The importance of being Serviced...

 

Firstly, sorry about the title, I know it doesn't quite work but once it was in my head I couldn't not use it..

I don't want to state the obvious as to why it is important to have a service, but I think its important to state the not so obvious..

 Due to a few recent incidents that have occurred at the dealership I thought I would just give everyone a bit of a heads up as to why it is important to have a caravan serviced. 

 There seams to be a few reasons why customers think it is okay not to have an annual service done on their pride and joy. Where I can agree that the reasons may seam valid I wanted to point out some of the pit falls so that an informed decision can be made.

 The first and probably the main reason for customers not having a service is that they have not used the caravan much or at all since the last service.

 This may mean that the brake system will not need adjusting again and the likelihood of having a gas leak or an electrical problem is low, it will not guard against an ongoing water ingress problem getting worse.

A water ingress problem could have started in the previous year and skipping a service will mean that you could miss the opportunity to stop it before it has the chance to do any significant damage. 

 We have had an instance recently where I had to inform a customer that the caravan had three thousand pounds worth of water ingress only to find out that a service had been missed the previous year so a small water ingress issue had the time to get a lot worse.

 The other reason is because on the face of it we charge a good chunk of money and sometimes to the customer it looks like we don't do a lot and they think they can do the work themselves.

 Again, this may seam to be the case, but the money paid to the dealer covers much more that just the amount of time it takes to do the service. We have experience and have invested time and money into training and acquiring the correct tools to carry out the work, and more importantly, if anything were to go wrong in the future as the service was done buy a professional company, you have a legal leg to stand on.. 

 But the most damaging time to not keep your service record up to date is when the caravan still has manufactures warrantee to run.

 They have a right to refuse any subsequent claims after a service has been missed, in most cases that won't happen unless the lack of the service has directly contributed to the claim being more costly, or more than one service has been missed, but it isn't worth the risk as we have seen some serious issues with materials a few years down the line who's repair can run into the thousands.  

So my advice would be, have a service once a year, or at least have a water ingress check to avoid a costly bill later down the line.     

     

Steamy Windows

It’s that time of year again where I get questions about windows steaming up. It happens at the beginning and end of the season when we see the sunshine either start to get a bit of power behind it, or when the temperature starts to drop at the end of the season. 

The plastic windows that we have in caravans do not have a vacuum inside them. If this was the case they would be flat with no space between the panes, think of sucking the air out of a plastic bottle.

 Air is a fantastic insulator but will always have a water content within it, because of this, in certain situations this water can condensate on the cold outer surface of the window when the temperature inside the van is warm due to the greenhoues effect we get in a caravan.  

This is what Polyplastic say.
Acrylic has the property that it is very slightly permeable. As a result of this the air in the cavity can contain an amount of moisture. Conditions may cause this to condense. This is a natural phenomenon and does not mean that the window has a leak. This condensation will always disappear after some time.

Condensation can be prevented by properly ventilating the vehicle.
The key to the above statement is that the condensation will disappear after some time when the conditions change. 

If the condensation does not disappear after some time then that window could have 'blown'.

There is a difference between the look of the two different situations.
Condensation will form a fine mist of water vapor on the outer pane of the window between the panes. It will normally form in the center of the pane and fade out towards the edges.

Where as, is the window seam has came appart allowing air to freely pass into the void between the panes, the water that condensates on the inside of the window will form in larger droplets and will run down the window and start to pool in the bottom.

It will also cover the whole pane and will not clear.

If this does happen there are two choises, either drill a small hole in the bottom of the window to let the water out, but this will not cure the problem, or replace the window which can be ordered from Miriad through a caravan accessory shop. 

  

Towing electric..

At the recent caravan show I spoke to two customers who expressed a concern in the attention grabbing headline  "Ban on all diesel and petrol vehicles by the year 2035" and this was a contributing factor on their decision to buy a new caravan.

 My understanding of this headline was the the sale of new diesel and petrol vehicles would stop in 2035 but all current vehicles in use would still be able to be used, and this is indeed the case.

So that means that the car industry will still be producing diesel and petrol vehicles for the next fifteen years. Then add into the life expectancy of vehicles, even these days, and I think we will not have to worry about what we can tow our caravans with for another 30 years.

The drive behind the headline is the plan to remove all diesel and petrol vehicles from the roads by 2050 and the original ban on new D and P cars of 2040 made this difficult with the life expectancy of vehicle as mentioned above of fifteen years.

And after actually reading the story behind the headlines there are a lot of noncommittal type words and statements used such as 'if possible' and 'subject to consultation' so the date is kind of a hope date if the technology is there to support it.

What will the technology be like when we get to 2035? (I hope to be flying around on anti gravity hover boards by then), they could have cracked hydrogen flue technology by then rendering the electric car as redundant as the compact disk and even the DVD player.

 But things are being done, we have recently seen ALKo's plans to add a 48 volt electric motor to the caravan chassis to aid the range achievable when towing and to even use the braking kinetic energy generated to recharge the vehicles battery.

 The caravan manufactures are also looking into the issue. I tried to tap up one of Swifts chief designers at a recent dealer event to see what they had on the agenda as they are currently looking at the caravans we will be seeing in five years time.

I had heard that the move to electric vehicles and the challenges this will bring is at the top of their list, but unfortunately he remained tight lipped.. but he did insure me that they are working hard on it.

So bearing in mind that the ban was brought forward in a particularly volatile political climate where the shift to green policies is a headline grabbing look at us doing the right thing type scenario, the fact that the total ban on diesel and petrol vehicles isn't planned until 2050 and the use of noncommittal language even on the 2035 date, do we really have to worry about what we will be towing our caravans with?

Add to this the global economy being heavy reliant on production and sale of fossil fuels I can't see the people who make their wealth in such markets not using their substantial sway on the powers that be just sitting back and just letting it happen, unless we all vote with our buying power. 

