NOT JUST DEALERS IN TROUBLE
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- Опубліковано 4 кві 2024
- Not just dealers in trouble, Elddis have made 40% of their workforce redundant.
Covid has taken a real toll on leisure vehicle manufacturers in the UK.
New Caravan manufacturers are still finding caravan sales difficult and motorhomes sales also.
New Caravans have fallen to a long time low and this is the same with motorhomes and camper sales.
The used market for caravans and motorhomes has stayed fairly buoyant in comparison.
If your looking for a used caravan or motorhome visit our website www.thecaravanplace.com
#caravan #motorhome #dealer - Авто та транспорт
I’m surprised the caravan industry isn’t on its knees with their build quality issues , to have damp issues in this day and age is a disgrace.
as someone who has sold motorhomes and caravans for 21 years and owned them , it has always been like that, you hear about it more today with social media and yesterday's vans have a huge case of rose tinted spectacles.
The vans I hear today were so much better rin the past are the vans I sold new then and people told me how awful they were lol
Well the only thing I can say is when we traded in our 1997 Eldis caravan few years ago to upgrade they didn't find any damp, unlike the 2012 swift we got go rid off full of damp.
I can honestly say that our Eldis was better built, nothing fell off unlike our old swift.
They wouldn't get away with it as much if it was a new car.
Why do dealers put up with it having to repair and put right brand new caravans.
I certainly wouldn't if they all stuck together and said no the manufacturers would have do something,
or go bust if weren't prepared to sell their Sh-t.
Because the dealers get paid for doing it!
@@Paul-pb3vqI just traded in an elddis 2012 crusader cyclone jubilee edition.
The van was full of damp & dealer claimed it would cost 6k to sort it all out 😢
I put it down to experience must have been a Friday afternoon build I just hope my new van doesn’t go the same way.
The biggest issue for me as a caravaner is the price of campsites. We don’t go anywhere near as often as we used to, and will probably sell the caravan this year. It used to be a wonderful pastime, but as with everything now, I feel we are being ripped off.
Me and the wife are both retired now so have more flexibility in when we go away. We started touring in 2016, and we came across an excellent site not far from us and used it about six times a year, mainly long weekends and it was reasonably priced for what you got, we hardly use it now because of the price. We found another site, just as nice, is green where electricity is solar powered etc, they do a deal, three nights starting Monday or Tuesday £60, all in, the same three nights at the other site would have cost me £125 (which includes £3 electric a day, but would have to pay extra if needed, they never used to charge for electric)..
@@leecromer3289 I think that is a good point, that as you are retired, you can hunt out midweek deals, and shop around. Last year we went to book a caravan club in the New Forest, but they wanted £400 for a week! In the end we went with the camping and caravanning club nearby, but that was still £280. All these organisations are doing is pricing themselves out of business. Have a great camping season!
Just gave up caravan as I find hotels cheaper ,storage ,insurance,service, tyres,diesel ,sites , memberships,add them all up and you will see what I mean
Now energy prices have come down will the campsites bring their prices down 😂😂😂 some fat chance I hope any site charging more than £25 a night goes bust , rip off Britain.
Hopefully prices come down, as mentioned hunting around for the cheapest site's is a must now 👍
There all too bloody expensive and some of the quality is crap
Recently traded in a 2015 Elddis Crusader for a brand new Swift Elegance. Had zero problems with the Elddis, quite a few with the Swift. The fact is that ALL manufacturers need to up their quality.
Try a Kabe or Tabbert
What a load of BULLSH#T!!! Dealers didn’t make money from the boom in demand 😅
Did you hear him talk about the supply constraints?
Pile em high sell em cheap makes more money than selling a restricted number unless the margin is enormous.
No more than they deserve. ALL the british caravan makers have had and still have long standing quality issues. And frankly they know it and dont care while there getting away with it! Ive spent £100k on caravans in the last 4 years and havent had a good one yet and the 24 model Bailey i have now is the worst so far! I for one will gladly raise a glass if they bite the dust! Thankfully social media is now exposing how shoddy there products are ! 😀 A carribean cruise in Jan showed me how stress free a holiday can be if you abandon the caravan! The baileys in front of the firing squad , im just deciding whether to shout fire ! And give up 🤔
The Brits have never made a reliable car why would you want to buy a British built caravan
Get a campevan.
And camp sites putting there prices up near me 50 pounds a night it’s a joke
you can get a travel lodge for that!!!!
And then they tell you are on a meter
😡
Well somebody made a lot of money from the demand in prices when a used motorhome was fetching more than the original price .
Yes the original purchaser.
I bought a brand new caravan in 2008 (Elddis Xplore 546) for £11k.
In 2021 I was offered up to £9k in part ex.
