Somebody ran into the back of our caravan!!

[Wendy-Norfolk]

We apent a very enjoyable weekend at the C&CC site in Cambridge.

We left there about 2pm and expected the traffic to be fairly heavy on the A11, and we were correct. We turned onto the A1065, at the Mildenhall roundabout, and travelled towards Brandon, where the traffic was queued through the town.

Thank goodness we were actually in a queue, travelling at about 5mph,as we had a bang in the back of our 'van, somebody had driven up our backside.

Fortunately, the damage is not that bad. We expected the occupants of the car to be in our rear bathroom, but it seems the sleeve for the corner steady took the impact. Apart from a split in the lower back panel about 10 inches wide, and a crack underneath, it doesn't look that bad, nothing to prevent us from using the 'van at the moment.

We will be imforming our insurers, the CC in the morning, and take it from there. Hubby says it looks as if it will needs a whole new back panel, as it will be irrepairable, and may need a new rear chassis cross member as it looked a bit out of line.

Fingers crossed, everything will be OK

 

[WatsonJohnG]

Sorry to hear of your accident but glad that you are OK

Its good that you can still use the van(as we could) as my own and friends experience has been a 6 month wait for parts

If you resign yourself to that it may seem less frustrating as the wait goes on or hopefully you will have better luck than us !!

 

[Wendy-Norfolk]

Hi John G

Would you say this is the standard wait for parts, or is it dependant on the make of caravan? Our is a Bessacarr, so it will be the Swift Group!

 

[WatsonJohnG]

Hi Wendy

Ours was an Ace and our friends was a Harrington's Special addition both made by Swift.

We both needed side panels and it was explained to me at the dealers that the manufacturer of the aluminium side panels will only make replacement parts when a production run is complete.

In other words they won't stop to do one offs.

Both of us damaged the vans in August but 12 months apart and the repairs were completed in January.

We had arranged to trade in for the Senator before the accident and had taken delivery on 13th Jan with the repairs still outstanding.

I presumed that the sides were made following the Christmas break

Good luck

 

[Wendy-Norfolk]

Thanks John G

Swift are finishing their Bessacarr line this year, maybe it may make a difference to their spare part manufacture!

One can only hope! :O)

 

[WatsonJohnG]

Hopes go with you but I think that the side panels are produced in the same factory for most main manufacturers as are the end plastic mouldings

 

[BeemerMal]

Wendy, sorry to hear about your mishap. A similar thing happened to us about 15 years ago and it took ages to get the van back on the road. Seems little has changed with the caravan industry!

WHAT DOES THIS THREAD TELL US?.....Clearly waiting sometimes Six months, or longer for repairs, just because they don't hold spare parts is something that has been a problem with the caravan industry for years. Caravan manufacturers just do not care about providing any sort of customer service once they have got hold of our money.

They should carry spares of all panels, after all these vans are hardly One Offs and in the case of Swift many of their Marques have common components.

If it was a car manufacturer they would not stay in business long if they provided such an appalling service.

PRACTICAL CARAVAN....Take note. Run an investigation into caravan repairs and parts availability, lets see which manufacturers cut the mustard.....of course, pie in the sky, that won't happen either because PC will not want to upset their advertisers.

 

[Garfield]

There is a company that specialises in fornt /rear panels for caravans, they have hundreds available, try searching for catavan panels on google etc

 

[RayS]

I needed a new side panel for a Coachman a few years ago. It seems that like many other makes, these panels come from just one factory in the Midlands, and the delays can be considerable, particularly for a model that is not current.

It took almost a year to finally get a panel - one arrived damaged, the next could not be off loaded due to high wind, and the third was fine but damaged by the workshop fitting it.

Unless the damage is really serious, I would consider living with it if possible, rather than go through a saga of broken promises, poor communications and sheer bad service. If you intend to keep the van for some years, it probably won't make all that much difference to the trade in anyway.

 

[Wendy-Norfolk]

An update on our 'van!

Our dealer came out and had a look at the damage, and I am delighted to say it will be a prosthetic repair, so no 6 months wait for a back panel. Should be in the workshop late Nov/early Dec. :O)

 

[WatsonJohnG]

Very pleased to hear it Wendy

One thing less to wory about!

 

[Icemaker]

When our coachman laser was hit in the side by another driver we had big problems with the insurer but none at all with the repair.

The van was dropped off at glossop caravans who assessed the damage and quoted the insurer for repairs which where a full new side and all trim on that side.

It took the insurer a long time 5 weeks to authorize the repairs but once glossop had the paperwork it took them only 2 weeks to repair the van which i thought was very good considering the amount of damage.