Sometimes I wonder why?

Apr 13, 2021
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I would love to find figures about The incidence of damp in caravans. A recent “review” in the CandCC mag gave brief figures on the numbers that needed work done was it 60 or 80 % in the first year. But these might be trivial or serious. In the last 2 new caravans over 15 years I have had 6 or 8 damp repairs (forgive my memory). My current Swift has had front and back of each side mended and the main front top windows, I count that as 3 repairs as it went into workshop only 3 times.

I would be really concerned buying the caravan I am trying to part exchange. 9 years old. I wonder how well damp repairs work? I think the van cost £22k. I have seen similar vans for sale at £17k. the purchase of Old vans seems scary to me. I wonder if problems with older vans make those new to caravanning think twice about their new lifestyle?
 
May 7, 2012
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The figures in the magazine show the latest figure as 12% but they may have missed out Lunar, this is models sold in the last five years. and it is the only sample I know of where figures have been given. I think the 60 to 80% is caravans that have been back for warranty work of any kind. I have not got the magazine with me at the moment, so might have to adjust it slightly when I can check.
 
Mar 14, 2005
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One damp failure is a one failure too many.

Caravan manufacturers have had nearly 100 years to design caravans that don't leak, And yes they can do it, but it seems they can't do it every time. The simple reason is they do not take quality assurance seriously. Its that simple.
 
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Nov 6, 2005
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One damp failure is a one failure too many.

Caravan manufacturers have had nearly 100 years to design caravans that don't leak, And yes they can do it, but it seems they can't do it every time. The simple reason is they do not take quality assurance seriously. Its that simple.
There are also fundamental design flaws - touring caravans are intended to be towed along public roads, this causes flexing which some designers ignore when specifying sealant materials.
 
Jul 18, 2017
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The figures in the magazine show the latest figure as 12% but they may have missed out Lunar, this is models sold in the last five years. and it is the only sample I know of where figures have been given. I think the 60 to 80% is caravans that have been back for warranty work of any kind. I have not got the magazine with me at the moment, so might have to adjust it slightly when I can check.
Correct me if I am wrong, but aren't the figures gleaned from people who have responded to the survey so I would think there is a possibility that figures can be very skewed.
After all many people have a caravan for many years with no sign of damp and they may be a majority. We do not hear about them as they have found no reason to complain about no damp etc? LOL!
 

Sam Vimes

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Sep 7, 2020
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Can't comment on the statistics but my own experience is that damp was found in two seperate locations on our caravan when it went in for its first service from new. Since the damp didn't just happen on the day of the service it was probably there much earlier in its life. That is not long after it left the factory.

I wrote a letter of concern to the manufacturer who called me and apologised for the inconvenience. They also made what I thought was a curious statement. I can't recall the exact words but it was along the lines of ' we know damp is difficult to control sometimes and that's why we provide a 10 year warranty'.

This seems the wrong way to approach the problem and I would assume that most warranties are given to cover the exceptional occassions when things go wrong. Not to cover things that they know will go wrong.

The old premise of 'it costs more to fix after its shipped than to fix it before its shipped' doesn't seem to apply to the caravan industry. Sad really.
 
Nov 11, 2009
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Can't comment on the statistics but my own experience is that damp was found in two seperate locations on our caravan when it went in for its first service from new. Since the damp didn't just happen on the day of the service it was probably there much earlier in its life. That is not long after it left the factory.

I wrote a letter of concern to the manufacturer who called me and apologised for the inconvenience. They also made what I thought was a curious statement. I can't recall the exact words but it was along the lines of ' we know damp is difficult to control sometimes and that's why we provide a 10 year warranty'.

This seems the wrong way to approach the problem and I would assume that most warranties are given to cover the exceptional occassions when things go wrong. Not to cover things that they know will go wrong.

The old premise of 'it costs more to fix after its shipped than to fix it before its shipped' doesn't seem to apply to the caravan industry. Sad really.
It’s not just caravans as today we went out for lunch with a group of friends. One couple had bought an Auto Trail motorhome back in spring. It was pre owned and came with six months warranty. I advised the husband to get it damp checked before the warranty expired. He did so last week. 90% around one of the side windows. 30% around the opposite side. A large pool of water found behind the cooker believed to be from a leaking pipe. It’s now back at the dealership for rectification. It’s been back on three other occasions for faults to be fixed.
 
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May 7, 2012
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Correct me if I am wrong, but aren't the figures gleaned from people who have responded to the survey so I would think there is a possibility that figures can be very skewed.
After all many people have a caravan for many years with no sign of damp and they may be a majority. We do not hear about them as they have found no reason to complain about no damp etc? LOL!
Yes it is a survey carried out by the magazine and the C&CC. Having checked the magazine the 2021 survey showed 12.2% reported damp a figure that seems to be coming down as it was 15% in2019 and between the two for 2020. Possibly the real figure is a bit lower as the trend is for those with a problem to complain and those that are happy to be less vocal The cynics might say the absence of new Lunars could be the cause of the reduction , it might be true,, I simply do not know.
Unfortunately there is no other source for these statistics, so you either assume these are about right, or say you do not know them.
The biggest complaint heading was fit and finish, which will not be a surprise to anyone.
 
Jun 20, 2005
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The answer lies at Companies House. Checkout any U.K. caravan manufacturer. In their accounts they have to list a contingency sum to cover expected water ingress warranty claims that could relate to years 6 to 10 financial years. Obviously some vary depending on the duration of their warranty. That’s the give away. Compare that sum with the total sales and you can soon see it is not a pretty picture by today’s standards
 
Nov 16, 2015
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I think I have been fairly lucky with my caravans, 1st one a 5 year old Sterling, Eccles Jewel, then a New Coachman 545, which was great but we didn't like the rear island bed, and after three year moved to a New Coachman 560. So far all damp free. Let me hope it will stay that way.
 

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