I bought a brand new Bailey Unicorn caravan in 2011, trouble from day one on collecting it. We opened the door to find a panel had detached at the back of the sink, where the dealer pushed it back on and said it would be fine, it had just come unstuck, he said. Use it for the first time, to discover the wiring was faulty and when you plugged the TV aerial into the wall socket, it blew the fuse on the heater. Finished up being rewired. Wardrobe doors twisted, leaking radiators, rails falling off, it just went on and on. But the final straw was on its second birthday annual inspection and service, damp was discovered by the dealer. They allegedly fixed the leak, but 6 months later we discovered mushrooms in excess of 300 mm diameter in the front lockers which culminated with a new floor having to be put in. On completion we got rid of the ‘thing’ and moved over to Coachman, which have been absolutely first class.
I would NEVER BUY A BAILEY caravan AGAIN, as they leak like a sieve. and that was from brand NEW in 2008 only lasted for 6 years it was scrapped as it was costing to much to keep on the road. And the dealer at the time said this was happing all the time with Baileys. And it was going to cost him to much to fix, Bailey caravans don’t care, we had it serviced all the time I really looked after the caravan it was stored under cover at are home address , things replaced under warranty each year started leaking year after, in the end everything that was replaced needed to be replaced again, water leaking from all windows all four corner tops the main window at the front had pools of water every winter from new in till the end. Caravan makers should be made responsible just like the car market.
Our pageant Bordeaux went round the toilet and we had that sorted and the guy we used did such a good job that we couldn't tell. It also went around the windows. No point in having that done it wasn't worth it. We kept it a couple of years then traded it in.
Yes please a video of the damp repair would be good if you decide to repair it, if so then it would make a good long video as I think it could get more views then any of your other vids. Good to see you still turn your stock around Mark, all the best
I was really fancying a caravan but between yourself and Atlantic caravans (he often mentions you!) the amount of vans with bad damp especially Swift and the floors in the Bailey's is scaring me stiff 😂
@@sparkmeister4706 well as it's still happening with the relatively modern ones I would expect they have sorted it. Imagine buying a 3 year old car with the floor rotten, wouldn't happen these days.
@@brianridley1102 it's hit and miss. I think post COVID vans the quality is poor overall. I don't think service history has anything to do with it. As majority of vans are serviced yearly. I had a 2017 van. Was fine when I bought it in 2019 and then in 2020. It was riddled with damp. How does that happen?
Robinsons were established about sixty years ago by the Robinson family (who also had the branch in Worksop). Both firms were bought out about three years ago by I believe MBH Corporation, which went into liquidation last week. The Worksop branch has been bought by Storebon Holdings Ltd (part of the Couplands Caravan Group. (according to the Derbyshire Times).
I’m in New Zealand and dealers import those UK caravans and sell them to all the mugs who don’t do any research on them . The whole lot of them are nothing more than a polished turd . Absolute time bombs . I recently bought a Suzuki swift from a dealer who also had caravans and I told him I was also in the market for a caravan . He looked me in the eye and said don’t touch a Uk caravan and went on to say people have them for 2 years and get rid of them for an Australian Jayco unit . On trade me which is a NZ trading site its flooded with UK caravans because they are all lemons and waiting for a sucker to become the new owner . The makers of these vans should be shut down .
I always thought a lot of damp vans went to New Zealand, but because it was hotter, they would dry out 🙈. It seemed everyone was sending them over, and they cost a fortune?
Just traded my old elddis 520 advante 2004 had it 12trs only thing it needed was a new battery no damp serviced every year Now got a coachman vip 545 2013 omg what a difference and what a van very impressed gawjus
Is it true that twin axles have fewer problems as they rely much less on corner steadies than single axles and sit more on the 4 wheels putting less pressure on chassis
MAY BE OLD BUT BUILT PROPERLY . When we went looking for a van all the newer ones we looked at were damp or had damp issues . Then we found an old vanroyce 420 1984, Sat at the back looking a little lost amongst the new caravans . It was about the size we wanted and came with an awning, it was worth a risky purchase after checking with a damp monitor, we couldn't find any damp. And we have had many trips away in her.
The one thing that you expect a caravan to be is bone dry. It amazes me that in 2024 people have issues with damp. The manufacture of caravans seems to have gone backwards instead of forwards. My Dad bought a caravan in 1977 for £500. Everything in it was built of solid wood & it was very heavy. We never had a problem with it. These horror stories would put you off buying a new caravan. You would imagine any damp issues would show up before you decide to buy a caravan which is a few years old & a more realistic price. To me, some of the older caravans look far better constructed & less cheap looking. I just know if I invested in a new caravan & it had issues I would be raging.
From what I can see most of the British vans are very bad just look at Bailey! I'm looking to buy a caravan in the next few months and I really can't find a decent British make to buy ! Are the Hymer or any of the other foreign made caravans better??
