New Elddis construction method

[andyp1]

We are picking up our New Elddis next week ( after losing our deposit on a Eterniti !!! )

We bought the elddis for its layout , we have had elddis vans before and they both leaked like a sieve - so here we go again ! This one is the new construction method which all manufacturers seem to have their own version of.
So the question is does anyone have a van constructed in this way that has water ingress problems , I can't find any reports , so I sitting with my fingers crossed
Cheers
Andy

 

[Dustydog]

Hi Andy.

I wish you well with your new Elddis.
Elddis give you a 10 year Water Ingress Warranty. That says something doesn't it.

However as with all Warranties there will be terms and conditions that both you and Elddis must fully comply with.
Eg regular on time servicing at an approved dealer or whoever wherever as stated.
If you were late on one service you could invalidate the warranty.

In regard to the construction method it seems to me Elddis ,Bailey and Swift have all made good efforts to improve caravan construction.
They are in their infancy. I have heard of some Alu-techs leaking all of which were fixed under guarantee.

 

[RayS]

I've had an Avante for 11 months now and the body construction appears fine. The internal constuction is, however, another matter, but under forum rules I cannot be more specific at the moment. Suffice to say the van had spent two weeks back at the dealer and four weeks back at the factory.

 

[Dustydog]

That's not good Ray.
6 weeks deprivation.
Back at the factory for 4 weeks sounds serious to me.
I suspect there are other makes just as bad.

 

[andyp1]

I did not think about any internal problems !! My previous experiences with elddis had all been external !

Oh well , fingers crossed for next Monday

Cheers
Andy

 

[Dustydog]

I did not think about any internal problems !! My previous experiences with elddis had all been external !

Oh well , fingers crossed for next Monday

Cheers
Andy

Good luck on Monday.
Don't forget to check everything works at the dealers.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Andy,

I echo Dusty's advice, do take your time at the handover, and dont accept anything that's not right.

I think we are so often enthralled at the prospect of get the new toy home, we overlook some of the minor issues and hope for the best.

May I suggest you think about what have ordered; A new caravan. You have not ordered a faulty one so why should you accept faults?

Sale of Goods Act also expects the seller to sell goods of merchantable quality , free from design, material and workmanship defects, so why should you accept anything less?

Let you head rule, and not your heart.

Best of luck, and I hope its all you wish for.

 

[RayS]

Good luck on Monday. Here's a few suggestions of things to check.

Front locker. Screws connection sides to front bulkhead (through aluminum angle strips)

Under bed, protruding screwheads from bed frame or not fully tightened anywhere.

walk heavily on the floor around bed and toilet room with feet near the edges of the furniture, listen for creaking.

That all corner steadies will lower correctly. (another poster reported his van had the sidelight wires run across the folded leg !!)

Full function of cooker, grill, oven, space heating.

Privacy catch on toilet room door.

Roof light in toilet room.

Security of chest of drawers if fitted.

Hope you find no problems with any of them !

 

[andyp1]

Many thanks for all of your comments , I will let you know how it goes , I am optimistic , we had a new swift a few years back and that was fine!
My only problem was the dealer managed to break or damage something at every service ( literally every service)

Cheers
Andy

 

[ProfJohnL]

We are picking up our New Elddis next week ( after losing our deposit on a Eterniti !!! )

Hello Andy,
A thought has occurred to me about your deposit. IF you paid your deposit by credit card, then under section 75 of the consumer credit act, you may be able to claim it back from the credit card company.

 

[andyp1]

We wanted to pay the deposit for the Eterniti by credit card , however their card machine was not working at the NEC show !

Anyway moving on - we picked up our new elddis yesterday , and apart from a couple of things which are very minor the van seems fine , the dealer however not so good considering they are a big main dealer. We deliberately arrived early so that we could have a good check over it during the period they " we're not expecting us "
The only thing they really had to do was fit a motor mover which I only found out they had wired incorrectly when I got home !
Truma were helpful and explained how to rewire it !!

