Hello everyone :)

[Saxo Appeal]

Hi everyone,

Just joined as we are thinking of moving away from our love of Camping to Caravan, family of 4 (partner, and 2 kids ages 8 and 13)

Looking at a fair few over the past month ( driving us up the wall), the 2023 Swift Challenger seems like a great layout for us,

From what I have read, Dealerships are only interested in their own sold Caravans, when warranty claims are made, which I think is terrrible

Meaning you need need to stick to your local dealership, and tied to that area, unless you like travelling miles.

If a Dealership is flying under 'Swift Approved' banner, no matter where you purchase, they should cover warranty claims as costs are charged to MFTR,

Anyway, enough of my Saturday morning rant.....the hunt continues

 

[otherclive]

I had a Swift Sprite that I bought in Devon, but had a warranty claim progressed by the Swift dealership that I used to service the caravan. They were in Tilshead near Andover. But you do need a full service history maintained along with invoices. Swift dealers upload the service details to Swift when the caravan is serviced.

Where problems can arise is if a claim is not accepted and then your supplying dealer doesn’t want to know. Then your resort is to the CRA 2015 consumer legislation as notwithstanding warranty your Contract is with the suppling dealer who has obligations under CRA 2015.

I’ve always tried to buy caravans not too far from home as returning them for defect rectification is a pain if the supply dealer is a distance away.

 

[Sam Vimes]

Hi everyone,

Just joined as we are thinking of moving away from our love of Camping to Caravan, family of 4 (partner, and 2 kids ages 8 and 13)

Looking at a fair few over the past month ( driving us up the wall), the 2023 Swift Challenger seems like a great layout for us,

From what I have read, Dealerships are only interested in their own sold Caravans, when warranty claims are made, which I think is terrrible

Meaning you need need to stick to your local dealership, and tied to that area, unless you like travelling miles.

If a Dealership is flying under 'Swift Approved' banner, no matter where you purchase, they should cover warranty claims as costs are charged to MFTR,

Anyway, enough of my Saturday morning rant.....the hunt continues

Yes, been there and still suffering.

We had a number of issues to sort out on our new carvan a couple of years back and the dealer was over 300 miles away. At the time of purchase they were the only one that had the type of van we wanted.

No other dealer nearer to us was interested in doing the warranty work. Our last year of warrany cover (excluding damp) is this year and we're just trying to work out the logistics of getting to our dealer. Complicated by the fact thay they need the van empty.

We're trying to see if we can get their mobile technician to do the service while we're on a nearby site. If we can leave the awning up we can put all the stuff in that.

Good luck

 

[Saxo Appeal]

I honestly think this is terrible, it shouldn't be like this as it's very unfair.

If you buy a Caravan who is registered with Swift as a seller, they should righfully be able to take on the Warranty repairs regardless if you bought it with them or not.

If I knew the warranty would cover all registered placed in UK, I would be driving down south from Scotland to buy one, as they seem to be cheaper. But this Warranty issue stops me from buying in England and closer to home !

 

[Buckman]

A lot also depends on the type of car you will be using to tow any caravan. We can offer better advice, if you can give us the model of car, year, engine size and whether manual or automatic.

Also there are a number of different Challenger models so which one are you keen on buying? Some may be single and some may be twin axle.

 

[Buckman]

I honestly think this is terrible, it shouldn't be like this as it's very unfair.

If you buy a Caravan who is registered with Swift as a seller, they should righfully be able to take on the Warranty repairs regardless if you bought it with them or not.

If I knew the warranty would voer all registered placed in UK, I would be driving down south from Scotland to buy one, as they seem to be cheaper. But this Warranty issue stops me from buying in England and closer to home !

It must be remembered that manufacturers pay dealers a pittance in labour costs when compared to the dealer's normal labour cost which is why they do not want to accept warranty work on a caravan not sold by them. Caravan manufacturing is still a cottage industry!

 

[Saxo Appeal]

A lot also depends on the type of car you will be using to tow any caravan. We can offer better advice, if you can give us the model of car, year, engine size and whether manual or automatic.

Also there are a number of different Challenger models so which one are you keen on buying? Some may be single and some may be twin axle.

We have an 2020 Model Audi SQ5, 3.0L and Automatic

Keen on buying a twin axle, and looking at the 670 SE, the layout suits our needs.

We also did think about waiting till NEC Sep/Oct for the new 2024 offerings

 

[otherclive]

I honestly think this is terrible, it shouldn't be like this as it's very unfair.

If you buy a Caravan who is registered with Swift as a seller, they should righfully be able to take on the Warranty repairs regardless if you bought it with them or not.

If I knew the warranty would cover all registered placed in UK, I would be driving down south from Scotland to buy one, as they seem to be cheaper. But this Warranty issue stops me from buying in England and closer to home !

