Poor quality caravans

[Buckman]

We bought what we thought was a top of the range 2016 Buccaneer caravan in July 2016. Sadly there were so many quality issues that we have had to reject the caravan and searching on the Internet it seems we are not alone in rejecting Elddis caravans as even on this forum others have rejected their unit.
On delivery the front panel was cracked and the back panel badly marked. Silly us we accepted a repair however eventually both the panels had to be replaced, but this took several months to happen. One month after the front panel was replaced, it cracked again! Luckily we had reported the issues in the first 30 days.
In June we decided enough was enough as to date over 50 faults had been found on the caravan. Although a number were minor, they still impinged on our enjoyment of the caravan. The rejection has been accepted however the dealership is insisting we take back the trade in caravan even though it has been on their forecourt for a year. The trade in would have devalued over the past year therefore we are insisting on the monetary value of the caravan as per section 20 clause 11 & 12 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
Obviously this has us stressed out as we have seen another caravan on the forecourt of another dealer and we want to go ahead with the purchase of it so that we can enjoy the summer months, but we have the obstacle of the refund. Why can't caravan manufacturers get their act together and up the quality of caravans? It is not only Elddis where people are rejecting caravans but also other well know brands.

 

[Martin24]

I rejected a Compass for similar reasons but it was a long time ago in 2001. I was given a choice of options.

A) full monetary refund.
B) A return of my old van and refund of monies, so as they are offering you.
C) Wait for the new season van and continue to use the one I was rejecting with no additional charges to me.

I actually went for C, luckily there were no faults on the new one, probably only because they new what would happen if there were.

Explorer group have not got the best reputation at the moment but to be fair there are similar stories out there for ever UK manufacturer. In addition it makes no difference whether you are at the top, middle or bottom of the ranges. We had more minor issues with 2 out of 3 Coachman and yet most surprising we have had no problems to date (3rd service due this month) with our Bailey that we currently own.

I would continue to fight for the full monetary refund. I'm sure the Prof will be along shortly to explain everything about your rights and entitlements.

Good luck.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Buckman,

first a quick thanks Martin for that introduction.

First and foremost if you purchased the caravan in 2016, then your contract will be covered by the Consumer Rights Act.2015. I suspect you have already looked this up, but if not then its worth checking the the CRA on the Consumer Association's web site.

I do not know for certain but I have always assumed, that when you do a trade in deal to purchase another product, that it constitutes two separate contracts linked by a temporary condition. The first contract is the dealer buying your old caravan and assigning the cash to you, which you then use for the second deal to purchase the new caravan at its market value. The temporary condition is that without the trader buying your caravan, you could not complete the second contract .

Once both contracts have been fulfilled, the temporary condition has also been fulfilled, and no longer has any control or affect on the second contract un-linking the deal.

I'm 99.9% certain the dealer cannot impose the PX caravan back onto you.

 

[camel]

With another thread going on about caravan manufacturing and workmanship on this site, is this industry a law to itself, what ever site you go on in www land you have the same problems from people that have bought rubbish caravans and bad service from dealers, I look at main caravan dealers like a main franchised car dealership and in my experience main franchised car dealerships go by the book, with various TV programmes including Practical Caravan TV (Channel 212 Monday nights) just going on about how brilliant new caravans are to buy and we all should go out there tomorrow and buy one because the dealers are just about to run out till next year, what a joke, Practical Caravan TV and Caravan Finder should actually tell it what it is like and that you are very likely to buy a load of crap for your £24000,

 

[Parksy]

With another thread going on about caravan manufacturing and workmanship on this site, is this industry a law to itself, what ever site you go on in www land you have the same problems from people that have bought rubbish caravans and bad service from dealers, I look at main caravan dealers like a main franchised car dealership and in my experience main franchised car dealerships go by the book, with various TV programmes including Practical Caravan TV (Channel 212 Monday nights) just going on about how brilliant new caravans are to buy and we all should go out there tomorrow and buy one because the dealers are just about to run out till next year, what a joke, Practical Caravan TV and Caravan Finder should actually tell it what it is like and that you are very likely to buy a load of crap for your £24000,

