Quality Built Motorhomes??

Nabsim said:
The vast majority of motorhomes are mass produced on production lines. You don’t need to turn out one every few seconds or even one a day for them to qualify as mass produced.
There are pictures or videos on the net of most if not all the better known marques being built. Hymer as an example is very impressive to see, you wouldn’t think so many were being made.
Swift were turning out 15,000 units a year a good way back. Motorhomes and caravans are made in the same factory in a lot of places.
We may like to think we are buying a high quality hand built show piece but the reality for quite a few folks is very different. What is being sold is very often the best compromise the manufacturer can provide and maintain their profit margin at that time. They are designed with a life unlikely to equal one years full timing and having an easy life (obviously not counting adventure/expedition/overland in that).
Car production lines and mass production is better because they have better or more consistent quality control in my opinion.
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Sorry where did I say anything was produced in a few seconds.
And my Motorhome was put together between may 13 and may 21 When you add on how long it took Fiat to produce the chassis and engine, that’s not exactly mass production. Also after reading your post, why would anyone buy a Motorhome. It’s strange you say that Motorhomes are only built to last a years full timing when I have a 2 year fiat warranty, 5 year habitation warranty, and a ten year water ingress warranty. I have never thought my Motorhome was hand built, or high quality, but I reckon I will be selling it on in around ten years (if I am still here), and I am confident the new owner will have years of use from it.
 
trevskoda said:
Kit homes are the way to go,factory built,look up german hoof house,fact is vans a mainly bling built for those with rose tinted glasses and not ment to be practical or long lasting,fact that many do is because they site outside folks homes and only venture out for 2 weeks a year to a camp site.
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Looking round vans recently , trev looked at a few hobby’s and even with their reputation for quality it was easy to see the ones that had been truly used.
 
trevskoda said:
Kit homes are the way to go,factory built,look up german hoof house,fact is vans a mainly bling built for those with rose tinted glasses and not ment to be practical or long lasting,fact that many do is because they site outside folks homes and only venture out for 2 weeks a year to a camp site.
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Trev I sold a three year old van this year with over 16,000 miles on the clock and got 80% of the new price as a trade in. the dealer then sold it for 85% of the new price. Thats why we buy new, because the second hand prices for two and three year old vans are too high. My current van in 7 months has done 4800 miles. We are heading out this weekend and the weekend after that. Leaving a van parked up for months would probably do more damage than regular use. Why anyone would pay tens of thousands for a new van then leave it parked outside annoying the neighbours is beyond me.
 
It’s a funny market the motor trade in general, consider in real terms paying far more for some of the old version ,commer vw,ford Thames early Motorhomes than they cost new. The old vw,s are an extremely strong market and has been for years.
 
channa said:
It’s a funny market the motor trade in general, consider in real terms paying far more for some of the old version ,commer vw,ford Thames early Motorhomes than they cost new. The old vw,s are an extremely strong market and has been for years.
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Hi Andrew.
Andrew when we first started looking at motorhomes in 2015, we were amazed at the prices of two and three year old vans. We fancied a Chausson which new at the time sold for £45,000 a three year old one was selling for £39,950. We wanted a new mattress and that was £450. Ten year old vans can sell for 50% of new. I have never bought a new car, I buy pre registered and save thousands, but that option is not available for motorhomes. If you are fortunate enough to be able to buy new, I reckon its a better option than buying 2-3 old vans, thats just my opinion, and I know nothing about engines, gas appliances, and all the gadgets that are fitted in motorhomes, so older vans are not for us.
 
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Some manufacturers warranty will actually say what they consider to be fair/normal use. Not had a new van so can’t say which or if all do only from hearsay. I was told that one manufacture used 30 days as the figure and my admittedly suspect memory thinks this may have been Swift.
That’s where my figure of a year full time comes into the design life of the van.
 
And in 1984 Bill I was selling them new at £3412 otr inc 12 months tax for a main franchised dealer ...I think you have done well, had a touch as they say.and that was a car definitely not mass produced in the sense of robots etc ......old faithful reliabilius....intensive man hours involved produced in Paris by mainly Nigerian workers. I’m told the French workforce was too hard work no idea other than you needed special permission to enter the factory that part is true.
 
Nabsim said:
Some manufacturers warranty will actually say what they consider to be fair/normal use. Not had a new van so can’t say which or if all do only from hearsay. I was told that one manufacture used 30 days as the figure and my admittedly suspect memory thinks this may have been Swift.
That’s where my figure of a year full time comes into the design life of the van.
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no such limitations on our warranty, full time if you like
 
channa said:
Looking round vans recently , trev looked at a few hobby’s and even with their reputation for quality it was easy to see the ones that had been truly used.
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Three near me and only ever in years seen one away from house.
 
