Elddis Buccaneer Warranty on body shell

Paul, you know as well as I that turkeys don't vote for Christmas.

Ultimately, until we stop buying the substandard rubbish that UK caravan/MH manufacturers churn out, they'll carry on throwing the things together in the knowledge that some mug will buy it.

Absolutely!

Has anybody on an Elddis forum attempted taking a legal route to address these issues. It does not matter what a warranty says, good must be fit for purpose. I believe there is no defined time frame for this although I recall 7 years was deemed a reasonable period. 

Colin

I too would never, ever, ever buy another Elddis. My 2014 Xplore 304 (bought new) has stress cracks on all four corners (i.e.in case of rear panels at top).

This is after the van went in for new front and back panels in Dec 2018 - so even a "repair" doesn't permanently fix the issues, so please be warned. 

The panels usually crack due to the frame stresses due to inherent design faults - not of their own accord!

Moreover, the stress cracks usually start at the seam joint -then extend outwards at roughly right angles. In my case most of the rainwater runs down the awning rail and into this disrupted seam. 

Has anyone successfully argued a breach of warranty because of the fact that the seam joint is disrupted thereby allowing rain water in (caused by the very same inherent frame defects that Elddis are also responsible for)?

I appreciate if your van is less than 6years old the Customer Rights Act 2015/Sale of Goods Act is the better way to go. But what about those vans which are still having problems even at 7&8 years. 

I agree Elddis is a disgrace and their customer service is frankly appalling. So yes it has to be a Knaus or similar next time - I can't possibly risk another Elddis.

We purchased a 2018 Buccaneer Barracuda brand new in late 2017.

Ownership got off to a great start, the tow bar electrics were connected incorrectly, chassis stabiliser didn't work and neither did the fridge when traveling, add to that the radiator in the bathroom fell off the wall on the way home we were already unimpressed with our very expensive purchase.

10 months into ownership we were going away and found that the bedroom had been turned into a swimming pool due to a massive leak around the roof light.

It took a further 10 months of arguing to get that "repaired" by the supplying dealer, I placed repaired in inverted commas as when we went to collect it, a 2 hour drive,we found a ceiling that looked like a patchwork quilt and damp panels reused. Naturally we refused to take it and insisted they rectified the ceiling and deliver the caravan to us, this they did.

3 years down the line and more damp has appeared in one of the wardrobes.

Elddis have refused to complete the works under the warranty as we were a couple of months late with the last service, even after explaining to them that this was due to a back log with bookings at my preferred servicer caused by the pandemic, their response may well have been " tough luck pal" it demonstrated so little customer care.

I have also asked them what poor build quality has to do with servicing as the damp is not entering through a serviceable item, the only way of determining the issue is reactive and not via proactive maintenance, they chose to ignore this question.

As another member has mentioned I intend to pursue this via the consumer act and a solicitor as I truly believe they are simply hiding behind a cleverly worded warranty that offers the customer no service or back up whatsoever.

This thread reminds me of the 1970s when people used to complain about the perils of buying a Friday car! But Quality Assurance and Quality Control didn't widely exist then, unlike today. 

It seems British manufacturers can get it right but there appears to be no consistency in the Quality processes of Design or Manufacture.

I truly feel the club should strongly back its members on these very important issues, instead of pretending that everything's just fine and everybody's happy with this appalling situation. 

Sadly, Elddis are taking their customers for fools........they have poor morale within their factory ....and then blame the customer every time there is a genuine manufacturing fault. 

Elddis will say :-

(a) ..."sorry  our warranty for  x,y, z is only 1,2,3, years...so you will need to pay for the repair yourselves" [WRONG]

Ignore this lie.... and head straight to your greater rights under the Customer Rights Act  2015 (or Sale of Goods Act 1979 if bought before 2015). Products must be fit for purpose, and last a reasonable amount of time (relative to cost). If they haven't lasted as they ought to have done:

• use the CRA 2015 and write to the dealer demanding they fix it as is their duty.  
• if no joy,  the threat of a small claims court action may focus their minds 

(b) Elddis also rather enjoys blaming "the UK roads", "your driving" "you must have taken your van is over a dirt track " [WRONG] 

Ignore this wheeze too...all Elddis is doing is trying to make life harder for you and save themselves money .

