Caravan cancellation

Kev,
During a lull in the battle. I spoke by phone to the CEO of the company on the left hand side of this country. He said if I wanted a real off road caravan I should buy a bushtracker.
Sooo...will start looking in that arena. But will sell my camper trailer first and then head off. Will be sorry to part with it but getting older and want to travel for a few years so gotta keep the finance minister happy and comfortable.
JimDi

Have you checked the Trackmaster range of vans, there seems to be a few forum members that have one.

Kev

Not yet, but my wife has and she is keen to give them a closer look.
Have kept my eye on the second hand market and I seem to be noticing a lot of off road vans of all makes coming on to the market. Or there seems to be. I guess some people are finishing travelling. So I hope that will make our selection and purchase easier. As you would appreciate we are wary of dealerships and they will need to have sharp pencils etc. But we will also look at private sales.
JimDi

Darian,
Have looked at a number of brands you mentioned. Still have this urge to buy a van and get out there. You are right, price is a consideration. Looking at this and other forums I have noted though that buyers still have problems regardless of manufacturer. One thing I intend to do is have my empty van weighed independently prior to purchase. I suppose this is possible. I have seen so many complaints re incorrect weight. So many complaints re poor after sales service from dealers that I will tread very warily. The last time I looked was in June 2006 and I am only now free to look again.
JimDi

Jim expect a 12 Month wait of the true off road caravans, thats after you have officially ordered.

ddr,
Not so sure about that. I notice a lot of second hand vans around. I have been told by various dealers that their vans "keep" their prices. But I have also noticed that the second hand ones are not selling so quickly. For example my sons inlaws purchased a bushtracker 4 years ago approx 18ft for $75k. I note on a certain other site that a like model 1999 is asking $70k. What chance that?
New, I am not decided but as I said earlier dealers and manufacturers will need sharp pencils.
JImDi

I was talking new & fully custom Jim.

With bookings out over 12 months don't expect any manufacturer to sharpen the pencil.

ddr,
Fully aware of that. But two major Qld manufacturers still have expensive display models sitting unsold in their yards, leftover from the June caravan show. That observation was last weekend. So why the follow up phone calls from them.
I am not disputing what you are saying but I am starting to lower my expectations because of build and price. After 12 months of waiting I am starting to look at lower priced models a few years old and dont have all the bells and whistles but will do the job.
JimDi

Yep - Kedron are quoting about 10 months for new build I think - nothing wrong with a good used unit, if its thoroughly checked over. Re the weights - Trakmaster supplied their tare guides in writing (can vary with options - fair enough). No mention of downloads at the hitch though. It is a subject that most of them are shy about - I can't imagine ordering a van for $70+ without them specifying a range that the figures will drop within. Still - some people buy vans without knowing any of the specs - one forumite here had to change cars after the event, due to a bum steer by the agent !

ddr and Darian,
You are both right but having been sidelined for 12 months, I will be gingerly putting one toe in at a time.
It has been a frustrating and inconvenient experience. But at the end we would do it all over again.Just to try and keep the bastards honest.
We were just 7 days away from applying to the Supreme court to deregister the companies involved. Our blood was well and truly up and we are still not sure if we are elated or deflated. But satisfied with the result.
So once more into the breech to buy a caravan.
JimDi

Good luck with both the court & getting a new van Jim, I'm sure that once its all over & done with & you have your new beauty it will be a happily forgotten memory.

BTW we are very happy with our Trakmaster, but I know of others that are equally happy with their BT & Phoenix.

ddr,

I am leaning towards pheonix and BT, more BT I must admit purely on forumites and friends recommendations. But the Mrs is going to have a very hard look at Trakmaster. And at the end of the day her eye for detail etc is better than mine.
But it will be a quality off road when the purchase is made,no more sales pitch alone. I think the lesson I have had reinforced is to seek info from all quarters and leave the sales pitch out of it completely.
JimDi

Re my comment above on Bushtracker reportedly (this forum) being uncooperative re detailed information being supplied to phone callers / emailers etc - I enquired the other day via their website form - asking for pricing and tare weights etc. - I was emailed copious advice in return on all queries, plus a promise of more material via snail mail. Enough said !

