What’s your opinion of this repair job? New to caravanning and don’t want to unfair… but need advice for experienced people on what I should do ?

[ProfJohnL]

I am not familiar enough to know whether the original parts are still available or not, but the general idea of having a repair done after someone has damaged your property is to restore the damaged item to the condition it was in before the damage occurred, essentially so you have suffered no loss of function, appearance or value.

I don't see that has occurred in this case. Firstly the the damage is still very evident, and that will affect the value of your caravan, Secondly I can't tell if the rail will correctly channel the awning now.

With the benefit of hind sight it easy to see how allowing the other party to arrange the repair has effectively prevented you from agreeing the quality of the repair with the shop carrying out the work.

I have to assume you are not happy with the work otherwise you would not have posted about it, so ask your self, would the guy who damaged your van be happy with the same quality of repair if it were on his caravan? - I suspect he wouldn't

I think you should be asking him to get the caravan returned to as close as it was before the damage. It might mean a complete awning rail new or second-hand - Personally I would not mind too much if it didn't match the other side completely, as long as it was fitted neatly and functioned as the original.

Or agree a level of compensation for the loss of value.

 

[Tommyscaravan]

If the repair has been properly bedded in it should be watertight. As long as you can live with it, with a new strip, good luck to you. Can you pass an awning through the rail?

John

Am checking how awning runs through it next weekend so will know then - ultimately so long as it is solid and doesn’t let water in I can live with it …. Doesn’t appear that I can get a whole new rail fitted any time soon and if I did would have to wait a long time for it …I’m-not one for just saying “ok” when I’m getting a “bum deal” , hence my original post …but in this scenario I think its looking like a case of as “good as it can be”….as some one much wiser than me once said ….grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference

 

[Damian]

In an ideal world all spares would be held in stock for ever, but the cost of that is prohibitive, not only in items cost which may never be used, but also storage space.

A 20 year old van with items such as bespoke awning rails is one of those things that , with the best will in the world, the rails will simply not be available now.

Caravan makers only buy in what they need for each run of production, and extra bits have to be ordered and then there is the wait for them to arrive, which was normally 6 weeks, but who knows how long now.

I guess the situation is , if you are reasonably happy wit what has been done then thats good enough.
If on the other hand you are concerned about possible selling price then that is a different matter.

I think that the repairer has done what he can with what he had at his disposal, and has done a reasonable job, not perfect, but I have seen worse. What makes the repair stand out at the moment is the damaged Herzim strip, but change that and it will look much better.

As long as your awning runs through without any problems, the join could be made less obvious with careful use of liquid metal (which is a silver putty actually).

 

[Tommyscaravan]

I am not familiar enough to know whether the original parts are still available or not, but the general idea of having a repair done after someone has damaged your property is to restore the damaged item to the condition it was in before the damage occurred, essentially so you have suffered no loss of function, appearance or value.

I don't see that has occurred in this case. Firstly the the damage is still very evident, and that will affect the value of your caravan, Secondly I can't tell if the rail will correctly channel the awning now.

With the benefit of hind sight it easy to see how allowing the other party to arrange the repair has effectively prevented you from agreeing the quality of the repair with the shop carrying out the work.

I have to assume you are not happy with the work otherwise you would not have posted about it, so ask your self, would the guy who damaged your van be happy with the same quality of repair if it were on his caravan? - I suspect he wouldn't

I think you should be asking him to get the caravan returned to as close as it was before the damage. It might mean a complete awning rail new or second-hand - Personally I would not mind too much if it didn't match the other side completely, as long as it was fitted neatly and functioned as the original.

Or agree a level of compensation for the loss of value.

Agree with everything you have said … I meet with the other owner and the repair shop in January and agreed a full rail replacement ( quoted your statement almost word for word to other owner and he agreed ) 6 months later … no repair as was told several times by repair shop they could get a new rail that would fit / to fit the van .. I Informally spoke to a family friend who is a lawyer (property) in may and ask his opinion for what’s it’s worth.and to summarise he said at some point you have to make a decision do you insist the caravan is returned to it “original “ condition and refuse the accept any other “solution “ .. if your being told by repair shop parts / rail etc to fit your can is not available / they can’t make it “as it was” then you can make a legal claim for the damage / suffrage caused.. this will likely come with a cost … with the state of the courts at the moment *covis . It may be over a YEAR !! Before anything happens (if I even want to get into that situation) and is likely as a no “option to return to original state / condition exists “ you will be offered a financial “compensation “ payment by the courts … that once it’s all discussed.. with the option of a “repair” not “back to original “ being available it’s likely that’s all you would get plus some small financial compensation… on reality a few ££ comparied to the cost of the Van. Factor in all the time , energy and effort as well … do I really want to do this ? Spoke with repair shop. After this advice and asked what could be done as I was being “frustrated “ with th lack of any works .. and was told they could add a piece of rail and make it after tight and I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.. having been told that I said , ok please proceed .. my original post was because having seen the repair … you can se me the difference… but being new to caravanning don’t know if what i was expecting to see what an unrealistic level
Of “ finish” e.g when a damaged car goes into the body shop and comes out looking like new… ultimately it’s a very frustrating situation where I feel like (as your comment states ) my van should have returned back to it’s original condition… but due to the reality of the situation (and me having agreed to the “chop” and fix *believing it would be a seem less repair ) getting a full rail replacement isn’t going to happen…. If I’m honest I’m still not sure if that’s something that could have been done ?? Everyone has been very helpful but I can’t see a definitive answer that “yes - no matter the van or the van age you can have a full rail replacement done “ … may have to chalk this one up to experience being new to caravanning… not fair I know but again not sure I have many opinions at this point .