I know that many share your jaundiced view of caravan manufacturers Camel, and a browse through any caravan related internet forum would tend to reinforce the idea that caravan buyers are highly likely to buy a substandard product no matter which manufacturer they choose or which dealership they buy from.
There's absolutely no doubt that caravan manufacturers need to do better in terms of QA inspections, and dealerships need to carry out thorough PDI's to ensure that their customers receive a product that meets or exceeds expectations, is fit for purpose and unlikely to need immediate and avoidable remedial warranty work.
Everyone is quite rightly quick to share their complaints and gripes abut poor build quality, shoddy workmanship etc; and in doing so hopefully caravan buyers will be less prepared to accept poor quality caravans, and by rejecting any caravan with faults under the Consumer Rights Act (rather than the manufacturers warranty) the dealership networks will finally get the message that the industry as a whole needs to significantly raise the bar.
This is hopefully not the full picture however, because completely satisfied buyers are unlikely to submit comments which highlight their satisfaction to caravan internet forums.
Our Abbey Vogue 620 was bought new almost nine years ago and it has more than lived up to expectations with no faults, good build quality and a practical fixed bed layout that won it Practical Caravan Tourer of the Year shortly after this model was launched.
I have no method to prove this, but I'd venture to suggest that after a new model from any manufacturer is launched inherent faults quickly reveal themselves to manufacturers via internet forums such as this, and when these issues have been dealt with most buyers are reasonably happy with their purchase.
Further faults are not revealed until the caravan has endured everyday holiday wear and tear, and in defence of Practical Caravan the Used Caravan articles often highlight such design faults, usually in comparison with a similar model from a rival manufacturer.
Practical Caravan also publish their Readers Satisfaction Survey, in which caravan buyers can give their true opinions about their touring caravan with the better models as described by real owners there for all to see.

 

[PHOENIXFLIER]

What a pain in the xxxx!
I hate reading stories like this, it really annoys me that so called "dealers" can get away with messing customers about like this.
I have recently had a similar issue with a prospective tow-car, but managed to get a full refund, but at 66 years old I can seriously do without the grief.
As a relative newbie, I count myself very lucky.............purchased 8k worth of caravan via Gumtree without even seeing it in the flesh......and it has turned out to be 100% perfect!.
I am sure all of us wish you luck.

 

[camel]

Parky,
How can I and everyone else that posts on the subject have a jaundice view, in your opinion,

 

[DrZhivago]

completely satisfied buyers are unlikely to submit comments which highlight their satisfaction to caravan internet forums. ... Our Abbey Vogue 620 was bought new almost nine years ago and it has more than lived up to expectations with no faults, good build quality

Nine years ago - perhaps that is a clue. Maybe the more recent obsession with weight and emissions reduction at the expense of any other consideration, not helped by the newer driving licence weight restrictions, accompanied by a fashion trend to minimalism, is behind things generally becoming flimsier.

An example is the boot floor in my wife's cars, four equivalent models from the same maker over a couple of decades :- the first boot floor was a sheet of plywood, the next floor was a sheet of thick hardboard, the third floor was a sheet of thin hardboard (which I replaced with the thick hardboard of the second car, it other wise being scrapped), and the fourth floor was a completely useless sheet of cardboard.

The last floor in that car I replaced with one I made from timber planking, which illustrates the futility of trying to be "green" in this way; as does the cost, time, energy, to-ing and fro-ing, repairs and rebuilding spent dealing with caravans (or things generally) made too flimsy in the first place. What do those litres of resin pumped into those delaminated floors weigh, and cost the planet?

 

[Dustydog]

Very interesting Parksy.
Fully agree. Our Wyoming is now 8 years old. Never before have we had a caravan this long. Yes it did have a few teething problems but nothing structural.
Most things I fix myself with many thanks to the advice on here. Looking at the newer models I do like the manufacturers approach to timberless construction. However Alu-tech , Solid etc still doesn't stop water ingress
Elddis and Lunar seem to get the worst of the bad press . However I suspect the Bailey and Swift dealers may be better performers as illustrated in the Dealer of the Year PCv award.
In the analysis I'd love to know just how many faults are structural and how many are outside manufacturers fitted equipment?
Maybe Phoenixflyer has got it right. Buy a used caravan where some other poor person has put things right and then given up in despair

 

[Parksy]

Parky,
How can I and everyone else that posts on the subject have a jaundice view, in your opinion,

So in your opinion your earlier comment that I highlighted didn't express a jaundiced view?