First trip away in 2 weeks time , so fingers crossed

 

[Dustydog]

I trust everything worked well Andy.

My own experiences tell me ALL new caravans have some defects, most of which are easily fixed by the dealer or the likes of me! A diy saves the fuel cost to the dealer.
Hope all goes well for you.

 

[andyp1]

Yes , so far so good . We like the layout , not sure about the quality of the van , but let's just say it is compatible to previous baileys and swifts we have had , so with an engineering background and kitchen fitting trade I can usually ' repair 'the van as we go along.

Still amazes me just how many 'bodges' (in my opinion) still exist in modern caravans which in our case cost £24k .
Sometimes we do lose sight that actually this is just somewhere to sleep when away on holiday , so here's to planning a few trips away
Cheers
Andy

 

[andyp1]

Started to put the stuff from our old caravan into this new Elddis so I thought I would wipe out under the beds and lockers etc.

Just as well really , if anyone needs 11 screws in various lengths , some spare blocks of what look likes balsa wood , a few short lengths of wire ( various colours ) and half a roll of insulating tape then please contact me

All I need now is to find the missing screws from the alarm box which is flapping around

And so the repairs begin !

 

[RayS]

Hi Andy, very sorry to hear that your new caravan has these problems. Doesn't say much for either factory final inspection or the dealer PDI you paid for.

May I suggest before removing the varios bits, you photograph them. I find the ipad ideal for such things.
Also, take the appropriate screwdriver and check the tightness of any screwhead you can see, particularly under bed and seats, the furniture to floor joints, and those covered with a brown cap about the size of an old penny. These come off without damage very easily. Take care not to tighten already tight screws any more. What you are checking for are those which may have been overtightened. They will revolve without any further tightening under light finger pressure.
I sincerely hope you won't find any, but if you do, suggest you mark with short length of white tape on the floor, and then photograph. Check again after you have towed a few hundred miles. Do the same thing in the front locker where the sides join the front bulkhead.
Again, really do not want to rain on your parade, but if this sort of thing has avoided inspection, what about the bits you can't see ?

If you find other than the odd screw, suggest you consider your options carefully before going to the dealer with a warranty claim. You have probably seen other threads on this matter which remind us that your rights under Sale of Goods Act
Are much greater than those under the warranty, but you must understand how to use the law. Your contract is with the dealer not directly with Elddis.

Forum rules prevent me from elaborating, but if you ask Moderator Steve to give you my email address, I can then do so in private correspondence.

 

[ProfJohnL]

I trust everything worked well Andy.

My own experiences tell me ALL new caravans have some defects, most of which are easily fixed by the dealer or the likes of me! A diy saves the fuel cost to the dealer.
Hope all goes well for you.

Your comment is sad enditement of the state of play regarding new caravans in the UK. Dealere should be doing wjat they are paid to do which is to do a PDI. Things such incorrectly wired movers or what ever SHOULD NOT HAPPEN. As for saving the of fuel to the dealer, under Sale of Goods the cost of recovering faulty goods for repair or replacement are the legal responsibility of the seller. Why should the customer be penalised either by cost or inconvenience for faults that are the responsibility of the seller.

OK i know many of these issues are acutally caused by the manufacturer, but you don't have the contract with the manufacturer.

The more often customer assert their rights the sooner dealers will take their responsibilities more seriously.

 

[RayS]

Exactly my sentiments Prof, but doing it is not all that easy. Obvious faults will get corrected - more or less - but as I understand SOGA the buyer may be entitled to compensation for the consequential effects of the defects.

For example, if a construction fault led to creaks and groans as the floor is walked on, and these disturbed the sleep of one occupant when the other rose during the night for 'natural reasons' and this happened more than once a night with roles reversed - net effect both slept poorly, and if this continued for say 100 nights because they happened to be touring abroad, how would you assess a reasonable sum by way of compensation, or would you just grin and bear it ?

It is this sort of hurdle you hit when considering suing for damages, and i would find it quite difficult to answer.