Also and I have to have to break it to everyone as I had to do to the customers that I mentioned at the beginning of this blog who were both in their late sixties, the likelihood of a great number of us having to worry about the problem in the first place is fairly slim. 

Check out ALKO's plans here

   

       

Are you under insured?

At the recent stint at the caravan show I happened to bump into a customer with a particular dilemma.

 They had had their caravan stolen some 18 months previous and were at the show looking for a potential replacement. I asked if they were ready to purchase when I heard something that rather concerned me.

 They were in a dispute with their insurance company regarding the sum insured. I asked why this was and was informed that they had taken out new for old insurance a number of years ago.

Okay, so what was the problem?

It turns out that the customer had not informed the insurance company of the cost of the equivalent caravan each year.

The customer assumed that as the policy was being auto renewed that the figure of the cost of a new replacement product was increasing at the same time.

It wasn’t until their caravan was stolen and they needed to claim that they found out that because they had not informed the insurance company each year at the time of renewal what the cost of the equivalent caravan was, that the sun insured would revert to market value which in this case was around £10000.

So the customer was in the position of having paid a new for old premium for a number of years and assuming that they were fully covered for the cost of a new caravan, this was not the case and would have to find around £9000 to fund the difference. 

 I checked with a contact at the show who provides insurance and he said that this was an industry standard procedure, I was quite shocked at this being the case.

The customer had gone to the insurance ombudsman and the case had been going on for a year and was likely to settle in their favour but was not a sure thing.

This case has highlighted the need of customers with new for old insurance to make sure they let their insurance company know at the time of renewal what the figure for the new caravan is.

I am in contact with the customer and will  let you know the outcome, be sure to subscribe to this blog to find out what happens.

Why is layout important?

This set of articles will delve into the murky world of caravan layouts, but more importantly, how to pick the right one for you and your situation and how not to waste time and money on the wrong one.

Why is getting the right layout important?

 When a customer has the right layout that works for them going caravanning will be a joy and something to look forward to. Buying a caravan is a significant investment so picking the correct one is very important.

On a number of occasions I have had people at the dealership who have for what ever reason, purchased the wrong layout so the pleasure of caravanning has been eclipsed by being uncomfortable. When this happens time and money has to be spent on rectifying the issue, normally resulting in a change of caravan.

 If we can avoid this by matching the customer to the correct layout, the experience of caravanning can be fully enjoyed.   

Why are there different layouts?

The simple answer to this is because we are all different, and we all want different things. If we took this to its logical conclusion there would be about twenty two thousand different caravan layouts produced each year as this is the average number of new caravan sold annually over the past decade or so. Because each person has their own thoughts of the 'perfect' caravan layout, and if the manufactures could afford to do it, we would end up with no two caravans looking the same and a mind boggling amount of choice. A bed here, a bed there, a bed coming down from the ceiling, a twenty foot washroom with no kitchen because "I don't go away to cook." 

 Luckily, one, the manufacturers couldn't do it, and two, (I cant believe I'm saying this) we are a fairly reasonable breed of people and except we may have to make some compromise when picking a caravan layout. 

 The other thing that helps this situation is the we like to form groups, I have worked out that there are broadly speaking, give or take, around eight different groups of people that caravan, each with a layout that suits that particular way of caravanning. (You can find out which one you are later). So there is a need for variation, we need different layout combinations to accommodate the different ways we use our caravans.

How many layouts are there?

 If we take Swift's current range, there are thirteen different layouts across the different model ranges. That's not to say that's all the available layouts in this years crop of caravans you will see. Other manufactures will keep hold of older, less popular layouts, and may come up with the next best thing that gets copied by everyone else next year. So let's say that there could be a range from thirteen, to twenty five different layouts of new caravans to choose from in any given year.

 If you take into account all the variations on these layouts over the years and all the ones that have their time and faded away from popular use, and all the one off experiments, there would be hundreds, if not thousands of different caravan layouts to choose from, but all the variations are broadly based around core criteria. 

So, how do I choose my ideal caravan layout?

 The probability of your perfect caravan layout being out there somewhere is quite high, equally, the probability of finding that particular caravan layout, it being of the right age, in the condition and at the price range you require, is quite low. You need to narrow it down a bit. Having a precise set of criteria fixed in your mind that is non negotiable will hinder this process, so a broad set of criteria is the way forward. 

 Having attended both major shows held each year in various locations for the past thirteen years, I have seen my fair share of people walk into the NEC on the first Tuesday looking to purchase their first caravan, only to be confronted with a bewildering array of choice. A look of panic sets in and they can easily fall into the trap of buying the wrong product because, more often than not, the sales person at the show isn't bothered if the product is right for the customer or not. (Obviously this doesn't apply to any of the people I work with!)  

 Using the broad criteria method mentioned above it is easy to narrow down the amount of caravan you need to look at, reducing the time wasted looking at products you don't want. This is the normally the way the process goes.

Size:

The general size of the caravan is normally the first thing that a customer will pin down. The two main categories are;

1. Single axle: This is a caravan with one axle and generally ranges from 1100Kgs for a smaller two berth to 1600Kgs for a larger four or six berth.
2. Twin axle: This is a caravan with two axles and generally ranges from 1650 Kgs to 2000+Kgs

 The main consideration for the size of the caravan available to a customer is the type of tow vehicle they have. (This is a whole other subject, the details of which are to follow.) Other considerations are storage and the process of towing itself. Some people opt for a smaller caravan as it is easier to tow and manoeuvre, however with a motor mover fitted the manoeuvrability of a caravan isn't such an issue.

Beds:

 The next decision normally made before the buying process starts is whether to have a fixed bed or not.

