Has the Caravan Industry failed us?

[Dustydog]

Is the Caravan Industry failing us?

The 2016 Owner Satisfaction Awards are published in PCv March edition.
Well put together and worth a read.
76% of owners have a motor mover. Should this be a standard fit before the MTPLM is calculated?
68% purchased Power touch followed by Truma at 19%. The vast difference surprised me.
36% of new caravans were trouble free. That's the average.
However when you see Bailey achieved 28%, Ironclad Coachman 26%, Lunar 26%, Swift 24% and Explorer19% in the real world are we mad buying these products.
Adrian did 40%.
The big boys have increased their factory customer workshops to deal with water ingress warranty claims and "accident " damage.
Please tell me it is not all doom and gloom.

 

[00buzz]

the more worrying trend would seem to be an increase in 'newish' vans with cracked front and rear panels, which the industry appear to be trying to wash their hands of :S ....

 

[brian_c]

This could all be cured quite easily by encouraging the Japanese to build them, obviously then our government would have to sanction the import red tape etc.
Can't see it happening though.
Hope my thoughts don't go against forum etiquette

 

[Martin24]

This could all be cured quite easily by encouraging the Japanese to build them, obviously then our government would have to sanction the import red tape etc.
Can't see it happening though.
Hope my thoughts don't go against forum etiquette

So do I because I think you're on to something big there. If they were to UK spec and taste I'd buy one.

 

[Dustydog]

This could all be cured quite easily by encouraging the Japanese to build them, obviously then our government would have to sanction the import red tape etc.
Can't see it happening though.
Hope my thoughts don't go against forum etiquette

So do I because I think you're on to something big there. If they were to UK spec and taste I'd buy one.

The re engineered designed Lotus Elan aka The Mazda MX-5 clearly proves the point.

 

[Sproket]

It's only a matter of time before they start landing on these shores. ...

 

[Parksy]

This could all be cured quite easily by encouraging the Japanese to build them, obviously then our government would have to sanction the import red tape etc.
Can't see it happening though ]Hope my thoughts don't go against forum etiquette

No they don't Brian, your thoughts are quite valid in every sense. My 20 year old 1996 Japanese built imported Pajero tow vehicle is virtually bombproof and still going strong. I wish that caravans had the same build quality

 

[ProfJohnL]

This could all be cured quite easily by encouraging the Japanese to build them, obviously then our government would have to sanction the import red tape etc.
Can't see it happening though ]Hope my thoughts don't go against forum etiquette

No they don't Brian, your thoughts are quite valid in every sense. My 20 year old 1996 Japanese built imported Pajero tow vehicle is virtually bombproof and still going strong. I wish that caravans had the same build quality

There is no real good reason why caravans can't be as bomb proof as cars. It just that the manufacturers do not do the necessary development work to improve long term reliability. To some extent they may view it as built in obsolescence to force caravanners to think about replacing caravans after 3 to 4 years, but its more likely they just can't be bothered.

I note the article Sproket kindly points to actually says the Australian company can supply to the UK market., and that the caravan would be engineered to fully comply with local regulations.

Please note that does not mean they have to be NCC approved for sale in the UK. Providing the product conforms to the relevant standards, and gets CE approval, they can be sold without the NCC sticky label.

The NCC is just the UK 'trade organisation ' who are self appointed and have no legal control on the sale of caravans.

 

[oldagetraveller1]

From my experience, you don't have to wait for the Japenese. During 15 years living in France, I had Burstner, Erba and Hymer vans. None of them gave me a moments trouble.
I just don't understand why British vans are apparently so poorly built.

 

[Trevor_374569540]

Lets be honest it all boils down to a tew of things
1.Greed
2.Total incompetance
3."When it leaks they will buy a new one"
and we do!!!!

 

[JonnyG]

From my experience, you don't have to wait for the Japenese. During 15 years living in France, I had Burstner, Erba and Hymer vans. None of them gave me a moments trouble.
I just don't understand why British vans are apparently so poorly built.

I am so glad somebody rather than me posted the above.. .as for the topic heading, should it not read "has the British caravan industry failed us . or are they all too young or uneducated to recall how the British car industry reveled in headlines back in 1970 to claim "the British car industry rules the world" ...

 

[chrisn7]

What has been striking is that all the UK big boys have introduced build systems supposed to end damp ingress for 10 years, and all have had failures. The biggest issue is having workers on piecework, so that quantity rather than quality is the driver. Inadequate and poor assembly are almost inevitable.

Manufacturers over recent years have actively been looking to reduce costs by removal of equipment, cabinets, in fact everything they think they can get away with. There are regular posts on forums of people buying new vans, expecting similar equipment to their previous van to be present, only to find its been dropped.

Its a bad combination,more money for less equipment and a leaky product. Absolutely ripe for a foreign high quality take over of the market.

 

[colin-yorkshire]

Has the Caravan Industry failed us?, I think it is more of a case of we have failed ourselves by buying and continue to buy vans that a not fit for purpose, in the hope that the next one will be better.

remember all the the negative hype heaped on such brands a Skoda and Kia in the early days, no one wanted one despite the price, yet the technology these brands brought are still being used, the take over of these brands and remodelling by better equipped corporations, turned them into market leaders.

the caravan industry is small by comparison but the same ideology exists, while ever the poor product keeps being bought it will carry on being produced, when we as the purchaser turn are backs on inferior products and sales plummet nothing is going to be done, the so called improvements to newer vans are driven by cost not quality, there is an old saying in manufacturing pay peanuts you get monkeys, by paying low basic wages and then topping up the wage packet with bonus incentives based on speed, lowers the quality of the finished product, getting the job done quickly is more important than doing it properly, the knock on effect is obvious.

if you want better built caravans stop buying the ones they produce now , then the manufacturers will have to get it right to sell their products, just like Skoda and Kia did, a few may well go to the wall but the ones that survive will produce better quality products, that are worth buying even if it costs a little more.