Loosing £3k in 13 years was astounding. By rights it should have been £4K max
Well done you but think of the dealers who had a full forecourt full of caravans or motorhomes that suddenly were worth thousands more than the month before
nope, dealers paid more for them and the people who pxd them paid more for the van they bought, its like the housing market
Yes I know that but what about the time when they had a forecourt full of stock which they had paid the going rate for before the market went nuts ?
Elddis have stuffed themselves. Build quality issues and lack of decent customer service hit them hard and to be fair mainly they got what was deserved. Some models were top drawer but many suffered badly. It's a massive shame for people locally that jobs are being cut and I'm sure Mr Siddle is turning in his grave. Let's hope the management sort things out and they get back to producing a quality product which is value for money. Our 2021 Elddis was stunning and had no real issues but friends who bought other models around the same year had no end of trouble and warranty arguments. They are hit or miss. Pay your money and gamble it on a coin toss.
any number of car companies bit the dust in the nineties and noughties for that same issue. When you are splashing a lot of cash on what could be seen as a luxury good if you don't meet the standards you claim customers will desert you and a reputation built on decades of hard work can be ruined in 6 months.
Or overnight if your name is Ratner
I've had Bailey, Swift Compass and Coachman and tbh customer service is bad with them all. The whole caravan industry is so archaic and could do with modernisation. It takes an age to get parts or even a response and they seem to be still in the eighties. Don't think they've heard of the Internet. At least Bailey have Prima Leisure with parts online which is a step in the right direction but still not great.
@chrisr547 my big issue now is with the warranty you get. If I but a certain make, I expect that manufacturer to provide the warranty but they all say if the seats are a problem, its there supplier who provide the warranty, same with taps, boilers, fridges, cookers etc. You don't but a box of warranty bits, you but a caravan, campervan or motorhome frome a manufacturer. It's disgraceful how customers are treated sometimes
Hope you are both well 👍
So true about being hit and miss! Just seem to come across a lot of dissatisfied Elddis owners (more so that others).
I doubt the management will sort it, as they'll still want to pay peanuts for staff with little or no incentive to do a good job.
Agree with 076 captain,campsites prices are absolutely scandalous! ,especially the ones who charge £4 p night for a dog.Come on ! How do they justify that ?! What does a dog do to justify this ?
You've got to be kidding, you know the problem with Elddis they are CRAP!
I bought one brand new in 2019, an absolute nightmare.
Really, really poor build quality things dropped off, the oven lid flew off whilst travelling, my friends big starlight window dropped off into the van and the last straw for me was the forty percent damp at two years old.
The service engineer told me all dealers are aware and don't want them.
So for me I really, really hope Elddis is off the face of the industry just a pile of rubbish.
Sorry for the rant but to me commiserations to all Elddis owners.
If I was a motor home and caravan dealer with massive stock I would be wetting myself right now,like the car industry the boom is over,people haven’t got the disposable income that they had before interest and inflation went up,luxury items have been put on the back burner with people struggle to pay their mortgages and cope with this ridiculous hike in gas and electricity prices. British Gas and others are taking the piss making three times more than they did before,maybe gas prices have tripled but that collectively spread over their customers,it doesn’t mean your customers have to pay three times more for it which is what has happened and that’s why their showing record profits,I used to work for a waste company that used this tactic,every time the tipping charge went up instead off putting the extra cost up proportionately they just loaded the whole percentage rate on each customer, and they wondered why they lost customers that they’d had for ten years at least,penny wise and pound foolish. Customers used to ring me and ask why this was happening, I couldn’t tell them the truth because of company policy,I got sick of making excuses for them and left,it’s amazing their still in business today,greed nearly bankrupted them.
The manufacturers put their prices up by around 60% over a 18 month period, some even more than that. Something had to break. Simply profiteering from the demand after convid. We bought our MH for £47300 in 2017, same model in 2021 was £70000 but cheaper components/fittings. A joke.
What a total rip off!
The bubble has definitely burst Mark . A number of dealers are going in to administration and I fear the worst is yet to come ! So many dealers have high priced used stock . This will mean reduced prices to sell them or the dealers will hold the stock on their balance sheet to save going into administration. New prices will start to flatten out , however the cost to change for most customers will increase , thus slowing the market yet again . Uk manufacturers without doubt have build quality issues which will make more buyers consider pumping their money into either continental vans or other types of holidays . I purchased a brand new British built MH in 2022 which cost over 100k . Being honest it has spent more time with the dealer trying to rectify serious manufacturing defects than we have spent away in it. Customers of the caravanning and Motorhome world are reaching the point of re assessing the stress a MH or caravan can give you. Site costs are now so high the attraction of the industry for many I believe is starting to fade. As I say the worst is yet to come . A lot of high priced used stock that is sticking on dealers forecourts , while some new stock is now being discounted. Maybe new stock reductions are being supported by the manufacturers? Again , this will not be sustainable . Sorry to be negative but I fear we have not hit the bottom yet.
If only the Japanese built caravans!
