I read earlier about about one member who had major problems associated with a Buccaneer Schooner. I bought a Buccanner Corsair in Feb 2012 and the fixed window in the door blew away during travel last August. Manufacturers have denied responsibility as out of warranty. Insurers claim this is delamination and don't want to know. The repair bill for a whole new door is £1400 which I as a pensioner don't feel I should have to pay. Has anyone else had similar problems.
In 40 years of caravanning I have never met anything like this before and would the outcome would certainly help me in any future decision about buying a replacement manufactured by Elddis.
Do you mean the whole window blew out or just the outer lamination blew off? Are you sure the window was not hit by debris, while passing a truck for example? Why was the repair bill so high? New window that small size can't be more than a couple of £100s & an hours labour to fit surely?
Your insurance will only pay out for accident damage not mechanical failure as you say this was, bit late now but I suppose you could have could have claimed it was hit by a flying object, or did you do that?
If out of warranty then no claim there so your only avenue of redress would be to sue Elddis for 'not fit for purpose' which has no actual time limit but no guarantee of success obviously unless you can prove it was not accident damage & for the sum involved there seems little point paying for litigation.
Obviously if you can find other owners with same problem then you may have a case.
The whole window blew out. I arrived on site to an empty space where the window used to be. There was no evidence of anything having hit the window or side of the caravan en route. No attempt was made claiming damage by a flying object.
The quote for the repair is high because the minimum that can be replaced is at least the upper half of the door and no guarantee can be given on colour matching this with the lower part of the door. On a fairly new van at the upper end of the market, occupied by two pensioners the effect on my wife and I has been quite deporessng and all the more so as we have owned a number of Swift caravans over a 30 year period and only recently treated ourselves to this higher specced Buccaneer model. Also there are no moving parts associated with the window.
Another similar situation was recorded on UKcampsite from an owner of a Buccaneer bought from Glossop but that was in 2013, their van was still under warranty and repaired as such. Our caravan was 31/2 years old.
I would be pleased to hear of any other similar situations to support my idea that the part in question was not fit for purpose.
With regards to colour matching of upper and lower doors not being guaranteed, do they guarantee a colour match to rest of caravan if both parts of door are replaced?
Ref: Colour -
Sadly I don't think anyone will give a colour match worth talking about.
Secondly, Elddis will only supply the whole door or 1/2 door as a unit and not the window alone. I think the window is glued in - hence the insurers claiming delamination, which they won't cover despite a hefty insurance premium for this rather expensive vehicle. All rather bizarre? I think so too. I am going to get another opinion next week for another assessment of the situation.