Popularity of Marques.

[Thingy]

From what I can gather, and this is only a general observation, I may be wrong (unlikely but possible ) the most popular brand of caravan on this forum is Swift and its associated marques, closely followed by Bailey and then Coachman (cost?) Among the members here Eldiss seems to be quite uncommon, but why is that. I see Eldiss is owned by Hymer (how long has that been the case) and I would have thought that with Hymer the Eldiss quality would have been improved. Is it a case of the Skoda slur for what is now a very good car?

 

[otherclive]

From what I can gather, and this is only a general observation, I may be wrong (unlikely but possible ) the most popular brand of caravan on this forum is Swift and its associated marques, closely followed by Bailey and then Coachman (cost?) Among the members here Eldiss seems to be quite uncommon, but why is that. I see Eldiss is owned by Hymer (how long has that been the case) and I would have thought that with Hymer the Eldiss quality would have been improved. Is it a case of the Skoda slur for what is now a very good car?

I suspect that you are correct. I have noticed too that amongst the larger new TA Eldiss brands seem more popular. And I appreciate that beauty is in the eye of the beholder but to me they are much better looking than the others. I’d be very surprised if Hymer influence has not started to filter through. But since then there’s been another business change. I think a US company are now the top tier.

 

[Tuningdrew]

All a question of numbers I think. Where we are at the moment there's 25 units. 11 Swift, 7 Bailey, 2 Coachman, a Weinsberg 2 Lunars and an Elddis.
Our local dealer who is totally bereft of any stock is a Compass agent, another Hymer brand. Surprised they are still made using the 'traditional' method of a timber frame clad with aluminium outside and thin plywood inner.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Clive is correct. USA company Thor Industries purchased the Hymer and thus Eldiss. Thor is a major player in the USA RV market, and traditionally has acquired businesses and has generally allowed them to retain their own identities.

The sequential process of Hymer acquiring Eldiss in Feb 2017 then being bought out by Thor in Sept 2018, These acquisitions take months if not years to to carry out the due diligence so I am sure it was a deliberate and choreographed process as they happened so close together.

There could be some merit to likening the Eldiss/Hymer to Skoda/VAG, and I certainly agree if it had just been Hymer involved I believe Eldiss might have seen some more significant early changes. But Thor's business development processes will have been quite different.

Whoever was in charge really makes no difference because you can't change a business the size of Eldiss or its products overnight. - and of course we have now effectively lost a year through Covid.

We are now in a position where if Thor were to take the bull by the horns and really begin to address the fundamental issues of poor quality (Ethos, Aim. Management Design, Personnel, Dealers and Customer focus) Eldiss could steal a march on the other mass manufacturers and begin a new era with real benefits for all.

Are they bold enough to try to set a new higher standard for UK caravan manufacturing? If they are, then all the other manufacturers would have to follow or loose out!

 

[otherclive]

All a question of numbers I think. Where we are at the moment there's 25 units. 11 Swift, 7 Bailey, 2 Coachman, a Weinsberg 2 Lunars and an Elddis.
Our local dealer who is totally bereft of any stock is a Compass agent, another Hymer brand. Surprised they are still made using the 'traditional' method of a timber frame clad with aluminium outside and thin plywood inner.

I think your comments re the Eldiss construction method are biased in that they give the impression nothing has changed. Well a lot has changed in their construction technique, the bonded Solid approach. Yes they do use wood; nature’s composite. Providing water is excluded what problem do you have with wood. It can be lighter and stronger with better flexure than “ plastic woods”. IE Mosquito, Morgan, Marcos?

The real assessment should be on how well the more modern Eldiss ranges perform against their competitors construction-wise.

The link gives a very good description of Solid

Caravan, Motorhome & Campervan FAQs | Erwin Hymer Group

Discover our latest FAQs, with topics including General, Towing, Technical, Parts and Warranty. If your question isn't answered, please contact our customer care team.

elddis.co.uk

 

[Tuningdrew]

I think your comments re the Eldiss construction method are biased in that they give the impression nothing has changed. Well a lot has changed in their construction technique, the bonded Solid approach. Yes they do use wood; nature’s composite. Providing water is excluded what problem do you have with wood. It can be lighter and stronger with better flexure than “ plastic woods”. IE Mosquito, Morgan, Marcos?

The real assessment should be on how well the more modern Eldiss ranges perform against their competitors construction-wise.

The link gives a very good description of Solid

Caravan, Motorhome & Campervan FAQs | Erwin Hymer Group

Discover our latest FAQs, with topics including General, Towing, Technical, Parts and Warranty. If your question isn't answered, please contact our customer care team.

elddis.co.uk

You answer your own question, "providing water is excluded.."
Stargazer roof is a fairly major common source of water ingress.
I had a 1969 3.0 Marcos Coupe. One of the very last wood chassis Marcos. Unfortunately had an almost terminal case of rot in the wooden monocoque, I had a new chassis built but they were regarded as superior to the later steel spaceframe cars as they were stiffer.