Get Toyota to build them
I tow with a Toyota land cruiser best vehicle I have ever owned
When you couldn't travel abroad through COVID they all tried making a quick buck
Through sky high prices
I bought a twin axel £30.000
Tried selling it 6mths later they offered me £19.500
Even though same model they had for sale used £28.000 on show
They ripped people off now it's back firing
It's called Greed
Hi , really like your excellent videos. I foresaw this slump last year it's such a pity.
Got the caravaning bug at 17 years of age I'm now approaching 80years old and have had to call it aday after many caravans and motorhomes.
Suppose you'd call me a veteran,loved every moment
Now I'm clearing all the things associated with the past years. Just left with a hardly used air àwning
to sell It's sad, finding it a bit of a anticlimax. Thats life 😢
As an Elddis owner I can understand the reluctance for repeat purchases. In 40 years of caravanning and more than 10 vans during that time I can honestly say I’ve never had a worse van. Many little design flaws add up to make a bad experience. I’ve never had a problem with damp in any other van but recently had a bill for £1200 to repair damp in the Elddis. If I could afford to change right now I would but when I eventually can’t it will not be an Elddis. Further to that, I’ve never previously owned a van which has caused so many other owners on sites to come to our pitch to discuss if we’ve got the same issue they do! One of the common complaints which you yourself pointed out recently is the front locker door only opening 90 degrees meaning you have to be quite supple to bend down or kneel to get under the door to access stuff. I even wrote to Elddis suggesting this was a design fault they could easily remedy as so many other owners were complaining about it but they didn’t have the courtesy to reply. So I’m afraid there might be a lot more than just economics behind their problems at the moment!
Caravans are far too expensive 30 grand for a wooden box all with the same equipment.....
caravan prices, site prices, consumable prices all through the roof ! on top of that electric cars that cant tow far increasing in popularity. Now the great covid cash ins ended the chickens are coming home to roost exposing the fact that caravannings expensive and often frustrating due to the appalling build quality and its a perfect storm. elddis wont be the last to get into difficulties. Site owners need to have a hard look at themselves too, £300 a week in low seasons commonplace now!
Not much wood, mostly chipboard.
Site fees are exorbitant!
I stopped touring in 2017. From 2009 I purchased new Coachman, Bailey and Swift caravans. To be honest the quality of workmanship in these caravans were poor to say the least. I cannot believe the prices of new caravans at this present time. I believe the caravan bubble has burst as the prices sites charge are ridiculous.
Caravan build quality is dismal, Cost of vans are outrageous, camp site fees are at an all time high and people are being more careful with their money due to rising cost of living. I’m not surprised .
I agree entirely with the cost of pitches, they are becoming extortionate.
Agree re Elddis quality control. Our motorhome a 155 was only 12 months old. It was back with the dealer every month and then found to have 90% damp issues. The seals had failed. Then it took over 6 months for Elddis to authorise the warranty repairs. In the end the dealer took it back off me at a small loss. Tyne Valley Motorhomes were just as frustrated as us. Thanks for keeping us up to date.
Serves them right for over charging people...no sympathy
Dealers are definitely greedy, I sold my motorhome a year ago and the dealer still hasn’t sold it, its currently for sale for 3 grand more than I paid for it in 2019🤷♂️
The problem is they jumped on a band wagon, and dismissed their core buyers. When i wanted to buy from my usual dealer, i was ignored whilst they chased a profit for those who couldnt go abroad, now they can. Theyll dump their vans. Prices are ridiculous, and camp sites have also been consumed by greed. 50 quid a nigjt plus electric, havving a laugh. Theyll be next. I have no sympathty. Remember who your customers were.
could not agree more. we got a caravan in 2022 after being long term campers but due to health moved to a caravan, did a lot or research and so on and the prices of some of the vans are silly, some vans new in 2014 for £20k still selling now for £16k, fantastic investment if you bought one new in 2014 and sold if in the last couple of years
You say it was down to supply and demand... But where did the extra income go? The point is that to state 'supply and demand' as the reason, is the same thing as saying 'we could charge more, so we did.'
Now those industries where prices rose due to costs rising, like parts, energy etc etc, then fair enough. But that isn't what is repeatedly quoted as happening in this industry. Everybody simply says "Supply and demand." That, in itself, ultimately means greed... As in, because demand was so high, we could get away with charging extortionate prices.
Problem is, when that happens, everybody wants a slice of that change, and when the market cools, they're not so quick to give it up. So now we have inflated prices, and much fewer buyers... Time for a market reset. Some will go bust, some will move early and thrive.
Yep I think you hit the nail on the head
It's the first video I've watched of yours that I have to say is a bit frustrating and I typically would simply leave it and say nothing but... While the economics evaluation you describe is true in part is does not account for the sheer scale of the substantial, frankly sea change, of ashamedly sweeping increases in the retail price of motorhomes in the previous 4 years. There was clearly an opportunist strategy on the part of the manufacturers by increasing prices beyond what could be described as entirely supply constraints and supply costs. The sooner that this is both legitimately admitted and corrected, the sooner the market will return - at the right price. In these economic times of struggle, far fewer people are going to spend really big money on new or over-priced used vehicles. Not a dig at you or your business at all, but a simple business principle that some fluidity in pricing has to be accounted for (and not only on the up-side).
