MOTOR CARAVAN Q&R SURVEY SPECIAL - Caravan and …

SPECIAL MOTOR CARAVAN Q&R SURVEY

Motor caravans on trial

THE SECOND INSTALMENT OF FINDINGS FROM OUR LATEST SURVEY OF PRODUCT QUALITY IN MOTOR CARAVANS

ABOVE: The Explorer Group ? of which the Elddis Autoquest 120 is one of many models available ? saw a big improvement in rainwater ingress problems since our last survey in 2002

I N THE July Magazine we looked at survey methodology and the overall satisfaction rating of the models included in our statistics. Here we will look in more detail at the various factors that made up the experiences of our owners ? good or bad ? based on vehicles purchased new and used, unless otherwise stated.

Firstly, what is most likely to affect an owner's viewpoint of their motor caravan? Condition on delivery (for new models) and long-term quality and reliability in use dominates their priorities, which is perhaps not surprising. So what might disappoint?

Not getting your brand new motor caravan when you expect it is one problem, with faults delaying delivery in nearly 140 instances, representing 19% of the total. Faults on delivery were fairly evenly spread across the range of possibilities, with 8% reporting rainwater ingress, 15% reporting damage to

bodywork, 22% interior damage and 12% water/waste leaks. In all, 45% of motor caravans purchased new had some type of delivery fault; 44% in 2002.

Now we know motor caravan purchases are a bit seasonal, with our survey showing the peak buying months to be March and September, although April, May, June and August see quite a bit of activity. So, are dealers under more pressure at these peak times and less likely to do a thorough pre-delivery inspection? Well, yes and no. There is an indication that buying during the quieter months may present fewer delivery problems, but you wouldn't want to lay odds on it. But clearly this is a very obvious area where the industry can make improvements and increase customers' overall satisfaction with their purchase.

Once motor caravan and owner have got to know each other, then it is long-

term quality and reliability that starts to matter. Unfortunately 27% of respondents experienced long-term serious faults, failures or premature wear, which was slightly up on 2002, although in fairness, the problems did not appear to be as serious. The majority were with the cab, chassis and running gear, followed in equal measure by the body structure and electrical or gas equipment.

The 8% that showed some sign of water ingress on delivery increased to 20% over long-term use, with the worst offender being Elnagh, followed by Bilbo's; although it has to be said the samples were small in both cases. This problem was fairly widespread, but Adria, Eura Mobil and Knaus can take pride in having no leaky bits.

As in 2002, the main area for letting the wet in was around the windows, followed by the rooflight, with van conversions

68 THE CARAVAN CLUB MAGAZINE

being a little more prone than coachbuilt and A-class models. However, the small piece of good news is that this long-term problem had decreased a little since 2002, and the very good news for the Explorer Group is that it had reduced incidences of rainwater ingress in its models from a poor 29% in our 2002 survey, to 13% for 2008. Manufacturers should not rest on their laurels though, as this is another critical factor influencing overall customer satisfaction.

We assessed which aspects of their new motor caravan were most important to our members in relation to the overall satisfaction rating, and the top-20 priorities all concerned the `caravan' part, both interior and exterior, on delivery and in long-term use. Perhaps just as well, as we were a little surprised that faults with the base vehicles had shown no real improvement over the previous survey, and contributed to 40% of the long-term problems, whereas faults with the caravan part, although no less frequent, did appear to be less serious, with fewer respondents reporting loss of use. One bugbear is that faults were not always fixed first time, and this was slightly more of a problem than in our 2002 report.

The fact that respondents reserve their lowest satisfaction ratings for dealer maintenance (base vehicle dealer and the motor caravan dealer) illustrates plenty of room for improvement. Hopefully manufacturers will study our full report and find ways to eliminate at least some of these problem areas. Dealers might also like to take note, as there was a huge difference between the satisfaction ratings of our bestperforming dealer, Todds in Lancashire ? a thigh-slapping 93.8 points out of 100 ? and our worst ? a face-slapping 55.7. (The latter dealer is unnamed here for the reason that there are many small ones that could be worse still among the `Others' category in this survey).

There is a significant difference between the good and bad ratings for aftersales service across the brand names, with Murvi and Devon consistently doing well across all six areas ? from how staff interact with customers, to availability of spare parts ? while the big groups like SEA and Trigano fall behind. I guess it's easier to keep in control when there are limited outlets to monitor.

The subject of the motor caravan in use is a tricky area to sort out, with brands that excel in one area often falling behind in another. Adria appears to be reliable and frugal, whereas Bilbo's excels at ride, handling, manoeuvrability and noise levels. Hymers are reliable and have a nice seating area, likewise IH Motor Campers. Murvis are reliable and offer good ride and handling.

Some models don't seem to excel in any particular area, but the thing is, while all this is important, it isn't as important to the purchaser of a new motor caravan than it being pristine, leak free and ready to go on holiday. Buyers of used motor caravans

are more critical of these factors, but then I imagine this might be the same with car purchases. If you're buying new, you want to admire its gleaming paintwork, stroke its untouched upholstery, marvel at the sparkly engine and delight at being the first to put any miles on the clock. If buying used, you want to take it for a test run, try out the acceleration, seek out the cornering limits and fiddle with everything going to make sure it works. Or is that just me?

So, is there a way to ensure a motor caravan buying experience is a joyous one? One thing we noticed with the overall satisfaction ratings was that purchasers of used motor caravans were happier than purchasers of new motor caravans. This could be down to a difference in expectations, as surely one of the reasons for buying new is to avoid potential niggles and the odd dent or scratch that are almost inevitable in a used model. But eliminating the condition-on-delivery rating for used models probably helped, and also consider that perhaps some of the faults have already been ironed out in a used model and so it actually offers less aggravation to the buyer.

Buying from a small British manufacturer might be worth considering, if it offers the type of model you seek, and asking around to find out which dealers offer good service could be worthwhile, although your location might narrow the field a bit. But let's be fair, the vast majority of motor caravan owners are pretty happy with their lot, and most manufacturers are turning out some cracking models. If only they could have a word with the base vehicle manufacturers about long-term reliability ? oh, and speak sternly to a few of their dealers about PDIs and aftersales service ? and perhaps have a word with quality control. Did I mention those leaking windows...? I

ABOVE: According to Hymer owners who responded to our survey, the German models are reliable and `have nice seating areas' ? the B508 CL A-class is shown BELOW: Adria motor caravans ? this is the Twin ? had `no leaky bits' according to owners

AUGUST 2008 THE CARAVAN CLUB MAGAZINE 69

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