Reliability Bailey versus Hymer

[waffler]

We have an 18month old Bailey Pageant Monarch. It is due for return to the dealers for the third time, as well as having faults fixed on annual service. Now it's windows misted, water pump coming on and off and shower door foulling the shower tray. Our dealer wrote to us nd told us the new door was in stock. So someone needs a new door!

we think the van's design and upholstery etc are exccellent and it came new at a very sensible price. We are thinking about swapping it for a new or nearly new Hymer 470 in the hope that it will need to go to the dealers less. We also caravan year round so there is the added insulation in the Hymer. The price we'll pay is about £4000 and 300kg.

Anyone got any comments?

 

[Icemaker]

I don't really like the hymers as i'm not in to the ikea look but i am told they have a good reliability record and they do appear to be screwed together rather well. Regarding your bailey i have a friend who has a senater whyoming which is now two years old, the van has been ok but it has had its problems mainly silly things like the trim coming out of the awning rail and locker doors not fitting corectly, triviall things but non the less annoying.

It would appear from my experiance that most of the british main stream manufacturers are trying to improve but still have a long way to go, I have always been a coachman person ive had a pastiche a vip and a laser and i can honestly say ive had absolutely no cause for concern at all with any of them, they only ever went to the dealer for a service nothing else. the only slight concern was a little bit of instability, on the other hand i now have an ace celebration 590 (based on the equirry) its only 6 weeks old and the list of faults is now twelve items long, from simple things like the mirror suround not being fitted to a hole in the woodwork where the fitters have missed with a drill and now we have found that one of the windows has not been fitted correctly and rain is coming in to the van. in summary i do not think that these foreign vans have had long enough in the uk under our weather to prove themselves beyond doubt, but i can vouch for coachman, the other main stream manufacturers still have some work to do.

 

[Award1]

Remember the 3 faults you've quoted are 3rd party supplied items. My Provence is the 2 nd Bailey I've owned and it has recently had a faulty battery charger resulting in loss of 12 volts, and then the 230V.

Rung my dealer on the Saturday and he talked me through re-setting it, then rang me on Monday morning to ask if he and the charger manufactuer could look at it, but at the time I was in the South of England. Charger changed no problems.

I've previously looked at Hymers in the past, and whilst very nice are very very heavy, and the sum is only as goods as its parts. As most of the items in the Hymer are manufactured by Thetford, Dometic etc, then the only real advantage is the metal frame , which does away with the wood in UK vans. But Bailey now offer a 6 year body warranty on it's fully bonded Pageants., so it's as good as the german vans.

Just mho

Andrew

 

[hymer]

Chris,

I have owned a Hymer from new for two years now and I can vouch for the reliability and practicality of these caravans. All on-board systems have worked perfectly from day one and we have had no problems other than a fly screen not returning fully (fixed by dealer). What you get in a Hymer is attention to the basics so that you have a comfortable caravan that is robustly built both internally and externally, and stable under tow. What you don't get are the non-essentials such as full-size domestic cooker, microwave oven, clock, wiring for satellite TV etc. none of which are important to me.

Some British manufacturers unfortunately do seem to concentrate on the latter at the expense of the former. I had a look over the latest Bailey series 5 Senator range recently and whilst the internal layout of the Louisiana in particular is superb, it does seem rather flimsy at the front and rear ends and some of the internal fittings are less than robust.

Mike (Cambridge).

 

[BeatBeat]

Chris, I'm concerned to hear about the problems you've had with your Monarch especially as I'd decided that at the end of this year I'd replace my very trusted 1993 Bailey Beachcomber with a Monarch.

Maybe your experience is a one off or perhaps I need a rethink.

Pat

 

[Paul_5041248]

Trisha, we have had three Baileys, all new. The first, a Moselle we had no problems with and traded it in at 16 months old for a Vendee. Problem with water flow in kitchen which was fixed and the sealant in the shower requiring reapplying due to flexing of walls - fixed without a problem. Traded in the Vendee at 21 months for a Series 5 Vendee, now 11 months old. Problem with one edge of the shower cublicle coming out of the capping strip. In addition, there is a sevice replacement for the struts holding up the bed (stronger ones) which I had arranged to have fitted at its service next month. With the shower problem phoned the supplying dealer (Orpington Caravans) on Monday and they were sorry, but they 'could not take it until the following week'. I also emailed Bailey as there is a replacement for the extrusion over the cooker. They emailed back to say that they had dispatched the replacement extrusion AND struts and they arrivd on Tuesday. Having rad of horror stories about other manufacturers and dealers I can only conclude that I have nothing to complain about. No doubt though someone will write about a different kind of xperience with Bailey. In conclusion I have no hsitation in recommending Bailey and also Orpington Caravans.

 

[BeatBeat]

Thanks Paul, that's reassuring. I have certainly been very pleased with my Beachcomber. It's the only van I've owned so I have no first had experience of other makes.

Having visited the caravan show at the NEC earlier this year I thought the Monarch look excellent. Having everything I was looking for....except the price tag.

I can't afford a new van so will be looking for something a couple of years old so hopefully all the 'teething' problems will have been resolved.

 

[rob_jax]

Guys,

Just take a look at the Caravan Club 2005 quality and reliability survey - page 34 of the July 2005 mag. has the summary, and you need to look at the previous two months for all the fine details.

To quote "The most relilabe caravan makers in the survey (4000 vans) turned out to be the usual suspects of imported models..."

Burstner, Eriba, Hobby and Hymer (in alphabetical order) all scored very highly.

To quote "Many of the problems relate to bought in components such as door locks, taps, and furnishings .... but it is the manufacturer's responsibility to put this all together in a package that works ..."

It's good to hear that some dealers fix problems without any undue effort on the owners part, but it's way better to have a van with zero defects in the first place.

If we want a UK caravan industry that will still be there in the future, they must be pressurised into matching or excelling the market leaders.

Robert (Eriba Triton)

 

[MonkeysHusband]

Just to add to your debate when we were looking for a new (or rather 5 year old van last year) I couldn't believe how many UK built vans that were just falling apart. It's a bit like the UK car industry if you've ever seen the factory that there assembled in then you know that how we build vans in the UK is old fashioned, with some workers employed on short-term seasonal contracts and with little training etc I know things are improving but slowly and with little real investment.

.

Compare that with the Dethleffs factory; more Robots, quality checks and workers on decent salary's. Vans built to modern designs i.e. solid wall construction continuous roofs etc. Our van is German and is an investment not a liability.