This is a personal choice and there are plus and minuses for both which I will go into later. Recently the trend for fixed beds has grown so I would say that ninety percent of caravan layouts now incorporate a fixed bed in some form. The main fixed bed types are:

1. Island beds: This is a fixed bed that can be walked around on both sides.
2. Single beds: These are a set of single beds normally parallel to each other.
3. Side beds: These are beds that are against the side wall of the caravan.
4. Bunk beds: These are designed for children and family layouts.

Non fixed beds come down to two main layouts, so if you don't require a fixed bed, the choice of caravans layouts is greatly reduced making the process a little easier. 

Washroom:

This is the third criteria that is normally set before the buying begins. Again it is a personal choice that will narrow down the potential layouts available. Most caravan layouts will incorporate a shower cubical in some form. But customers have quite set views as to whether they require a 'full' washroom or not. 

TV:

Believe it or not, this is a factor that can make or break a caravan layout. It is normally a sub factor that rules a particular caravan out once the above criteria have been met to the customers satisfaction. I have however had it as the criteria for buying a caravan. 

So, how do I choose then?

Well, that's down to you, but I suggest that before you set foot on a dealers forecourt, or visit a show and you are intending to buy, ask yourself what your main criteria are. Is a fixed bed a must? What can your tow vehicle pull? Do you want a washroom? Then put these things into order of importance, then at least you have a point at which you can start looking. There is no point looking at a large twin axle fixed bed caravan if you tow with a Mini, (if you tow with a mini, good luck by the way.) 

Next time.

I will go a little deeper into which layouts suit which situations, and look into some of the advantages and disadvantages of different layout attributes.  

   

Choosing the right layout.

This article will look into how to decide which layout will best suit your needs.

 How do you use the caravan?

The first thing to ask when a customer is unsure what layout to go for is "How do you use your caravan?" 

 This is important because the answer will provide information on which layout is the best for the situation you mainly find yourself in, so let's go through some of the common different uses.

 The weekender.

Typically the weekender will, as the title suggests, use the caravan to get away for the weekend and occasionally get away for the odd longer stay somewhere. These people will use the caravan to return to an area perhaps not too far away that has the type of activities they enjoy. This type of caravanning opens up all the main different layout types.

 When customers go away for the weekend their sleep patterns are generally in sync so will retire at the same time. This means that the two berth layout or four berth layout with a side dinette and without a fixed bed may be ok as the need of one of the party to retire early isn't an issue. Also due to the short break, normally just a few nights at a time, the monotony of making the bed up and down doesn't become an issue and is forgotten by the time the caravan is used again.

 The two berth and four berth non fixed bed layout have a distinct space advantage over the fixed bed layouts, and will suit people who think that a fixed bed is a waste of space. These people generally value the feeling of space and the open feel that a non fixed bed allows.        

 The Long Tripper.

Again as the name suggests, these people will go away for long periods of time, perhaps taking the caravan onto the continent, staying away for months at a time. Or holiday of two to three weeks taking advantage of a trip further away from home. When customers choose this type of holiday, inevitably at some point one of the party will want to retire early, or have a bit of a lie in.

This is where a fixed bed comes into its own. A fixed bed will leave the front lounge area free so the bed doesn't have to be made to have breakfast or watch TV which lends itself to this type of caravanning.   

 Of course the situation may change, or you may do both types of touring but I would suggest that if you are thinking of long trips away then  the benefit of the fixed bed may outweigh the negatives.

Seasonal Pitches.

 If you use your caravan on a seasonal pitch then the weight and length of caravan normally won't factor into the decision making process as once the caravan is on site it will not be towed. 

Most customers in this situation go for a large twin axle caravan purely because it gives them as much space as possible. 

It is then only a decision on budget and where the fixed bed should be. Island beds are popular on seasonal pitches as there give that close to home feel. Also the continental type caravans such as Hobby and Fendt are popular, that tend to be wider and longer than the UK vans, although we now do have 8' wide caravans on offer in the UK market.     

Children?

 The choice of layout narrows down a bit when you have a family that includes young children.
My advice in this situation is to put the children's sleeping area first. If that are happy and have their own space, then things tend to go a bit smother at bed time, especially if they are younger and need to go to bed earlier than the rest of the family.

 If you have older children then the age and size of them will be a factor in the decision on layout.
It is best to think of the likely ownership time scale of the caravan. It would be unwise to buy a caravan with fixed bunks if the children will grow out of them within the anticipated ownership of the caravan, you need to think for or five years ahead, unless you don't mind changing the caravan before that time.        

 Also when you have children the likely hood of using the on site facilities goes up just because of the sheer amount of water needed to shower them. Don't forget that most of the time you will need to transport all the water needed to and away from the caravan, this can become an issue if the whole family is using the shower in the van.

 It becomes much easier to use the toilet block and there for if you have a caravan with a large washroom that is not being used, the space could have been used more wisely to provide living space that you may see more use for.

Tow weights and storage.

This of course can be a large factor in the layout choice you can ultimately make. You may want a big twin axle with a fixed island bed and end washroom, but if you tow with a limit of 1300Kgs then it is just not possible. 

 There may well be storage issues that need to be taken into consideration, especially if you want to store the caravan at home. 

There may be restrictions on the length of driveway, or access problems that may limit the length and wight of the caravan which then effect the layout choice available to you.

Family Situation?

Of course the personal situation the each customer finds themselves in vary greatly and what will be ideal for one may not suit another. This is why we have so many different layouts that cover a variety of different situations.

 I recommend making a list of the criteria that you want the caravan to have with the "definitely need to have" at the top, going down to the "Can live without" at the bottom.

If you defiantly need to have an end washroom, then this may effect what fixed bed layout you can achieve when you include the budget you have. If you are looking at newer caravans then there is a greater level of choice.

 A large part of my job is insuring the the customer gets the right layout to suite their needs.
I have fifteen years experience doing this and can narrow the choice down to a few particular layouts fairly quickly once I understand the customers situation. If you have any questions about layout choice, please feel free to ask below. 