Life’s not always fair in many respects not just caravans. You don’t buy a caravan from Swift, you buy from a caravan dealership. That’s where you take your problems, and your consumer protection legislation sits between you and the dealer you purchased it from. Some dealers may undertake warranty work on a caravan nit purchased from them, many do not. I was fortunate that the Swift dealer I used for servicing ( not the one I purchased from who was non Swift) accepted a warranty repair approved by Swift. Had they not agreed I could have faced a repair bill of £3000+

 

[Sam Vimes]

I honestly think this is terrible, it shouldn't be like this as it's very unfair.

If you buy a Caravan who is registered with Swift as a seller, they should righfully be able to take on the Warranty repairs regardless if you bought it with them or not.

If I knew the warranty would cover all registered placed in UK, I would be driving down south from Scotland to buy one, as they seem to be cheaper. But this Warranty issue stops me from buying in England and closer to home !

I'm on Skye and we bought our van from a dealer in Kirkcaldy. They're very good but far from home.

I don't think there's anything you can do as I think there's no legal right for any dealer other than where you got it from to take on the work.

Just another reflection on the caravan industry. I've bought cars from far and wide and could get them repaired or serviced under warranty at any dealer and in some cases independents

 

[Buckman]

We have an 2020 Model Audi SQ5, 3.0L and Automatic

Keen on buying a twin axle, and looking at the 670 SE, the layout suits our needs.

We also did think about waiting till NEC Sep/Oct for the new 2024 offerings

So basically you should be looking for a caravan with the MTPLM under 1600kgs. The Swift 670 SE has a MTPLM of 1820kg. The car can legally tow it, but will it be safe as the kerbweight of the car is between 1770 and 1870kgs?

 

[Saxo Appeal]

Life’s not always fair in many respects not just caravans. You don’t buy a caravan from Swift, you buy from a caravan dealership. That’s where you take your problems, and your consumer protection legislation sits between you and the dealer you purchased it from. Some dealers may undertake warranty work on a caravan nit purchased from them, many do not. I was fortunate that the dealer I used accepted a warranty repair approved by Swift. Had they not agreed I could have faced a repair bill of £3000+

I suppose that's something to consider and ask my local Dealership, before purchasing a Caravan from some where else, some may be fine with it and some not.

Maybe the sweetner would be saying you'll have the caravan serviced with them, if they covered any warranty issues.

 

[Saxo Appeal]

So basically you should be looking for a caravan with the MTPLM under 1600kgs. The Swift 670 SE has a MTPLM of 1820kg. The car can legally tow it, but will it be safe as the kerbweight of the car is between 1770 and 1870kgs?

Our car is the SQ5 not the Q5 mate

Looking on our V5 for the SQ5 it states - Max Permissible Mass 2625kg and Mass in Service is 2118kg

The as per below from https://towcar.info/outfitmatch.php

 

[Jcloughie]

It must be remembered that manufacturers pay dealers a pittance in labour costs when compared to the dealer's normal labour cost which is why they do not want to accept warranty work on a caravan not sold by them. Caravan manufacturing is still a cottage industry!

From a vauge memory. I think those buying new cars had the same problem. Then manufacturers altered their dealership contracts to alow customers to take their car to any for servicing or warrentee work.

Perhaps the caravan industy needs to do the same urged on by the major clubs. They wont though because it would give the dealers an opportunity to re-negotiate the labour charges.

In 2012, we bought a 2011 Bailey privatly. I called the dealler who sold the van. About 25 miles away. They told me the would honour the warrentee.

They made it sound like they were doing me a great service.

John

 

[Raywood]

The Challenger is a nice caravan and if it suits you could be a good choice although you do not say which one you have seen.. There is a problem wit dealers often refusing to work on caravans not sold by them, so it is probably better to buy locally if you can. The basic problem is the numbers of dealers has fallen after the last couple of recessions without enough new ones setting up to replace them so most dealers are under pressure and prefer to deal with their loyal customers rather than someone who drove for miles to save a few pounds and shows no loyalty. It is understandable and their agreements with the makers do not require them to take on warranty work where they did not sell the caravan.
You may find some makes have service agents as well as dealers who will do the work, but you need to check the internet to see if it works for you.

 

[Buckman]

Our car is the SQ5 not the Q5 mate

Looking on our V5 for the SQ5 it states - Max Permissible Mass 2625kg and Mass in Service is 2118kg

The as per below from https://towcar.info/outfitmatch.php
View attachment 5260

Good luck with your hunt.

 

[Saxo Appeal]

Good luck with your hunt.

Just to confirm, the Mass in service is my Kerb Weight isn't it?

 

[Saxo Appeal]

The Challenger is a nice caravan and if it suits you could be a good choice although you do not say which one you have seen..

The Challenger Swift 670 Garande SE

 

[otherclive]

Our car is the SQ5 not the Q5 mate

Looking on our V5 for the SQ5 it states - Max Permissible Mass 2625kg and Mass in Service is 2118kg

The as per below from https://towcar.info/outfitmatch.php
View attachment 5260

I’ve always found Towcar.info quite accurate and the best of the matching sites as it always variability in some of the input parameters.
Kerbweight and MIS are not the same. This link may help

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