Hi I have a 2021 swift elite 850, its my first new caravan, i have noticed a large crack in the perspex panel above the front windows, my caravan was serviced in Feb of this year by MCA approved contractor, but not by Swift, or main dealer, Swift aee now asking for the NCC qualifications of the contractor, so my question is has anyone else had an issue with the panel & is this Swift trying to get out of a warranty claom?
Cracked Panel
- Thread starter Tony Jennings.
- Start date
Tony,
This is Swifts Warranty condition No 2
The Annual Service must be carried out in accordance with the requirements in this handbook. You will be responsible for any charges made for an Annual Service. If the Annual Service is performed by an authorised Swift Group Service Centre then Swift warrants that the Annual Service has been performed correctly. If the Annual Service is performed by an unauthorised repairer or service centre then if the Annual Service has not been performed in accordance with the requirements in this handbook and/or work has been performed on your caravan that is defective or faulty, then Swift will not be obliged to perform any work under this Warranty (insofar as it relates to defective or faulty work or defective Annual Service).
You need to be sure your servicing has been carried out a Swift approved repairer or service centre. Best ask your chap before you reply to Swift. Caravan Manufacturers can be notoriously difficult on Warranty claims! Please let us know how you get on.
This is Swifts Warranty condition No 2
The Annual Service must be carried out in accordance with the requirements in this handbook. You will be responsible for any charges made for an Annual Service. If the Annual Service is performed by an authorised Swift Group Service Centre then Swift warrants that the Annual Service has been performed correctly. If the Annual Service is performed by an unauthorised repairer or service centre then if the Annual Service has not been performed in accordance with the requirements in this handbook and/or work has been performed on your caravan that is defective or faulty, then Swift will not be obliged to perform any work under this Warranty (insofar as it relates to defective or faulty work or defective Annual Service).
You need to be sure your servicing has been carried out a Swift approved repairer or service centre. Best ask your chap before you reply to Swift. Caravan Manufacturers can be notoriously difficult on Warranty claims! Please let us know how you get on.
many thanks for your help, i will keep the forum updated, but it doesn't look good now.
When my five year old Swift required a new rear panel it was done under warranty but the Swift dealership told me that it would have cost around £3000 for the panel and work package. That was in 2017. On the forum costs of around £9000 have been mentioned for front panel repairs/replace on modern vans.
Authorised Swift repairers upload their service documents to Swift. I had to scout around and find two other non Swift but AWS companies who had serviced my van for the previous owner. They sent me copies of the records which I then sent to Swift. But Swift do not just accept a stamp in the log book they require full invoice details if the work is carried out by non Swift dealership or AWS technicians.
Noting that servicing would not have done anything wrt a cracked panel other than perhaps note it. On such a new caravan a cracked panel should not occur so you could have a claim against the Dealer under CRA 2015 that’s who has contractual responsibility in law. Check out the Which site fir CRA 2015.
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To replace the panel on our caravan the cost was £9000. I would imagine that the Swift panel will be a similar cost. However the good news is that even if Swift reject the claim, the dealer is still responsible.
Our 2018 caravan had the front panel replaced last year by the dealership and instead of £9000 cost was £600. On a 2021 there should be no charge whatsoever. If the claim is rejected by Swift come back on here for further help.
Ii it is a MCEA technician that you used, you need to check if they were AWS approved by NCC as not all MCEA technicians are AWS approved. See https://www.mobilecaravanengineers.co.uk/quality-standard/
Ask your MCEA engineer if he is a Swift Approved Engineer.
Buckman is absolutely spot on and has the T Shirts!
CRA 2015 fully protects you. Your Contract is with the Dealer.
Did you pay for the Swift on a CC or loan?
Good luck
Apologies. Just to be pedantic, a loan offers zero protection however Hire Purchase offers a lot of protection and the onus is on the finance company to resolve the issue. There is also some protection when paying using a debit card.
If the panel was faulty or the cracks were due to faulty assembly then you have a right of repair against the dealer under the Customer relations Act 2015. This over rides any warranty conditions but you may have to et a report on this from a suitably qualified person to prove it.
If you used HP or paid the deposit or any part of the purchase on a credit card you can claim against the finance company under the Consumer Credit Act and I would notify them immediately. Hopefully they would get the report, but they may ask you for it.
If you joined either of the big clubs they have helplines that will advise you but otherwise try Citizens advice.
If you used HP or paid the deposit or any part of the purchase on a credit card you can claim against the finance company under the Consumer Credit Act and I would notify them immediately. Hopefully they would get the report, but they may ask you for it.
If you joined either of the big clubs they have helplines that will advise you but otherwise try Citizens advice.
Don't accept anything but a free repair on this. The constraints above only give wriggle room for them to get out of any additional warranty on the caravan over and above your standard rights. Your standard rights more than adequately cover the expectation that this panel should have lasted more than 2 years without cracking.
It's the dealers responsibility to fix it NOT Swift's, so if they push back and say swift wont warranty it, I suggest a blank look and a reply of 'so what? It's still your problem to fix'. Realistically unless they can prove you caused the issue they should already be fixing it.
Others have mentioned the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and your situation is a clear contender for its use.
Its important to use it correctly, and I know at lest one other comment has suggested using "Which?" who provide high quality consumer advice.
They provide an automatic assistant to draft an initial letter to send to your seller.
Its important to use it correctly, and I know at lest one other comment has suggested using "Which?" who provide high quality consumer advice.
They provide an automatic assistant to draft an initial letter to send to your seller.
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