      

Twin axle, Single axle, Fixed Beds?.

What are the advantages of Twin axles.

 The main advantage is space. 

A twin axle caravan of a similar layout to a single axle version will feel more spacious, having a larger washroom or longer front seats. But more often than not in new caravans it will be the center kitchen area that will benefit as the front lounge and end washrooms are normally copied and pasted  from model to model to save development costs. 

 Having said this the difference is sometimes only fifty centimeters and it is difficult to see where this is. It is normally a good indication as to whether the customer needs to go to a twin axle or not, if they can't see the difference when going from one to the other, then they may not benefit from it. 

 The other main advantage is stability. A twin axle caravan is less prone to snaking as the two points of contact on the road surface act as a stabilizing force.

What are the disadvantages of a twin axle caravan?

 With the extra materials used to produce a larger caravan comes extra cost. A typical twin axle caravan will cost £1700 more than its single axle equivalent.
The other disadvantage is maneuverability. Due to the extra points of contact on the road when the caravan is maneuvered you get what is called 'scrubbing'. This is friction between the tyres on the surface of the ground as they try to combat any sideways movement. Combine this with the extra weight and it makes manhandling the caravan a lot more difficult than a single axle caravan.

 This can be combatted with the addition of a motor mover which have become very effective in recent years. 

 So if space is what you are looking for then a twin axle is the way forward, providing that the disadvantages do not outweigh the advantages. With the rise in popularity in seasonal use the twin axle caravan is coming into its own because maneuverability isn't an issue.

Why are there twin Axle caravan layouts?

 The extra size of a twin axle caravan allows manufactures to expand on the range of layouts they can produce. Adding a larger washroom, extra bunk beds or just more space in key places so the customer feels more comfortable.
 But with the extra size come extra weight, axle manufactures produce an axle which are designed to carry a certain weight. So once a caravan gets too big for the weight group it is designed for, a second axle needs to be added. There are advantages and disadvantages to twin axle caravan which we will delve into in another instalment.

Why so many fixed beds?

The main reason for the rise in popularity in fixed bed layouts is the change in use that caravans have seen over the past number of years.

 The caravan was a means to get away for a few weeks each year during the summer holidays. The technology in the early caravans restricted their use to the warmer months on only the hardy few would consider using them in the winter. Also most caravan sites would shut at the end of october.

 As the caravans have got better heating systems and insulation the season has been extended to all year round use and the caravan has become to be seen as a home from home to many people instead of a glorified tent. This has attracted many more people to the caravanning holiday and the layouts have come along to support the change in use from the occasional week here and there to longer term use.

Washrooms.

 Many manufactures work hard to include a full washroom in each layout and there are very few layouts today which don't include a full shower cubicle. There seems to be a strange reaction by the customer regarding showers. Many customer report that they do not use the shower in the caravan but it is still a main criteria when choosing a layout. This has lead to the almost total demise of the "Over the toilet shower" type of washroom which has the knock on effect of making the caravan longer and heavier.   

Choise.

The main reason we have so many different layouts is the diversity of people who want to use a caravan, from a two berth couple with a small tow vehicle to a family of six with a large tow vehicle.. Different people have different criteria when considering the layout they require, and this will be the subject of my next blog, What layout should I choose?  

  

The difference between Water Ingress and damp.

 In this blog I will explain you how to check for water ingress without having to buy an expensive damp meter, and what the difference between water ingress and damp is. And why, contrary to popular belief, you can’t smell “Damp”

 So lets say that again, You can not smell water ingress, notice I didn’t say damp this time, but I’ll get to that in a bit. 

 Practically every person I talk to about either part exchanging their caravan or if I’m buying one will say it hasn’t got damp because they can’t smell any.

Whats the difference between water ingress and damp?

 A caravan may be damp due to the fact that the environment is damp around it. Living in Cornwall we are well versed in damp conditions. A damp environment may cause the upholstery to smell, mould to appear on the curtains and in some situations a film of a dusty green mould to cover the wooden surfaces.

 These things are often confused with what a customer assumes would be present if the caravan has got water ingress, so the absence of them often leads to the assumption that the caravan is dry and has no water ingress.

  Issues caused by damp can be solved with a good clean and moving the caravan away from the damp environment, sometimes this can be as easy as moving it from storage under trees or away from a hedge, to a more open place where air can move around the caravan freely. Or if you have the caravan on your drive, leaving the heating on low.

 So what is water ingress? 

Water ingress is when a seal on the outside of the caravan has failed and let water into the construction of the caravan walls, roof or floor, or in some cases, all three.

The caravan can look and smell completely dry and be riddled with water ingress.  The reason you can’t detect it by smell is because the water is trapped in the walls, and is soaked up by the wood that the walls are made of and the smell is sealed in by the glue that bonds the paper to the wood, kind of like what you would do when sealing a wall or a floor with PVA glue.  

But with a bit of knowledge which I will go into in a bit, you will be able to spot the tell tail signs of water ingress without the need to buy an expensive damp meter which cost around £450. Its called a damp meter, but after what I just went through perhaps we should re name it a water ingress detector.. 

 The one we use has a less invasive detection system then the cheaper versions that leave vampire  marks all over your pride and joy. It scans the walls and depending on the resistance, or lack of it when water is present, it gives us a reading.

 A reading of 0 to 20 is fine, 20 to 25 needs to be kept an eye on and anything higher needs further investigation.

But these types of meters have to be used with a certain level of knowledge. I had one instance when a customer was presented with a 3000 pound estimate for a repair which I didn’t think sounded right, only to discover that Elddis used a metallic wall paper in the kitchen area that year. 