 

[otherclive]

You answer your own question, "providing water is excluded.."
Stargazer roof is a fairly major common source of water ingress.

What part of the roof. If it’s a rooflight or such it’s fitting is no different to other brands and not part of the Solid construction envelope. If it’s a joint on a Solid bonded area then they have a problem. Generalities don’t help in identifying the issue being discussed.

 

[Tuningdrew]

I think you'll find the Stargazer roof has given significant problems to Lunar and Hymer group as the roof construction isn't up to the job and the caravan roof sags causing pooling and subsequent overflowing into the structure.

 

[otherclive]

I think you'll find the Stargazer roof has given significant problems to Lunar and Hymer group as the roof construction isn't up to the job and the caravan roof sags causing pooling and subsequent overflowing into the structure.

I see that a lot of the vans were subject to a recall to add extra fixings to the Stargazer rooflight. And there’s a good picture of a roof with pooling. It’s not a problem with wood per se, the problem is with the design and development of the product.

 

[ProfJohnL]

I think your comments re the Eldiss construction method are biased in that they give the impression nothing has changed. Well a lot has changed in their construction technique, the bonded Solid approach. Yes they do use wood; nature’s composite. Providing water is excluded what problem do you have with wood. It can be lighter and stronger with better flexure than “ plastic woods”. IE Mosquito, Morgan, Marcos?

The real assessment should be on how well the more modern Eldiss ranges perform against their competitors construction-wise.

The link gives a very good description of Solid

Caravan, Motorhome & Campervan FAQs | Erwin Hymer Group

Discover our latest FAQs, with topics including General, Towing, Technical, Parts and Warranty. If your question isn't answered, please contact our customer care team.

elddis.co.uk

The "Solid" construction was introduced before Hymer took over. Look at what has (or hasn't happened since the take overs.

 

[JezzerB]

Are we talking numbers here ie sold or how many like the vans? We have an Elddis made Buccaneer and it's fantastic-most issues are with the front window seal and a Heki rooflight that cracked and these should be fixed under warranty-have not while I have been browsing lately seen any issues with the stargazer roof light BUT that may not have been the case in the past. Our caravan is extremely well built-and we are 1.5 years in of very happy ownership. Elddis imo make distinctive vans-we love the coloured sides which makes them stand out-or some models-and yes others have had these but not consistently like Elddis. Construction of Adria models who garner very high customer satisfaction in the surveys also still use timber so it isn't construction materials that cause issues. We had a Bailey that wasn't as well made as our Buc-don't get me wrong it was lovely and very little went wrong but attention to detail-sealant spillage etc was no where near as good as our van-may be we are just lucky. You get a heck of a lot of complaints on websites about all makes-sadly seeing more these days about Coachman. Our friends have had swifts that have been far more problematic than us-we are not brand specific-we bought what we liked-just like a house-it felt right-and so far so very happy!

 

[Jcloughie]

We have perfectly good fences in the garden which must be 20 plus years old. Perhaps caravan manufacturers could take preservation tips from that industry.

John

 

[Buckman]

I think you'll find the Stargazer roof has given significant problems to Lunar and Hymer group as the roof construction isn't up to the job and the caravan roof sags causing pooling and subsequent overflowing into the structure.

We had a recall for it and they had to fit different screws and do something else.

 

[JezzerB]

Was that the stargazer or the front window bar-that seems to be a very common thing-fit larger screws and reseat and seal-am keeping a close eye on ours!

 

[Thingy]

When we started caravanning, people used to warn us off Eldiss, and its sort of stuck. Whenever we have looked for a new caravan, we have never ever even looked at an Eldiss. Im sure they are decent enough caravans, but its just one of those things that just sit there in the mind.

With regard to timber frames, there are still some very old caravans around in tip top condition. I suspect that its not the timber frames but the methods of construction allied to sloppy workmanship. Perhaps the issue is in the quality of the timber too. What timber do they use btw, anyone know?

 

[otherclive]

The "Solid" construction was introduced before Hymer took over. Look at what has (or hasn't happened since the take overs.

I’m aware that Solid construction was introduced before Hymer took over. It was developed icw Henkel who have an excellent reputation. But that doesn’t mean that since Hymer took over aspects of design and construction haven’t been changed.
Do the “ pooling” roofs and Stargaze predate Hymer? So I guess the jury is still out.