 

[Tommyscaravan]

In an ideal world all spares would be held in stock for ever, but the cost of that is prohibitive, not only in items cost which may never be used, but also storage space.

A 20 year old van with items such as bespoke awning rails is one of those things that , with the best will in the world, the rails will simply not be available now.

Caravan makers only buy in what they need for each run of production, and extra bits have to be ordered and then there is the wait for them to arrive, which was normally 6 weeks, but who knows how long now.

I guess the situation is , if you are reasonably happy wit what has been done then thats good enough.
If on the other hand you are concerned about possible selling price then that is a different matter.

I think that the repairer has done what he can with what he had at his disposal, and has done a reasonable job, not perfect, but I have seen worse. What makes the repair stand out at the moment is the damaged Herzim strip, but change that and it will look much better.

As long as your awning runs through without any problems, the join could be made less obvious with careful use of liquid metal (which is a silver putty actually).

Thanks , agreed … think this abs taken up enough time and energy now (*of a lot of people ) time to start enjoying our caravan now … next question… anyone know any sites not fully booked lol 😂 thanks again

 

[otherclive]

In the opening post you said it was a 2010 model, so I assumed it was 10 (should have said 11) years old. No problem either way as it looks good.

Opening post says 2000 model twice unless OP has edited it.👓🤓

 

[Buckman]

We have had 2 bad experiences with service technicians based in two different storage compounds. IMHO some are there because they cannot make it in the "real" world. They basically have a "captive" audience and people are too lazy to look elsewhere. We now take ours out of the storage compound for servicing to an AWS technician unless it needs to have warranty work done. We store the caravan in the southern part of the West Midlands.

 

[Tommyscaravan]

We have had 2 bad experiences with service technicians based in two different storage compounds. IMHO they are there because they cannot make it in the "real" world. They basically have a "captive" audience and people are too lazy to look elsewhere. We now take ours out of the storage compound for servicing to an AWSC technician unless it needs to have warranty work done. We store the caravan in the southern part of the West Midlands.

Thanks for commenting… understand what you are saying. May I ask what AWSC is ? I have Googled it with no joy … I also store my van in the southern part of the West Midlands …..

 

[Jcloughie]

Thanks for commenting… understand what you are saying. May I ask what AWSC is ? I have Googled it with no joy … I also store my van in the southern part of the West Midlands …..

It’s AWS. Little slip in Buckmans case.

John

 

[Dustydog]

Three years on my 2008 Wyoming awning rail replacement. It originally came as a two section rail. The inner grey seal must be replaced . As Damian explained it is an important part of the water sealing system apart from the obvious cosmetic aspect. I didn’t have a flair tool so have to pass my awning via the rear end of the rail. No problem pulling it through the joint. Silicon spray helps. I think you repair is 80% ok. Insist on the grey seal replacement and ensure the joint is smooth internally as well as visually.

 

[otherclive]

We have had 2 bad experiences with service technicians based in two different storage compounds. IMHO they are there because they cannot make it in the "real" world. They basically have a "captive" audience and people are too lazy to look elsewhere. We now take ours out of the storage compound for servicing to an AWSC technician unless it needs to have warranty work done. We store the caravan in the southern part of the West Midlands.

On my storage site the mobile service engineer is AWS and also has the necessary authorisations to undertake work on Alko, Dometic, Truma etc equipment. He has his own on site workshop, and if required access to a much larger on site repair shop that can take the largest caravans and motorhomes.He gives excellent service.

I would challenge your view that “ they cannot make it in the real world” and that people are “ too lazy to look elsewhere”. That’s plain insulting to the many who do give excellent service.

We’ve seen posts galore where owners have had terrible experiences in larger businesses. Viz Thingy recently. Wasn’t your Jeep dealer experience somewhat unsatisfactory, and your thread on caravan servicing costs related a poor experience.

 

[Jcloughie]

We have a workshop at our storage site. I have no idea if he is good or bad. But he is not AWS so I don’t use him. At first this was to maintain the guarantee, but that does not count now. As we are more than happy with the mobile engineer we use we will continue to do so.

Some storage sites have limited space between the vans, ours has about 4-5 foot either side which I think is generous, nevertheless, I found a small awning channel damage which could only have happened there. This was to the horizontal lower skirt channel. About 4 foot back. I cannot think how this could have happened. But it’s the risk we take. I managed to coax it back into shape but it’s far from an invisible repair. That would have needed a new section.

John

 

[Robert_374373903]

We had last year damage which required a new awning rail plus the insert rubber. Was told the insert is hard to obtain as our unit is a Sterling Topaz year 2000. When picking it up saw the insert stand out bit more from original as being new . The rail which was crimped at front for about 50mm he renewed it from the bottom to over 3/4 length of van. Was satisfied with that as the original one was also joined there.

 

[Buckman]

We’ve seen posts galore where owners have had terrible experiences in larger businesses. Viz Thingy recently. Wasn’t your Jeep dealer experience somewhat unsatisfactory, and your thread on caravan servicing costs related a poor experience.

Quite correct however Jeep dealer never did inferior repair. Thye simply did the wrong service. As for caravan dealership that was over charging so nothing to do with a repair!