That's what happens when corrupt governments & bankers print our currency supply into oblivion.
@MotoGoYo the problem is that the manufacturers can't correct their prices because as soon as they increased the price of their caravans, guess what, their parts suppliers all increased their prices to grab their share. Now the caravan manufacturers are stuck with higher build costs, just when demand is collapsing. That's the problem with short term greed I'm afraid.
@@pjay3028 Yes, I agree, it’s a cyclic industry. Everyone wants a chip on the table. And a piece of the pie. Nevertheless, however it’s sliced n diced, the outcome still remains that price:value ratios ultimately win-out in enterprise. If that balance is out of kilter within an economic cycle, market forces will ultimately correct it. No more boom and bust was a slogan once used by our political minds. Unfortunately, that’s just where they have landed. I still maintain that they over-reached when they thought they could and over-charged when they knew they could. The customer was the only loser during that period. The consequences are unavoidable and prices need to return to a balance with value.
I had awful issues with a brand new Eldis years ago. 33 faults first time we took it out, attention to detail was non existent they couldn't even be bothered to remove the sawdust in the lights but they were the little things. The huge issues were unacceptable, my 5 year old daughter who was tiny went to bed and the bunk came off the wall and landed on her brother underneath . The door when locked could be pulled open because the latch wasn't properly placed the list went on. That was in 2007 so it's sad to see they still haven't improved. Everything was fixed under warranty but the lack of care put me right off so I sold it as soon as it was rectified and it was the only caravan I wasn't sorry to see go. It sounds like they didn't learn by their mistakes watching this 😢
Usual practice, fleece the customer with over inflated prices.
Thanks Mark! not good news for us who own an Elddis our trade in value just went through the floor. Guess we'll just have to keep it. We brought our Elddis because it was simply the best 2 berth layout we could find as it had a rear kitchen which we prefer.
I thought it may effect prices, but actually they haven't, so long term it doesn't make a difference 👍
Grandparents and parents had caravans... I thought about it, researched it... no, I won't be purchasing a caravan. Poor quality and high cost are the main factors. No wonder people are modifying vans themselves.
Camping and caravan club £48 to renew... won't be doing that now either!
I feel where the industry has made an error is the constant strive for a top luxury van, instead of a good basic van. More content in a van =more that can go wrong. Have the luxury vans available but also have budget range. They would be lighter & therefore towed by a smaller car! As vans are getting heavier with the luxury so the car needs to be larger. All at a time everyone needs to downsize.
Plenty of those about though. There’s bin a massive increase in the building of smaller vans. Basecamp, discovery, etc etc.
It’s weird the other day We popped into a large dealership on the north wales border ,initially to get a spare part , bought it and decided to look at a new van as its undercover .. we looked at a couple of motorhomes briefly , then spent another hour in and out of 5 caravans looking at there. Layouts … not once in the whole time we were in there were we approached by a salesman . Something in this day and age with items costing 20k + I found weird .. If it was my business I would sack every one on the premises
You’re wrong!….. There is nothing worse in most people’s minds than a pushy salesman…… Yes maybe it would have been nice to get a good morning from someone, but leave me to look at the vans, and i will then come and find you when I need advice…….
It's always tough to get the balance, a hello, we are here if you need us would be nice though. 👍
Ridiculous comment, there is nothing worse than being hassled when looking, if you are really interested you would let the staff know which Van' you are interested in, thankfully you don't own the dealership
Hounding salesman is the worst put off and would make me run for the hills, but some friendly acknowledgement that they are there to help and advise if needed would be good.
I went back with a warranty claim in 2017 and they were so dismissive and eager to avoid correcting the problem l sold the vehicle and swore l wouldn’t buy another. Elddis needs to respect the customer more and recognise that repeat business and word of mouth is the life blood of a business.
You are so right. Elddis have been 2.5 years trying to avoid correcting our major panels cracks (the usual elddis major issue! - we have 10 cracks). They have literally lied & lied to us - blaming everything and everyone else, except themselves. Unsurprisingly, any company that abuses and lies to the customer (as elddis has done) has lost that customer for life.
Living in the North of England I would have liked to support my local manufacturer. But even 10 years ago when I bought my first van Elddis had a poor name for build quality and after sales - telling when you think what the competition is like.
I also question their policy of wood frames, relying on adhesives to keep everything dry.
I have a 35 year old wood frame caravan. Had 1 damp patch easy fix with some sealant.
But it's a Burstner from back in the day when Germans built to last.
Mind you, I did have a lot of wood to replace after the damp had got in 😂 A cupboard hid the leak for way too long.