If necessary:

• you can ask your caravan insurers to look at the matter and they will  soon say if they consider if the damage is due to an inherent fault and not accidental damage (after all, the insurance company doesn't want to pick up the bill for Elddis's defects!). 
• alternatively pay for an expert report which will prove that you are not to blame (this may cost around £300 but is invaluable if you need to go to the small claims court). 

(c) If Elddis (via the Dealer) agree to a repair of your caravan's manufacturing fault they often claim this is a "good will gesture" [WRONG] - it's not

• you can prove this by asking for a copy of all the relevant documents, emails, correspondence between your dealer and Elddis, relevant to your caravan and it's problem.  
• This is called a "Subject Access Request" ; templates and details as to how to do this available online. 
• You have a right to see those documents and it is an offence if Elddis or your dealer doesn't supply them within 30 days of you making a request (be specific as to what documents you need to see). 

In my case, the documents revealed that the dealer knew that our caravan's problem was an inherent defect all along............. They said the repair was a "good will gesture " but I now hold proof that this was a straight lie................

I will never buy an Elddis caravan again. 

Why Elddis wants to drive away customers for good like this,  heaven knows

Please everyone stand up for your rights and don't be fobbed off, so that manufacturers are forced to improve in the future.  

(p.s. we have an Elddis Xplore caravan with nine areas of stress cracks spread between front and rear ABS panels/water ingress/a damning expert showing that the dealer and Elddis are ignoring their legal duty the fixing these inherent faults/ our case will need to go to the small claims court as our losses are exceptionally high.)

Good luck everyone. 

Our 2014 elddis crusader suffered from leaking roof lights. the problem was created by the chimps who installed them. Elddis do not fit the recommended roof support batterns so when the clamping screws are tightend they compress the roof lining and create stress raisers in the mounting frame which then cracks.

Our front roof light needed a new frame as it was cracking at each clamping point which i sourced and installed myself - correctly. Elddis had used two different sealants on the front roof, one of which had not bonded at all to the roof or frame.

The rear roof light leaked due to bad surface prep where there was no bond at all and relied on the uneven clamping screw pressure. again the roof support batterns were missing.

the panoramic roof leaked but removal looked difficult so i fixed that by bonding a fiami drip strip across the top between the window and front panel 

I see they have opened a PDI centre, whats needed is a training centre. How they hold onto ISO9001:2015 is a complete mystery as this should pick up on ongoing process issues and how they are addressing them

Our friend took his Adria in for its first service and noticed his previous 2015 Elddis there all the front panels were off and some windows taken off all damp and he had a lot of issues when he had the van new floor new windows hence got rid of it after 3 years, the worse van he has ever had and has been a caravanner for over forty years.

Hi

The deadline is actually 6 years from the date of the the breach of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (or Sale of Goods Act if bought earlier) to take a case to court. The "fit for purpose argument" doesn't hold any weight (in court) past the six year deadline - so timing is crucial.    

Think of it like a "clock ticking for 6 years" from when the error occurred (for most cases this will be the date you received your defective caravan i.e. the date of purchase).

If the clock stops ticking, you are likely to have lost your opportunity to make a claim (unless there was fraud or deliberate concealment on the part of the dealer or manufacturer).

However, not all may be lost.....

Importantly,  if the dealer also did a bodged attempt at a repair within that 6 year timeline (i.e. whilst this clock was ticking) this amounts to a further breach of the CRA2015. In our case the "attempted repair" failed utterly & completely. 

This "failed repair" is a second breach of the CRA2015. This then sets up a "second clock ticking for another 6 years" from the date of the defective repair (as far as I am aware). 

Once all clocks stop ticking you could well be out of time - hence the importance of acting early. 

So the moral of the story is that it is always good to get help early ...suggestions include (a) this club's helpline (b) Which? (c) Family Legal Protection if you have it added to your house or caravan's insurance. 

Also to keep all copy documents, photos, emails and other correspondence safe and backed up, in case they are needed.