With another thread going on about caravan manufacturing and workmanship on this site, is this industry a law to itself, what ever site you go on in www land you have the same problems from people that have bought rubbish caravans and bad service from dealers, I look at main caravan dealers like a main franchised car dealership and in my experience main franchised car dealerships go by the book, with various TV programmes including Practical Caravan TV (Channel 212 Monday nights) just going on about how brilliant new caravans are to buy and we all should go out there tomorrow and buy one because the dealers are just about to run out till next year, what a joke, Practical Caravan TV and Caravan Finder should actually tell it what it is like and that you are very likely to buy a load of crap for your £24000,

Not the most positive comment that I've ever read, although I don't entirely disagree with some of the points that you raised.
Here is the definition of Jaundiced from the Cambridge Dictionary

 

[thosoneill]

Folks I am not in the position to purchase a new caravan however if I were then I reckon I would be buying a hymer/eriba or similar continental caravan even if the door is on the wrong side - this forum is a great source of information on what to look out for and what exactly to do when something goes wrong

 

[camel]

Parky,
You have made your point very clear, but it is just me and my humble opinion,

 

[Buckman]

On searching the Internet I came across another forum that appears to be quite popular and it appears that in the past year at least 5 people have rejected their caravans. We are really glad that we bought on HP as it makes the rejection process a lot easier except when you hit a hiccup like us. I have no doubt that the finance house are in the wrong however I guess it is now up to the Ombudsman to decide.
Maybe if more new caravans got rejected, dealerships and manufacturers will stop taking us for morons and improved quality, but pigs will fly first. I think in all the years I have been reading various magazines I have only seen one caravan criticises and that what was because it had a leak I think in the bathroom.
Pity magazines are not more on the side of consumers instead of publishing glowing reports about a caravan on a forecourt that has never been used and all they have done is walk around inside it. At least with a motor vehicle they have the opportunity to take it for a drive.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Very interesting Parksy.
Fully agree. Our Wyoming is now 8 years old. Never before have we had a caravan this long. Yes it did have a few teething problems but nothing structural.

Morning Dusty,
I am sure there are some caravanners who have had a perfect caravan, and they are the ones who don't shout about it. After all that's what they've paid for. But I'd wager that the majority have not had a perfect experience, and that something all be it minor has gone wrong. Like you.

Sadly the British public have had decades of being forced to accept imperfect goods and especially caravans, and that is a total disgrace. We have come to accept the notion that it's almost inevitable that a caravan is likely to have something not quite perfect, so when asked if your caravan was all right, many will say yes, when in all probability the answer should have been no.

The design and manufacture of caravans is not cutting edge engineering, it's actually quite low tech, but even so the manufacturers fail to do it consistently well.

There are design issues, for example the front panels cracking, and spongy floors, but often the problems most people encounter is shoddy workmanship during construction. And that is entirely in the manufacturers hands.

Where ever humans are involved there is chance they may forget to or even choose not to do something, so good designers try to make sure it's next to impossible to assemble something incorrectly. But we hear of too many failures so clearly this principle is not being applied in the industry.

Manufacturers should be ashamed of their record, and especially that the same types of failures are still arising.

Sadly until manufacturers really bite the bullet and understand that they should be doing a lot more to improve their product, we will continue to see caravans with faults being sold as the norm, rather than the exception.

Dealers are also complicit in this. Each time they accept a faulty product from the manufacturer they should become more active about rejecting it back to the manufacturer, so the manufacturers begin to feel the pain the buying public have suffered.

 

[Martin24]

What I don't understand is build quality should be better now, better materials available, different construction methods, newer cutting techniques for inside and out the list is endless. I've been caravanning from 6 months old so we're now looking at 45 years . I don't remember in my childhood anywhere near the amount of problems with build quality inside or out and I don't recall us ever having a damp caravan. Brand wise we've had everything lots of different makes and models over the years (Eurocamper, Elddis, Avondale, Mustang, Compass and Fleetwood to name but a few that spring to mind) and never had a bad one until I was buying under my own steam which was 2000 onwards. 2nd hand Elddis damp, new Compass Rejected, Coachman x3 various faults including damp and the current Bailey (okay so far).

Why???

 

[JonnyG]

Folks I am not in the position to purchase a new caravan however if I were then I reckon I would be buying a hymer/eriba or similar continental caravan even if the door is on the wrong side - this forum is a great source of information on what to look out for and what exactly to do when something goes wrong

dont forget burstner although rare they did make caravans with the door on the right side for the brits market we had a 2005 model or was it a 2003 forget now but it was priced far cheaper secondhand than an equivalent brit made van of the same year..

