Hi sorry to hear about the probs you have had and for some of the negative feedback from fellow caravanners on here,if they had found damp or any other faults in a new van i wonder what they would have done, we found damp in our 3 year old van last Sept but unlike you had the ok from swift for repairs to be done within 10 days this was due to the help of a local dealer who by the way did not sell us the van they were GREAT hope all goes well.
'25 caravans produced on 1 production line in 1 day here for example. With the speed they are put together it is not suprising that occasionally gaps get left in the sealant or seals are not seated correctly. Mass production techniques in the caravan industry still rely an awful lot on individual workers not making simple errors that can cause so much grief to the end user.'
In the modern car industry there are numerous QA methods used to try to make sure simple errors aren't made. I find it hard to believe that any modern industry doesn't adopt the QA tools necessary. Perhaps the production managers in the caravan industry have more clout than the QA departments instead of both working together as a team.
When we received our van there were a number of checklists that had been ticked and signed. Are these people that have signed the checklists not held accountable?
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Whether they are held accountable or not dosen't help the owner left without his caravan for weeks/months for a problem that could probably fixed in half a day. Just by looking at that & other youtube vids of caravan assembly one can see the speed at which the operatives are working on piece rates in that case. They are using sealant guns & pushing seals in place & do not appear to have time to double check their work. Nobody can be expected to get it right all time & mistakes are bound to occur.
I'm sure the vast majority of caravans are ok & stay that way for their lifespan but if the manufacturers are going to rely on a long water ingress warranty as a form of after the event quality control then best they improve their aftersales service.
It is fair to say that most threads on here about warranty issues with caravans complain more about the time taken to rectify the problem than the problem itself.
'Whether they are held accountable or not dosen't help the owner left without his caravan for weeks/months for a problem that could probably fixed in half a day.'
By making people accountable and implementing proper QA methods the problems never happen and so nobody has to be left without their product for weeks.
The japanese have never had the british attitude - problems are bound to happen. They take measures to ensure that problems are unlikely to happen and if they do happen they work out why they have happened and look into design and production methods to stop them happening again.
Its called continuous improvement. The caravan industry seems to be preoccupied with new models or features every year.
Well I have had 6 new vans now and all have had damp in them with in 2 years.
The last one was a swift, they had it back 3 time and on the 4 I gave them the keys back went to the finance company and got all my money back including the interest then bought a German van had that for 5 years and have just bought a Hymer . I never think about damp now love the van.
I wish you good luck with your van, but remember if it goes wrong again give it back to them.
Got a 2012 Challenger 530 and have off the scale damp all across the front of van.Found out on first service. Bloody gutted. Dealer in touch with Swift but poss not get in for repair until January at the earliest. Swift and dealer in talks about who should do repair. Have emailed swift direct and had standard apology with blowing up there own backsides how good they are and that as they are hand built some people will have issues.If hand built there should be no issues unless hand built by monkeys.Our first holiday was ruined at Easter as the electrics to water pump failed, Toilet pump failed,Fridge completely packed up,Lid to cooker fell off in transit.Damp in Caravans should be a thing off the past. this is 2013 not 1913. Wish I kept my 10 year old AVONDALE
Sorry to hear of your problems, I would not want to be without my van for more that 3 weeks never mind the time you are having to wait, But, just wanted to let you know that we have a swift charisma 2009 model and on year 3 service in 2012 damp was found in the corner of the bathroom, Dickinsons in Bradford took it in 2 weeks later for 1 week and the repair was done by Swift. just had this years service and no damp found, (big sigh of relief)
We have just found this site! We have had the same problems with our Challenger 530 2011. When it eventually came back from Hull having had windows replaced the whole front end rebuilt etc it was in a disgraceful condition. It was covered inside and out with smears of mastic, even the loo filler was stuck down! The carpet had not been protected and was dirty and there were splinters of wood and screws everywhere. The cupboards in the kitchen had been swinging in transit and would not close and the electrics did not work. We refused to accept it and the dealership had to make it usable. Another 3 weeks off the road. Now the microwave won't work. SWIFT say it is out of warrantee. It has nothing to do with warrantee. It worked when it left us and now it does not. It is 4 weeks since we reported it and still no resolution. Going to take matters further. Will NEVER buy another Swift. Met a Dealer in Dorset who was so fed up with their service they have changed brands.Very disillusioned
The 2011 vans are well known for damp problems (see SwifTalk) just type in damp 2011
However our 2010 4 out of 9 windows leaked But the rest has been ok
Have you checked the plugs in on the microwave?
Ours is due to go back later this year for a similar problem, I have been assured on Swift Talk it will be a first class repair but have been advised to take out the carpets.
Still not happy though, nine weeks off the road and having to empty it out