GENERAL

[DAVID_5083120]

Re Lunar caravans

We wonder if there is anyone else out there that has had the same treatment from Lunar as we have? We purchased a new Lunar in July 2004 and on its 1st service, June 2005, we were told the tyres were faulty. Took three months for replacements and numerous phone calls and letters but Lunar didn't even have the courtesy to reply to us.

Is this how all British makers have got like now? If so our next will be foriegn. After sales!!! It just doesn't exist.

David and Sue

 

[rob_jax]

David and Sue,

Sounds like an unfortunate experience and I hope it is resolved soon.

Your tyres were obviously? faulty when new, and would probably have been sourced internationally, so buying outside of the UK may not have prevented this issue.

However, the PDI carried out by the likes of Eriba, Hymer, Hobby, and the other usual suspects means that the van you get is as zero defect as possible. Unfortunately the UK manufacturers seem happy to deliver vans with badly fitting cupboards, faulty appliances, and other serious issues.

Lack of attention to detail was one of the criticisms of UK manufacturers in this years Caravan Club Reliability survey of 4000 caravans.

Robert

 

[Clubman1]

Had the very same problem although my 'van was 2 years old (2003 Clubman) and tyres have only done 7k miles. Lunar didn't want to know, Jumped up and down a bit to no avail so bit the bullet and went to my local garage and bought new ones there. You can't put a price on safety. No probe otherwise with warranty work etc.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello all,

whilst I agree that it is appauling that a caravan manufactuer may be aware of a fault in a safety critical component such as a tyre, and then do nothing to either contact affected customers or answer requests for information, the law is actually on thier side.

Under UK consumer Law, it is the supplier that is responsible to the customer. In most cases that is not the manufacturer but the dealer. Legally your anger should be with your supplier.

If you purchased the caravan using a finance house, then they are the supplier so contact them.

A supplier cannot absolve themselves from these responsibilities. It is the law.

I suggest that if the tyres were known to be faulty and they have refuesed to replace then trading standards should be involved, and you should be asking for replacments or the cost of replacements.

 

[coljac]

David, Lunar have a particularly bad name for both quality and customer servise.Look on [caravan talk2] web site under lunar archive it will turn your hair grey Just recently avondale seem to be going the same way as lunar .I dont know what it is about british caravan makers but i suspect it is the same attitude that finished of the car industry .I had a lunar and found that if you had a problem they didnt want to know. I got rid, and will never consider buying one again Having said that these are my own views based on my experience with them.I hope that yours is put right and you can enjoy your caravan Coljac

 

[keith_5081818]

As 1 or 2 have already said its not lunar who should be dealing with this issue its the dealer.

They should have changed the tyres immediately, with no quibble & then placed a warranty claim with lunar.

Thats what happens at our place & i would have thought at any decent dealerships.

As for Rob_jax comment about build quality, of U.k cvans i dont have any problems with Baileys build quality.(its british)

As far as i am aware they stripped a german van down to nothing to find out how they were put together and the new vans are based on their findings (at least thats what i was told at a recent visit there.)

They come in to work for pdi etc and its rare we have to repair or alter anything on them.

Ok Elddis have lost some ground over the last few years, but there design team is just about the best in the business, ive never seen a foreign van that looks better inside, they just need to get their act together on build quality.

Swift are ok but last year they came up with an absolutely shocking upper locker hinge system, that really let the cvans down big style, there were more customer complaints about them than any other single fault, on handover i was sick of going up and trying to tighten doors so they would stay open.

You'll be glad to hear i did 2 2006 swift conquerors last week and they had reverted back to the standard hinges.

Its a shame they didnt move forward onto the baileys alloy tube mounting system, but we can't have everything i supose.

burstners (german) come into the country & they arnt even up to british spec, they wont pass a 16th edition electrical installation test, they have an rcd & either 1 16 amp or 2 10 amp mcb's.

that means a 3 amp charger the 5amp water heater, the 3 amp fridge, etc, are on at least a 10 amp, and sometimes 16 amp trip, with no fused spurs in between, when they should be on a 6 amp one.

It all gets ripped out at our place and brought up to spec, but ive seen second hand ones come in from bought at other dealers and its not been done.

 

[RayS]

What make of tyres was fitted ? Some months ago there was a thread (or two) about Hankook tyres, sometimes lasting only 500 miles. Others will advise you better, but if you had only covered a small mileage, it would seem to me you have a claim as "not fit for purpose" - a touring caravan is clearly intended to tour. May be worth talking to your Local Trading Standards or CAB and considering a claim through the Small claims Court.

My own van had Hankook which survived 17,000 tow miles but then started to crack so were changed for another and hopefully more reliable brand. Obviously no possiblity of claim after that mileage.

 

[coljac]

keith your letter was one of the best and informed replies on the subject of faults on caravans i have . Coljac

 

[rob_jax]

Keith,

My response about UK vans being lacking in quality was not my invention, it was the summary from the 2005 Caravan Club Quality and Reliability Survey with something over 4000 owners polled.

The quality issues affected all of the mass market UK van makers with 15 precent to 25 percent defects.

The point made by the CC was that the UK industry must raise their standards to match those of the European builders.

Robert

 

[keith_5081818]

Keith,

My response about UK vans being lacking in quality was not my invention, it was the summary from the 2005 Caravan Club Quality and Reliability Survey with something over 4000 owners polled.

The quality issues affected all of the mass market UK van makers with 15 precent to 25 percent defects.

The point made by the CC was that the UK industry must raise their standards to match those of the European builders.

Robert

well robert i can only go off my and my collegues actual experiences, when working on brand new vans, before the customers get their hands on them.

I cant comment on what a customer considers to be a fault.(some will say theres something wrong when another will just accept it as the norm)

We dont do foreign vans, except burstners, and to be honest once we've converted them to UK spec, the customer is getting a decent product.

But none of us can knock Baileys, we find their build quality excellent, & year on yrar they are getting better.

 

[keith_5081818]

keith your letter was one of the best and informed replies on the subject of faults on caravans i have . Coljac

thank you i do try to be honest and informative.

 

[keith_5081818]

Further to my above responses.

i could be on the wrong track here & im sorry if i am, but was that survey u are on about, in the c.c magazine, that someone at work was reading out today, the one that put compass bottom of the list with explorer group, or was it elddis just above them.

If it was, when did compass leave the explorer group.( im sure on a factory visit, i saw compasses going down the same line as elddis).

As far as i am aware;-

elddis, compass,and buccaneer, plus probably some i cant think of at the moment are all explorer groups.

swift, sprite, bessacar, abbey, ace, are all swifts.

The two groups send the cvans down the same production lines at the same 2 factories so how can a survey say with accuracy that either of the groups models i.e an ace is better than a swift, or sprite, or a compass is worse than a elddis.

It doesnt make sense.

Bailey, only make bailey.

i think avondale, fleetwood & vanmaster are 1 name only also.

I'm not sure about abi, but it could be swift also.

 

[MarkG.]

I have just sold my year old Lunar because of the poor quality, in fact it has put me off British caravans and our next one will be foreign. Out comes the cheque book at Earls Court !!!!!!!