Discussion
smifffymoto said:
If I was in the market for a caravan I would import Fendt or Hobby from Germany or Holland.Build qaulity is better but a lot of Brits are put off by no oven and brainwashing on British layouts.
I hear you we have a German van at the moment for precisely that reason! Hence me asking about build quality!Less and less Bailey dealers put me off buying new from that brand.
Elddis have some absolute horror stories online.
Swift Sprite. No worries on our 2nd brand new one in 3 years and have been really pleased with them.
Sure the build quality is a little lacking in places, but they’re a lightweight van so it’s never going to feel high end.
Great layouts though, and unless your full timing in it, easy to see past it.
Elddis have some absolute horror stories online.
Swift Sprite. No worries on our 2nd brand new one in 3 years and have been really pleased with them.
Sure the build quality is a little lacking in places, but they’re a lightweight van so it’s never going to feel high end.
Great layouts though, and unless your full timing in it, easy to see past it.
Been out seriously looking at new vans this weekend and last.
Our conclusion right or wrong, is that the Bailey seem to have the best build of the UK makes. I liked the design and the layout of the Swift ( challenger in our case) but the two we looked at, both new, had a lot of visible faults.
The 8ft wide vans are brilliant inside, but although I don’t do much touring I’d be worried about getting down the back roads. Of the ones we looked again it was the Bailey we preferred.
Can’t comment on the Continental brands, as we never came across any. Adria do some good designs, but nothing that fitted our needs. I was also told, by an Adria dealer, they are nightmare to get spares for.
Our conclusion right or wrong, is that the Bailey seem to have the best build of the UK makes. I liked the design and the layout of the Swift ( challenger in our case) but the two we looked at, both new, had a lot of visible faults.
The 8ft wide vans are brilliant inside, but although I don’t do much touring I’d be worried about getting down the back roads. Of the ones we looked again it was the Bailey we preferred.
Can’t comment on the Continental brands, as we never came across any. Adria do some good designs, but nothing that fitted our needs. I was also told, by an Adria dealer, they are nightmare to get spares for.
Edited by velocemitch on Sunday 16th June 23:00
As you may imagine I've been crawling all over the above three vans, I even took notes on all the pros and cons 
For me just on kerb appeal and interior design it's:
Elddis
Sprite
Bailey
Interesting you thought the Bailey was superior. There were a few things that pulled it down for me:
-Ceiling trim not evenly fitted in the bunks and rear
-There's two seams in the roof which led to unsightly streaks down the side of the van.
Can forgive the above, just annoying. But:
-Rough finish to corner wood pieces in the kitchen.
-The worst one for me, the sink. I can't believe the crappy sinks all the Bailey's have. Just cheap stainless things with rough exposed screws sticking up. Really poor on a 25k van. I noticed also there's no pictures of the sink in the literature!
https://www.baileyofbristol.co.uk/caravans/pegasus...
Those two seeing as you spend a lot of time in the kitchen, I can't get past them.
For me just on kerb appeal and interior design it's:
Elddis
Sprite
Bailey
Interesting you thought the Bailey was superior. There were a few things that pulled it down for me:
-Ceiling trim not evenly fitted in the bunks and rear
-There's two seams in the roof which led to unsightly streaks down the side of the van.
Can forgive the above, just annoying. But:
-Rough finish to corner wood pieces in the kitchen.
-The worst one for me, the sink. I can't believe the crappy sinks all the Bailey's have. Just cheap stainless things with rough exposed screws sticking up. Really poor on a 25k van. I noticed also there's no pictures of the sink in the literature!
https://www.baileyofbristol.co.uk/caravans/pegasus...
Those two seeing as you spend a lot of time in the kitchen, I can't get past them.
Didn’t really notice the sink quality, the size and location, were more compelling for us. My wife is quite short ( most are!) and many of the kitchens are set too high for her.
