Bailey Olympus 464 Alu-Tech

This story happened on: 28/10/2013

We just wanted to share our frustrations about our Bailey Olympus 464 Alu-Tech in case others out there are experiencing anything similar. 

 We purchased our Bailey Olympus 464 Alu-Tech 2.5 years ago.  We have always purchased Bailey due to its reputation of quality and value for money.

 Our caravans are always well looked after, serviced regularly, kept at our home and covered in the winter months.

 However, following its most recent service in July, we were informed that dampness was present in the front lockers - possibly caused by insufficient sealant being used in the construction process!

 We were extremely shocked to hear that dampness was a problem and in particular that it may be due to insufficient sealant being used in its construction.  Hardly a good example of  "... significant development in leisure vehicle production technology for over thirty years ....." and "a vehicle that is a triumph of engineering and technological advancement ..."

"The Alu-Tech body shell construction system is the most significant development in leisure vehicle production technology for over thirty years.  After having undertaken the most comprehensive product design programme the industry has ever known, the Bailey development team has produced a construction system that is so unique that it has necessitated the comissioning of over 100 bespoke tools to build it and that features a design so advanced that it has 5 new patents registered.  ......  The result is a vehicle that is trumph of engineering and technological advancement that offers real advantages of ownership."

 The above promotional statements were important details that sold this particular brand to us.  Unfortunately it would seem that our particular caravan has not met the Bailey standards as portrayed by Bailey's PR and in our opinion can hardly be described as a "triumph of engineering and technology ..." when, within 3 years it has developed dampness.

Bailey’s promotional material states that this caravan will be "more weatherproof, keeping you warm, keeping you dry, more robust and more durable ....."

This is claimed to be a "leisure vehicle that provides you with greater protection against the elements".  

 Has anyone else out there experienced similar problems and been as disappointed as ourselves?

 We wrote to Bailey who expressed their apologies.  They assured us that the remedial work would be undertaken under warranty and that there will be no lasting or long term damage.

They also suggested that a further check should be made on the ingress of water after 2-3 months of this remedial work taking place!

 Bailey said that it was not deemed necessary to do a recall as they notified all of their retailers and servicer agents as soon as they were aware and advised them fully of what needed to be done. 

 However, we personally feel that a recall should have been instigated to resolve this problem and Bailey's approach to this was a "cop-out". 

 We have now sold our Bailey and have purchased a 2014 Lunar Quasar Goodwood which we hope to take delivery of in Spring next year.

 It would be interesting to hear of any other issues that have arisen with this model.

 

Gilera commented on 29/10/2013 07:24

Commented on 29/10/2013 07:24

We recently part exchanged a Bailey Unicorn Madrid 2012 S!.

On arrival for the changeover the first thing the dealer did was to go all around the van with his damp meter.As we have changed several vans with this dealer and not seen this level of check before I asked him why such a deep check for damp to be advised they had found high levels of water ingress on the Baileys leading excessive floor damp usually initiating from the front.Ours was OK and the changeover went ahead. 

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