I agree with most of what you are saying I have heard that most dealers that are in trouble or gone bust are the ones that have been caravan dealers who thought that their would diversify into motor homes to make a fast buck when the market was crazy.
You’re seriously wrong with dealers . They were and still profiteering. Manufacturing are no different. We owned an Elldis now changed because of issues. The be all and end all of anything is quality , reliability, and reputation and no caravan manufacturers have that at the moment. £4.5 million loss is a lot of money but what about the reputation that’s worth tens of millions .
Used prices have been (and still are) scandalous.
It’s one of the most blatant examples of profiteering in recent times.
Capitalism in action. Shocking.
Used prices are pegged against new. If new ones go up the secondhand prices will too.
The whole “I can save £5k if I buy a 12 month old used van”
More people chasing fewer goods will always drive up prices, it's the same with the housing market....
What's Capitalism got to do with government(s) forcing people to stop working and paying them to do nothing, that's called socialism. Additionally where does capitalism come into the governmemt / central bank monetising £450 billion of debt (money printing) to pay for it, that's also a socialist policy. Monetary policy tells you that if you print money (inflation) whilst reducing supply prices go up, it's not a difficult concept to understand and nothing to do with Capitalism.
Greed Greed Greed
All about greed no one is buying them now dew to rip off prices from dealers and manufacturers
Poor quality and damp issues in this day and age when we understand how to prevent this problem is just not acceptable. They deserve to go bust. Caravans and motor homes are all just too expensive
Recently upgraded to an Elddis crusader super cyclone 2016 model. Loved the layout, and was surprised how well built it was. All screws, joints were all solid. Coming from a Lunar Venus 500/4 2012 model, lovely caravan. But was forever tightening up the screws around the caravan which had worked there self's loose or fell out completely.... But on the plus side it served us well, no leaks and everything worked. Love our Elddis, E&P, solar, quad movers all installed by previous owners. Hopefully this one serves us as well as our Lunar did. As I've said, I'm yet to find poor quality from our Elddis.
Nobody shouts about all the good things with elddis, yes they have some issues, but not everyone 👍
You're one in a million, but I'm pretty confident you will have many serious problems very soon and then the Elddis aftersales will begin.
We are 4 years post Covid
And we are still saying it is Covid that has caused the increase
We got or van new in 2017 and was looking to replace in 5 years but that did not happen due to the huge increase in new van costs
And the build quality is just not the same
Had someone said to me in 2017 that new van would be upwards of 40k that is just mind blowing for some plastic on 2 wheels
Let’s hope they see sense and start to decrease the prices and there build quality
Unfortunately all the macro economics around the world and inflationary situation were in is all down to Covid. Events like this take years to recover and get back to normal conditions. According to the central banks of the world the new normal isn’t much better than this. Every bubble has to pop. Personally I’m glad to see vehicle prices and caravan prices drop so I can eventually afford to get one
Demand for caravans and motorhomes exploded and the manufacturers couldn't meet the demand while maintaining quality which has resulted in a surge in warranty claims which have to be paid for. I bought my first caravan a Coachman VIP in 2016. It cost £22,500 and that was expensive at the time. My intention was to change it every three or four years however, I saw that after 2018 the number of complaints regarding quality issues were escalating. So, I still have my Coachman which would cost in excess of £35,000 to replace now. The new model doesn't come with a solar panel as standard either so, less kit for significantly more money. It's damp free, nothing has fallen out or off and the only thing I've ever had replaced under warranty was the kitchen sink due to chip in the enamel. I've had E&P self levelling fitted to it with the money I saved by not being able to use it during lockdown. So, it would cost me a small fortune to swap it for something else that I would have to upgrade to what I have now. Needless to say, I'm sticking with what I've got until the quality issue are adressed.
Campsite prices in the UK certainly aren't helping when, in some cases, you can stay in a motel for around the same price. This is why I'm back off to France for six weeks this year. The prices are still reasonable and the sites exceptional not to mention the weather.
I also think that a lot of used caravans and motorhomes are coming on the market because some people quickly find out it's not their cup of tea. I know two couples who bought brand new caravans and one was on the market after just one outing and the other after two one-week holidays. Sad but true.
Elddis caravan are poor quality. I've had 2 in the last 6 years and both have had problems with cracks in front and rear panels. Will be a long time before I buy another.
We are on our third Elddis after an Eriba only changed as we wanted a different layout. No issues with any of them. Its also important to remember 70 % of the van is made up of 3rd party kit, heating, cooking, fridge, toilet, taps, windows etc etc so unless incorrectly installed a problem with a Dometic fridge can happen in 10k Swift or a 50k Coachman. As mentioned on another thread speak to Bailey owners and they talk about rotting floors, pop on the Eriba forum and you will see loads of issues there too, same with Swift and Coachman as you only ever hear of the bad experiences not the positive ones !