I know a chap who bought one as a surprise for wife,when he arrived home she went bonkers and it was sold a few weeks later at a great loss,some women must have a full dresser to sit for hrs putting on slap,wife worked with a girl who took 3 hrs in morning doing the fake tan,nails hair face paint etc,these type would never think in a million years of using a camper or caravan,hence many sold again after a short trial in summer.
 
Fisherman said:
What has that got to do with my post.
You stated that Motorhomes are mass produced, I stated they’re not.
That has nothing to do with statistics, positive thinking brigades, political folks, or anyone else. As for percentages, they were never mentioned.
It took roller team 7 days to build my Motorhome, and Fiat a day to assemble the engine and chassis. Toyota can assemble a car in hours.
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Your right about percentages not being mentioned, but expecting problems from 20,000 components sounds like percentages to me.
 
From personal experience, i Believe that Japanese campervans / motorhomes are equal to any German make. Its just a shame that they are not officially imported.(Mine is a personal import).
Having been working on my Vantech (JP) motorhome today - its as well put together as a Carlight caravan I had years ago (remember them?). I once had to remove some cupboards from a Swift -they were held together with staples!. Mine is built to endure rough tracks (4WD) and its incredibly solidly built.

A bit off radar - but anyone contemplating a new (smaller) motorhome or c/van would do well to consider a Japanese one....
 
Reading all these posts . My view.
I would expect a company like swift or auto trail who have been in business many years to produce a motorhome that is damn near perfect
Its not down to parts or things like fridges or cookers breaking, they can't even produce a watertight structure.
I had a 2014 bolero that never went anywhere without something breaking ,falling off,or leaking.
The way it was assembled was terrible ,the joints on the left, were all different to the right side.
How can anyone sell a product in such a state for 65k.
We ,me included ,seem to accept that this crap is satisfactory.
The lunar we owned we called "pond" for obvious reasons.
Is there ever going to be a quality British built motorhome?
 
tailgate said:
Reading all these posts . My view.
I would expect a company like swift or auto trail who have been in business many years to produce a motorhome that is damn near perfect
Its not down to parts or things like fridges or cookers breaking, they can't even produce a watertight structure.
I had a 2014 bolero that never went anywhere without something breaking ,falling off,or leaking.
The way it was assembled was terrible ,the joints on the left, were all different to the right side.
How can anyone sell a product in such a state for 65k.
We ,me included ,seem to accept that this crap is satisfactory.
The lunar we owned we called "pond" for obvious reasons.
Is there ever going to be a quality British built motorhome?
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Whilst accepting that some brands made in Britain have a poor reputation, there have been and still are some very good vans made here. In the past Autosleeper made some very nicely finished vans, many of which have stood the test of time. They still make some very nice vans. Autotrail also were high quality though you hear more reports of problems with later vans, I know many Bentley owners who are very happy with the quality of their vans, individually made by craftsmen an not on a huge production line. There are many smaller brands in Britain turning out quality vans, take IH and Moto trek as examples.
It seems fashionable to bash British vans, and some admittedly appear built down to a price, but this is true for vans from elsewhere to.
North American motorhomes generally seem very well made.
 
tailgate said:
Reading all these posts . My view.
I would expect a company like swift or auto trail who have been in business many years to produce a motorhome that is damn near perfect
Its not down to parts or things like fridges or cookers breaking, they can't even produce a watertight structure.
I had a 2014 bolero that never went anywhere without something breaking ,falling off,or leaking.
The way it was assembled was terrible ,the joints on the left, were all different to the right side.
How can anyone sell a product in such a state for 65k.
We ,me included ,seem to accept that this crap is satisfactory.
The lunar we owned we called "pond" for obvious reasons.
Is there ever going to be a quality British built motorhome?
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Unfortunately nobody likes a moaner,unless your shafting them.
 
***** said:
I think many people buy British vans because maybe they are ex caravaners and the British van names are known to them, and many Brits do use their vans more like caravaners do, going from camp site to camp site where as mainland Europeans go more off grid and use aires .
Lately I hear more and more water ingress problems with Autotrails and less about Swift, and to be honest, we do hear more problems with German vans than before
Even makes like IH which look premium have had problems with coach built models,( so some owners have said) but as not to many about, we don't hear very much. I know of two with owners reporting gas locker floors falling out.
None are perfect, but we do hear less problems from most European vans.
As I always say, owners want far too much in a 3500kg van, things that can be put in a caravan, just cant be put into a light weight M/H without something giving .
It is about time these manufactures started to think long term, build up a quality reputation, get repeat business, instead of going for the one time kill, getting a one time sale!
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I didn’t realise that IH did coach builds. Certainly look beautiful vans.
 
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