 

[KeefySher]

Very interesting Parksy.
Fully agree. Our Wyoming is now 8 years old. Never before have we had a caravan this long. Yes it did have a few teething problems but nothing structural.

Morning Dusty,
I am sure there are some caravanners who have had a perfect caravan, and they are the ones who don't shout about it. After all that's what they've paid for. But I'd wager that the majority have not had a perfect experience, and that something all be it minor has gone wrong. Like you.

Sadly the British public have had decades of being forced to accept imperfect goods and especially caravans, and that is a total disgrace. We have come to accept the notion that it's almost inevitable that a caravan is likely to have something not quite perfect, so when asked if your caravan was all right, many will say yes, when in all probability the answer should have been no.

The design and manufacture of caravans is not cutting edge engineering, it's actually quite low tech, but even so the manufacturers fail to do it consistently well.

There are design issues, for example the front panels cracking, and spongy floors, but often the problems most people encounter is shoddy workmanship during construction. And that is entirely in the manufacturers hands.

Where ever humans are involved there is chance they may forget to or even choose not to do something, so good designers try to make sure it's next to impossible to assemble something incorrectly. But we hear of too many failures so clearly this principle is not being applied in the industry.

Manufacturers should be ashamed of their record, and especially that the same types of failures are still arising.

Sadly until manufacturers really bite the bullet and understand that they should be doing a lot more to improve their product, we will continue to see caravans with faults being sold as the norm, rather than the exception.

Dealers are also complicit in this. Each time they accept a faulty product from the manufacturer they should become more active about rejecting it back to the manufacturer, so the manufacturers begin to feel the pain the buying public have suffered.

As usual Prof, a good post.

However, you misguidedly called the assemblers of common poor quality parts masquerading as caravans, manufacturers. Please wash your mouth out and do not give the circus performers in the assembly sheds the elevation to a standard they are eons off achieving.

Your years of standing up for poor unsuspecting mugs aka caravan buyers, are noted and appreciated, but please keep up the standard. Tootle pip

 

[JonnyG]

i reckon parksy hit it on the nail.. i do a lot of research when buying replacement cars and read plenty of comments of just how bad this car or that car is ,it also applies to caravans but there seems to be one factor that is never put into the equation "percentages " now when i read that car A is crap and this or that is a huge common problem i always take a step back and dig deeper .just a troll of the internet can bring up 10s or maybe even a 100s of references to a named problem and you can be sure the forums will spread this so called huge named problem a 1000 times, but if you take a closer look and say in the instance of cars that they sell 50,000 or even 100,000 of these cars a year and have been doing so for say 4 or 5 years you start to see a better picture percentage wise i mean a 100 complaints about a car with a so called "known problem" out of 50 000 made yearly is hardly a major problem ,is it? you will also read that people complain about a lack of a recall, because in their minds 100 complaints read on the internet means it must be a serious problem not withstanding the 49,900 vehicleshave never suffered from the "huge problem" i think the internet gets things all out of perspective ,sure if you are the one having the problem it is sure to be upsetting but it doesn't mean theres a pandemic size problem with build quality. the same surely applies to caravans without factoring in exactly how many caravans are being produced yearly you cannot make a proper and fair judgement about the state of the caravan industry, or any other industry for that matter...

 

[Raywood]

Sadly it is true that the build and equipment standards of modern caravans is very low and if the level of faults given in the magazine surveys is correct it is not getting better and is far too high. I would add a word of caution though as people with an axe to grind might be more likely to complete these so the figures might be a little worse than they should be. Whatever the truth though they are not good enough and you do wonder if it would be cheaper to increase the quality control and save on the claims.
Dealers must also take their share of the blame. The OP's post shows a caravan that was in very poor condition when delivered and why the dealer even bothered to try and hand it over beats me. Any decent dealer should have checked it over and spotted the cracked panels and gone back to the builder letting the customer know there were problems with it.
The Prof raises an interesting point as to whether with a trade in there is one contract or two. My feeling is there is one as the whole transaction is incorporated in a single document that basically says the dealer will pay "X" for the trade in and the customer agrees to pay "Y" for the replacement caravan. Neither would stand on their own as the trade in will have an inflated value to make it look attractive and the sale price is higher than it would be if there was no trade in. The trade in is part of the price paid rather than another contract.
Basically you cannot enforce the trade in price if you do not buy the caravan and you would look for a discount if there was no trade in so neither stands alone. The terms of the contract can only be changed if is some unforseen event intervenes or by the agreement of both parties. An unforseen event might be a subsequent accident to the trade in or say damp turning up or he new caravan not being in a satisfactory condition and an agreed change might be the specification being altered or even a different model being taken.
Can the dealer make you take the old caravan back if you reject the new model, is one I cannot be sure of, but provided they still have it, and it is still in the same condition, then it certainly is possible, but I do not know of any case coming to court on that point. It occurs to me that if the new caravan is rejected even after a month, the trade in may have been sold and cannot therefore be returned, but if not then you are getting back what you used as part payment so it must be a realistic possibility. Unless you actually wanted rid of it, then it is probably a sensible idea to take it back and you still have a caravan.

