Caravan repairs

This often the case where people are happy to buy from a dealer ,but when it’s comes to the servicing they go elsewhere because it’s cheaper , then when there is a problem they wonder why the dealer is not interested.

all you can do is keeping ringing round all the repairers in your area 

If it’s a very small problem it’s probably not much to worry about - yet. You may even be able to fix it yourself. 

You won’t necessarily have blown the warranty depending on whether the mobile chap was recognised by Coachman. Try some other repairers both mobile and workshop based if you can find any and let us know what area you’re in as someone may have a recommendation for you.

Good luck.

Our Swift water ingress warranty (10 years) is wholly dependent upon it being serviced by an 'approved' dealer, I did ask what was an approved dealer and it was one which sold Swift caravans which really means the one I bought it from unless I want to travel 60 miles round trip instead of six. Having been affected by damp on our previous caravan (an Avondale) which every year up to the five allowed had damp work then became too expensive to repair we stuck to the letter of the agreement with the current one.  

Has the dealer, and others at least given you an idea of price? Let us know what happens.

Hi folks, thank you for your reply’s. I live in the Aylesbury area. The coachman warranty does not state that the service has to be done a dealer just that the service should be done as per service manual.

I am quite prepared to pay for the repair as I think that warranty’s are not worth the paper they are printed on. I have had nothing but trouble dealing with Coachman from the start. I even cornered Elliot the MD at the caravan show. You would not believe the things that were wrong with the van. All was remedied with a return to the factory and a days outing to the Alde workshop. Don’t get me wrong, I love the van.

I can’t help with dealers/repairers in your area I’m afraid but at least there are quite a lot, unlike Cornwall.

I don’t think you’re alone in having problems with Coachman.

Thanks for the reply, as said above everyone fears the word damp but as your engineer said it is a small one so hopefully it can be put right quickly. 

We sold our Avondale on privately for a very cheap price with full disclosure of the 'serious' damp problem which have cost near £2000 to fix to a couple who would use it 'till it fell to bits' and it's stored at the same storage as our current one.

That was ten years ago and it's still get taken out!

i have a Coachman Amara 2008 highest damp reading is 20 % at last service , never had any damp work done, was going to part exchange for smaller version but at £10k - £25k for a suitable replacement, opted to spend £2k to fix damage to rear when a tree hit me, iron out a few other dinks that i had accumulated over the years, full service and wheel bearings.

Looks brill now and we do love the layout even though it is now a bit big for 2 people. We bought when van was 3 years old and no problems, only had 12 month annual service and looking st service record it does not appear to have had any problems

Have you any idea at all what has caused the small damp area? Sometimes, if it is a small area, and you can locate the source and ensure if it’s water ingress, then you might be able to seal it, treat the damp patch and it will eventually dry out. But you need to make sure it’s properly dealt with and not allowed to get any worse. 

We have had two very old vans, both built 1984. Still got one, it has had a small damp patch where a bit of trim has moved, dealt with. The other had quite a bit of damp when we bought it, but we set to and stripped out the interior, sealed all the joints, replaced the inside wood, put back the undamaged insulation (that was some jigsaw puzzle🤣) and redecorated inside. We kept that van for 8 years, mainly in Cornwall, and sold it on for three times what we paid when we got our MH. Older vans are definitely a lot easier to work on, which is partly why we like them. 

Thank you all very much for your input. As some of you say will get someone to fix the minor leak and as there is no visible sign of damp on the inside boards it will hopefully dry out on its own.