I had a look at a caravan with my siter in law/ brother in law the weekend, I nice clean little van I think a 2006 Bailey Discovery, ideal for their needs and super light weight, (weight of tow car being a major issue) however the van had a new front on due to a large crack, something I believe a few Baileys have had over recent years, would you buy a van that had a new nose on or woould you steer clear, I don't know what to say to them, but my sister in law has fallen in love with the van????
Caravans with a new front
- Thread starter Mikey_74
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Parksy
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- Nov 12, 2009
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midsmikey said:
Hi Mikey
A lot would depend on who I was buying the caravan from, is it a dealer or a private sale?
Try to find out which dealership did the work, was the workmanship guaranteed in any way and when was the work done?
There are plenty of five year old Bailey Discovery's on the used caravan market, your sister in law might buy an identical model which had not been repaired only to find out later that a repair is needed. Front panel cracks were an issue with this model and many front panels were replaced under warranty.
A 4 berth 2006 Bailey Discovery is worth around c.£4500 - £5000 as a private sale and perhaps c.£600 extra from a dealership with some sort of guarantee.
Check the paperwork, look for evidence of regular scheduled servicing and the results of recent damp tests done as part of the last service.
If everything checks out and the price is right then at least your relatives will know that water ingress has been checked and dealt with.
Check behind the curtains, inside lockers and bed boxes and ease the rubber window surrounds down to check that there is no more damp.
Like wise Avondales had a front and rear stress cracking problem in 2004, you might want to look at your Argente near the ally trims. We had both front and back replaced under warrenty, seems poor initial fixings were the problem. Its either that or a bang !!!!
Wayne
Wayne
SEVERAL caravan makers had front & rear ABS panel problems 2004/2007It was not soley a Bailey problem,This caravan carries a 6 year Bailey warranty transferable to the new owners for £20 admin fee PROVIDING the servicing has been carried out on due dates & by a bailey recognised service centre.If the panel was replaced under the Bailey warranty scheme.& has been certified damp free on the last service I would not have any worry's with this van
TD
TD
I have had, seen others with and on forums read of so many cracking ABS panelled caravans that I would never ever buy another. The warranty does not cover the hassle, the loss of use and after six years is of no value. The van in question only has one year left of the makers warranty even if the previous owners have kept it "alive".
Now they have to keep Baileys together with nuts and bolts in each corner that require tightening at your expense after 3 years. I suppose next year it will be duc tape holding Baileys together!JTQ said:
And what a massive step in the right direction, no ABS for intergity critical components and the ability to tighten the structure if needed. I am not so well connected to Baileys R&D to know that the bolts "require tightening" after three years, I thought it was just a check and subject to reveue based on the findings. I have not heard about them moving over to "Duc" tape next year I thought that came with sealing the cracking ABS.Surfer said:Now they have to keep Baileys together with nuts and bolts in each corner that require tightening at your expense after 3 years. I suppose next year it will be duc tape holding Baileys together!
Thanks for all your comments, I shall pass them on to my sister in law, the new front was done by the dealer that are selling the caravan, it's a small dealer by us but I have seen inside their workshoop and they always seem busy
Parksy
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May I add to my previous post,Having suffered a cracked panel & have had it repaired .I was informed by a couple of caravan repairers that the cause of these panel stress cracks were in the main caused by the supplier of the panels failing to drill oversize fixing screw holes,& the caravan makers also failing to oversize the screw holes,during assembly, the result was that the screws were "scewed" through the ABS & into the frame this caused stress cracks in the panel appear,some times 3/5 years later. A second problem was some makers used a sealant which apparently caused the ABS to go brittle & crack. when panels are replaced these these causes are eliminated.
I am only passing on what I have been told by members in the trade, But it satisfied me & I have had no more problems with my van(2005) vintage
I am only passing on what I have been told by members in the trade, But it satisfied me & I have had no more problems with my van(2005) vintage
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