Caravan Satisfaction Survey

Totally agree: we go away all year around and it has been a pain having to take our van in for repairs, which invariably take longer to do than we are originally told (usually due to delays from Swift in sending parts). 

We traded in our 2001 Elddis Typhoon for our current Sprite and I sometimes wish we had kept our old van, which seemed far sturdier and well made. We also used to use a small independent company to service the Elddis and the customer service and work done by them was a much better standard than what we currently experience being tied in to a dealer warranty.

quality was right at the top of our decision making process followed by layout and price..

That's the way I'm looking at it, too AD. As we are away for over 2/3rds of the year in the van we need the reassurance of a reliable outfit. Quality is of course very important, DavidK, as we can't think about changing a unit every few years.

TG we too have the same problem of not having any dealers close to us that carry foreign makes.

The 2019 version of your van OP is one that would suit, but again there's no Coachman dealer close to us.

The Wanderers are back!  You have asked me to name my 'worst' car and caravan (I thought some might guess from the text), so here goes:

The car was a Landrover Discovery new in 2009.  The first failure was the electric handbrake at 30,000 miles (out of guarantee, sir, I'm afraid) and when passed on the exhaust gas re-circulatory valves and the suspension pump were u/s, the steering and suspension were knocking and rattling - all by 65,000 miles.

The caravan was a Coachman Vision 520/4 new in 2015.  The first year the combi boiler failed 8 times with an error message not in the manual (fortunately recoverable by me - though why it has 2 heat settings I'll never know), The bunk catches failed to do their job (fixed by me), the 'fridge 12v element failed.  There were about 10 other concerns, some fixed by the dealers, some seemed to fix themselves.  After 3 years the battery charger unit failed (if yours is made by BCA then watch out).  (out of guarantee, sir, I'm afraid).  I have had a number of caravans for over 12 years and NEVER had a previous failure.  The support from Coachman was non-existent and generally obstructive (e.g. taking 3 weeks to answer letters, requiring money weeks ahead for spares, etc.).  Admittedly, most of these problems were caused by equipment manufacturers and not the actual caravan, but I have noticed recently that the floor is creaking in the kitchen area now.  Incidentally, the new charger unit, fitted Jan 2019 has now failed.

So, being cheerful,  what's the best car and caravan we've owned:

A Fleetwood Diadem 2-berth, second hand, which came with separate gas/electric central heating and hot water and a 12 gal. underfloor tank with gauge (why can't I choose a suitable caravan with one nowadays?).  Not many were made, but we had it for 12 years and it was brilliant.

A Renault 30TX with a 2.7 litre 6 cyl engine at the front (front wheel drive too!) that balanced the weight of the caravan on the back.  If allowed, you could cruise an outfit at 80mph all day with it. OK, petrol was about 25mpg, but a lot of current 4 cyl diesels these days are on the wrong side of 30 towing.

(All MPG's are genuine - the Landrover MPG display was 12.5% optimistic - another ploy to make you believe the car is better than it actually is.)  Trying a 6 cyl BMW X3 at present - will report soon.

Regards to everyone P. & J.

the combi has two heat settings (900/1800w) to allow the heating to still be used (on 900w) when other electrical items are being used at the same time on a site with a low amperage (4/6/10 etc) supply.

If you have a problem or are pleased with your caravan  purchased from 2016 onwardswhy not complete the PC survey. https://www.practicalcaravan.com/news/155903-practical-caravan-owner-satisfaction-survey-2020

There is another for motorhomes with Practical Motorhomes.

These results are published in full so your input would help others. 

Any idea when they publish the results, Wildwood? Might make interesting reading following all the problems that have been posted on here and in other forums.

Early in the year.

Seek and you will find. 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=practical+caravan+owner+satisfaction+survey&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari

or just type Practical caravan owners satisfaction survey into any search engine.  

Cheers, Boff.

Strangely my best and worst caravans were both Bailey's 

Best 1999 Senator Montana came fully loaded as they say, inboard tank, Aircon, very nice fit and finish, real wood door frames etc. Owned 10 years and took a pounding from a young family, finally succumbed to damp. Could have had repair but traded with known fault, reappeared on dealers forecourt later! Oh and it had a generous load margins and miro

= Best Adria Altea 2009,  still own - interestingly no damp! Basic van but a good box on a heavy duty chassis,  few niggles with taps and some trim but easy DIY fixes. Good load margin and miro.

Worst  Bailey unicorn 3 2015 still own - washroom tap fell off , front chest of drawers slide failed , voltmeter failed, roof strap leak, axle failed, brakes squealy (x4) all in 1st 3 years. Pitiful load margin and MRO.

However Bailey's warranty and speed of parts must be praised, along with our Bailey registered independent service engineer.

Only had 1 car break down towing, starter motor on M5 services albeit at 100k miles as that was a Daewoo Musso owned from new. Most expensive repair BMW plastic timing chain guide on a 2011 X1 at 24K,miles 4 years old. Engine out job over £2k luckily had opted for the extended warranty! £10 part!!!

I think it is January but you need to check their website to be sure. It also turns up on the C&CC website in full.

The two can differ in that the magazine used the data for some foreign caravans, whereas the club felt the numbers last year were too low to be sure they were accurate. The foreign caravans that were in the magazine did well and Adria came out top.

Last years results are on https://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/helpandadvice/tent-survey/caravan-owner-satisfaction-awards/