 

[NigelHutson]

Whilst I contribute to Practical Caravan, I buy my caravan with my own hard earned, and share many of the frustrations that others do.

When I write caravan reviews, I do try to include any constructive criticism where appropriate (mainly design flaws), and in fairness, caravan manufacturers do take note on occasions to what I and colleagues write. For instance, I was invited a few years ago to view the Lunar Saros (a week or so before it was launched to the public), and was asked by senior staff members at the factory to give my opinion. One thing that I noted was that there was only one shelf above the bed head. I gave my reasons why there should be two, and great credit to them, they took it on board and two shelves were included in production models. That was just one example. Of course it's not practical (excuse the non-intended pun) to include everything that's suggested on the grounds of cost and/or production constraints.

Secondly, when we review caravans, they're either provided by manufacturers or (in my case) by dealers, and as they're demonstrators usually, they are generally well prepared. But of course, there's nothing like using the things over a period of time to highlight issues fully. PCV do have long-term test caravans, and on occasions there are issues which they report on, but they are limited as to the number of caravans that they can have on-fleet, and sometimes manufacturers don't have the number of 'press' caravans that would allow each and every publication to have one of theirs on test.

With regards to the magazine becoming champion of the complaints department, that simply won't happen, and realistically, neither should it. If that did happen, PCV would go out of existence pretty quickly if you consider that manufacturers would more than likely pull the plug on having caravans available to review and lost revenue due to advertising (and in the case of the Tow Car Awards, not having any caravans to use!).

When it comes to imports, I can categorically state that many aren't brought in from Utopia, and many have similar issues as our home built brands. You will always hear about someone with a foreign brand saying how wonderful it is (and if they're completely satisfied, fantastic), but at the same time, we do hear of disgruntled owners who aren't perhaps as vocal at complaining about their caravans. I was on holiday recently, and got speaking to an English couple who were having all kinds of problems with their Continental brand. Plus, I suspect that when speaking about their Continental brand there is a degree of rose coloured glasses that come into play. I used to work with a chap who kept banging on about how wonderful his (premium German) car was in every respect, but then had to be reminded of the number of times that we'd had to pick him up from the garage because it was having X,Y or Z done at great expense to him.

Please don't misunderstand me, like everyone else, I feel that there is room for huge improvement across the board, and the best way for owners to voice this is by completing the Owner Satisfaction Survey if appropriate. I do know for a fact that manufacturers do take the results seriously (I have heard various Directors making comment and taking notice of the feedback). Of course, they would like to produce a perfect product so that their warranty expenses were virtually nil, but alas whilst caravans are put together by humans (some very skilled, others perhaps very unskilled in places) we are a long way from that.

Finally, and this is far from being an excuse, it would appear that over the last year caravan production has increased incredibly to meet demand. I was once speaking to the MD of one manufacturer. One year, one of their models was an amazing success sales wise. I suggested that the success had caught them out and they struggled to keep up with demand. He denied this, saying, "You've been to the factory, so you know that we can't really increase production". Well, you can if you cut corners was my response.

These are my opinions etc., and don't reflect PCV in any way (unless they agree of course!).

 

[Parksy]

Very interesting Parksy.
Fully agree. Our Wyoming is now 8 years old. Never before have we had a caravan this long. Yes it did have a few teething problems but nothing structural.
Most things I fix myself with many thanks to the advice on here. Looking at the newer models I do like the manufacturers approach to timberless construction. However Alu-tech , Solid etc still doesn't stop water ingress
Elddis and Lunar seem to get the worst of the bad press . However I suspect the Bailey and Swift dealers may be better performers as illustrated in the Dealer of the Year PCv award.
In the analysis I'd love to know just how many faults are structural and how many are outside manufacturers fitted equipment?
Maybe Phoenixflyer has got it right. Buy a used caravan where some other poor person has put things right and then given up in despair

It has to be said, if like us you buy a caravan which is entirely satisfactory and with a layout that suits, hang on to it to the point when it's possible to carry out small repairs without any warranty issues.
I haven't yet seen anything that would tempt me to ditch the caravan we own.

