Swift, Bailey or Coachman?

Shocking that wheels do fall off, and they do.

I recon that I have driven close to a million miles in various cars. Never had a wheel fall off, or go loose, or need tightening up after a few hundred miles In fact this is virtually unheard of in the car world.

So why is it acceptable in Caravan world to have to check and tighten wheel bolts all the time. I have no doubt that ALKO will catch up with this new fangled technology and start making wheel nuts and studs that dont come loose.

Just one of the shocking engineering issues with all caravans.

A lesson in saying what you mean, JV. 

It is something i keep forgetting when posting on here, it has to be spelt out as many do not see the whole picture? unless posted in a very simple way

🤣🤣🤣🤣

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 Similar experience with our Knaus Starclass.  The one big issue we had with our previous Bailey was with a leaking shower tray - which twice had to be resealed and on the latter occasion required the whole of the bathroom furniture to be removed for the floor to dry out at a cost to me of over £500.

Butt-jointing the shower tray with the walls and hoping that it was never going to move and that silicone was going to stay there forever and seal it was never going to work.

Knaus, on the other hand, don't bother sealing the shower tray with the walls.  Instead, the tray has about an 8" upstand which fits inside the shower walls.  Just a clever but simple design alteration which solves the problem once and for all.

Similarly with the curved bits at the end of the two single beds - not just butt jointed and screwed together as in the Bailey, but assembled with a proper 'finger' joint which is actually quite a work of art.

Both just simple examples of how the quality of constructions shines through and the van isn't any heavier - indeed 10kg lighter than the Bailey but with a 360kg payload.

 

I think our journey to buying a van from “over there” was slightly different perhaps to others.   In 2003 we paid the princely sum of £1500 for an Avondale Perle Argos 1990.   We bought this more or less on a whim, I was basic no hot water, no cassette toilet not even a mains charger, but it was warmer than a tent.   Deciding we would like to upgrade we started to look arround at new(er) caravans.   We had no knowledge and therefore no preconceptions.   A few trips to Harringtons (remember them AD?).  It soon became clear I could before I even entered a caravan by brand list the faults I would find.   As I remember Avondale and Elddis were the worst but all makes had sticking draws and cupboards that didn’t shut and gobs of silicone sealent all over the place. Then we happened to loOk inside a 2nd hand Burstner and the difference was quite simply night and day.   We searched a few more out continental brands and to my eyes the quality was a different league.  Which is why we decided not to buy a British van.  We bought our First Hymer privately on a flip of a coin it was that or a Burstner at a dealers, and we didnt regret it.   

I hope that the quality of uk assembled vans has improved but i fear it hasn’t.  It’s ok saying the problem is with the workers, but if they are employed on short term contracts low wages and no training what do you expect?

Everyone i am sure works hard for there money and a Caravan is not a minor purchase.  Each person should be free to make there own decisions but also should have access to information that allows them to make an informed decision.  

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Could I add another pitch for German caravans.  Most of my working career was in either Germany or Belgium so we have never had an English caravan.  Therefore I cannot comment on their build quality except to say that my parents had a 1972 Cygnet (CI?) and my sisters still use it to go to France every year.  We changed from tents to caravans in 1984 starting with a Tabbert.  Since then we have had 3 Knauses (changed to meet family requirements) and now currently have a Fendt.  The Fendt is 14 years old and still as dry as a bone.  I can't remember ever having any problems with any of the caravans except caused by me being cack-handed as I get older - the hinge on the freezer door for example when I was to hasty in opening it!   Yes the Fendt had to have a new axle last year but we have covered about 10,000 miles all over Europe every year since retirement and an unavoidable pot hole in France plus putting the offside wheel into a ditch on a campsite in Finland did not help.  In my defence, the ditch was not obvious, covered in grass and on my blind side!

However, with any question on caravan build quality, everyone will have their own experience either good or bad and every manufacturer will have their 'Friday' moment.

It is all down to perspectives, when comparing what some think off different makes and the "faults" or not, that some have ,with their purchases on can only "advise" on one make that we now have ,and when one considers that over 65,000 have been made with the alutec body, it as anything ,down to percentages ,that have been a problem to those who own them?