Swift Conqueror Window Seal

Jun 12, 2021
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Hi, we went to view our first caravan today...A 2012 Swift Conqueror 530/4. All in all very tidy, but on one of the windows there was a white putty type sealant...I couldn’t really work out if it was excess caused by heat or hinge movement or if it had been re-sealed due to a previous leak. Is this anything to be very concerned about? Would I be advised to walk away or Is this sort of thing fairly common? Being our first have little experience.
 

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Nov 11, 2009
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Hi, we went to view our first caravan today...A 2012 Swift Conqueror 530/4. All in all very tidy, but on one of the windows there was a white putty type sealant...I couldn’t really work out if it was excess caused by heat or hinge movement or if it had been re-sealed due to a previous leak. Is this anything to be very concerned about? Would I be advised to walk away or Is this sort of thing fairly common? Being our first have little experience.
Has it had a recent damp check for you to see. Any annual service or recent repair invoices. A picture would help. Was it a trade or private sale?
 
Jun 12, 2021
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Hi otherClive, it was private sale....being new to the game I didn’t really know the questions to ask or paper work t9 look for...going into it blind slightly! I have attached a small image in the first post.
 
May 24, 2014
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Looks to me as if it has been oversealed. I would definitely get an independant inspection and damp check. It may be OK, but you need to be aware that damp can be a lot further progressed than meets the eye. Check it out before you part with your cash.
 
Nov 11, 2009
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A full independent damp check from an Approved Workshop Scheme technician will allow the extent of any damp to be investigated. Also if not extensive they could advise a likely repair budget too. Being a first time buyer do you have anyone who knows about caravans to help you? The Conqueror is a weighty caravan what car will you use to tow it. A guide is the caravan maximum weight MTPLM should be around 85% of the cars kerbweight. Do you have a B, or BE licence. As if you only have B you might find the car and caravan sum of GVW plus MTPLM exceeds 3500 kg licence limit.

Things to look for are damp checks and how recent. Annual service records and how recent. Age of tyres. Is everything working and demonstrated. You can get AWS technicians to carry out a pre purchase inspection.

If you are not confident it would be better to buy from a company where you have much stronger consumer rights under CRA 2015. But still expect to see service records and a damp check. One looks like this. The figures represent percentage damp reading. Mine were taken three days after returning from a wet and cold two weeks away with two people and two dogs. And we had to use the van shower too for the two weeks. They will have reduced now the weather is better.


0F36C57D-0F72-494C-A162-55FE8E4BC376.jpeg
My readings are virtually the same as in December 2020. I tend to have it checked twice a year. Once as part of service and a mid year one. Catch damp early and it can be fixed with less hassle and less cost.
 
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What would be best case and worst case with the window? How much could it cost to repair if needed?
The caravan was nice and the chap was a genuine family man and had been owned for 2 years and bought from a dealer.

Towing all good....lI have a class 1 licence and would be towing with a large estate car.
 
Nov 11, 2009
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What would be best case and worst case with the window? How much could it cost to repair if needed?
The caravan was nice and the chap was a genuine family man and had been owned for 2 years and bought from a dealer.

Towing all good....lI have a class 1 licence and would be towing with a large estate car.
Really no idea as without checking for damp you cannot tell. If the seller was genuine when was the last service and damp check done with what results. There will be paperwork. Ask about the excess sealant to ascertain why it looks as it does. Why is it being sold? Buying from a dealer two years previously doesn’t really guarantee anything. There are good and bad dealers as you can see on threads on the Forum. Also in two years things can go wrong irrespective of the dealer actions. You need to be inquisitive and if it’s a genuine sale I’d advise getting a pre sale inspection by a AWS technician. Then if there’s anything untoward try and negotiate the price down to cover any work.

Head over heart with caravans I’m afraid.
 