 

[alan29]

Buy used from a dealer with a warranty.
That way some other poor beggar has sorted out the problems.
And if you get problems it is between you and the dealer as they can't (illegally) pass the buck on to the manufacturer.

 

[Buckman]

The OP's post shows a caravan that was in very poor condition when delivered and why the dealer even bothered to try and hand it over beats me. Any decent dealer should have checked it over and spotted the cracked panels and gone back to the builder letting the customer know there were problems with it.

Just to add the reason why we missed the cracks in the front was because someone painted over them. They were only highlighted when we had the Paintseal application done two weeks later. Unfortunately the Paintseal person started at the rear and had nearly competed the caravan before they found the painted over cracks. We have no idea if it was done at the dealer or at the manufacturer by either way they dealer should have picked it up on the PDI.
Some the other issues that should have been picked up on the PDI;

1) Veneer bubbling on rear wardrobe door
2) Fridge not working on gas
3) Handle on bathroom door very loose
4) Water needs calibration due to shower pulsating
5) Decal on rear nearside peeling off at front. This was spotted by myself on collection, so obvious.
6) Front skylight very noisy when opening so probably not checked on PDI
7) Rear skylight nearly impossible to open plus button on one side is jammed in
8) Loose knobs on push button drawers. If tightened finger tight, some drawers will not open
9) Why black caps over screws on front overhead surround when they should be beige?

Obviously the fridge was never checked on gas however on the PDI sheet it states that it was checked?

 

[Martin24]

Very interesting Parksy.
Fully agree. Our Wyoming is now 8 years old. Never before have we had a caravan this long. Yes it did have a few teething problems but nothing structural.
Most things I fix myself with many thanks to the advice on here. Looking at the newer models I do like the manufacturers approach to timberless construction. However Alu-tech , Solid etc still doesn't stop water ingress
Elddis and Lunar seem to get the worst of the bad press . However I suspect the Bailey and Swift dealers may be better performers as illustrated in the Dealer of the Year PCv award.
In the analysis I'd love to know just how many faults are structural and how many are outside manufacturers fitted equipment?
Maybe Phoenixflyer has got it right. Buy a used caravan where some other poor person has put things right and then given up in despair

It has to be said, if like us you buy a caravan which is entirely satisfactory and with a layout that suits, hang on to it to the point when it's possible to carry out small repairs without any warranty issues.
I haven't yet seen anything that would tempt me to ditch the caravan we own.

DD, I can assure you our Bailey dealer is horrendous. We ended up paying the workshop we always use to sort things out as couldn't be bothered with seeing the dealer ever again and others near by have an even worse reputation. As we're keeping this for as long as we can manage me in it, I'm not even going to bother with the discolouration of the door. I can honestly say with 5 or so years difference between our van and yours and then another three years on to present day, I would be sticking to what you've got.

Parksy, We can't find anything to tempt us away from ours and so have stopped looking even though it's due a change this year or next. I think nowadays if you've got something relatively fault free it's worth keeping it. We paid the extra for the 10 year water ingress so not worried on that front and even if we need a new mattress in a few years time or the odd job doing at service it'll still be saving a fortune over the cost to change. When we've finished with this one we'll be hanging up the pink marigolds for good so if it's only any good for scrap so be it.

Long live all our ageing beauties and may they serve us well for many years to come. :cheer: :cheer: :cheer: Oh, this applies to our vans as well.

 

[emmerson]

At risk of boring everyone by repeating myself (again) my Royale, has never had any major complaints, or indeed needed dealer attention in all the time I've had it, and as far as I know had the same history with its previous owner.
However, tragedy has struck, and it will need dealer attention over the winter, cos I've broken it! I had a minor confrontation with a block of concrete and as I have paid insurance for over fifty years without claim, I decided to have it professionally repaired, as I have an agreed value policy.
I shall be very interested to see what horrors lurk inside the outer panels when they come off during the repair. Even my rose-tinted specs expect to find some rot, but it is, after all, 38 years old!
In the meantime, I'll continue to enjoy this elegant elderly lady, until the repairer is ready for her.
Watch this space.