Where did all the money go then ? Dealers with existing inventory at the time suddenly saw margins increasing day by day.
Generally the U.K. caravan is a poor product compared to the European brands. Innovation is very limited and I haven’t noticed any real changes that would drive me to change to a new van. They endlessly get excited about the annual change of body transfers or a slightly different aluminium wheel.
What about using lighter stronger structural materials. How about beds that fold into a wall to utilise space better. What are they doing about towing with an electric car? Why not a battery pack as part of the floor?
The poor quality of the product and the failure rate is quite extraordinary and the cost to make good must be killing the bottom line. I think the manufacturers are on a par with new house builders.
This is Lunar all over again, poor quality and ultimately no customer confidence and sale’s disappearing
I used to upset Elddis as I mentioned that in our videos lots of people reported that the front window bracket was never put on right and leaked even on the 50K caravans. Still waiting for motorhome prices to drop. They don't seem to be dropping that quickly at present. Still looking for a 2007 with 6 belts, right hand drive under 20K if possible. The number of vans coming on Autotrader keeps increasing.
I had a 2019 Compass but would never buy another while they still make them from wood.
Its a shame because the style and layout was almost the best van I've had. The space inside was fantastic but the detwction of damp around the front windows put the qind up me and gave me flashbacks to my 2009 Bailey that turned out to be rotten. Never again.
Maybe payback time,this industry has always been over priced people have made a lot of money
Read about this a few weeks back, can't remember where tho. I'm not in the trade or connected in any way other than a noisy caravenner.. Shame but not surprising the way prices have gone. We bought a new Buccaneer in 2020 for £33k ish, it's now almost £50k
After the surge in costs and demand in 2020 and 2021 I'm not surprised that it's now fallen and discretionary spending is going down to make things worse.
ALL manufacturers need to up their build quality.. I've spent a good chunk of cash buying a brand new Swift Caravan in 2021, and still having build quality issues.
No surprise. We bought new Elldis caravan in April 2022 and it was a ‘pile of poo’ we rejected it to dealer who also rejected it to Elldis and it was collected by Elldis with a full refund! Build quality was terrible and over the first months use the faults just piled up so we bounced it back! The Elldis driver who collected it had worked for them for 29 years and currently spends all his time returning faulty vans🤷♂️
Elddis we’re always going to fail first because their build quality is so poor.
To illustrate this I can tell you my first caravan was a brand new Elddis 304 about 5 years ago.
Never ever again would I buy another Elddis - it’s literally fell apart around us and the support was non existent.
How can you realistically “support” an item that is rubbish.
People simply don’t want crap and you not having Elddis stock confirms and illustrates just that - people don’t want them and they fall apart far too quickly to age and enter the second hand market.
I’d rather not have a caravan than have an Elddis tbh
I was in the used car trade and yes for a while cars were very expensive but it was not the dealer being greedy we were paying film star money for stock and having to put smaller margins in it to move stuff, everyone thinks it’s easy and you’re overcharging customers but the overheads are colossal, when I retired last year we were working with the same margins we were twenty years ago. I think I got out at the right time !
Glad i traded my Elddis when I did. Horrendous damp issues noted at the first service took nearly twelve months to sort.
My advice to anyone buying a new caravan is to go to the caravan show in Dusseldorf, and buy a European manufacturers caravan. Far superior to British caravans and cost less. And they manufacture caravans for the British market with guarentees. That's why a lot of travellers buy European caravans as they live in them permanently and must be reliable.
Anyone importing any products from Europe since Brexit needs to check and comply with regulations for VAT etc. it isn't as simple now as it was in the past.
I reckon there's a glut of caravans and motorhomes from 2020 new build thats got lots of issues on the market. Im talking all manufacturers. They couldn't knock them up fast enough to cash in. Id stick to buying a pre 2019 models of anything caravans or motorhomes
100% agree
2019/20 was the last really good build year before the greed took over
Unfortunately, there is a huge difference in build quality between my current Eriba Nova Light 465 caravan and the examples of Elddis, Swift and Bailey caravans I've seen on dealer forecourts.
I'm just talking about what you can see through careful visual inspection of the interior fittings, especially on the used examples. Overall, they are just not built to last well. The damp issues which seem all too common in these brands are another major issue. The sad thing is that is needn't be this way! We previously owned a little 2010 Elddis eXplore 304, and all was well. No issues at all. Erwin Hymer Group should consider intervening directly in the production management of Elddis products.
Trouble is over last few years Elddis have had poor build quality and always felt like a budget product but the price no longer reflects that, they are now as expensive as better quality makes.
The bubble has definitely burst in this industry. Not many people can afford £30k plus for a caravan and double that for a motorhome. What's worse is the APR for finance. Borrow say £25k over 10 years and you're not far off paying double back.
