CRUSADER Vs NEW AGE

Just to add a bit more to this post from David. The avg. tare for the 20’ N A Semi off road van is near to 3000 kgs as can be. That is from the N A website. So by the time the OP. (Macca) puts full gas bottles aboard, fills the water tanks (I assume that a semi off-road van has them) puts foodstuffs in fridge and pantry, puts pots, pans and other kitchen stuff inside and then loads clothes etc, I am guessing that the N A20’ semi off-road now weighs close to or over 3500kgs - sorry but the Toyota 200 cannot legally tow the van. Food for thought.

Cheers

John and David
Agree your views on the Land Cruiser being limited with the GVM. It is reasonable to expect that the Toyota LC [King of the Jungle] should be able to accommodate 3,500kg Towing and 350kg Tow Ball mass, regrettably they come off the shop floor lacking. Happily the issue is simple to fix. Either a Lovells GVM Upgrade to 3850kg [as I have had on both my LC200s] or an OME/ARB similar upgrade. When that upgrade is in place - you will be $3000 plus out of pocket but you will have a very sure footed and capable tow vehicle. Food for thought for OP. Bob

If they do that, they'll never buy a caravan. I don't think there is any brand that doesn't get a poor review and unforetunately positive reviews are not encouraged. We had warranty problems with our van but rather than indulging in a self righteous facebook rant we dealt direct with the manufacturer and received excellent results.

Many people have had warranty issues Gerad and even with repeated requests for help they have been ignored or fobbed off by dealers. Its not only certain vans but most items purchased nowadays seem to have an issue of some sort. Self righteous facebook page is wrong. Wonder what you would have done if dealer told you to go elsewhere with your complaints? These sights have helped many people save money from an unscrupulous deal. Its just another tool to use in your quest for a reliable, quality unit.

Dealer? Never mentioned dealer. Manufacturer was awesome. We dealt directly with the manufacturers warranty division. Facebook won't fix anything, Lemon Vans FB page is a classic case of misery loves company. Lemon caravans won't help any rational buying decision.

The person who set up and runs the Lemon site has spent much time talking to the ACCC about van manufacturers attitudes and there seems to be some hope they're going to be forced to respect their warranty instead of using the dealers cry of "You've abused it" to stop people getting problems fixed.
Plus of course many people can't afford to pay a solicitor over 400 bucks an hour to write letters, endless letters to people who have no intention of carrying out their obligations.
Our own treatment at the hands of a Melbourne based maker and their WA dealer was disgusting and we'd bought 3 RVs off the dealer and 2 from the maker including the one we complained about.
We did get satisfaction but only after reluctant assistance from the bureaucrats at Consumer Affairs WA and then the small claims court.
We also had a suitably altered read wheel cover kindly provided by the dealer at time of purchase :), to say exactly what we thought. The dealers legal lot did send us a threatening letter about publishing untruths but as we told no lies we continued with it on the back of the van for 5 years or so until the big yellow letters I'd put on started to fall off. If you don't think bad workmanship and bad attitude from dealers/makers doesn't exist, you should have heard the amount of conversations we had with so many people in parks. BUT, virtually not one of them would take any action to help themselves.... which of course is why they believe they can do what they want.
By all means check out the lemon list on that site and also check repairers sites and read some of the horror stories.
Best of luck.
AlanH.

PS. The "you've abused it" rebuttal was what friends of ours got with their brand new straight out of the yard off road van after towing it all of 30 kays from yard to home when they found a wheel had nearly fallen off...

Further to my long winded bit above and to reply to the poster who said the lemon site didn't want good news about vans etc. That is not the purpose of that site, it is a support site for those who get the normal disgraceful attitude from many, not all, makers and dealers.
If you're having bad luck nothing is worse than some wanker crowing about his own wonderful treatment blah blah and how he never has a problem with anything.
We had the same attitude from fellow club members when we said about the probs. we'd had with the dealer about the biggest in WA. "We've never had a problem" they crowed..... then they found water damage from a leaking skylight.
Guess what. The dealer said it wasn't their problem! Off they went to the maker...same response "Not our problem, see the supplier". And they did with the same response.
They said "We'll sue you". Suppliers response to that was "Get in line, everyone says that"!
But their insurers said they'd cover the water damage which cost 6K to fix and recover the costs... I bet they didn't just accept any "We couldn't give a shit attitude" from either the maker or dealer. :)
Do not accept this attitude from dealers or makers. They are obliged under Australian Consumer Law to fix the thing. The caravan industry is worse than the car industry for fault fixing responses.
AlanH.

Great information Alan. I am not a facebook fan but I have followed some of the disgusting attitudes of dealers/manufacturers when it comes to some of their products and warranties. Some of the players out there are downright scumbags and others are brilliant. Any information that helps sort them out is welcome.

cheers

Correction to the above: the supplier I wrote of was the supplier of the sky light. Apparently many people have had problems with the incorrect silicone being used to seal these things on van assembly and is incompatible with some plastics.
Something to watch for..... among other things. :)
AlanH

Aluminium is great, until it is damaged by impact. Not easily repairable,

Hi Gustle,

Out of curiosity, which "second hand fit-for-purpose offroad van" did you purchase?

Macca (Different Macca from OP)

Hi Macca,

I purchased a 2010 second hand Sunland Blue Heeler with all the bells and whistles. At the time (2014) it cost me a little more than a brand new van from Crusader and the like. In my opinion, the build-quality will however make it last much longer and will give me a better resale value in the end. After several trips, I have gained real confidence in this van, making our travels more stress free in remote areas.

Thanks Gustle.