Loosely Speaking.

[Paullus1959]

I bought my Coachman caravan new in 2016.
So, it was built and delivered to the dealership, who supposedly carried out a pre delivery inspection. Then followed two annual dealer services before I fell out with them due to incompetence and damage caused.
My annual service is now done by an AWS service engineer who suffers with OCD, I’m so pleased to say. A major fault he discovered in 2019 was that the chassis and tow hitch bolts had not been torqued up correctly, some were actually loose. These bolts have lock nuts and shouldn’t come loose once tightened correctly! He also said that this was not an uncommon finding amongst many caravan manufactuers, not just Coachman!
Moving on, my wife and I noticed that our island bed was starting to creak horribly, no rude comments please but, it was noticeable.
Today, while staying on a delightful CL in Pershore, I decided to investigate and found that the frame of the said island bed is secured in part by four bolts, three of which were very loose and one missing. Fortunately, I’d actually found the missing bolt a few months ago but, at that time, being unable to determine where it came from, I put it in a drawer for safe keeping.
Our bed is now firmly fixed as intended and creak free.
So, once again, loose nuts and bolts.
Is quality control a thing of the past?
Don’t caravan manufacturers have torque wrenches and spanners not made of chocolate?
Do dealerships actually know what they should be doing when servicing a caravan?
My Wife understands now why I always carry a comprehensive tool kit with us.
But, why should I be putting things right that should have been done before my caravan left the factory??
I really love my caravan and wouldn’t swap it but, sometimes it is a labour of love
Rant over for now.

 

[Hutch]

I can fully sympathise, with you, on our last service, the AWS service lad, gave me a clear service, but mentioned that he thought that the floor was starting to delaminate between the front seats. I thought the worst, but on inspecting it myself, I found most of the screws around the vertical panels slightly loose, I went up a size of screw and fitted new ones with a drop of superglue. No squeaky floor now. Still a lovely van.

 

[Jcloughie]

When new 2015, my dealer did the first two services. Free as part of the purchase deal. Not too bad I thought. The problems and arguments and fighting were to do with warrantee work. Loads of self maintenance to do, partly because it’s a lightweight box being dragged around the roads. But partly or largely due to poor workmanship, design and assembly. Such is caravanning.

I understand and sympathise.

John

 

[Mandarin]

I can't help feeling that part of the problem is that we pull and bounce large, lightly constructed tin boxes full of complex devices/ gadgetry across bumpy roads for hours at a time.

Ours probably has twice the volume of the car, weighs 200kg less and has none of the cross bracing, crash tested design features legally required in car.

I've accepted the inevitable need to carry a set of tools with us, just to tighten the odd screw or nut and am constantly on the look out for anything coming loose. In part its a hangover from our sailing days when self sufficiency was essential, no AA service at sea.

 

[Buckman]

I think we have all been there at one time or the other and to be honest although we pay extra for the pre-delivery to the dealer it is the cherry on top of the cake!
I assume the CL you stayed on was the fully serviced one just outside Pershore?

 

[Raywood]

Many years back I did get told by the dealer that at a service they had discovered damp in the front offside corner. They were looking at £1,000 to deal with it but in those days it was easy enough to expose the wood and there was no sign of it and when it came to trade it in it was checked by a different dealer and they found no problem. The dealer in question has now gone but it does make you wonder what goes on.

 

[ProfJohnL]

If you search the forum you will find many threads that bemoan the incapability of the caravan manufacturers to consistently assemble their products yet alone to do it to a high standard.

Several surveys conducted over many years hove shown that at least 20% of caravans suffer a significant failure requiring warranty repairs, and that does not include all the minor issues that people accept without claiming.

In another recent thread one manufacture has been stated as holding a very significant reserve in their financial statements to cover warranty costs, and there is no reason to assume others are not doing the same.

Having had a several years experience of being part of Quality Assurance departments including aerospace in businesses that were led from the top and proactively and systematically worked towards a zero defect target, the performance of caravan manufacturers leaves an enormous amount to be desired, and frankly I have difficulty in even saying they have any effective quality management system. They must know it, but do they make any real changes?