Norm C,

As a matter of fact Pheonix has phoned a couple of times on a follow up from the last caravan show I attended,as late as this last week. But like all manufacturers/dealers they get shy when it comes to a reasonably priced trade in. General advice from a number of the pre mentioned is sell it your self.
The problem I had in 2006 when ordering a caravan was that "yes" we will take your van on consignment. But when the deal is done that consignment thingy goes out the door.
JimDi

Just be careful with Phoenix JimDi.

They changed hands a few years ago , and things went rapidly downhill. Unless you are getting advice from someone who bought one only 12/24 months ago , dont assume , the older ones are anything like the new ones.

My parents bought a Phoenix about 6 years ago. Apart from some minor problems, fixed by the Previous Owners , have had no problems with it. It been in for repairs due to hail damage etc , but it was fixed by the original owners of Pheonix , not the new ones.

I'm . . . NOT . . saying the new Phoenix are rubbish, I dont know much about them , and could be very good , I'm just saying , make sure you are comparing Apples with Apples when it comes to Phoenix because the different owners have VERY different ideas on how to build Caravans.

flappa,

I must admit my Mrs was not impressed with the internal build. Drawers not on runners etc.
Other forumites have indicated build times are 10 months plus for orders and I dont doubt this. But having attended the last 4 Brisbane caravan and camping shows I noticed this year that a number of the display models on offer are still sitting in the various yards. At one display at the show we spoke to a off road caravan owner. The owner had been retained by the manufacturer to talk to potential customers of their product and their experiences as an owner. I noticed this trend with a few of the manufacturers.
When we questioned him regarding complaints on another forum about dust intrusion with their product he replied that yes the industry has been building them too quickly but that this particular manufacturer had now slowed down because of quality control problems. I am not talking about pheonix either.

But your warning is justified, one only has to peruse a number of forums to see the tales of woe constantly being repeated about poor or non existant after sales service and warranty.
JimDi

Muzzgit,

ONE!!!! only one. If you lived closer I would send a few over.
Got to stop answering this thread otherwise I will get too cocky.
But thanks and enjoy your drink.
JimDi

Motherhen,

Thanks, have our eye on a couple at the moment. They do not seem to have moved. Been on the market awhile now( for a bushtracker) so will have another look. My sons mother in law owns one and is very happy with it. The three I have mentioned have never been off the black top either.

When we get hold of a BT it will certainly go off road. Having put up with the legal system and a brain dead caravan dealer over the last year it is time to get up and go.

JimDi

fisho64,

Would love to have been a fly on the wall. We were seven days away from the Supreme court, heading for deregistration of the dealership companies.
A phone call lobbed at our solicitors asking to negotiate. The reply was the shortest and bluntest I have ever heard from a member of the opposite sex,solicitor or no. Cheque is in the mail they said and it was.

But seriously their handling of this matter from day one was immature and showed their complete lack of judgement in these matters. Customer service etc went straight out the window five minutes after I questioned the quality of the caravan. Not a single member of the national organisation called to offer any technical defense of their product. Straight out lies were told during the sales pitch.

But when it comes down to it as I have heard many people say dont listen to what they say. Watch what they do. And when they were taken on, the whole organisation went to ground. I am still trying to ascertain if I can name them.
Regards
JimDi

so has it left you out of pocket at all financially or did they cover all costs for you?

glad to here it, when reading these things on a forum you can never be quite sure who is telling the full story-obviously you were right all along?

congrats, and enjoy your travels buddy!

fisho64,

No mate unfortunately. "They" were ordered to pay all court costs plus 12 months interest calculated at a reasonable %.Some solicitors fees were repaid but overall I am down by $2000. But at one stage the possible money loss was getting up there and was worrying. I had already retired but the missus stayed at work to cover potential costs. To cover myself anticipating a Supreme court appearance I had a quote from my solicitor of about $17500. Had the other side contested us after judgement went our way we could have then sued for the lot. But $2000 is not a bad outcome I stood to lose a lot more by going thru with the sale.

Looking on the bright side now. I have a wonderful missus who went back to work for an extra 12 months or so. She is still there at this stage. But with hindsight we would have still pursued the matter.
JimDi

You shouldn't have to name them, I worked out who the dealer was and the manufacturer long ago.

Pooley