Another very informative video, keep them coming, thanks!!

I’ve subscribed to your channel and appreciate your honest opinion. I have bought five caravans, which includes one static. The latest is a swift elegance 480. My biggest gripe is the lack of quality control, examples being incomplete sealing in the shower, draw runners with two screws where holes are available for many more. The cutlery draw fell off whilst Traveling. The mirror fell off, the toilet roll holder fell off. The front bulkhead was not fixed to the floor. With a little more quality control some of these items could be avoided. I fixed all of the issues with the exemption of the bulkhead, without troubling the dealer. The bulkhead is a recall, we have just got our van back after the repair has been done.

Recently found and subscribed to your channel.very informative vlog giving a clear distinction between car and caravan industry.we bought a caravan from a dealer in england,being from scotland its around 400 miles away.when ordering i asked about the warranty and was told that any swift dealer,of which i had to name a more local one,would be able to do warranty work.of course i have found out they could but wont.this is another point that sellers should explain especially to people who are novices in the community.although we are very happy and understand this it was misleading.thankfully we havent had any issues so its not been a concern but the cost of taking it back would probably mean i would have to pay a local deaker to carry out a repair.keep up the good work and stay safe

@atlanticcaravansUK

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks for you comment. I do address this issue in my buying from a show video, it is a problem that can trip people up somewhat. Unfortunately it’s down to the dealership to make this clear, and some don’t.

Really liking your videos Darren. Nice one. Really informative. You already service our caravan, (that we bought from a bigger dealer before I met you, sorry), but will be at your door first when we want to change our caravan.

@atlanticcaravansUK

4 жыл бұрын

Stuart Hookway thanks for the comment, that’s really nice to know, it’s hard to do and I hope to get better at it as I go, see you soon.

You are the sort of person I would like to buy my caravan from!

@darrenbull345654

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you very much, although I’ve not got many left, sales have gone crazy..

Great to hear someone saying it as it is. Well done. That’s my kicking done

Well said.

Interesting and informative, thanks. I get fed up of hearing all the moans on forums, often from people who only make the ONE complaining post and they never contribute again! Perfection doesn't exist, and if you expect it then you will always be disappointed. We purchased a new caravan a couple of months ago and there have been couple of small items I have easily dealt with myself. I didn't moan about them on forums, I got out a screwdriver and a pair of pliers and voila - sorted!

@atlanticcaravansUK

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks for your comment, yes we are never going to get things spot on and it is frustrating when things go wrong, but the manufacturers are not in the business to make a bad product which some people seem to think. They are not perfect, but who is??

Well said. As a customer I did alot of research and fully understand exactly what you are saying. I too spend time in forums trying to explain this, I think a better comparison is new build houses and caravans as they too are made by many hands and also create lots of snags and warranty remedies and houses cost much much more than caravans. Well done for this video, won’t stop em moaning though lol.

@atlanticcaravansUK

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks for your comment, yes, it’s a shame it happens but a caravan is so complex as are houses, it is enviable we will see some issues. But I can also understand the frustration when it happens to a customer.

1. Put together by unskilled labour 2. Employees working on 'piece work' encouraging them to work quickly and cut corners. 3. Poor quality control 4. Manufacturers happy for faults to pass through the factory for the dealer/customer to sort out. 16 years as a technician / shift manager at Bailey Caravans. I would NEVER buy a caravan or motorhome. 👍

Well done for trying to explain it all, it won't stop them moaning though.

Well the Click Bait worked. I have now subscribed. Good honest opinions. In your opinion, which make of caravan is least likely to suffer from water ingress?

@darrenbull345654

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the subscription, that’s a tricky question, I’d probably say Adria but unfortunately they don’t make a van that’s friendly to our market, if they did, (and I could tell them how if they ever read this) they’d corner the market, I just don’t think it’s justifiable for them to do it. After Adria I’d say take your pick, just make sure your dealership is a good one and keep your warranty up, unfortunately they all have issues.