Have to say though we found the general build quality on everything we looked at felt inferior to our 15 year old one. The equipment and layouts have improved, but not the quality of interior furnishings.
amongst the faults we saw on brand new ones, were edge trims peeling back from tables and door edges, locker doors not closing properly, shower doors off their rails. On one van ( a Lunar I think) the two sliding doors into the rear bedroom had warped so badly they were catching as they slid in and out.
The lower down the ranges, the worse it was. Probably as the material was slimmer and lighter.
Have to say though we found the general build quality on everything we looked at felt inferior to our 15 year old one. The equipment and layouts have improved, but not the quality of interior furnishings.
amongst the faults we saw on brand new ones, were edge trims peeling back from tables and door edges, locker doors not closing properly, shower doors off their rails. On one van ( a Lunar I think) the two sliding doors into the rear bedroom had warped so badly they were catching as they slid in and out.
The lower down the ranges, the worse it was. Probably as the material was slimmer and lighter.
Hi, we bought a Bailey Grande Palermo and took delivery in March. Since then it has been on a seasonal site and we spend most weekends and holidays in it.
As some people have already said, the quality is a bit lacking in areas, most obviously in the wood cabinetry which is quite lightweight compared to older caravans. This is probably to keep the MTPLM down to the 1692Kg when we purchased it though I am getting the upgrade plate to make it 1800Kg.
Overall we are happy with it, but there are a number of minor issues which we can live with until it returns to the dealer at the end of season (November) for storage, fixing and then servicing ready for next year.
The biggest issue is the bed runner for the front bed, the retaining straps have come off inside the cabinet so when pulling it out we have to do it slowly otherwise the slats get skewed and drop out of the runners. Other than that there are minor problems such as the bathroom mirror is blemished, the bathroom door handle feels like it is going to drop off, the wardrobe door lock takes a few pushes to latch and the seat base over the battery compartment is cracked. As someone above said, the kitchen sink has exposed screws, we noticed this but in the grand scheme of things decided we could live with that.
I think my biggest gripe with it is the size of the toilet cassette and flush tank, I have to empty the cassette every day and the flush tank only takes about 5 litres - this on a 6 berth. My mate on the next plot to us has a 1996 Elddis 2 berth and that has a huge toilet cassette he only has to empty every 3 days and a flush tank that was still not full after taking 10 litres.
We originally looked at the Elddis 866 and then decided to go for a Compass Cassita 866, however before going to buy we popped into a different dealer and saw the Palermo and that became our van of choice.
As some people have already said, the quality is a bit lacking in areas, most obviously in the wood cabinetry which is quite lightweight compared to older caravans. This is probably to keep the MTPLM down to the 1692Kg when we purchased it though I am getting the upgrade plate to make it 1800Kg.
Overall we are happy with it, but there are a number of minor issues which we can live with until it returns to the dealer at the end of season (November) for storage, fixing and then servicing ready for next year.
The biggest issue is the bed runner for the front bed, the retaining straps have come off inside the cabinet so when pulling it out we have to do it slowly otherwise the slats get skewed and drop out of the runners. Other than that there are minor problems such as the bathroom mirror is blemished, the bathroom door handle feels like it is going to drop off, the wardrobe door lock takes a few pushes to latch and the seat base over the battery compartment is cracked. As someone above said, the kitchen sink has exposed screws, we noticed this but in the grand scheme of things decided we could live with that.
I think my biggest gripe with it is the size of the toilet cassette and flush tank, I have to empty the cassette every day and the flush tank only takes about 5 litres - this on a 6 berth. My mate on the next plot to us has a 1996 Elddis 2 berth and that has a huge toilet cassette he only has to empty every 3 days and a flush tank that was still not full after taking 10 litres.
We originally looked at the Elddis 866 and then decided to go for a Compass Cassita 866, however before going to buy we popped into a different dealer and saw the Palermo and that became our van of choice.
The big vans were lovely, but we ended up with a decision too go for a Unicorn Cabrera, but not just yet. Need to sort a few other life issues first. Having made that decision on Saturday evening, what should arrive on site and pitch up next door on Sunday.... A brand new three day old Cabrera, bought from exactly the place we would probably buy from ourselves!. I’m sure there’s a subliminal message there!.
