Majestic caravans

Hi niss4242,
Thanks for the advice. I will post athread on some of the van forums.

Rusty 55

Thanks "Gone Bush" have done as you suggested.

Rusty 55

Roscoe,

Thanks for the info. we have been researching vans for quite a while and the Majestic is one of the favoured ones. As of late I have only found negative comments about Majestic vans but I suppose we all have different standards. Ours will be a substantial purchase and don't want to buy a lemon.

Thanks again,

Rusty 55

Glad you found it OK Roscoe, as I told you even though I cancelled mine I have met plenty of happy owners out there. How about some new Rig Pics.
Cheers Mac

Will do Outback Mac I've been meaning to upgrade my profile been a bit slack!!!

Rusty 55,
When we were doing our research it became evident that a lot of manufacturers use engineering workshops/suspension makers for their chassis and suspension.

The other components are usually dometic etc. Tyres and rims are outsourced. They all claim their timber frames are meranti and glued and screwed, some claim the frames are spaced closer than others etc.

The internal and external walls are the same materials used by a majority of other manufacturers..so it does become a little confusing as to why one van would be better than another.

So I guess it comes back to the quality of the workmanship in putting everything together. I came to the conclusion that unless you sat in the workshop every day and watched the work how the heck would you know how well the framework was put together or the care taken to seal everything.

Roscoe,
Do you know any other Majestic owners? I hear what people are saying but are the problems with just a couple of vans out of the hundreds made each year?
Did you purchase your van from Caboolture?

Rusty,

I don't know any Majestic owners. Before we decided on purchasing a Majestic we would have spoken to at least 20 owners during our travels through the NT, WA and SA over a period of some 2 years.

We had a Jayco Penguin Offroad and decided that after completing our touring of these States we would upgrade to a full van. So over this period we took note of the vans that appealed to us and asked the owners what they thought of them any problems etc.

None of the Majestic owners we spoke to had anything negative to say and basically gave very good reports. We also looked at Trakmaster, Imperial, Jayco, Kedron, Royal Flair Tuff Roader, Windsor and Supreme and spoke to those owners as well.

There were some negative reports on some of these Brands. Anyway we narrowed it down to Majestic or Trakmaster and then proceeded to compare their build in particular the framework, chassis and suspension. We were provided with information from both manufacturers and I could not see any difference their specs were basically the same.

So we then proceeded to have a look at both vans and we simply preferred the Majestic as it appealed to us more.

There are some negative comments being said about this brand but I can't fault the chassis, suspension, build quality etc we are very happy with it and have no regrets so far.

Since we purchased it we went up as far as Ayr on it's maiden trip and no problems. Since then we have done some short trips. I think come across 8 Majestic owners that we spoke to and no one had anything negative to say they were all very happy.

In terms of the negative comments on this forum I would really like to know the full details AND also the manufacturers response so that all the details are known not just one side, so that an informed decision could be made.

That is why I carried out my own investigation. From these investigations I believe any issues are probably no different to any of the other brands.

One of the Majestic owners I recently spoke with told me about a fellow who had issues with the alloy rims in that one of them suffered damage allegedly because it was faulty. Majestic didn't make the rim so one can't bag Majestic.

I was informed that fact of the matter is that there was no problem with the rim at all, it had come in contact with a large rock.

I did purchase it from Caboolture.

If you want any further info I would be pleased to provide it, maybe contact me via my email address?

Roscoe,
Thanks for the very informative follow up. It is much appreciated. I would love to know more but can't find how to get your e-mail address. Is there a way of communicating ?
Do you live near Caboolture?

Rusty

My email address is in My Profile, but if you're not a member of ExplorOz you may not be able to open it up I'm not sure what the position is there.

roscoea26@hotmail.com

I live at Pomona.

Racey do you have an Evernew? I saw a review on one of their vans today and it looked quite good.

Hi Rusty,

Yes we have an EVERNEW, 2 years old now and about 10k later wouldn't swap it. Last year we did the Balranald, lake Mungo Menindie trip, which was a great experience over 2-300 klms of dirt road. The worst thing that happened was we broke 2 eggs; a bit of a mess. The van never missed a beat. Talk to anyone who has one and you will have similar comments. It dosn't cost anything to talk. Go and see Bruce or Darryn and tell them what you want.

Cheers
Racey

Thanks for the reply Racey. Shame about the eggs!

What size is your van? The one that I saw previewed was 21'6 internal semi off road L1000 series.

I have sent Evernew an e-mail asking for info. Our biggest problem is that we are north of Brisbane and they are in Victoria so it's hard to have a good look at one without travelling to Vic.

I may send them an e-mail and ask if there are any customers up this way.

Thanks again
Rusty

Hi Rusty,

We have 19ft with simplicity suspension overall arrangement similar to the review model. Interestingly many of Evernew's customers are from interstate by word of mouth and a concept sketch.

Ian Majestic dont have warranty. Majestic flog their warranty off to warranty business that dont have warranty claims
my wifes dress making dummies would not accept that

Yes Paul,

You are quite correct, Majestic do sell off their warranty to a third party. Not what I would be looking for in a caravan manufacture.

