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Subject Topic: Best caravan manufacturer and why?
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09/10/2015 at 8:25am
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Quote: Originally posted by Opensauce on 09/10/2015
The point being is that Hymer do produce reasonably priced ranges of caravans so why do they not sell seriously into the UK market? Why have they not years ago set up a nationwide dealer network & produced UK spec caravans because clearly they can produce competitively priced caravans & why have not other Germans brands done the same if their product is definitely superior as some point out?

All these threads just come back to the usual conclusion that only a tiny amount of caravans wherever they are made are faulty enough for the owners to complain on forums.



One of the main reasons was the fluctuating €/£ rate. For a time three or four years ago, Lowdhams actually stopped stocking and selling Hymer vans because the exchange rate and therefore the price they paid Hymer, made them simply too expensive for the British public.

As for "UK spec", I think you will find they do alter the spec for the UK, with bigger ovens, roof windows and doors on the "UK side"



09/10/2015 at 8:39am
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They do not now produce lefthand door caravans. You can find lefthand door German caravans going back to the 80s, Hobby, Burstner, Tabbert as well as Hymer have all at one time or another produced UK specific caravans, but have never made any serious attempt to enter UK market.

Its nothing to do with exchange rate, huge amounts of €land product is sold in the UK & the UK is seem as an important market. The UK is certainly one of the largest markets for touring caravans so it remains a mystery while German brands have not seriously tried to penetrate it.


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09/10/2015 at 9:39am
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Susa the links i posted are only the first ones i came across there was to many to scroll through to be checking on the dates
if you want to pick on dates go on the web sites and waste some of your own time.
i asure you there are so many you wont bother
Why do so many people think that british built is not that good
if you lived in places like germany you would be thinking and saying german is not so good, and so on for each other country.
proof is in their forum sites, they make just as many complaints as any other country does
but if knocking British is your bag then thats your choise, but i would suggest we should be knocking ALL caravan makers to get them to improve
If anyone wants to try other european caravan forums its easy using Google translate

Post last edited on 09/10/2015 09:45:09

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alpiner


09/10/2015 at 9:48am
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One can find caravan forums from most European countries. Use chrome browswer with built in translate & one can see that while the languages are different, the questions & problems remain broadly the same.


09/10/2015 at 11:13am
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Quote: Originally posted by Opensauce on 09/10/2015
They do not now produce lefthand door caravans. You can find lefthand door German caravans going back to the 80s, Hobby, Burstner, Tabbert as well as Hymer have all at one time or another produced UK specific caravans, but have never made any serious attempt to enter UK market.

Its nothing to do with exchange rate, huge amounts of €land product is sold in the UK & the UK is seem as an important market. The UK is certainly one of the largest markets for touring caravans so it remains a mystery while German brands have not seriously tried to penetrate it.



If you search back through previous posts over many years relating to "German Vans" you will find that there were three main complaints.
1. The fact the door was on "the wrong side"
2. The weight, meaning it couldn't be pulled by a normal   family car
3. The price.




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09/10/2015 at 7:06pm
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hi susa go on the german forum not only three but 23 complaints your looking through rose tinted glasses british is best bmw mercs audi v.w rust buckets cheers .tom


09/10/2015 at 7:23pm
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We have already established that German 'vans come in all sizes, all prices right down to fairly cheap & door side don't really matter. Perhaps you are unaware that apart from Hymer/Eriba Nova other makes/models of German caravans are available?

As pointed out, for faults on German caravans, see German forums. Due to German makes failing to market their 'vans here not many caravanners here actually own one, hence lack of complaints.


09/10/2015 at 9:43pm
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probably the best design of caravan from a water tightness point of view is Polish, the Freedom caravans are a one piece GRP moulding. Essentially an upside down boat, no water is going to get through that


10/10/2015 at 9:40am
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We have had two Hymer caravans over a period of ten years.

The first one was a 2001 swing the entry level one. It didn't have automatic ignition on the gas fire, fridge or hob. It did have shock absorbers, sinks that both drained and had traps. All of the electrical cabling is run neatly in conduit, not randomly across bed lockers like some British vans I have seen    Parts when when needed were available within a few weeks maximum. This included things like a door because of a break in and a new cushion cover when it was about 6 years old. This fabric was only used in 2001 Goodluck getting matching fabric for a 6 year old British van

Second van a 2007 Nova left hand door Hymer no longer make LH door dells no loss in my opinion. Fittings as above apart from all automatic ignition for the gas appliances. Did you know that Truma make a 5kw version of their fire never seen one fitted in a British van. About 4ft of heater ducting runs outside obviously heavily insulated. I personally don't think that the second van is as well built as the original one but still the quality of fit and finish is better than my friends van master.

Why did we buy a German van because when we looked arround at dealers we decided that the build quality a British vans was simply appalling both in terms of design and application. But everyone should make their own minds up.



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