Other provisions of which purchasers should be aware are that the retailer is obliged to collect and return the goods to the purchaser at not cost and with minimum inconvenience to the purchaser. If everyone with a problem insisted on this right and made the dealers collect and return the vans (or reimburse the purchaser for so doing at commercial towing rates) then this might just improve the quality of the PDI.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Ray,

First of all I sympathise with your problem. I have a similar problem at home, but I have no possibility of guarantee repair..

As far as I know SoGA does not offer compensation for intangible losses, it only offsets provable losses. Compensation for inconvenience would be handled under different legislation or an out of court settlement consequential on a successful SoGA claim.

Whilst I don't doubt your scenario is frustrating, the fact is you are still getting value from the product, therefore the caravan is not unusable. If the problem was so bad that you had cut short a holiday and incurred cancellation fees for sites or attractions you had booked but could not use because of the fault, then SoGA would award those costs.

For SoGA claims It's incumbent on the customer to inform the seller at the earliest opportunity of any fault, and not to frustrate the sellers attempts to inspect or initiate repairs, especially where continued use may exacerbate the fault or damage. I believe the liability on the seller to remedy faulty goods is not distance limited. Being abroad does complicate this issue, and it would need a professional to advise you. But perhaps they should have made arrangements for a caravan dealer in your location to undertake the work, but that is for them to arrange not you.

However I do perceive a possible snag; if the caravan is more than six months old, Can you prove the fault was present or at least inherent at the point of sale? Because if it could possibly have been caused due to any form of miss use after purchase, then you can be sure the seller will use such a possibility to put the doubt upon their liability under SoGA.

 

[woodsieboy]

We have invoked SOGA with faults with our caravan,although the dealer was very slow to respond, and still does not respond to letters,we found that the best results were achieved by involving the finance company that we used,they seem to be much more aware of their liabilities,and by going through them they put pressure on the supplying dealer to act.They have also offered us compensation for loss of use,and inconvenience caused.It seems that you have more'rights' when you use a finance company for some of your purchase than if you pay outright. IMO some dealers refuse to recognize their responsibilities under SOGA, and try to hide behind the terms of the manufacturers warranty.

 

[ProfJohnL]

.........................IMO some dealers refuse to recognize their responsibilities under SOGA, and try to hide behind the terms of the manufacturers warranty.

Hello Woodsie,

You probably already know, so i'm responding in case any new readers are following this point. The manufacturers warranty or guarantee has no connection with your statutory rights as a customer under Sale of Goods act. If you look at the manufactures packaging or information you will often see this product is guaranteed for xyz years followed by a note that states "This does not affect your statutory rights"

Your rights and warranties are different, so it pays to understand what each does for you and then use the most appropriate one for your circumstances at the time.

Unless you instruct them to do it., No seller can invoke the manufacturers warranty preferentially over their legal obligations under SoGA. If they do they are in breech of contract.

 

[Raywood]

According to the recent PC survey the Eldiss SoLiD construction method does seem to have improved their leaking record. Unfortunately they were still bottom on customer satisfaction although they have closed the gap on the others quite a bit.

 

[RayS]

Defect was notified to dealer at 4 months from purchase by email and acknowledgement received so no problem in that area. Dispute still on going (august 2014) with string of other failures added in.

 

[RayS]

Well another few months on and another 45 day tour to France. My theme song is most definitely NOT 'Things can only get better'

 

[Dustydog]

Well another few months on and another 45 day tour to France. My theme song is most definitely NOT 'Things can only get better'

That's a real shame Ray as we reach the end of October.
Hope you can the derriere trouble causing delays to a satisfactory resolution

 

[Beachball]

Well me and the wife brought this new to us in January 2014
This is a Elddis Crusader Super Sirocco Twin Axle L Shape one owner from new service book stamped up, CRIS Alarm , and it in excellent condition inside and out not one mark on her .
We have never had a twin axle before but i was told about this one from a friend of a friend and boy did we get a good buy . So good luck with the new method ( But not all Elddis Caravans are lemons ) M8