rejection of caravans seems to apply to all brands as one is as bad as the other!
 
Nov 11, 2009
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I have just got back from a long breakfast get together with a friend and he was very disappointed that his 18 month old Swift Sprite EB was having to go back to the factory. He had pitched in the Forest of Dean for a weeks break when on sitting down in the evening he noticed a drop of water drip down from the ceiling. He thought it might be condensation but on investigation by pressing the ceiling the dripping got worse, and it wasn't raining at the time. Subsequent investigation revealed extensive water ingress into the ceiling and front of the caravan, and the main dealer could not identify the source. The caravan is now awaiting collection by Swift for return to the factory. The outcome could be extensive repairs to ceiling and front, or a replacement caravan.

At least he has a 10 year warranty and Swift/Dealership have reacted positively.
 
Nov 16, 2015
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What a shame, As I posted on a different thread, As we have a "Dry caravan" And now out of warranty I think after the winter an in dry weather I will place roofing tap in the top joints of our van, it can only help seal and stop water ingress, Rain when your travelling can force itself into joints, when your static it merely rolls away. .
 
Jan 31, 2018
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We have friends whose last Swift had issueSwift have been absolutely brilliant about it apparently as has their local dealer; so tell them not to despair!
 
Feb 23, 2018
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otherclive said:
I have just got back from a long breakfast get together with a friend and he was very disappointed that his 18 month old Swift Sprite EB was having to go back to the factory.

As the owner of a 20 month old Sprite SB, this alarms me; I am always suspicious of the roof joint where the back-panel meets the roof. I noticed water pooling in the corner of that area a few weeks ago, as I had levelled the van; dropped the nose as quickly as I could. However, the dealer has always been fantastic so I am reassured by that.
 
Nov 11, 2009
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CustardAvenger said:
otherclive said:
I have just got back from a long breakfast get together with a friend and he was very disappointed that his 18 month old Swift Sprite EB was having to go back to the factory.

As the owner of a 20 month old Sprite SB, this alarms me; I am always suspicious of the roof joint where the back-panel meets the roof. I noticed water pooling in the corner of that area a few weeks ago, as I had levelled the van; dropped the nose as quickly as I could. However, the dealer has always been fantastic so I am reassured by that.

My friends leaked from the front section of the caravan roof.
 

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