Pitch fees are now a joke. Some are charging £400 a week for a serviced pitch. You can get a cheap self catering holiday abroad for 2 for that price. We are looking to sell our 2014 Bailey Alutech but have discovered a lot of damp in the corner inside the wardrobe. Apparently Bailey are notorious for that issue, especially in the corners we've read. That's going to knock a lot off the selling price although I am trying to sort it myself.
They should have improved the quality of their new caravans
Is this new news? I thought I saw Erwin Hymer Group announcing this in Feb and consultation with employees would be taking place in March. So why is this only being reported now? Or is this on top of the 190 Elddis jobs to go announced in Feb?
Caravan makers should make a re-start, and re-think the caravan. Start at the basis, a good shell, no damp issues, and then have a good think: do we really need all those bells and whistles, or would people be more interested in a simple back-to-basics caravan for less than 20K, and offer optional extras? Does a caravan really need a 3-burner cooker, oven, microwave and grill….???
Why not make a basic caravan, bed, seating area, fridge and basic cooker, and leave it to the owners to upgrade it? There is definitely a market and a trend for “back-to-basics”, sadly Not followed by manufacturers.
Ive had a burstner and two adrias. No problems whatsoever and the burstner was 21 years old when I sold it and still perfect and no leaks or damp. My first van was a used bailey which was full of rot and lasted 3 months. Tried a brand new swift in 2021 but poor quality and sold it to a dealer after a few months. Will never buy a British caravan ever again
Prices are to high, site prices are to high, hundreds of secondhand caravan's, expensive to tow,
In my opinion, Elddis shot themselves in foot when they started installing Whale equipment to their vans. Anyone that's had Whale never goes bbc back to Whale.
No sympathy for Elddis! Their constant poor quality and lack of innovation was the reason I traded our (what was then) new van within 2 years, because it was more leaky that an Otters pocket!
We have a good dealer who did all the repairs, but the van spent way too much time with him getting sorted. Not that it was the dealers fault they had work approved and unfortunately found further issues,which required further approval.
That dealer also deals with Swift, and our Swift has been fantastic, for 3 years now all it's needed is regular habitation servicing and a couple of cupboard door adjustments.
Hopefully my word of mouth experience with Elddis has helped them get what they deserve. I spoke to a guy in Spain this winter who also had an Elddis, one of the 8' wide ones, cost him 6k to get the sagging roof fixed, as Elddis denied the claim, doubt his CC case will yield payment.
I'm surprised Swift aren't in a similar situation I bought a new Quattro last year and I've never experienced such appalling build quality. Their customer service is next to none.
My experience with a Swift van is exactly the opposite, very well made even after 20 weeks of holidays. Alko Hitch broke, they came out and replaced it.
The greed of caravan parks & dealers..killing the leisure industry
Had 3 motorhomes , 2 brand new and a new caravan during a 15 year period. Sold up just before covid. And the reason ? All units suffered damp as well as numerous other defects. One new motorhome had to have 2 new side panels fitted due to catastrophic damp. That whole process took almost 12 months due to the battle you have with .manufacturers trying to get them to admit liability. One major uk manufacturer made me sign a gagging order before they agreed to rectify damp due to a design fault that the said didn't exist. The industry is not regulated like the car industry. Oh...and try getting a main dealer to do warranty work on a unit they did not supply. Very few want to know. After 15 years and an expenditure of 95k , I walked away with 7k. Now the vans cost even more.....but the quality is just as bad. The general industry is rotten. But that's just my opinion. If your thinking of touring for the first time I suggest speaking to as many owners as possible first. The sites jumped on the price increase band wagon too. Some of the bigger sites in Devon and Cornwall are asking £60+ per night even when the children are still at school. Take into account insurance and fuel and the cost of your holidays is not cheap anymore. We now hire statics. Less stress and hassle. The cost looks more but when you break it down over the year your no worse off.
IF you could live with the 6ft width, you're literally better off now buying something like a debon box trailer and taking it to a campervan builder to kit out or DIY it. These overpriced rotboxes are a joke imo.
Well my 2006 Elddis Motorhome 's doing fine, thanks very much. Yep it needs ' adjustments' now and again but don't we all.
Your videos are great & give valuable insight. I have heard so many people say that they will never buy another Elddis due to the number of faults they've experienced & the lack of concern by elddis in fixing them.
Thanks Liz 👍
You caravans look very clean 👍🏻 credit to you. Any ideas about keeping moss build up on my hymer. 320 gt. on roof. Not damp issue on there’s. Solid built. Mines an 2008. French built.
Our 2008 Elddis is built like a tank but being in many Facebook groups I wouldn’t buy a new van even if they still had a layout that worked for us like our van does.. not to mention that with our energy bill at near 400 a month how can I justify 40k just to have a newer van when this one is ours outright and I know all its little quirks?