Interesting about the toilet cassette we get about four days out of ours, but there are just two of us and it’s strictly liquids only!..... sorry too much information!. It’s certainly one to check though. I’ve seen people carrying smaller ones about the site, but not thought much about it.
The bed slats seemed to jam and only came out half way when I checked that, I didn’t persevere in case I damaged them. But I wonder if it’s a common issue?
Interesting about the toilet cassette we get about four days out of ours, but there are just two of us and it’s strictly liquids only!..... sorry too much information!. It’s certainly one to check though. I’ve seen people carrying smaller ones about the site, but not thought much about it.
The bed slats seemed to jam and only came out half way when I checked that, I didn’t persevere in case I damaged them. But I wonder if it’s a common issue?
The toilet cassette we have is the C250, my mate has the C2 which looks about double the size of the C250. Our previous Bailey Ranger had the C200 and even that seemed to last us a couple of days.
Regarding the bed slats, yes we had/have exactly the same problem, if any of the slats are even slightly out of line they seem to catch on the lip of the wood panel underneath (the one with the blown air vents in them). The trick is to push the slats back a bit, put your hand underneath and lift the slats slightly while pulling it out with the other hand. Bit of a faff though, and one of the things the dealer is going to rectify when we take it back.
Regarding the bed slats, yes we had/have exactly the same problem, if any of the slats are even slightly out of line they seem to catch on the lip of the wood panel underneath (the one with the blown air vents in them). The trick is to push the slats back a bit, put your hand underneath and lift the slats slightly while pulling it out with the other hand. Bit of a faff though, and one of the things the dealer is going to rectify when we take it back.
Zoon said:
It's stories like this that reinforce my phobia of buying a caravan.
Most look like they were built for a school project.
As stated b another poster - take a look at the German stuff, it puts the shoddy, leak prone British stuff to shame. Sadly as expected.Most look like they were built for a school project.
My parents have a Fendt caravan and a Hobby motorhome and they are in another world.
Had a quick look on one German manufacturer just to see what sort of things they did. Way too heavy and way too expensive.
I get that the quality would have a weight penalty, yet when I look at the apparent good build quality of our 15 year old van, which is a similar size to what we would choose, yet weighs 150 kg less I do wonder where the weight has come from even on new UK vans.
I get that the quality would have a weight penalty, yet when I look at the apparent good build quality of our 15 year old van, which is a similar size to what we would choose, yet weighs 150 kg less I do wonder where the weight has come from even on new UK vans.
velocemitch said:
Had a quick look on one German manufacturer just to see what sort of things they did. Way too heavy and way too expensive.
I get that the quality would have a weight penalty, yet when I look at the apparent good build quality of our 15 year old van, which is a similar size to what we would choose, yet weighs 150 kg less I do wonder where the weight has come from even on new UK vans.
Depends on the length of your current van I guess?I get that the quality would have a weight penalty, yet when I look at the apparent good build quality of our 15 year old van, which is a similar size to what we would choose, yet weighs 150 kg less I do wonder where the weight has come from even on new UK vans.
Modern vans seem to be available much longer than previously, my current single axle is 7.54m, which takes more fittings to fill it, thus the weight saving needs to play out.
MattS5 said:
velocemitch said:
Had a quick look on one German manufacturer just to see what sort of things they did. Way too heavy and way too expensive.
I get that the quality would have a weight penalty, yet when I look at the apparent good build quality of our 15 year old van, which is a similar size to what we would choose, yet weighs 150 kg less I do wonder where the weight has come from even on new UK vans.
Depends on the length of your current van I guess?I get that the quality would have a weight penalty, yet when I look at the apparent good build quality of our 15 year old van, which is a similar size to what we would choose, yet weighs 150 kg less I do wonder where the weight has come from even on new UK vans.
Modern vans seem to be available much longer than previously, my current single axle is 7.54m, which takes more fittings to fill it, thus the weight saving needs to play out.
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