 So how are you supposed to know if you have water ingress without an expensive meter.  Well we are talking about finding it as it is first accruing so we can stop it, and you just can’t do that without a good meter and a few years’ experience, the cheap meters aren’t great, so I wouldn’t recommend relying on one, and they also leave those marks everywhere.

It makes no difference if it is raining, foggy or a hot sunny day water ingress is water ingress and nothing to do with environment, so it will either there or not. finding the source of ingress and stopping it is practically impossible and very hit and miss at best, unless we strip out the damage from the inside so we can see where it is coming in.

 So unfortunately, but the time you have found the things I will go into next, the damage may well have been done, but at least then you can do something about it, because it will only get worse.

   

Or if you are looking at a caravan you are thinking of buying you can make an informed decision.

   How to spot water ingress.

 There are three main things you can look for that will indicate if you have water ingress.

• Discolouration, or a staining of the wall or ceiling board. In more modern caravans the glue used to bond the board to the insulation in normally blue in colour, and sometimes this will be washed through the wall board and be visible, Fleetwood caravan are especially prone to this for some reason. Or you may just see a dark stain.

• Softness. In worse cases if the ingress has been there for a while, it will have damaged the integrity of the panel itself and it will be soft to touch and spongy when pressed.

• Pimpling, this is where fungus spores that were present in the wood at the time of manufacturing get access to water and start to grow. I could never work out what these pimples were until I saw and extreme case where the caravan had been left for 5 years and the pimples had grown, I cut away the paper to revel a large white mushroom, puzzle solved.

 A good place to check to find water ingress is under the window rubbers, the rubbers have a bead of sealant between the inside of the rubber and the exterior panel. This can break down, or in some cases not bond to the panel surface and let water past. This results is the wood that surrounds the window frame becomes wet, and depending on how long the water has been getting in will discolour then begin to rot.

 This is an instance where the water has been getting in for a while….

 And this is what it should look like… you can clearly see the difference.

 But it won’t always be that bad, in this instance the water had damaged the panel below so the wood around the window and the panel below will have to be replaced, if caught early enough, replacing the window rubber will stop the problem, and the wood can be dried out.

 You can also do the tap test, if you tap the wall board with your fingernails, a damp panel will sound different to a dry one.  

 The damp panel has a deep thuddy sound, whereas the dry part of the panel has a nice ting too it.

All these things are proof that water ingress is present but unfortunately the damage has already been done.

This is why it is important to have an annual service that includes a water ingress test, so we can catch any issue before it gets that bad. (although we do call it a damp test, which doesn’t help.)

It is especially important if the caravan is under warranty, because if you miss one service then the manufacture does not have to honour any warranty that was in place, although they are pretty good and normally do, but I have seen cases where a customer has not had an annual test for a number of years and ended up with a four thousand pound bill, the manufacture quite rightly drew the line at that.

 what to do if you find water ingress?

 Water ingress is largely cosmetic. In bad cases I have seen it effect the integrity of the caravan, but that is extreme.  It then depends on the situation. 

If the caravan is twenty years old and there is a bit of a damp panel then I would advise trying to stop the problem, although as I have said, this is very hit and miss, and then don’t worry too much about it, its not worth spending hundreds of pounds on a repair if the caravan is not worth that much in the first place.

 If the caravan is under warranty then no problem, get it sorted. But it’s the times when the caravan is worth a significant amount is out of warranty and water ingress is found that the problems arise.

The main issue with water ingress is the effect it has on the value of the caravan. We obviously can’t sell a caravan that has water ingress, unless the caravan is cheap enough and the customer has been made aware of it,  and I can’t say that mistakes haven’t be made,  but when we value a part exchange that has water ingress the price we can offer has to reflect any repairs we will have to do,  we normally come to some arrangement with the customer because it doesn’t cost us as much to repair as it would for the customer to have it done, and I have only had one occasion when the caravan was so bad that I didn’t want to carry on with the deal.

 This is the main issue we have when pricing up a part exchange and one I referred to in my Tips for buying at the caravan show blog.

 When a caravan is part exchanged then we then take on the issue so the customer doesn’t have to worry about it, that’s one way around it but there is still an obvious cost to this, the other is to have it repaired.  

Insurance companies generally won’t cover water ingress problems but check your policy on that, so what will it cost to fix? 

 A general guide is a smallish repair with a new panel will be from £500 to £1000, then it can go up from there.

 It is often quite hard to give an estimate because we don’t really know the extent of the damage until we strip everything out and have a good look, and in some cases just the stripping out can be a major job it most of the kitchen has to be removed.

 Just a quick note here, caravans are prone to water ingress but in my experience older motorhomes seem to have a bigger problem with it, an older motorhome is still worth a lot of money, where as a caravan is not, and due to their construction it can cost rather a lot more to fix, so if you are looking to buy one, but especially an older motor home, buy from a dealer so you have a warranty, or get a professional Water ingress report, (trying not to say damp report..)

 The key to avoiding these issues is to have a regular water ingress check, if a problem is picked up quickly then you can act on it accordingly.

 The caravan I used in the photos came in as a part exchange, it has soft wall boards, pimpling, discolouration, and damage around the windows, the customer was unaware that he had any water ingress, and said, “ But I couldn’t smell anything” I can’t stress enough that this is not a good way to asses if you have a problem or not, And hopefully after reading this you will be able to save time and money and catch water ingress early.

Solving the problem.

 So what are the manufactures doing about this problem? It deos after all  make up a large chunk of their warranty bill.

 They do work very hard to produce a product that doesn’t leak as it is the Holy grail of caravan production.  

 As you visit the dealerships and maybe the show you will see mention of different manufacturing techniques, we have Solid, Alu Tec, Smart, bonding, Timberless this and that all with the same claims that they reduce the likelihood of water ingress.

 I do have my own views on all the different construction methods and how effective they are because I have seen the results first-hand and I  speak to other dealers to get their feedback, because I want to sell something that doesn’t leak.