At last someone who has explained some of the problems, acknowledging the Dealers pay an important part, some wanting to grab more money from servicing, than supporting their customers. Recognition that these are a moveable object, and not as robust as a house, and you need to be considerate of that. The fact our roads are nit as good as they were, and hitting a pothole or speed hump at moderate speed will twist the caravan, yes they are designed to twist, but it may cause doors to mis-align. Furthermore we are now seeing more and more people starting off with A new caravan, who are inexperienced, the handover at a Dealer of which 90% may go over their head, as opposed to a seasoned caravanner, who will only have to concentrate on new items to them. Maybe there is a opportunity for all manufacturers to either provide a DVD or a KZread video of their caravan with how they work, beds go together, etc. Separate videos for Truma/Alde, Fridges, Toilets, Command. i.e. how many forget to switch the heating control on at the fuse box when previously using gas, yes experienced caravanners may say why is the bleep bleep heating not working, for their partners to remark, did you turn it on at the fuse box. I have seen someone say I couldn't get my lights to work, only for someone say, did you remember to switch them on at the Command panel? Forums like this do help.

@atlanticcaravansUK

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks for your comment, it’s a good point regarding the handover training, I have got my process on my website and a few videos on how the systems work, I will be adding more soon..

My 2018 compass camino 544 i have had water ingress and the supplier dealer and many faults the ies shoddy workmanship and still not fixed problem and now a year and a half. I found fixed the real reason the caravan(iam a insulation engineer and sheet metal work) but the floor now had a 4ft x2ft 90% sponge floor under seating iam fed up with it. I hate caravaning. If it is what I think I the awning led there was so little mastic and where the small wires went through a 15mm wish had no bung or fixed to stop water ingress is the manufacturer fault I wish your dealer was near wrexham you could of sorted it for me.

Hand made. You will always get human errors. Keeping up with demand and cost low will also have a slight impact.

@darrenbull345654

4 жыл бұрын

Sparkmeister, exactly, people do seam to forget they are a hand built product..

@sparkmeister4706

4 жыл бұрын

@@darrenbull345654 we expect perfection especially at the money. But as long as the dealers provide the right service that's all that most of us require.

When i walk around Caravan dealers looking at "brand new" caravans, i, with my untrained eye can spot faults galore. Obviously quality control is the issue to be addressed.

@darrenbull345654

3 жыл бұрын

This is why the caravans go through a pre delivery inspection and it’s not always possible to do this before they go onto the four court for show, in an ideal world it would be done so as to show the caravans off in the best light. Add sometimes hundreds of people pulling at them and it’s had to keep on top of things. But I agree, and you should see some of the things we see.. it’s a complicated thing to build and having the time a space to fully go through them at the factory is difficult, it comes down to cost I’m afraid.

@chazsach6594

3 жыл бұрын

@@darrenbull345654 First of all i really enjoy your vlogs, but unfortunately your answer sounds like the British motor industry in the 70s and we all know what happened to that.

@darrenbull345654

3 жыл бұрын

@@chazsach6594 thanks, it does seam to be common with all manufacturers though both here and on the content, with the exception of one.. but it’s a balancing act, if there is a problem with one van in ten, do you incur the cost to check every one fully or is it better to let the dealer sort it, again, in an ideal world it would, but doing so could add huge cost to the bottom line..having said that, I’ve see the profits they make so perhaps the money spent would be worth it.

@fortnitefred1351

2 жыл бұрын

@@chazsach6594 with China trying to get in ,on the action. It might be a bad thing, they try to undermine existing manufacturers. Forcing errors, research "the belt and road initiative".

We would like to get another caravan, we had a little lunar clubman few years back, would like to potentially get one of the newer bailey with the alu-tech, but went on one of the forums suddenly, do I really want to touch anything, horror stories from everywhere, can they all be this bad???

@darrenbull345654

4 жыл бұрын

Jeremy Carr, the short answer is no that are not all bad, it’s just that we hear about all the bad ones and never about all the Caravans without issues. Buy what you like from a good dealership and have it serviced regularly, it it has manufacturers warranty then that’s ideal..

Yes this is click bait, as soon as I realise this I leave and never return. This site has lost a viewer.

@darrenbull345654

3 жыл бұрын

Hi, sorry to hear you feel this way, out of interest, did you listen to the whole thing and come to the conclusion I was wrong, or was it just that you thought the title was misleading and you wanted to know why new Caravans are rubbish?