Mar 27, 2011
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When looking for a caravan for your first time it’s a difficult choice to make, often first time buyers aren’t always able to spend as much as you’d like so always ruling out a caravan due to defects that a new buyer can live with will often be accepted but lots of us on here seem to be seasoned caravaners who being older have gradually upgraded to better and better vans and if buying now wouldn’t dream of buying a van with some faults that other people would be happy to accept, unfortunately we haven’t all got 20k -30k to spend on a caravan that they will probably use half a dozen times a year so accepting some faults is the norm if for instance you’ve got a very low budget, lots of faults you can fix yourself for little cost but damp issues are often major issues that need more skills but if the price you pay is all you’ve got then can you live with it, my previous caravan was a bailey ranger that was about 10 years old when I bought it, I bought it at a time when I really wanted something better than we had and I missed obvious signs of damp in one corner, it was however ok to live with and in the 5 years I had it there was no change so it didn’t get any worse, I paid around 6k and at the time I wasn’t in a position to pay more, we loved it and when the time came we sold it privately and was honest about the damp and the buyer said he’d take the chance as it was all he could afford and I’m sure he’ll be happy, I sold it for 3k and if it didn’t deteriorate and was ok for a couple of years he won’t have been ripped off, the OP needs to decide if he can repair it himself, get someone else to do it, live with it or walk away, unfortunately there’s not enough new or used caravans about currently, it’s not an easy decision to make, you might be paying all its worth and all you’ve got, if you can afford a check by a technician then great go for it, if by the time you’ve found a technician to get to it you’ll probably find it’s gone and you start looking again, I’m not saying buy any old rubbish but it’s without doubt a sellers market so best of look finding a bone dry pristine caravan that’s going dirt cheap, I’m not sure there’s many like that about this year.

BP
 
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May 7, 2012
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Looks a very amateur re[air but l I agree with the others the extent of any problem is impossible for us to say. It does need an independent inspection with a damp meter and even then it can be difficult to be sure. I agree you need an expert examination and I would check mobile caravan repairers for your area and see if any can check it out for you. It might be very minor or it could be over £1,000 depending on if there is any damage that you cannot see.
 
Nov 11, 2009
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Just a piece of advice for the OP, when my various caravans have been diagnosed with damp only in one of them could you feel the effect on a wall panel. None had any smell or visible internal staining. So don't think it can be like going into an old house and smelling damp; if you can then it is probably very extensive. However in an ill ventilated van it can smell musty at times, but this soon disappears once it is ventilated properly.
 
May 24, 2014
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OC brings me to a point for new buyers. If you can detect a smell of air freshener, it may be an attempt to hide the smell of damp.

One needs to take care buying caravans just at the moment. There has been a massive increase in sales of new and used caravans, and dealers that may normally have over a 100 used caravans now have 4 or 5 available. Just make sure these arent the last turkeys in the shop (i.e. the dregs). I suspect a better time to buy will be autumn provided we are out of lockdown and foreign travel is more open.

Whilst looking at caravans, you can pick up a very cheap damp meter to take with you. It may save thousands in the long run.

Further, the Caravan Club have a deal with Mobile Caravan Engineers Association (MCEA) for inspections of various levels
see
Caravan and Motorhome Inspectors | The Caravan Club

I would also say to the OP, that he needs to check his weights and learn about the different weights limits involved. You need to be checking kerbweights, noseweights, towing capacity, towbars and so much more. Just because its a larger estate car doesnt necessarily mean it has the capacity to tow the caravan. Due diligence needed and have a look at Towcar.info for weight comparisons.
 
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Jan 3, 2012
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Just look on E-bay there is plenty of buyers and bids buying caravans and they selling at great speed and some are even Sold before there time is up But if i was buying it would be from a caravan dealer then you can check the history of it ;)
 
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Jul 18, 2017
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Further, the Caravan Club have a deal with Mobile Caravan Engineers Association (MCEA) for inspections of various levels
see
Caravan and Motorhome Inspectors | The Caravan Club

I would also say to the OP, that he needs to check his weights and learn about the different weights limits involved. You need to be checking kerbweights, noseweights, towing capacity, towbars and so much more. Just because its a larger estate car doesnt necessarily mean it has the capacity to tow the caravan. Due diligence needed and have a look at Towcar.info for weight comparisons.

We were going to use them, but found them to be a lot more expensive than AWS service technicians however that was not the reason why we cancelled.
 

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