In all of this, its the customer that pays twice and suffer the inconvenience and upset for the mistakes the caravan manufacturer makes. And even the systems that are supposed to capture those defects are inconsistent and clearly fail when so many defects continue to reach the customer.

I would love to see consumer legislation include measures to ensue manufacturers had to take responsibility for the inadequacies of their products.

 

[Paullus1959]

I assume the CL you stayed on was the fully serviced one just outside Pershore?

Yes indeed it is if you are referring to Goodleigh Hill CL, which is where we are presently.
We love it here.

 

[Buckman]

Yes indeed it is if you are referring to Goodleigh Hill CL, which is where we are presently.
We love it here.

We used it once just before the first lockdown and we must have caught the owner on a bad night. Ended up that he over charged us and would not entertain a refund. His daughter who came around to collect the money was very pleasant.

 

[Paullus1959]

We used it once just before the first lockdown and we must have caught the owner on a bad night. Ended up that he over charged us and would not entertain a refund. His daughter who came around to collect the money was very pleasant.

I was just going over some of my previous posts and came to this one.
Interesting, what you say because despite my previously raving about the place, We won't be returning after our last stay.
I'd booked a 12-night stay in September 2022 at £22 per night costing £264 four months previously and sent a deposit of £87.50. However, when I came to settle the balance, which by my calculation was £176.50 I was told it was now £212.50 a difference of £36 making a total for our stay of £300. They had put the price up to £25 per night because the site was full and so it must be a busy period which they reserve the right to do. Unfortunately, I didn't twig immediately and paid up, I was still in holiday mode and chilled out. I was way up the M5 before something stirred and my Wife and I did the maths. Sharp practice but, their loss.

 

[Buckman]

I was just going over some of my previous posts and came to this one.
Interesting, what you say because despite my previously raving about the place, We won't be returning after our last stay.
I'd booked a 12-night stay in September 2022 at £22 per night costing £264 four months previously and sent a deposit of £87.50. However, when I came to settle the balance, which by my calculation was £176.50 I was told it was now £212.50 a difference of £36 making a total for our stay of £300. They had put the price up to £25 per night because the site was full and so it must be a busy period which they reserve the right to do. Unfortunately, I didn't twig immediately and paid up, I was still in holiday mode and chilled out. I was way up the M5 before something stirred and my Wife and I did the maths. Sharp practice but, their loss.

and I thought i was the only one!

 

[Woodentop]

We bought our first ever new caravan in 2017 (delivered Jan 2018). The second trip out I turned over in the night and one of the mounts of the bed collapsed (2 berth used as two singles.) I patched it up until we got home and took it back to the dealer. The manufacturer's response? They accepted the warranty claim and instructed the dealer to find a solution and then tell them what they had done.
Even then I had to strengthen what they had done. The other bed was solid and well supported, mine was over a wet tray against an outside locker door which didn't leave enough room to get the supports in place properly. I removed the wet tray and took a slice out of the edge at the relevanet end and fitted the same supports as the other side. Never had any more trouble.

Here's one thing many may not realise. To keep weight down many internal panels are not panels per se but are hollow with light timber-like material for about an inch all the way around the edge. We have two cupboards for bedding storage over a wheel arch. The doors are each about 2ft or so high and maybe 18" wide and kept coming loose when we travelled. The cause? Hinge screws that were 3mm dia and about 12mm long carrying a door weighing about 1Kg, some on the door face but mostly on the hinge edge of cupboard 'box'. Replaced the 3mm with 3.5mm screws 20mm long - fixed! D'oh!

 

[Hutch]

I carry three boxes of screws, of different sizes, in the caravan, so that as I find loose screws, I replace them with the larger sizes, and if they are too long when we get home I trim them down.

 

[Buckman]

I carry three boxes of screws, of different sizes, in the caravan, so that as I find loose screws, I replace them with the larger sizes, and if they are too long when we get home I trim them down.

I have never bothered with carrying screws in the caravan as over the lifetime of the caravan you always tend to find screws lying around! 😂 😂