New Bailey Senator series 5

[sian_5062266]

We've had our Louisiana since early July now, and whilst I'm overall very happy with the layout and kit etc I would point out the following faults we have had despite Bailey insisting our van was perfect when it left them. We have had them all repaired under the warranty, however this has been inconvenient to say the least. Just to let you all know though, this is our list:

1. We had to have a new door lock because it was faulty

2. We had to have new locker locks because they wouldn't lock

3. We had to have a new alarm fitted because it was faulty

4. We had to have a new water heater thermostat

5. We had to have a new radio because it was faulty

6. We had water pouring through the back lights because there

was no sealant applied and had to have this seen to, our

wardrobe was soaking

7. The onboard pump is a nightmare and will hopefully get this

seen to during its 1st service

8. The cupboard next to the oven etc get red hot and were

unaware of the recall until I read this on the forum, so

will have to get this done as well

I'd like to know if anyone else has had any such misfortunes?

Sian

 

[Surfer]

Seems about right fior a new caravan, however consider yourself lucky to have so few problems with a new caravan.

 

[cris_408518]

I have never bought a new van and the more I read the more I am pleased with my used purchases.

Over the past 20 odd years the only problem I have had is a cracked shower tray and a siezed water supply problem through lack of use before we purcahsed our present van.

If I supplied goods with the faults mentioned above my customers would demand that we collect or come to them to fix the problem and no way would they wait until a service for the problem to be solved.

If people demanded that dealers collect vans or fix at your point of storage or pay for your time and travel the manufacturers would soon up their game.

 

[sparkes]

I have never bought a new van and the more I read the more I am pleased with my used purchases.

Over the past 20 odd years the only problem I have had is a cracked shower tray and a siezed water supply problem through lack of use before we purcahsed our present van.

If I supplied goods with the faults mentioned above my customers would demand that we collect or come to them to fix the problem and no way would they wait until a service for the problem to be solved.

If people demanded that dealers collect vans or fix at your point of storage or pay for your time and travel the manufacturers would soon up their game.

Cris, As these faults are paid for by the manufacturer all they will say is the dealer should have noticed at delivery. All you do by forcing the dealer to pick up the van or pay for your time is make the dealer have to increase his prices across the board.

These problems will only get fixed when the press (yes you too PC) start to make a point of making these public.

Mind you, please remember that all new items may have problems. what makes the difference is a good dealers attitude to them. I have had 3 problems with my ACE, non of which would take it off the road and all have been fixed with a smile by the dealer (chichester caravans in Bromsgrove) Outcome of this type of service is I now would find it hard to want to go anywhere else.

Steve

 

[woodbush]

We bought and

 

[cris_408518]

I have never bought a new van and the more I read the more I am pleased with my used purchases.

Over the past 20 odd years the only problem I have had is a cracked shower tray and a siezed water supply problem through lack of use before we purcahsed our present van.

If I supplied goods with the faults mentioned above my customers would demand that we collect or come to them to fix the problem and no way would they wait until a service for the problem to be solved.

If people demanded that dealers collect vans or fix at your point of storage or pay for your time and travel the manufacturers would soon up their game.

I am aware of that , but surely the dealers claim off the manufacturers.

If the manufacturers claims went up they would be force to keep better quality control.

 

[sparkes]

I am aware of that , but surely the dealers claim off the manufacturers.

If the manufacturers claims went up they would be force to keep better quality control.

yes the dealers do claim off the manufacturer. But under condition of dealership they have to sign up to a vastly reduced hourly charge for repair work under warranty. This is why you see dealers not wanting to do warranty work on a van they did not sell.

A bigger stick needs to be used against the manufacturers. Like I said, its up to the press (maybe with a little force from the users)

Now, this will probably get deleted, but don't hold your breath. Like many publications, the caravan ones rely on advertising from manufacturers to pay the bills, so most are not happy slagging off a particular make for fear of it cutting the figures too hard

Steve

 

[WatsonJohnG]

We have had several new caravans(Abbey,Ace, Elddis,Bailey, Cleremont and Ace ) over a 25 year period with very few faults and none of them have had to go back to the dealer.

We get the new Bailey Senator Oklahoma tomorrow (Friday 13th) and I will report back if there are any problems

Fingers crossed

 

[sian_5062266]

We have had several new caravans(Abbey,Ace, Elddis,Bailey, Cleremont and Ace ) over a 25 year period with very few faults and none of them have had to go back to the dealer.