I sold my motorhome to a dealer last year and we were chatting about build quality and damp issues, he basically said never buy a British van, they are thrown together by idiots and the companies aren’t interested in quality control because they always sell everything they can build🤷♂️a few weeks later I saw my van on eBay for 5 grand more than I paid for it 4 years earlier😂😂😂😂😂 a year later it’s still for sale, they have dropped the price a bit, but it’s currently for sale for 2 grand more than I paid for it back in 2019.😂😂😂😂
When I repaired an ABI Celebration I got the board from B&Q. I wallpapered it with vinyl paper from Wilkos and it was a remarkable match to the rest of the van 😁
Alko chassis are the problem there is absolutely no diagonal rigidity in two pressed steel beams and a foam sandwich plywood floor what so ever. The slightest tension on the corner steadies straining the wall joint seals and from then on it's damp ingress I speak from experience having owned a bailey, badly designed and appalling standard of quality control and a management team who could not careless.
why do makers of caravans make leaky creaky crap for us the customer to buy and deal with is beyond me
Most newer vans are a lot better, the first van was a 2003 and second 2007, so not bad for the age really. 👍
My van is 2008 Vermont and has never had damp.
Don't say that so it probably will now mines 2015 eldis and leaking in the toilet skylight . Things happen .
I bought a brand new Bailey Unicorn caravan in 2011, trouble from day one on collecting it. We opened the door to find a panel had detached at the back of the sink, where the dealer pushed it back on and said it would be fine, it had just come unstuck, he said. Use it for the first time, to discover the wiring was faulty and when you plugged the TV aerial into the wall socket, it blew the fuse on the heater. Finished up being rewired. Wardrobe doors twisted, leaking radiators, rails falling off, it just went on and on. But the final straw was on its second birthday annual inspection and service, damp was discovered by the dealer. They allegedly fixed the leak, but 6 months later we discovered mushrooms in excess of 300 mm diameter in the front lockers which culminated with a new floor having to be put in. On completion we got rid of the ‘thing’ and moved over to Coachman, which have been absolutely first class.
I think they can all have bad ones, it doesn't help though. 👍
I would NEVER BUY A BAILEY caravan AGAIN, as they leak like a sieve. and that was from brand NEW in 2008 only lasted for 6 years it was scrapped as it was costing to much to keep on the road. And the dealer at the time said this was happing all the time with Baileys. And it was going to cost him to much to fix, Bailey caravans don’t care, we had it serviced all the time I really looked after the caravan it was stored under cover at are home address , things replaced under warranty each year started leaking year after, in the end everything that was replaced needed to be replaced again, water leaking from all windows all four corner tops the main window at the front had pools of water every winter from new in till the end. Caravan makers should be made responsible just like the car market.
Sad to here, they did go through a bad spell around then unfortunately, trying to cut costs and it's cost them in the long run.
Worse of the lot
When a caravan is too expensive to repair there should be plenty of places to recycle the caravan. In every country.
Our pageant Bordeaux went round the toilet and we had that sorted and the guy we used did such a good job that we couldn't tell. It also went around the windows. No point in having that done it wasn't worth it. We kept it a couple of years then traded it in.
Yes please a video of the damp repair would be good if you decide to repair it, if so then it would make a good long video as I think it could get more views then any of your other vids.
Good to see you still turn your stock around Mark, all the best
Thanks Steve, will see what we can do 👍
Hi Mark. Great vid. It's wet my appetite. I too would love to see the damp repair 👌
I was really fancying a caravan but between yourself and Atlantic caravans (he often mentions you!) the amount of vans with bad damp especially Swift and the floors in the Bailey's is scaring me stiff 😂
Thanks Brian, good service history is the key, as long as they are serviced each year it will reduce the problems and costs In The long run. 👍
Don’t buy caravans £ for rubbish
i've had 2 baileys and they both had damp floors. but for the price what do you expect hahahahahaha.
@@sparkmeister4706 well as it's still happening with the relatively modern ones I would expect they have sorted it. Imagine buying a 3 year old car with the floor rotten, wouldn't happen these days.
@@brianridley1102 it's hit and miss. I think post COVID vans the quality is poor overall.
I don't think service history has anything to do with it. As majority of vans are serviced yearly.
I had a 2017 van. Was fine when I bought it in 2019 and then in 2020. It was riddled with damp. How does that happen?
My next door neighbours shovelled kids, dogs, gear etc into their VW campervan by 10am today and have gone away already
I thought everyone would be going next week, looks like everyone has already gone lol. 👍
good to see you
And you. 👍
Escape and Scamp builds good fiberglass campers in my experiences .
