Elddis and Hymer

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P

PTA

Mar 5, 2020
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I have just bought a new 2026 Elddis Crusader Mistral - in defiance of my 80th birthday!

I have gone over it with a fine tooth comb and I must say that the Hymer link and financial input seems,at last, to have made a qualitative difference.
Everything seems to have been very solidly (no pun intended!) put together. Sealant has been immaculately applied, fittings well finished, exterior very nicely finished too, one piece wallboard instead of taped seams inside and the old models' (stupid) gas locker door has been redesigned and now employs a "pantograph" door- which, initially, takes a bit of getting used to but works well.

I had been reading about Hymer's intervention in QA systems, improvement in customer service policies ...(much needed !!) and delivery dates to dealers.

My first impressions are that it has been effective.
Naive?
I hope not.
Will keep you posted.
 
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Mel

Mel

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Mar 17, 2007
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Congratulations on your purchase and well done for considering age to just be a number. After a woeful experience with a 2018 Elddis, I swore never again. However would like to hear better news about them. Do keep us posted
Mel
 
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otherclive

otherclive

Nov 11, 2009
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It’s good to hear that Hymer input has led to a discernible improvement in visible quality, hopefully it has filtered down into other areas too. The locker door improvement being one. Good luck with the new caravan.
 
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Beachball

Beachball

Jan 3, 2012
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I use to own a 2008 Elddis Crusader Super Sirocco the only thing we had wrong was a warp cassette door, but pleased the locker door has been improved keep us updated of your travels .
 
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birdman101

birdman101

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I hope all goes well with your new caravan and that they have improved. But having bought 2 in past years and both had panels crack and leak at 2 years old,we vowed no ever to touch them again and have stayed with trouble free Swifts.
 
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P

PTA

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birdman101 said:
I hope all goes well with your new caravan and that they have improved. But having bought 2 in past years and both had panels crack and leak at 2 years old,we vowed no ever to touch them again and have stayed with trouble free Swifts.
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I have just exchanged a 2020 Mistral. It had the ubiquitous water ingress over the front windows (sorted under warranty) but it was OK otherwise.
I had thought to keep it -I think "see me out" is the phrase !- but I had been told by the doctor that I was fit for my age and had been rated " Excellent" on the" IAM Over 65s test" I thought "sod it" I have a few more years' caravanning left.

Fingers crossed :)
 
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birdman101

birdman101

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PTA said:
I have just exchanged a 2020 Mistral. It had the ubiquitous water ingress over the front windows (sorted under warranty) but it was OK otherwise.
I had thought to keep it -I think "see me out" is the phrase !- but I had been told by the doctor that I was fit for my age and had been rated " Excellent" on the" IAM Over 65s test" I thought "sod it" I have a few more years' caravanning left.

Fingers crossed :)
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Good of you that’s my feeling to carry on as long as possible. That’s why in our 80’s we down sized in 2023 to make things easier for us, We had 2 Elddis and really liked them internally,but after body failures on both it put us off. That was the reason we went back to Swift as all other Swifts were trouble free.
 
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P

PTA

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If you would like to see what Elddis say about their improvement strategy Google "Elddis: Going Forward Together." It's quite interesting.
Time will tell......and I will keep you posted re. my experience.
 
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J

JTQ

May 7, 2005
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CaravanRamblings said:
Have they now removed moulded ABS from all construction panels?

That's always a deal breaker for me.
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And to me, an immediate rejection of any further consideration of a caravan where ABS is in any way used as a bodywork sealing member, I will reluctantly accept if as a cosmetic "finisher" if that use serves no integrity role. Though best it never sees any caravan bodywork usage, full stop.

It's IMO a totally unsuitable material for use in the type bodywork, integrity critical applications it has been used by many van builders, countless now are the failures I have personally seen together with those mentioned in caravan & motorhome forums.
It can without doubt bring "style" but that at a dreadful longer term "cost".
 