We get the new Bailey Senator Oklahoma tomorrow (Friday 13th) and I will report back if there are any problems

Fingers crossed

Well it's nice to know that it's not only us then .... however, I would like to know how many readers, club members and magazine editors, publishers, advertisers etc really sign up to the principle and the law with regards to the "sale of goods act" and why nobody especially the big clubs haven't pressed for a test case.

Under the sale of goods act the item must be "suitable for the purpose" ... however the contract is between the retailer and the purchaser and not the manufacuterer. Our frustrations have been that one plays off the other⇨ . In real terms having contacted our legal adviser we were informed that we could have infact claimed a total refund from the retailer for the purchase price of our Louisiana plus expenses for the fact that it did not perform the very function that it was supposed to (this is the first fault that I referred to earlier, in that we couldn't even lock the door?!), since, it was not fit for the purpose.

What did happen --- we had remain with our van for the whole time that the retailer managed to get a new lock from the manufacturer, ruined our holiday, cost us the weeks rental for the pitch we couldn't leave, and --- got a nasty e mail from the Bailey customer service lady who said that there was nothing wrong with our van --- and that was the first problem!!!

So -- who is going to be brave enough to challenge the establishment and test the powers of the Sales of Goods Act - I mean within the mags/clubs who have the clout?

I look forward to replies

 

[Wendy-Norfolk]

Oh God!!

Picking up our new van next Saturday - now you've really got me wondering!!

 

[WatsonJohnG]

Don't quite follow your comment to my reply

You must forgive me for hoping that it is just you then that have been unfortunate.

We had a new Cortina in 1963 with 47 faults on delivery and it got worse so maybe our bad luck was all used up then !!

 

[WatsonJohnG]

Reading the faults again most of them seem to be in supplied components so any make of caravan could be fitted with faulty units.

Its unfortunate that you seem to have more than your fair share.

The lights should have been sealed and the recall for the cooker should not be such a secret

 

[paul_5063654]

Hello Sian,

Haven't you noticed any problem with the strips above your hob under the wall unit, their plastic and with the heat from your hob and oven you'll probably find when you run your hand over them they are warped. If you need to have the vent fitted behind your oven like i did get them to replace the strips for you as well my dealer didn't recomend replacing mine until i had the vent fitted behind the oven hopefully the vent will get rid of the excess heat behind the oven and stop the cupboard getting so warm.

Paul

 

[Surfer]

We had a 2004 Lunar CS that had so many faults it spent more time in the dealers than on site. Eventually we traded it in on a 2004 Lunar 640 and have not looked back. It did have some faults but of a relatively minor nature which the dealer quickly put right. I think that a PDI is unheard of in the caravan industry.

 

[RichardS1]

Hi Sian, sorry to hear of your problems, but to look from another perspective we have had our Oklahoma since the end of November and have had no issues with the van up to now. Granted that we have only used it for eight nights, but hopefully things will remain problem free. Richard S

 

[WatsonJohnG]

We got the new Senator Oklahoma today and it was very well turned out.

No faults as yet but then we haven't used it and it hasn't rained!!

The Bailey handbook has to be the clearest and best I've seen.

It even has several pages of trouble shooting at the back

Let's hope that we don't need them

 

[colin(bridgend)]

I bought a Bailey 500/5 in December 2002 and when we arrived home and undertook a close look at our newly purchased van there were a number of faults. The majority were small faults, the most obvious one was the cupboard door to the underside of the wash hand basin had broken off. The door and surround at the time were moulded as one (don't know how mind). The dealer at Sunnyhave in Swansea were very sypathetic and ordered a new one for us and offered to rectify the other faults when the whb unit was being repaired. We waited and waited for the part and in the end I wrote a rather abrupt letter direct to Bailey. A reply was received blaming the dealer had not ordered the part. On sight of this the dealer showed me his order book which was proof that the part had been ordered. I answered the letter from Bailey's quoting the order reference number and date the order was placed. To this end I have still not received a reply but the part was delivered to Swansea within 48 hours. On receipt of the part all faults were speedily fixed and with no objections from Sunnyhaven what so ever. They even give us a gift as a means of saying sorry for the problems and waiting.