Elddis have major quality issues I my self would never buy one again had 2 buccaneer both had really bad faults and as to the jobs going most of them are temps so they get laid off so easy for them to do
Elddis introduced their SoLiD construction methods as did bailey with the their alutech and so on. This was the biggest con ever. These were not tried and tested methods and simply have never solved water ingress problems especially Elddis, who have had major issues including large heki roof lights where the outer plastic frames cracked thus water poured in. I've said for a while now a major manufacturer will go bang and they'll only have themselves to blame for their sheer greed and shoddy build quality.
I have to say that the prices are ridicules i renovate houses for a living and i can buy them cheaper than the price of a motorhome now you have to ask how can that be the case as soon as you type in caravan the price doubles
Manufacturers need to build good quality but basic caravans.
There is way too much delicate complicated systems on the modern vans.
Anything thats a step up from a tent is a win.
it’s the the same with everything you buy you get what you paid for,anyone heard of a Vanroyce leaking
Poor quality = poor management, their warranty costs must be astronomical. I think Hymer will sell their own brand through agents and the Elddis name will disappear in the next 12 months or so
What a lot of rubbish of course both manufacturers and dealers were were making more money. Build quality has been poor for years in both caravans and motorhomes, many returning for repairs within first weeks of purchase, that's if you can get booked in for the repair. It could be said dealer's knew they were selling new vans with poor build quality that would result in faults soon after purchase and were, and continue to be content in doing so. We the customers were to be taken for granted, if not for fools. I have no sympathy in the plight, which is off their own making.
I have a 33year old Elddis Voyager motorhome Which I have owned for 13years and touch wood it has bean very good and cost me very little, I owned a swift Kontiki before that and had a lot of water leeks so I can only speak as I find.
Last year I was offered £8k by a dealer for my 2011 sterling elite explorer, immaculate, with awnings, motor mover, everything..the same models were selling for £14k and more.. Dealers are robbers in suits. Try and buy private if you can.
I shall go abroad. A friend who sold his caravan to a dealer was told it had damp issues and was paid 4k for it, within a few days the caravan had been sold for 8k. How were these issues dealt with so quickly or was he just robbed?
Can't speak for all but most dealers will put the van on display and the damp is dealt with before the customer collects so yeah it might sell in 3 days but won't be gping out for a month.
Standard practice, if all vans had to wait for a damp repair before gping on the pitch you'd have hundreds lying around off sale
Greed comes back and bits your butt, serves them right.😂
One thing I notice is the amount of Static caravans parks now have for sale, a lot of people bought a static during the Convids and had a year or two in it, now the next lot of site fee bills have landed on the doormat there giving them up as they can go to benny again.
Good informative video. Customers will always vote with their feet if there are too many issues with one particular manufacturer e.g elddis. This then provides opportunities for others to step up with a "reliable, no bling, totally water-tight" useful van with a warranty that is not misrepresented. Elddis has lost it's way.
I agree with all the above comments the uk caravan manufacturers are churning out poor quality caravans I purchased a2020 swift sprite major 18 .months ago and to be honest it is not fit to wear the sprite badge poor quality and shoddy dealers have spoilt the experience for me experience experience
Over the next 20 years or so more caravan and motor home manufacturers will be doing the same. People simply won’t have the size of pension pots or disposable income in the future to use to purchase luxuries like new motor homes and caravans. Unless manufacturers and dealers offer better methods of financing, such as PCP they are going to find it difficult.
In this day & age people don't want sale's men breathing down their necks , I surtanly don't , if I want assistance I'll go & ask.
On the subject of quality our last two vans have been great no damp & we had that van for 13 years & when we traded it in the salesman could not find any damp ,
All booms are always followed by a bust. The sad truth has always been the leanest and strongest survive.
I have been caravaning since 1982 and my latest caravan and the first of the brand is a Elddis Chatsworth 550. It was purchased brand new in 2016 and the build quality is rubbish, I have had numerous leaks a cracked rear panel in the second year and all Elddis say it is not covered by the warranty even though they supplied the caps for the back panel but I had to pay for the labour. I would not buy another Elddis caravan even if they reduced their prices with a huge discount, In my opinion it is a rubbish brand
I bought a brand new Explore 402 after 3 yrs the rear panels started to crack Eldiss didn't want to know consequently I got rid I wouldn't have a Explore given me
How did caravan prices go up to 40 thousand , it's ridiculous money, they should come back down to average 25 thousand for the same model, we want a new one but I'm not paying 30/ 40 thousand for one.
They have gone mad, but some great discounts on new at the moment 👍
Bit like when we brought our new Fleetwood in 2008 there big partnership company Adria pulled the plug & Fleetwood went bust ! Resulting in us having to purchase a new warranty 😢
The normal customer could see this coming over priced and abysmal build Quality from manufacturers and dealers.my motor home was off the road last year for nearly two months,passed from pillar to post nobody taking responsibility and then you endup feeling guilty and embarrassed you’ve bought this it was a happy dream and the stress is terrible.The main clubs say nothing who pays for most advertising ?what was a reasonably priced past time is now expensive 😊 moan over
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