 

[Buckman]

I’m aware that Solid construction was introduced before Hymer took over. It was developed icw Henkel who have an excellent reputation. But that doesn’t mean that since Hymer took over aspects of design and construction haven’t been changed.
Do the “ pooling” roofs and Stargaze predate Hymer? So I guess the jury is still out.

We have never had an issue with pooling.

Was that the stargazer or the front window bar-that seems to be a very common thing-fit larger screws and reseat and seal-am keeping a close eye on ours!

The Stargazer or long overhead window in front. We did not have an issue but was done under recall when caravan went for service.

 

[Kevin M]

As previously said elsewhere, we are considering a trade-in at some point for a larger twin axle.
The Eldiss range are, on first impressions, very good value for money. I wasn’t aware of their link with Hymer.

Regards

Kevin

 

[JezzerB]

We love ours.

 

[Buckman]

We love ours.

Ditto!

 

[CustardAvenger]

From what I can gather, and this is only a general observation, I may be wrong (unlikely but possible ) the most popular brand of caravan on this forum is Swift and its associated marques, closely followed by Bailey and then Coachman (cost?) Among the members here Eldiss seems to be quite uncommon, but why is that.[?}

To throw in my purchasing experience, which took several years of looking to find the right caravan, we looked at every single make/model, but ultimately it came down to price with layout being the decider, but the style and design had to appeal.

If I had the means, [and the towcar for it} I would have an Airstream. I was able to look round the Airstreams when Swift were involved. Alas, £100K is more than my mortgage.

Again, price and towcar precluded me from a Buccaneer Barracuda - love space and front lounge in these.

Swift Basecamp appealed, and we nearly bought one, but the rather sparse interior, uncomfortable seats and price comparable with a Sprite swayed the decision to abandon it.

So we were left with traditional "budget vans", and the only fixed island bed layout caravan, which looked good from the outside and had interior furnishings we liked, and had the front 'sunroof' was the 2018 Swift Sprite.

Regarding Bailey, their insistence on using the vertical middle window puts me off all of their products.

Clive is correct. USA company Thor Industries purchased the Hymer and thus Eldiss. Thor is a major player in the USA RV market, and traditionally has acquired businesses and has generally allowed them to retain their own identities.

I noted that about the time Thor industries (owner of Airstream) purchased Hymer, Swift quietly dropped the importation/sale of Euro spec Airstreams, to "focus on core products".

 

[Raywood]

We may see if things have changed at Eldiss eventually when the current magazine survey is eventually published. They have generally done very badly with only Lunar doing worse in the last survey. There should be enough of the newer ones in the next results to establish what has improved if anything but I do think there big selling point, light weight is part of the problem. It may be significant that the heaviest makes Coachman and Adri regularly come out best, and the lightest ones Eldiss and Lunar have been worst. Is that lack of weight causing problems with rigidity?

 

[JezzerB]

Hope not-time will tell-the interior seems to be holding together very well -metal runners dovetailed joints on drawers etc! Equally as good as the Coachman we compared it to.

 

[Thingy]

When I started this I certainly wasnt calling Eldiss, I have never had one. When I started driving in the 70s, if somebody said they had bought a Skoda, all around would collapse in fits of laughter, Ive never had a Skoda either. For me, it just seems that Eldiss have always had this issue attached to their name, rightly or wrongly.

With this said, when we were going through the well documented panoramic roof issues, we considered, still are to be honest, changing the caravan. Our dealer is both a Swift and Bailey agent, and he warned us off the current crop of Baileys. His reason was that Bailey have lost a good number of their production line guys, and their replacements have been less than up to the job. Apparently new training techniques are being put into place to combat this. He also said that if we really wanted Bailey, wait for one built after Sept/Oct when the production line skills should be back to where they were. His words, not mine. How true that is, I dont know.

 

[otherclive]

When I stared this I certainly wasnt calling Eldiss, I have never had one. When I started driving in the 70s, if somebody said they had bought a Skoda, all around would collapse in fits of laughter, Ive never had a Skoda either. For me, it just seems that Eldiss have always had this issue attached to their name, rightly or wrongly.

With this said, when we were going through the well documented panoramic roof issues, we considered, still are to be honest, changing the caravan. Our dealer is both a Swift and Bailey agent, and he warned us off the current crop of Baileys. His reason was that Bailey have lost a good number of their production line guys, and their replacements have been less than up to the job. Apparently new training techniques are being put into place to combat this. He also said that if we really wanted Bailey, wait for one built after Sept/Oct when the production line skills should be back to where they were. His words, not mine. How true that is, I dont know.

Clearly your dealer wants to retain satisfied customers and doesn’t want their reputation besmirched by just taking an order only to then have problems on PDI and handover or shortly after.

pS our first second car was a Skoda Estelle and used it when living in Cumbria. Did all Lakeland passes without an issue. But gulped Waxoyl like no tomorrow