Swift - obtaining spare parts

[Dustydog]

Welcome to the weird World of caravanners, and Motor homers.
Sadly Jez, comparing cars to caravans is fundamentally flawed. Caravan parts are made in minute numbers to the car examples you quote. Furnishings are notoriously difficult to obtain. The Industry is tiny and in truth , right or wrong , carrying thousands of spares is just not economically viable.
Join the club and take it on the chin. Your part will arrive but not by Amazon Prime🤪

 

[Jez Bragg]

It seems too many people are accepting very poor services.
The number of parts is entirely Swifts choice.
Swift have hugely over complicated the simple by their "innovations" and Sargent resulting in parts list & software issues.

 

[ProfJohnL]

If you are unable to get a reasonable response from the manufacturer using their warranty scheme, then you may be able to use the Consumer Rights Act (2015)

I strongly suggest you read up about the CRA and see if inf act your claim could be handled through this process. Just to be clear the CRA operates between you and the company that sold or financed your purchase, not the Manufacture.

 

[otherclive]

If you are unable to get a reasonable response from the manufacturer using their warranty scheme, then you may be able to use the Consumer Rights Act (2015)

I strongly suggest you read up about the CRA and see if inf act your claim could be handled through this process. Just to be clear the CRA operates between you and the company that sold or financed your purchase, not the Manufacture.

A one month wait for a replacement part, whilst irritating, is not that unreasonable given post pandemic supply chain issues, and is hardly grounds to use the legal support of CRA 2015. If parts aren’t in stock a motorhome maker cannot whistle them up from thin air.

 

[Jez Bragg]

It is all too easy to blame "post pandemic supply chain issues "
Swift are still manfacturing carvans/motorhomes so supply not an real issue.
It would seem they don't bother to stock any spares to support of those who already have a caravan/motorhome.

 

[RogerL]

It is all too easy to blame "post pandemic supply chain issues "
Swift are still manfacturing carvans/motorhomes so supply not an real issue.
It would seem they don't bother to stock any spares to support of those who already have a caravan/motorhome.

Manufacturers don't stock anything - it's all done on "Just In Time" basis from their suppliers, who in turn don't stock raw materials - blame the Japanese for introducing this many decades ago.

 

[Dustydog]

Maybe just buy one on line ?

Swift Motorhome Water Dump Valve

Electric water tank dump valve (also known as 69910-17) Used on Swift models with electric water dump. Grey and Fresh Escape, Kontiki, Bessacarr, Voyager For Grey Outer Cover: See here If you require the bracket to hold the valve we have this available. This is supplied without the blue/grey...

theleisurewarehouse.co.uk

Can your Dealer help?

 

[otherclive]

It is all too easy to blame "post pandemic supply chain issues "
Swift are still manfacturing carvans/motorhomes so supply not an real issue.
It would seem they don't bother to stock any spares to support of those who already have a caravan/motorhome.

Then why have JLR cut back to concentrate on the higher end cars with lots in compounds awaiting parts, Eldiss have vans awaiting parts, or Kia who couldn’t offer me a new auto before mid July 2023. The repetitive lockdowns in China, and the war in Ukraine are having an effect on supply chains, which have consequences for manufacturers. The JIT works very well in normal times and keeps cost lower than would larger disparate stock holdings. Swift are only doing what others have done which is to concentrate their business on new output, that’s where the profit is.

 

[Buckman]

A one month wait for a replacement part, whilst irritating, is not that unreasonable given post pandemic supply chain issues, and is hardly grounds to use the legal support of CRA 2015. If parts aren’t in stock a motorhome maker cannot whistle them up from thin air.

the reality is that there should be no grounds for any excuse never mind pandemic however as consumers we have learnt to live with it. What excuses did they use before the pandemic as there were issues with parts long before the pandemic?

 

[Jez Bragg]

JIT is fine for planned manufacturing but not for after sales spares that are required at random.
I've never come across a situation where the supplier/manufacturer has not held stock of key components for after sales support, be that automotive or white goods.

 

[otherclive]

JIT is fine for planned manufacturing but not for after sales spares that are required at random.
I've never come across a situation where the supplier/manufacturer has not held stock of key components for after sales support, be that automotive or white goods.

After market sales aren’t random when looked at across a manufacturer’s range of output. They will follow a probabilistic curve, which should allow the manufacturer to gauge stock requirement against dues in lead times. My wife had a Saab and their dealerships mainly held those parts required for servicing. Most other parts were flown in from Sweden. Order by 1600 and the part was normally available at the dealer by afternoon the next day. It worked very well during our ownership of the car.

 

[RogerL]

JIT is fine for planned manufacturing but not for after sales spares that are required at random.
I've never come across a situation where the supplier/manufacturer has not held stock of key components for after sales support, be that automotive or white goods.

Then you've been lucky - I've had several occurences where parts have no availability in UK or Europe and are waiting for shipments from Asia, about 6 weeks by ship.

In my time as an IT manager, I do recall breakdowns where IBM would put parts on the next available paassenger flight from New York - but we were paying a high monthly leasing cost.

 

[Jez Bragg]

Then you've been lucky - I've had several occurences where parts have no availability in UK or Europe and are waiting for shipments from Asia, about 6 weeks by ship.

In my time as an IT manager, I do recall breakdowns where IBM would put parts on the next available paassenger flight from New York - but we were paying a high monthly leasing cost.

So IBM had the part just not in the right country, and the same with the Saab parts mentions.
Swift do not have any part and order on there supplier when required.
What if the supplier has min order qty 10 do they wait for 10 to broken and then order?
So decided to replace electric valves with manual. 1. due to length of wait 2. they are
installed in a very vulnerable place 3. they are pretty pointless, have to open 2-3 times to empty full waste take or 1/2 full fresh water 4. Just over complicated a simple operation.
But that could be a summary for Swift Command Panel overall.

 

[Jez Bragg]

Maybe just buy one on line ?

Swift Motorhome Water Dump Valve

Electric water tank dump valve (also known as 69910-17) Used on Swift models with electric water dump. Grey and Fresh Escape, Kontiki, Bessacarr, Voyager For Grey Outer Cover: See here If you require the bracket to hold the valve we have this available. This is supplied without the blue/grey...

theleisurewarehouse.co.uk

Can your Dealer help?

Parts are on order with The Leisure Warehouse.

 

[Beachball]

Parts are on order with The Leisure Warehouse.

I hope your parts arrive and get them fitted

 

[Raywood]

At the moment it is difficult to be sure if the problem is Swift or a lack of the part. I would assume the part is common to other makes and is a bought in component. If you can find who is the manufacturer and check if anyone else has a stock of the part you might short cut the supply problem. To me it is probably worth he effort.