Non-leaking Caravans?
 

Over the years we have had several caravans and they all leaked and rotted the frame (even new ones). It's over 20 years since we had one. Have things improved?:shrug:

no

macafee2

A qualified 'yes, they have improved a bit'.

Most have more modern production techniques using less or no wood. So leaks don't rot the structure any more. However a rigid, lightweight box left out in sun and rain and dragged over bumpy roads with constant stresses and strains from vibrations is unlikely to remain a sealed unit for long. Also the simplification of construction has meant the employment of more unskilled labour which, in turn, has reduced costs and the pride in the job ethic. Volumes and competitive pricing are such that there is not enough capital employed to warrant high levels of product research and development.

None of these answers are filling me with any confidence! I am getting too old to do major repairs on anything! I have several friends and relatives who have also had caravans over the years and very few have had a "leak-free" existence (the caravans that is!).


Two of our friends up north, had their houses burgled when their vans (and they) left for a weekend away (local police said that it was a common occurence!). They then parked the vans in a secure compound and that cost shedloads of money.


I think that we will stick with hotels!:shrug:


Thanks to all for your comments. Much appreciated!


(Cancel the towbar!):D

Buy an Avento, they are still doing great, even after 20 years. One of the best brands.

Saying buy an Avento is fine, but perhaps finding one is more tricky. I suspect they're rarer than V8 XT-T automatics. They don't even feature on Autotrader's list of brands.

Hi, I am not familiare with the UK market, but in Holland you can find them. It is a Dutch product, you could find them at Marktplaats.nl, kind of Dutch ebay.

I was going to reply to this last week, but had our caravan service booked for this week and didn't want to tempt fate!

Anyway, we bought our Bailey in Jan 2018, it's had a few issues that it had to go back for, namely the front pull out bed collapsing. Went back to be fixed, next time we went away it collapsed again, and marked the front panel of the seats, back to be fixed a 2nd time, and the panel replaced, and has been fine since. Front window catches were fixed too close to the edge of the frame so the window wasn't a tight fit, that got fixed quickly, (whilst in for that they also replaced a roof light catch that I'd broken and not even mentioned to them). There was a recall for something, can't remember what but that got fixed, and I think there was another issue, only small, can't remember what, but it must've been fixed because there's nothing wrong now.

And thankfully, 3 services in, and despite the reported common failure of the roof strap that covers a joint across the roof, ours seems to be holding up fine and is not showing any signs of damp. This is a 2017 model year Bailey Pursuit 570-6, sold off cheap as the new models were on their way...