Leaking Front Windows ACE Jubilee Equerry

[andy_5039874]

Hi All,

I am after a bit of information regarding leaking front windows on Swift caravans.

Our caravan is the ACE Jubilee Equerry and we have been having great problems getting the leaking front windows repaired properly . It has gone on that long in fact (13 months) that we are now in the process of rejecting the caravan.

The problem manifests itself as water getting between the window and the rubber seals. The two smaller outer front windows are the main problems and the water gathers at the lowest corners. If it rains hard enough the amount of water that gathers can be enough to run over the frame and down onto the window sill.

We have already had new windows, new seals and the van has been back to the factory but was found to be still leaking when we went to pick it up from the dealers. The van was left there and a letter of rejection posted.

Is anyone else out there suffering the same problems with a Swift caravan we are at our wits end.

Regards

Andy

 

[MikeAce]

Hi Andy

We have an Ace Jubilee Herald, only once has this occured and it was only on the left window (when viewed from inside)

We had torrential rain that hammered down onto the van, the earth beneath the van had shifted too, causing the van to be slightly out of level, it was the morning that we were going home too, it has never occured since, mind you, i think that the amount of rain we had on that morning was excessive and i suspect that the angle of the van was a contributing factor.

as a temporary measure i just slipped matches into the handles to pull the seals tighter.

i must say though that the windows are not a great fit, they seem to be too straight for the curve of the van. i cant see any way of really altering it on ours short of redrilling the hinges at the top, not fussed on doing that, perhaps if it ever happens again i will.

i would be certainly pushing ace for replacement, its clearly a flaw that needs fixing.

sorry its not a helpful post but thought you might like to know its happened to my ace too. only the once though thankfully.

 

[MikeAce]

In addition, i would consider a thin self adhesive seal being stuck to the window itself, so when you close the window it will push the 2 seals together.

mine is still in warranty for a year though so i will push the manufacturer to fix it if it re occurs.

 

[andy_5039874]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the reply.

Your leak seems very similar to ours in that in happens during really heavy rain and wind. We have unfortunately seen this happen more than once.

Also just to let you know Polyplastic who supply the window kits to Swift have had a number of reports of this problem across Europe and have developed a double lipped seal as a fix. I am hopefully getting mine repaired this week. This is a final try to get the leak sorted. If this fails then it is straight back to the rejection and a replacement caravan.

 

[Icemaker]

Andy, we had an ace celebration 590 which is based on the equerry and sold by glossop caravans, the van was a 2005 model and from day one we had problems with very shoddy workmanship and poor quality fixings. we allso had leaking front windows along with one of the roof lights and the main door, on top of this the hinges on all the cuboard doors where replaced three times and the bed slats fell apart when pulled out, the drawer above the heater melted twice and to finnish us off whilst in france the roof sagged so we could no longer open the bathroom door without me pushing the roof back up. we hated the van and part exchanged it for a coachman taking a big financial hit but it was worht it to get rid of the worst built van i have ever owned, never again will we buy swift.

 

[andy_5039874]

Icemaker, sounds like you had it worse than us. We have also had new handles and hinges. The drawer over the heater does get warm but it hasn't melted ..... yet! Did you try for a replacement / refund or did you just want a complete change? Would agree with you about Swift I would never buy a Swift Group caravan again!

 

[Icemaker]

We did not bother trying for a replacement as we felt another van would just be as bad as the one we had since most of the faults where down to cheaply made components and bad attention to detail, we just cut our losses and part exed the van for a coachman, we chose coachman since the previous 3 we had where all faultless and superbly built, our new VIP 530 is only 8 weeks old but has given us no faults or cause for concern in any area. good luck trying to reject the van i once tryed to reject a car and it is not easy i can tell you, they employ bigger solicitors than you can afford and make offers that a court would recommend you take. big boy bully springs to mind.

 

[AnnM1]

We also had a Swift caravan which we traded in at less than 18 months old from new. Nothing but problems from day 1. Leaking front windows, fablon wall paper peeling away at various points, the 3 front sealed windows blew, so we couldn't see thrgh them, cupboard hinges needed replacing, shower tap had a crack in it causing flooding of the bathroom area (on our first day out!). I could go on and on, but what is the point? I certainly wouldn't purchase another Swift EVER! I would also dissuade others if I am asked about them!

During the 18 month period our caravan was back at the dealership more imes than it was on our driveway.

 

[MikeAce]

Even though i have had one issue with our window i certainly dont think that the Ace is a poor van.

I expect to do a certain amount of maintenance when i caravan, i always take my tool box for minor repairs.

some of my repairs have included

fixing the bed and strengthening it.

renewing the regulator

replacing the bathroom taps

resecuring the table to the wall

fixing the mechanism on the flush twice

but its all part of the caravanning experience for me. i love my van, my next van will be the Ace Twinstar.

i think that there are issues with all manufacturers, i will always buy my vans from a dealer, Northam Farm in Brean Sands are excellent and their customer service is outstanding.

 

[andy_5039874]

Hi Mike,

I too really like the van, as far as layout, kit, space etc. It's just the build quality I would question. It seems a bit too much of a coincidence to me that at the point where Trading Standards are getting involved they start to admit that there have been issues with leaking windows. I don't think on a 6 month old van (thats when the leaked was first noticed)any fault or failure is acceptable and I certainly wouldn't expect to fix it myself (bulbs, tyres excepted).

Anyhow the seals are now fitted apparently so I will pick our van up next week. I will get back to you on how things went.