 

[Gafferbill]

Colin ....I agree with every word you have written and for me your post is spot on.

There are plenty of buyers out there with plenty of money to spend on the current products.

 

[Raywood]

Quality control is simply missing from the UK industry. Having said that the continental vans use mainly the same working parts so the troubles with these must be common to them so i do wonder if those buying them do justify the purchase a bit by talking them up. The 40% score for Adria however should make the UK industry ashamed of itself and at under 20% Eldiss should be off every ones shopping list.
The cracking panels problem is becoming a scandal but the numbers reported on the internet should be curtains for any manufacturer trying to defend a claim. The excuse that you have hit a hole in the road is just a joke as any decent model should be strong enough to withstand the roads as they are not a snooker table.

 

[emmerson]

I have been banging on about the rubbish British built new caravans for years, on this forum and others, but as Trevor says above, you still buy them!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why??????????????? when you know they will let you down.

 

[oldagetraveller1]

I bought continental vans for 15 years because, living there, the price of them was cheaper than UK vans. So there was no price premium to justify - just the opposite. When I returned to UK and started to look for a new van, I was, quite frankly, horrified at what I saw. Showroom models were already showing signs of deterioration with catches broken, doors loose etc. What was even stranger, I came across so many caravanners still looking to buy a new van of the same make despite terrible experiences with woeful build quality and even worse after sales service. And the price of theses new models!!
Are British caravanners naturally inclined to masochism?
I suppose we all end up with the quality we deserve. All the time the UK makers display such breathtaking arrogance and complacency, and we continue to buy their rubbish, nothing is going to change.

 

[ProfJohnL]

I have to agree with most of what has already been written. I would add:

It is a well established scenario that a newly designed and produced product will have a higher probability of having some faults. In a properly managed business, fault reports are a highly valued resource and are used to help make informed decisions about where development funds are spent so the faults that do arise are designed out.

Unfortunately, the UK caravan industry seems oblivious to the design and manufacturing errors we so often see reported in these forums. Rather than working on improving them to make them more durable, they either ignore the issue, or start from scratch again and make the same basic design and manufacturing errors all over again.

It's not a false comparison to compare the the current UK caravan industry to the UK car industry of the 1970's - poor fit and finish, terrible reliability, and dated designs not to mention terrible labour management.

It is my opinion the UK caravan manufactures needs reconsider its relationship and responsibilities to its ultimate customers.

 

[Dustydog]

It is my opinion the UK caravan manufactures needs reconsider its relationship and responsibilities to its ultimate customers.

Fully agree Prof.

What a shame the caravan press, PCv included, continue to play Pontius Pilate and do do not castigate the poor manufacturing performance of the British manufacturers.

 

[Juliec1]

A resounding YES the UK caravan industry has failed us ! What's more is that they just don't care.
I thought I had a ''top of the range'' Coachman VIP.but at 3 years old a Coachman engineer found 5 leaky windows. No free of charge fix No shame that their product was ONLY 3 years old. We are now going to buy an Adria. We find that we are not the only owners fed up with 'don't care' Coachman .

 

[Raywood]

Not sure about the extent or otherwise of leaks on Adrias. The survey found they were the most fault free caravans by far but when it came to leaks it was |Swift and Coachman that were the only ones under ten percent.
If the windows leaked after three years I would be looking at the dealer for the cost of repair quoting The Sale of Goods Act as they were clearly unfit for purpose. It seems surprising how a threat of a small claims summons can make firms have a change of heart on these issues although I would have thought the guarantee still applied assuming you have had it serviced within its terms.

 

[ProfJohnL]

There is a distinction to be made between the manufacturers warranty, and their rights under SoGA and the more recent CRA.

Manufacturers warranties are a binding contract that you choose to sign up to. And like any contract it is beset with terms and conditions. Whether all the T&C are actually fair is mute point, but one of the common overriding clauses is that the caravan must be serviced to a particular schedule, and failure to keep to the schedule will invalidate the whole warranty. Consequently even if a product is has no consumable components and is never actually checked as part of a service, If the component does actually fail, and a service interval is missed the manufacture can legitimately decline to cover it under their warranty. Its not clear if such limiting clauses would constitute unfair terms and conditions in contract law.

But SoGA & the CRA are different. There is no stipulation the products must be serviced to a prescribed schedule, only that the products must not have been misused. However if a product does have consumable elements that should periodically need topping up or replacement, then failure to carry out those procedures could be deemed missuse. But in the context of a window, what in a general caravan service would be done to the window that would prevent the window from failing? What elements are consumable that need periodic service or replacement within three years?

I would venture to suggest that a widow failure within three years does point to it being not durable and thus in breach to the terms of SoGA Nd the CRA.

 

[Craigyoung]

Our caravan 3 years old and onto our 2nd front window due to the window panels vibrating together !

 

[emmerson]

So, from the above posts, you are all fed up with the British caravan industry.
But I'll bet you a shilling to bowl of porridge that next year will see the same amount of new caravans bought.
I cannot make sense of the caravanning public.

 

[Craigyoung]

True emmerson , sick when things go wrong but when your away in it and fixed , you forget all the negative things that have gone wrong . . . . .
Untill the nxt time !!