Loss of Value

Hi 

Thanks for the info Tinwheweler.  I have now posted up under Auto Trail damp issues.  

It's time that the industry was taken to task to ensure that their contractual responsibilities are adhered to in a proper and correct manner.  The impression I have having owned three different brands so far is  that once sold, the purchaser is of no further interest to the dealer/manufacturer.  It really is not good enough.

Some times you have to take drastic action, About 3 years ago on my 2015 Swift Elegance the external locker doors were of the lift up type, Held open by a spring. After many letters to Swift asking them to deal with the danger that this type of locker door was causing, you only had to touch the spring and it fell on your head. The action that i took was to go online and down load the papers to issue a summons against Swift ,My claim was for £1000.which i emailed to Swift, Bingo my caravan was collected from my dealer and transported back to the factory, where the 2 side lockers were changed to drop down type as they are on all new swifts, They also replaced the toilet locker because it had not been sealed properly.

So sometimes you have to do things you might not want to.

I think that is what we will end up doing.  It really is high time that all these sorts of problems were brought right out into the light and manufacturers'dealers' behaviour/attitude exposed.  

We were originally told that the Auto Trail repairer was waiting for replacement parts and have now been doing for nearly a year.  What I don't understand is that if there is a shortage of all these parts, how come the manufacturers can continue to churn out new vehicles onto the market.  Surely if parts are short, new vehicles cannot be completed.  

Most of the vehicle brands marketed in the UK are now owned by one huge leisure industry company, Trigano, and they are based in France.  

We had major damp problems with a 554 as well.  It took ages for it to be repaired - firstly due to the lack of spare parts which Elddis seemed unable to source and then Covid came along and everything shut.

When done I did exactly what others have suggested - I traded it in with the dealer from whom I purchased a new Coachman.  

Maybe a valuation of its worth from another source would be a good idea - to make sure you are not being penalised.

Wish you good luck with whatever you do

I can now report that two strong letters to Auto Trail later, the last giving them 14 days to make progress to honour the warranty, we now have a date for repair early in January.  

It has been very stressful but I would advise anyone who has similar problems to hang on in there and like the dog keep tight hold of the bone even if it means letting them know that you are prepared to go down the legal route which was what seemed to provoke some action.

Our thanks to Caravan Club legal team for their advice and also to our local Trading Standards.

That is the only way to go unfortunately these days as it seems many companies that try not to hontheir obligations hope the person with the problem,/s will give up

It took me seven years of perceiverance to get a problem solved and it was the company who agreed to my demands eventually