Caravan Guarantees

[Notmyvan]

Hopefully in a few weeks time I will be buying a new caravan.
Perhaps around 20ft. Twin Axle.
Is it like buying cars where some manufacturers give a 7 year warranty, and some still only give 2 years warranty.
Has any caravan magazine done a list of manufacturers and who long the guarantees are ?
( I notice that some owners have issues with damp and struggle to have warranty work done when its past a year old)

 

[otherclive]

Most now seem to give 10 year water ingress warranty. But i don’t know if they are transferable to a second owner. And like cars they will have specific terms and conditions relating to servicing. The caravan equipment comes with a shorter warranty of three years. But even here some T&C may require the owner to have the equipment serviced at specified intervals. The query here is that most of that equipment isn’t serviced during the caravans annual service. It is checked but not serviced. IE refrigerator, heaters, cooker etc. You will have to read he makers warranty conditions when you receive the caravan.

 

[JezzerB]

As Clive says Bailey 6 years water, Elddis, Adria and Coachman 10 Swift-think 10 but the new top of the range is for life for the first owner only.
Now I think most charge to transfer and for a fee Bailey will give you 10 years! As Clive says for interior stuff-most is 3 years however you'd need to check on that as there are individual bits like water pumps that say 1 year in the blurb and not sure if this would hold true or not!

 

[xtrailman]

My 2011 Bailey did have a 10 year warranty for ingress, but later ones only 6 with an option to extend to 10.

My 2017 Swift has a 10 year warranty for the first owner only, but only 6 for the second owner.

Both required a AWS service at the correct times to maintain the warranty.

Its always worth researching before you buy as different manufacturers vary with what is covered especially with the first 3 years for appliances etc.

 

[Raywood]

Its a minefield but yes six or ten years on most makes for water ingress and three years on the basic caravan but this normally does not include items that have their own manufacturers guarantees like the fridge and there are lots of exceptions even then.
Most makers require you to register to maintain the guarantee, and may charge you for this and you will need the seller to provide evidence that it has been serviced by an approved engineer up the their standard.
If buying second hand make sure you get the service documents and that the book has been stamped or the guarantee is worthless, the caravan builders tend to be very hot on this.
The service requirement is usually by one of their agents, or an NCC approved workshop.

 

[otherclive]

Its a minefield but yes six or ten years on most makes for water ingress and three years on the basic caravan but this normally does not include items that have their own manufacturers guarantees like the fridge and there are lots of exceptions even then.
Most makers require you to register to maintain the guarantee, and may charge you for this and you will need the seller to provide evidence that it has been serviced by an approved engineer up the their standard.
If buying second hand make sure you get the service documents and that the book has been stamped or the guarantee is worthless, the caravan builders tend to be very hot on this.
The service requirement is usually by one of their agents, or an NCC approved workshop.

With Swift the stamped Service Book isn’t accepted as proof that it has been serviced iaw the specified schedules. Swift dealerships upload the service data so Swift has visibility of it. Other AWS service agents may not do this so the service invoice and record sheets require uploading to Swift who will insert the details into the caravan record.

When I bought my van the service dealer found some small cracks in the rear panel. The service book was fully stamped but Swift only had details of two services carried out. So I had to spend quite a lot of time tracking the missing services that were carried out by different service Centers. Believe me GDPR doesn’t make life any easier. After I had obtained the information and provided it to Swift they were excellent in authorising the replacement rear panel. So my advice is be meticulous in verifying the service history by the service records/invoices. Do not solely rely on the stamps in the service book.

 

[Jim25]

Hopefully in a few weeks time I will be buying a new caravan.
Perhaps around 20ft. Twin Axle.
Is it like buying cars where some manufacturers give a 7 year warranty, and some still only give 2 years warranty.
Has any caravan magazine done a list of manufacturers and who long the guarantees are ?
( I notice that some owners have issues with damp and struggle to have warranty work done when its past a year old)

Hi if buying new you should get a 10 year water ingress warranty. Warning always read the terms and conditions of any warranty. Most also have a 3 year warranty on other parts of your caravan. Tip as soon as possible after purchase go away for a weekend to a week, in your caravan. Under the sale of goods act you have 30 days to reject your caravan if you find any major faults with it or other faults. Report these immediately to the seller and to Trading Standards. If the seller does not take your complaint seriously Trading Standards will guide you through the next phase. Although you have 30 days as soon as faults are reported and you have logged a case with Trading Standards and you are not happy with any repairs done. You will be entitled under the 30 day procedure to an added 6years for further complaints to be rectified to your satisfaction.Within that 6 year time frame your right to reject the caravan still stands.But this would involve going to court.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hi if buying new you should get a 10 year water ingress warranty. Warning always read the terms and conditions of any warranty. Most also have a 3 year warranty on other parts of your caravan. Tip as soon as possible after purchase go away for a weekend to a week, in your caravan. Under the sale of goods act you have 30 days to reject your caravan if you find any major faults with it or other faults. Report these immediately to the seller and to Trading Standards. If the seller does not take your complaint seriously Trading Standards will guide you through the next phase. Although you have 30 days as soon as faults are reported and you have logged a case with Trading Standards and you are not happy with any repairs done. You will be entitled under the 30 day procedure to an added 6years for further complaints to be rectified to your satisfaction.Within that 6 year time frame your right to reject the caravan still stands.But this would involve going to court.

Sale of Goods Act has been superseded by the Consumer Rights Act in 2015

 

[Beachball]

With Swift the stamped Service Book isn’t accepted as proof that it has been serviced iaw the specified schedules. Swift dealerships upload the service data so Swift has visibility of it. Other AWS service agents may not do this so the service invoice and record sheets require uploading to Swift who will insert the details into the caravan record.

When I bought my van the service dealer found some small cracks in the rear panel. The service book was fully stamped but Swift only had details of two services carried out. So I had to spend quite a lot of time tracking the missing services that were carried out by different service Centers. Believe me GDPR doesn’t make life any easier. After I had obtained the information and provided it to Swift they were excellent in authorising the replacement rear panel. So my advice is be meticulous in verifying the service history by the service records/invoices. Do not solely rely on the stamps in the service book.

Actually otherclive i would agree with you our Abbey got a stamped service book but the the owner before us had use a Mobile caravan services for some years ant rest at Coupland dealership at Louth i too had to get the dates and now it confirmed with Swift . but so far no major repair on it ..

 

[Dustydog]

Jim 25.
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 has been done to death on here. Use the search engine and all will be revealed👍👍