Thanks James 👍
Robinsons were established about sixty years ago by the Robinson family (who also had the branch in Worksop). Both firms were bought out about three years ago by I believe MBH Corporation, which went into liquidation last week. The Worksop branch has been bought by Storebon Holdings Ltd (part of the Couplands Caravan Group. (according to the Derbyshire Times).
Yes this is correct 👍
I only ever owned coachman an never had damp issues in fact no issues
Coachman are very good. 👍
I’m in New Zealand and dealers import those UK caravans and sell them to all the mugs who don’t do any research on them . The whole lot of them are nothing more than a polished turd . Absolute time bombs . I recently bought a Suzuki swift from a dealer who also had caravans and I told him I was also in the market for a caravan . He looked me in the eye and said don’t touch a Uk caravan and went on to say people have them for 2 years and get rid of them for an Australian Jayco unit . On trade me which is a NZ trading site its flooded with UK caravans because they are all lemons and waiting for a sucker to become the new owner . The makers of these vans should be shut down .
I always thought a lot of damp vans went to New Zealand, but because it was hotter, they would dry out 🙈. It seemed everyone was sending them over, and they cost a fortune?
Thats why they need to use azdel inside out on RV's. Never rots or delaminates.
Had a look 👍 thanks
Cracking podcast as usual Mark I've been getting mine ready today ready for Portesham dairy farm next Saturday it's near Weymouth
Hopefully Sundays video will help 👍 have a good time when ur away.
@@thecaravanplace Thanks Mark
Just traded my old elddis 520 advante 2004 had it 12trs only thing it needed was a new battery no damp serviced every year
Now got a coachman vip 545 2013 omg what a difference and what a van very impressed gawjus
Is it true that twin axles have fewer problems as they rely much less on corner steadies than single axles and sit more on the 4 wheels putting less pressure on chassis
if caravans didn’t leak how would they sell new ones
It's a shame that something has been designed that stops any damp at all. 👍
Have you checked the fridge over in the lunar from what I know the n112 powerboards are NLA!
Yes the older power boards are NLA, we did buy a few for when we get a bad one. 👍
Were getting 15cm snow today.
Wow, that's crazy. 👍
Please can you do a review on the 2 berth ultima
We will try 👍
Are 2nd hand caravan prices going down then with all what's going , looking at the swift make ?
Prices have settled now. they should stay fairly strong until the winter now.
MAY BE OLD BUT BUILT PROPERLY .
When we went looking for a van all the newer ones we looked at were damp or had damp issues . Then we found an old vanroyce 420 1984, Sat at the back looking a little lost amongst the new caravans . It was about the size we wanted and came with an awning, it was worth a risky purchase after checking with a damp monitor, we couldn't find any damp. And we have had many trips away in her.
Super 👍
The one thing that you expect a caravan to be is bone dry. It amazes me that in 2024 people have issues with damp. The manufacture of caravans seems to have gone backwards instead of forwards. My Dad bought a caravan in 1977 for £500. Everything in it was built of solid wood & it was very heavy. We never had a problem with it. These horror stories would put you off buying a new caravan. You would imagine any damp issues would show up before you decide to buy a caravan which is a few years old & a more realistic price. To me, some of the older caravans look far better constructed & less cheap looking. I just know if I invested in a new caravan & it had issues I would be raging.
From what I can see most of the British vans are very bad just look at Bailey! I'm looking to buy a caravan in the next few months and I really can't find a decent British make to buy ! Are the Hymer or any of the other foreign made caravans better??
I sold my motorhome to a dealer last year and we were chatting about build quality and damp issues, he basically said never buy a British van, they are thrown together by idiots and the companies aren’t interested in quality control because they always sell everything they can build🤷♂️a few weeks later I saw my van on eBay for 5 grand more than I paid for it 4 years earlier😂😂😂😂😂 a year later it’s still for sale, they have dropped the price a bit, but it’s currently for sale for 2 grand more than I paid for it back in 2019.😂😂😂😂
Is the Pageant still for sale?
Great video, where can i buy wall board?
Google and eBay is the best place 👍
@@thecaravanplace found it thanks
@@thecaravanplace found it thanks
When I repaired an ABI Celebration I got the board from B&Q. I wallpapered it with vinyl paper from Wilkos and it was a remarkable match to the rest of the van 😁
Great idea, was it 4mm ply not too thick for the window rubbers as the wallboard is only 2.7mm thick
Yes bailey & swift caravans are shit damp damp & more damp don't ask me how I know 😢
I think they all have bad ones, and you only ever hear the bad bits. 👍
Alko chassis are the problem there is absolutely no diagonal rigidity in two pressed steel beams and a foam sandwich plywood floor what so ever. The slightest tension on the corner steadies straining the wall joint seals and from then on it's damp ingress I speak from experience having owned a bailey, badly designed and appalling standard of quality control and a management team who could not careless.