 Unfortunately, there is no such thing, even in the European market, although on this front they do seam to have a bit of an edge.

 But they have been making caravans for 80 years, how come we have this issue in this day and age, and I hate saying day and age, but it’s a valid question..

 I think it’s because our expectations in what a caravan should be have changed, its not a glorified tent anymore, we want all the home comforts, the length of time we use it per year has gone up so it has to be a caravan for all weather conditions, we want it light enough to tow, and cheap enough to buy. 

The manufactures have a constant battle to achieve all these things and struggle to produce a product with these modern standards in mind.

 If we said we don’t mind caravans weighing 3500 Kg, and costing 60 thousand pounds, I’m sure they could produce something that didn’t leak, but we can’t.

As you can probably tell this is a subject that I have had a great deal to do with over the years and it is one of the biggest issues our market has. I have lost count the amount of times I have had this conversation with a customer.

 Just one thing to say about the caravans that now have composite walls, water can still get in and can do damage, I haven’t spoken about the floors too much but it is still important to have a caravan that has GRP side walls tested because the floors can get damaged. Mainly around the toilet, so just becasud you have plastic walls, don't think the water ingress problem has gone away.

 So to summarise.

•  I might have said it already, but you can’t smell water ingress.
• Check for the signs of water ingress we have mentioned here on a regular basis.
• Get a professional test on an annual basis.
• A caravan with composite walls can still have water ingress.
• If you have an old van don’t worry about it too much.

 So this my rundown on water ingress if you have found this entertaining or at least informative, please subscribe , and share it on your social media platforms.

 Thanks for reading, And be sure to check out the other topics in the right hand panel.

             

          

         

  

Buying a caravan at the show?

In the 15 years I have been attending the shows I have sold hundreds of caravans to show goers and have seen the pit falls first hand from all points of view.

 So i'll go through these main questions, 

• Can you really get a good deal at the show?
• Who is best to person buy from
• What do I need to look out for? 

I will give you some top tips on getting the best out of the show. I’ll cut through the confusion and give you all the information you need to know, and don’t forget, this is all from a dealers point of view… a peak behind the curtain so to speak.

 Im going to concentrate on caravans because that is what I sell, but pretty much everything I will go through will also apply to buying a motorhome as well, and if you want to know which one would suit you best, a caravan or a motor home, be sure to check out my blog on that very topic that I will link to at the end.

How does the show work?

 So lets start with what the shows actually are and how they work. The caravan manufactures get together to show their products in one place and the October show is especially important to them because it’s the first major show of the season and it’s a good guide as to how the rest of the year will go..

But Its not just a show for the caravan companies, the supporting manufactures also attend, ALKO, Trauma, ALDE all the different awning manufactures and accessory suppliers, so it’s a great place to visit even if you’re not in the market for a caravan, there are lots of caravan sites both in the UK and abroad to get ideas for your next trip from and there’s even a great sausage stand.. 

But if you are looking to buy a caravan the sheer choice available to you as you walk through the halls can be mind boggling, then add in all the dealer specials and it gets really confusing, especially because all the different dealers will tell you theirs is the best, and I’ll talk about those later.

Tip number 1, do your homework.

  Before you even step foot in the halls, do your research. This is so important because you can rule out loads of caravans that you don’t even have to bother looking at.  Work out what layout you need and pretty much every manufacturer will have a version of it, so then all you have to do is look at a few caravans that are relevant to you rather than hundreds that aren’t. See my blog post on that very subject in the menu to the right.

I speak to hundreds of people who make it very difficult on themselves by not asking some basic questions before they go, like, 

• Do I want a fixed bed? 
• What weight can I tow? 
• Where am I going to store the caravan?

So it is best to have at least an idea on the answers to these questions before you go because even if you don't think you are going to buy at the show, you may see something that you fall in love with, i'd say 40% of the people I deal with say they had no intention of buying at the show.

Tip 2, get a feel for the caravan.

 So lets say you have narrowed it down to a few caravans that are right for you. What’s the next step? Well the next thing to do is get a feel for the caravan, on paper you may know what your ideal caravan is, but until you get a good look inside you won’t really know, I have seen this so many times when a customer is sure they have found the perfect caravan only to find that when the get in it, it just doesn’t feel right, it feels claustrophobic or the telly isn’t in the right place or the storage isn’t quite as they’d thought.

  But the show is so huge, how can you save time buy not wandering about trying to find the caravan you want to look at?   The main problem is the size of the place, the Swift Stand I work on is huge, it takes me about three days to work out where everything is so as a visitor wandering around looking for a particular layout it will be difficult to find the van you want without help.

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 So this is a good place to go into how the show works, as well as the caravan manufactures all the main dealers are also at the show and to give you an idea of how many, there are probably sixty sales people on the Swift stand alone. The salespeople, and I’m one of them, are there to sell caravans for the dealers they work for, they do not work for the manufacturer and are just there to sell caravans. I’ll go into who to buy from and why in a bit, but for now,

Tip 3, ask the right people.

If you’re not ready to talk to a dealer about buying just yet and you are just looking and refining your search, go to the main desk on the stand and ask one of the manufactures staff where a particular caravan is, they have a map of the stand and won’t try to sell you anything.

 If you ask someone on the stand, the chances are they are a sales person and they will start qualifying you, this is fine if that’s what you want, but if you just want to look at something without being hassled then ask at the desk.

Now you’ve found the caravan you’re interested in so all you have to do is have a good look at it. This can be a problem in its self because depending on what day you go and what time it is, you may find it difficult to actually get in it because it is full of everyone else who also want to look at it.

 There may not be anything you can do about this, but if you can go to the show for a couple of days then I’d advise getting there a bit later, or look around the side stands first leaving the looking at product until later in the day, because from around 2 o clock it gets quieter and you can get into the caravans that you want to see, the only down side to this is that there are lots of  sales people hanging around looking for people to sell to so there might be a bit of a gauntlet to run.