 

[sian_5062266]

I forgot to mention the door seal which will be done at 1st service(it keeps comming off) and the roof light in the end bedroom which doesn't fit properly(its presently jammed tight with cardboard). ... However I have just spent the last four months in it down in Cornwall. The point I'm making is that all manufacturers should get to grips on their PDI's - as well as the retailers. How can so many faults slip through what I am told are 2 sets of PDI's?! I'm not saying Bailey are any worse or better than anyone else and to be fair the retailer has done everything to put matters right, but it doesn't compensate for the inconvenience of not having the use of a particular item, or feature, or the fact that the van has to be taken for repair when something goes wrong. I think the whole industry needs to be a bit more swithced on to inconvience, and sheer frustration of its loyal customers.

Sian

 

[DeliDave]

I forgot to mention the door seal which will be done at 1st service(it keeps comming off) and the roof light in the end bedroom which doesn't fit properly(its presently jammed tight with cardboard). ... However I have just spent the last four months in it down in Cornwall. The point I'm making is that all manufacturers should get to grips on their PDI's - as well as the retailers. How can so many faults slip through what I am told are 2 sets of PDI's?! I'm not saying Bailey are any worse or better than anyone else and to be fair the retailer has done everything to put matters right, but it doesn't compensate for the inconvenience of not having the use of a particular item, or feature, or the fact that the van has to be taken for repair when something goes wrong. I think the whole industry needs to be a bit more swithced on to inconvience, and sheer frustration of its loyal customers.

Sian

if the dealer had to supply you with a courtesy van equivalent to yours they would be very careful on their PDI check

 

[WatsonJohnG]

I still haven't found any manufacturing faults but one or two design faults are rather obvious.

The key pad for the alarm is nearly on the floor and the outside light switch is inside the caravan so when you return on a dark night you can't see the key pad before you've switched on the outside light which is after you've opened the door and possibly set the alarm off.

I've remedied this situation by removing the alarm(available for sale!!) and replacing it with a key fob operated one which puts the outside light on when arm/disarmed.

There are no fuses in the caravan road lights which I find odd as most previous vans have had the 12N lead come in at the front with a bank of fuses. This means that a fault on the caravan could fuse the towcar lights.

The water pump has also been modified so that a submersible pump now fills the tank via the switch from the useless gas bottle light(now disconnected!).

Otherwise the van is really great.

 

[waffler]

Sorry to hear this Sian. We took delivery of an Indiana in November and remembering our last new van and its faults we went to CC Site Chapel Lane which is only just down the motorway from the dealers. We have so far only had a mains bulb, the outside door adjsted and the cutlery door raised to clear the carpet. All done instantly at our dealers, Salop Caravans at Cosford. We had a Pageant Monarch before and had a few problems with that but genearlly on third party items, shower taps etc. Again all fixed at the same dealer with courtesy. We went for another Bailey apart from the layout of the Indiana but because we got so much caravan for our money and the dealer is so good.

 

[clivea]

Hi,

we boughta new Bailey Series 5 Pageant last yaer and have used it extensively. The only problems have been a faulty gas regulator on the oven that worked but did not give smooth control. The other problem has been a warm cupboard when the oven is on, and our dealer (Chipping Sodbury Caravans) have ordered a mod kit which will be fitted under warranty. Overall we are very pleased with the quality.

 

[AnnM1]

Thank goodness it is a new 'van and still under warranty!

 

[johnk]

Hello john,we have just picked up our new pagaent Burgundy and we cant fault it,apart from it not having an alarm!,so how much for your old one? cheers john k.

 

[johnk]

I still haven't found any manufacturing faults but one or two design faults are rather obvious.

The key pad for the alarm is nearly on the floor and the outside light switch is inside the caravan so when you return on a dark night you can't see the key pad before you've switched on the outside light which is after you've opened the door and possibly set the alarm off.

I've remedied this situation by removing the alarm(available for sale!!) and replacing it with a key fob operated one which puts the outside light on when arm/disarmed.

There are no fuses in the caravan road lights which I find odd as most previous vans have had the 12N lead come in at the front with a bank of fuses. This means that a fault on the caravan could fuse the towcar lights.

The water pump has also been modified so that a submersible pump now fills the tank via the switch from the useless gas bottle light(now disconnected!).

Otherwise the van is really great.

how much for your old alarm john?

email john_kirvan2003@yahoo.co.uk