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Dustydog

Dustydog

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Bailey ABS panels back in 2005 were prone to failure . I remember seeing on two occasions a Bailey truck delivering 10 front panels to Chipping Sodbury Caravans.
The failures were not the ABS but the manufacturing method of attachment. Punched screws, no pilot holes . Caused stress fractures and cracks. Remember the De Havilland Comet cracks?
My old Wyoming has ABS panels. Apart from a couple of tiny crack at the corner edge no problem. Capt Tolley once a year holds it in abeyance .
I believe ABS is still used extensively in the car industry, bumpers etc
 
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J

JTQ

May 7, 2005
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Dustydog said:
I believe ABS is still used extensively in the car industry, bumpers etc
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Not to hold the weather out of where it must not get, but only as a cosmetic finisher, not even as a functional "bumper", there hopefully is a structural "armature" behind it!
Yes very intimately I remember the Comets windows, the tutor said "designed before they invented fatigue". More the move to higher spec alloy, away from the lower strength alloy of the old Dakotas that could live better with window corners.

Whilst I agree often the ABS failed because of the lack of stress relief at fixings, like not using clearance holes for screws. It also can very readily have any amount of locked in stresses due to being here a thermo moulded plastic sheet item, given time if not relieved in manufacture these ultimately find their own way to seek relief, by localised cracking.
Add to that unlike our cars the sub structure is way more on the flex without the specialised fixings designed to give compliance; IMO just one of the vital technicalities missed by "stylist" designers. Given these "chaps" make things "pretty", but that should be the limit of their brief.
 
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CaravanRamblings

May 16, 2021
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JTQ said:
Not to hold the weather out of where it must not get, but only as a cosmetic finisher, not even as a functional "bumper", there hopefully is a structural "armature" behind it!
Yes very intimately I remember the Comets windows, the tutor said "designed before they invented fatigue". More the move to higher spec alloy, away from the lower strength alloy of the old Dakotas that could live better with window corners.

Whilst I agree often the ABS failed because of the lack of stress relief at fixings, like not using clearance holes for screws. It also can very readily have any amount of locked in stresses due to being a thermo moulded plastic item, given time if not relieved in manufacture these ultimately find their own way to seek relief, by localised cracking.
Add to that unlike our cars the sub structure is way more on the flex without the specialised fixings designed to give compliance; IMO just one of the vital technicalities missed by "stylist" designers.
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Exactly this. I've had three caravans with ABS and they all cracked. Still got the last one but Swift replaced it with GRP.

Yes attention to fixings or lack of brings forward failures but if you're dragging a caravan around Europe for months on end, ABS just doesn't cut it. It only ever really survived because historically, most folks only use their caravan a few weeks of the year.
 
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otherclive

otherclive

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JTQ said:
Not to hold the weather out of where it must not get, but only as a cosmetic finisher, not even as a functional "bumper", there hopefully is a structural "armature" behind it!
Yes very intimately I remember the Comets windows, the tutor said "designed before they invented fatigue". More the move to higher spec alloy, away from the lower strength alloy of the old Dakotas that could live better with window corners.

Whilst I agree often the ABS failed because of the lack of stress relief at fixings, like not using clearance holes for screws. It also can very readily have any amount of locked in stresses due to being here a thermo moulded plastic sheet item, given time if not relieved in manufacture these ultimately find their own way to seek relief, by localised cracking.
Add to that unlike our cars the sub structure is way more on the flex without the specialised fixings designed to give compliance; IMO just one of the vital technicalities missed by "stylist" designers. Given these "chaps" make things "pretty", but that should be the limit of their brief.
Click to expand...
It wasn’t the windows that caused failure it was square cut outs of the ADF, and escape hatch combined with a very flexible lightweight structure. These findings came from tank tests and further examination of the remains recovered from the sea. The windows were changed during the aircraft’s re-design following the two major crashes from altitude.

There’s a good programme on the investigation of the crashes “ A great British air disaster”
 
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