 Wednesday and Thursday are the best days to go as they are the quietest if the show is not on the half term, and Saturday is the busiest, so try to avoid that if you can.

Is the show the best place to get a deal?

So you’ve found the caravan you want to buy, is the show the best place to get a deal?

I hear this a lot, and to a certain extent it is, the manufactures put a lot of time into the shows and they want to maximise the impact they have.

 Depending on how things are going they will put promotions on at the show that will run out at 6 o clock on Sunday to help us as dealers get customers to make a decision before they leave.

 These are the genuine deals, The manufactures will not run these deals into the following week and we can’t offer them on top of what deals we are doing without their support.

 It may be a free mover, cash off, a special finance deal or a cover depending on what’s going on, sometimes it’s a hold on a price increase to save the customer a few hundred pounds. 

But these deals are over and above what the dealers can do. As a smaller dealer myself I do have to be a bit keener at the show on price than I normally would be at the forecourt, but not by much, a hundred pound here and there, but there are dealers that will knock vast amounts of money off and I’ve never really worked out why, but that’s good for you the customer? Isn’t it?

Tip 4, getting money off.

 If you just want as much money off as possible then you just go around speaking to as many dealers as possible to get the keenest deal, you won’t make any friends, but if it’s all about getting as much money off as possible, then so what?

 Also If you don’t want to make a decision at the show and you’re not worried about losing whatever deal the manufactures is doing then don’t believe anyone that says they won’t do a particular deal they are offering after the show. I personally would say such a thing but it is a tactic to get you to sign up there and then and for you not to turn into a be back or potentially lose you to another dealer in the show, i'll tell you what a be back is at the end.

But is it all about money?

 But is the best deal all about how much money you can get off?  when I qualify a customer I find out if they just want the most money off as they can get because I know I don’t want to compete at that level, so I point them in the direction of the bigger dealers who seem to be keen to sell a caravan at any cost.

But there are a few other factors to take into consideration that go a bit deeper than just pounds and pence, not that pence come into it very often. 

So what am I talking about, surly the most important thing is getting as much money off as possible right?

Well, its not as simple as that. When you go to your local dealership, they are, well local, you know where the dealer is and you may have been there before or been recommended to them by someone else, the problem at the show is that there are hundreds of dealers from all over the country all trying to sell you a caravan. Some of these sales people may not be upfront about where they are from,  I have heard time and time again that this was the last thing the customer checked or was told and I’ve even heard a customer say after they paid a deposit, so where have I got to come to pick my caravan up from?

So Tip number 4, and this is a big one, Find out where you are buying your caravan from.

 It sounds simple but in a show environment its not always clear. Why is this important, well that £400 saving you just think you have made can disappear quickly when you have to do a 500 mile round trip just to pick the caravan up.

So Id always recommend buying local if you can, or as local as possible, this is difficult for me to say because i'm from Cornwall and I never seem to bump into my local customers, but due to how the dealer net work works, and I’ll get to in a sec, buying from a dealer that is miles away from where you live can be false economy. Its fine if nothing goes wrong but unfortunately that’s rare. 

 The warranty you get with the caravan is a back to base warranty, so if anything significant happens then it would mean another trip back to the dealer, and by then that £400 saving is a distant memory.

A wise man one said. Good service is remembered long after price is forgotten.

  Also if the dealer is local then you can get a full appraisal of any part exchange you may have, it is very difficult for a customer to know if they have water ingress (see my blog on the subject) and I have heard many stories of customers getting to a far off dealership only to have their pat ex ‘chipped’ which means to be reduced in price due to un seen water ingress, be sure to check out my video on how to find water ingress without expensive equipment which you will find on my youtube channel.

 So if the dealer can come and fully check your part exchange you know there won’t be any nasty surprises when you eventually pick up your new caravan. A service from a third party often isn’t enough, in my experience as finding water ingress can be a bit of a dark art and open to interpretation so don’t rely on it 100 %.

Warranty?

So why can’t you just take your new caravan to your local dealership for warranty, regardless of where you bought it from ?

 A lot of customers believe that it’s the same as buying a car and they can take their caravan to any dealer and they have to do the work, but this is not the case. 

  The warranty is with the supplying dealer and your local dealer has no obligation to do any work, it is at their discretion.

And from a dealer’s point of view it is frustrating when a customer wants their support when something goes wrong when they didn’t support them by buying locally, just so they could save some money.

 The reason dealers don’t want to do other dealers warranty is because normally their workshops are extremely busy looking after the customers that did buy from them.

Also a lot of the stuff the customers want doing is either small and not cost effective to claim for or not covered at all, so it ends up costing the non-supplying dealer time and money to do, which is fine if they sold the customer the caravan as there would be some profit in the caravan to allow for these things, (In theory)

 I know this sounds a bit wingey but when a workshop is busy with customers that have bought from the dealer they don’t want to waste precious time with someone who in all likely hood may do the same thing next time and not buy a caravan from them.

  But I think this is a bit of a short sighted view, if is say no to doing a customers warranty then there is no chance they will come back to buy a van from us at all, and in all likely hood they will also tell their friends not too as well, so I will look at each case individually and sometimes after explaining the situation the customer may even be happy to pay a small sur charge for all the stuff we can’t claim for, as it is still a lot cheaper that taking the van back to the original dealer, or we can do the small things at the time of the first service.

So this may sound a bit sneaky and I wasn’t sure if I should include this bit or not, but now you know the facts it may be a good litmus test to see if you have a trustworthy salesperson sat in front of you, ask the question,

Can I have any warranty done at my local dealer?

A trustworthy salesperson will obviously tell the truth, an even better one will have told you this before you even ask. If it’s a resounding yes, no problem, then you know this may not be the case.

