Quote: Originally posted by junezhubby on 20/6/2006
Don't get too hung up on people having problems with a particular make of caravan-if you look around someone will have had a problem with them all. Over on practical caravan's forum a few people are reporting the wheel wearing through the wheel arch on some Lunar & Bailey models !! We have had a Dart for 9 months now so it's probably not had time to develop any faults but we are pleased with it it's comfortable, tows fine & is light for it's size.A lot of the small faults probably come down to the dealer not picking them up on the PDI & the big faults probably are down to Generic parts used by all manufacturers. After all- they all use 1 of 2 chassis manufacturers, the floors are just a few bits of plywood & insulation glued together & I would imagine they get the outer skins cobbled together by some plastics firm & nail all the bits together & flog them off to us mugs!! Like I say you will get some one who has a bad experience with a certain caravan & others who don't- (I might be on here myself upset about "The Dartful Dodger" leaking or whatever in a few months, hope that's not tempting fate). So-although it's good to be informed, don't buy a caravan you don't like just because someone got a bad one of the model you do like. After all you should hopefully be spending along time in him once you've got him...
See you all soon Bernard.
P.S. we have only had him 9 months but we used him all winter & had no probs-probably spent around 40-45 nights in him so far & towed him around 4000 miles so that should show any teething troubles up.
Nice objective response Bernard and happy days with the Dart, we had the 556 until it was nicked off the drive, just after its 1st service.
The problems with the Avondales are real, in significant numbers and should be looked out for when purchasing either a new or 2nd hand van. I'm sure there are faults with all other makes of van and hopefully these will be highlighted on the various related websites, so at the very least people are made aware.
After experiencing a cracked rear panel on the Dart, cured by the theft of the van may I add, we bought an Argente and guess what.....................it goes to the dealers next Monday for a replacement front panel.
I'm sure it will be the same plastics firm that produces the panels for most vans but the problem with the Avondales is with the fitting of the panel and not the panel itself. Bad workmanship I'm afraid.
That said, it's a great van to have in all other respects and the few additional minor problems we had were sorted at the time of the 1st service, they were things we could and did live with for 12 months and definitely didn't warrant the return trip to the dealers to have them sorted any sooner.
For info, our dealer has stopped selling Avondales due to the problems they have had over the past few years but continues to service them for his existing customers. Read into that what you will. In my view the dealer has made all the difference in our experience of Avondale and because of this I wouldn't dismiss the possibility of buying another, even after the problems we have had.
You can either get on with your caravan travels and have any problems sorted at the time of most convenience to yourself or you can get yourself really stressed by a problem and let it ruin your holidays for weeks or even months on end. We never let problems ruin our outings, there's always a quick fix and if all else fails......do without for a while.
Mick
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Topic: Avondale Dart