Ian

Ian and Paul,

Just noticed your comments about warranty. Who informed you Majestic don't have warranty and that they flog their business off to a warranty business that don't have warranty claims???

Roscoe Majestic sell the warranty obligation for the disasters they build to Premium warranties who dont have warranty claims
is always manufacturers faults and then you play hand ball between Majestic and Premium warranties and you cry like hell get nothing fixed and pay yourself in the end to get repaired in desperation

Paul, with the greatest of respect to yourself, what you are saying is misleading to the readers of this post.

The fact of the matter is that Majestic have a 1 year manufacturers warranty.

The warranty you are referring to is an OPTIONAL 3 year warranty offered by them through Premium Warranties. In reality it is nothing more than an extended warranty.

It is similar to an extended warranty you can purchase for a motor vehicle. For example I have a Jeep Extended warranty which is managed through an insurance company who approve any warranty claims. If I have a claim during the extended warranty period I don't deal with the insurance company, Jeep do.

I suspect that the same situation will apply to the 3 year extended warranty on offer by Majestic.

If a purchaser elects not to purchase the 3 year warranty then the manufacturers standard 1 year warranty applies.

Where they are not made by the caravan manufacturer, suspension, chassis, tyre rims are covered by their manufacturers warranty. However, the caravan manufacturer resolves any problems with these components with that particular manufacturer.

Any products such as TV's, Microwaves, Airconditioning and the like are covered by their manufacturers warranty.

Roscoe

If you go to the Caravaners forum you will find several Qld repairers posting there. Sak them. They will confirm the outposting of the warranty. Majestic are not the only manufacturers doing this.

PeterD

Nomadic Navara,

My understanding is that the outposting of the warranty to Premium Warranties only applies to the optional 3 year warranty. The standard 1 year warranty is the direct responsibility of majestic and has nothing to do with Premium Warranties.

When I purchased the van the 3 year option was offered to me but I declined and was advised that the Majestic 1 year warranty would apply.

The issue to me is that a statement has been made that Majestic do not have warranty which is misleading. They do have a standard 1 year warranty and if a buyer wishes to have a 3 year warranty then they pay for it, no different to an extended warranty offered by a car dealer.

Majestic at Caboolture carry out their own warranty repairs.

In view of the statements being made in this forum I now intend to take this issue up with Majestic so there can be no doubt as to what the position is.

I will advise in due course.

Rusty, if you are talking about the RVMAA, it's a toothless wonder.

Now your post here and on the caravanners forum has produced some negative responses. They are not without foundation. You can't spend your money twice. Make the correct decision the first time. Look elsewhere and reduce your risk.

cheers

there used to be a caravan forum where the guy there described the RVMAA as a fraudulent industry drinking club who made up their fraudulent advertising while rotten drunk. search here for the RVMAA and you find they are hopeless and will do nothing if you have problems.
Rusty obviously you have made up your mind now go and buy your Majestic with structural faults you cannot see, crap electrics and plumbing and dont squeal when you have all the pain

Paul
What brand of caravan do you have?

Rusty,

just out of curiosity, what sort of dollars are you prepared to spend?

Any manufacturer can become a member of the RVMAA just by paying the joining and annual fees. It does not add any legitimacy to the member.

I think every Service Station at which I worked in a past life was a member of the Service Station Industry Association Limited. I can assure you that did nothing at all for the quality of the workshops.

The RVMAA is there to further the interests of the industry, not the clients. Don't kid yourself that they will expend themselves on behalf of an unhappy caravan purchaser.

Ian

Gone Bush,

We are planning to spend around $70,000 as we want to travel around for quite a number of years.

Rusty 55

we have a Compass caravan and would buy another tomorrow

if you are thinking of spending $70k to buy a caravan from a company with ho heritage and such a string of disasters it is amazing
I would say you know nothing about caravans or the technicalities
I only know from experience and meeting others travelling. never met a happy Majestic owner they all cry. ask on Rvtravel about buying new caravan and information. the help and knowledge of caravans there is like nowhere else

Paul, we recently went to our local Compass dealer but arrived as he was closing the gate, 1/2 hour before his advertised closing time and was told "I'm closed". Wanting to check out the Compass range I went back a week later. Nobody came to assist me as it was more comfortable in the air conditioned office than in any of their vans. When I went inside to get some info they were as helpful as a hip pocket in a singlet and I thought that if that's the way they treat potential customers how would you be treated if you had a problem with your van. As far as I am concerned their manner was hopeless.
You say that you have a Compass van? Did I not see a post by you on 16th March 2008 saying that you had just received a new Roadstar that was great? Less than 10 months later you now have a Compass that is great. What gives?????

Paul, on June 20th you said you had a evernew van? You must have good access to vans!
Cheers Craig

Rusty my Roadstar went to twin brother who did not have time to fit out with extras. due to Roadstars having full order books found a Compass with same layout and specification in Vic. drove down paid da cash and drove away

Paul,

Did a product review on Roadstar through productreview.com.au not very good reviews either;

Comments like:
Very unreliable too many faults
Just don't go near them too many heartaches
Appauling caravan experience
Don't go near them
Air-conditioning broke down, wired incorrectly
Leaked terribly

And you're having a go at Majestic hmmm