We all have connections as dealers with other dealers but selling a caravan into another dealers area, them asking them to do the warranty, Is a bit cheeky, so it is not often done unless the two dealers have a really good relationship,  but we all want to sell a caravan at the show, so it is a difficult and horrible question to get asked when you have spent an hour with a customer that you know may want to buy, and this could be the fly in the ointment.

 I get this issue out of the way fairly soon into a conversation because if a customer has had the problem before they will know it is best to deal locally, and I don’t want to waste time with someone who will not buy from me, unless it dead quiet, then I don’t mind as it can be a long afternoon in the hall with no one to talk too.

NCC Approved workshops

 The only way around the situation if you really don't want to deal locally, or you have a hard to beat deal or you just really trust the salesperson is to use an independent NCC approved workshop for your warranty work. 

There is a network of workshops around the country that are independent from any franchise and will carry out warranty work for you as it is their main source of income. It is best if you find one that doesn't sell caravan as you will run into to the issues above. 

Click Here to find your nearest one.  

Who to buy from?

So who is the best dealer to buy from, well me obviously, but if I’m just too far away I suggest you research this before you go to the show, google is the best place to see what people are saying about dealerships, which might not seem fair on the larger ones because you certainly can’t please all the people all of the time, and the sheer numbers of people they deal with will means they will have haters,  but you may get a general balance for how they perform, smaller dealers like myself may not be able to give the best deals, but have the advantage of the personal touch, if I sell you a caravan, I will be the one handing it over, and the person you call with a problem, so I have to be consistent.

 Where as if you buy from a salesman who hands you onto a handover team, who hand you over to a warranty team, the initial connection is lost. But that’s not so say that there aren’t some large dealerships who get the balance just right, and they’re certainly out there.

  

So what if you really don’t want to deal with your local dealer, you may have had a bad experience with them and don’t trust them, or if you may find someone you want to buy from because they really impressed you, well it can work buying from a dealer that is not local. Maybe you know the area and have been there before so you don’t mind trip to pick it up.

 Maybe, as I often get, you keep your caravan in they area that is local to that dealer, in that case where you live isn't the issue, its where the caravan is stored that could be the deciding factor.

 A lot of dealers can offer a night or two at a local caravan site to break the journey up and to give you a chance to go through the caravan to make sure everything is okay before you tow the caravan away.

 The biggest issue as I have mentioned before and is worth mentioning again is the warranty work. Your local dealer may get the hump if you don’t buy the caravan from them and not help you out, so be wary of that great deal, it may not end up being as good as it looks.

 So they are probably the biggest tips I can give you about buying at the show but there is something else.. products...

 Tip Number 5 know what Product you are looking at, and who is selling it..  

Each manufacture will have a range of products, so the first thing to do is to decide on the layout that best suits you,  then have a look at each manufacturer and decide what spec level you want because some layouts will be represented in all the spec levels. 

This is mainly governed by how much you want to spend, nineteen thousand for the entry level version, or thirty five for the top of the range, again if you don’t want to spend top end money, you can rule out lots of caravans in one go and not waste time looking at them, but also at the show you will see dealer stands each with their own branded caravans on.

 Now this is where it can get a bit confusing, a dealer special is a standard product that a dealer, mainly the large ones, have bought in quantity. Because they have committed to a large amount the manufactures allow them to call it something different to the standard product.

This is where it gets confusing because you will be looking at the Swift Freestyle, or the Swift Coastline or wherever the dealer has called it, and it will be a different price to the product on the main stand, but it will have some extras on it that the standard product won’t have.

So the dealer specials can be a better buy if you can see the value in the extras. Most of the Swift specials are based on the Sprite product and will have things like heavy duty corner steadies, different upholstery and decals,  a BBQ point and external 240 socket, a service hatch to store stuff from the outside under the front bunks, a splash back behind the kitchen area and so on.  

Some of these things can be added to the standard product such as the BBq point and 240 socket, but others can’t. So the dealer specials are a “levelled up product; so to speak from the standard Sprite caravan.

But this does come with a price, but they are generally worth more when you come to trade them in or sell them at a later date, so the extra cost is re cooped. And don’t forget, if you see a dealer special you like but the dealer is miles away from you, there may be a dealer closer to you that will do a similar product.

 But if you can’t see the benefit of these extras or there is not one locally then with a few tweeks that the dealer can do, you are not far off the specials with the standard product anyway.

Time is precious at the show and it can be a long day, add in the stress of dealing with the crowds and the traffic jams getting in then having to makes a decision on a large purchase, you need to make the process as easy as possible, so I hope this information has gone a little way to achieving that.

  So to summarise,

• Do your research before you go.. both on the caravan and the dealers you want to deal with.
• If you can, manage your time at the show to avoid the crowds.
• If its all about the money, asks several dealers what they will do, mainly the bigger ones,
• If you want service and back up, buy local.

 So thanks for reading this blog, I will be at the show on the swift stand, but if you want to ask anything, please pop your question in the comments below and I’ll do my best to answer it.

 If you found the blog interesting or at least informative please hit the subscribe button 

  What is a Be back..

  When dealers are all talking later in the day about how the day has been, you’ll hear us say ‘I’ve got two be backs, or I haven’t even got any be backs’  This is what a customer says to us instead of ‘right thanks for that but I’m off and I’m never going to see you again,' it just a bit a bit blunt.

 So they say, Okay, thanks for that, we’ll have a think and be back later’ at that point they turn into a be back, 98% of which we never see again, but until around half five we will be craning our necks in the faint hope that one of our be backs, actually comes back, it’s a lovely feeling to see a be back walk onto the stand, but then it’s a 50 50 chance that they have just come to say thanks for all you help, but they need to go home and measure the drive..

If you found this blog of interest, please his the subscribe button on the right, I will be adding more content shortly.