New Caravan

We minor warranty claims on our caravan when it was new and took it to our local dealer who was really bad to deal with - we contacted Coromal direct as we live 500klms from where we purchased the caravan. Coromal couldnt have been more helpful. Shame about some dealers though.

Sue
Geraldton WA

don't own a caravan and never had that problem but would be very dissapointing to say the least. After spending that sort of money, you would expect some half decent customer service. Sure puts a bad taste in your mouth. Hopefully it was a one off problem and the van you have gives you lots of enjoyment and no more problems.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Caravanning and all its pitfalls.

As far as construction is concerned its all in the luck of the draw.

The industry is self regulated and so you have found out the result of that.

Hop onto the C& M forum and find the thread about leaky vans.

Will certainly open your eyes.

There was a link on here to it but I cant find it.


However it isnt that hard to seal a window. Have had to take one out to fix the TV aerial and it went back OK and didnt leak.

Most warranties require that customer return the goods at their expense.
What more could the dealer do, he attempted a repair, when that didn't work, the window was replaced, which was apparently a satisfactory outcome.
Windows are an OEM item & as such aren't manufactured by Supreme.

15kms is only 15minutes driving at 60kmh, allow say 1/2 an hour to drop off & pick up, so you are claiming approximately 2 hours, hardly life changing.
If you want sympathy it might help to say how much compensation that you wanted.

Ive had a supreme for 5years and have never had a problem dealing with supreme or for that matter had very few problems with the van

phil

Well you did buy a cheapie!!! But all jokes aside, the finished product in the caravan industry has always left a lot to be desired. It seems most of the manufacturers take the view that a fair percentage of people won't whinge and will carry out their own repairs. Or, on the other hand that people expect to have problems and will just put up with it. This industry is a long way behind the car industry in quality control, and you know how poor the car industry is. I have only ever bought one brand new van and it was in for warranty work after every trip for the duration of the warranty.

teege

hi willow123

i don't see that there is anything wrong with the dealer

what more could they do and they replaced the faulty window and now it's ok and the cost of your 2 returns trips was nothing compared to what others have endured

when i have had to return vehicles/vans /machinery hundreds of km's for warranty work many times over many past years
i never expected or even considered claiming for return costs

the dealer never made the van only sold it

and the problem appears to be
that either the window frame was faulty or distorted and /or it wasn't sealed in a proper manner in the construction stage

and apart from the dealer giving feed back on the problem to the superviser in the factory
i don't see that the dealer could do anymore imho
like someone else has already said

welcome to the world of caravans and warranty work

i sincerely wish you a long and enjoyable trouble free travels but dont expect
to recoup the cost of every thing that falls apart along the way
because as i and hundreds of others have found

that's part of the experience and the
journey
cheers
barry

Have a read of this site:

http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/962098

This would suggest that you are entitled to claim for consequential loss.

Thankyou everyone for your replies as I indicated I was more disappointed with the manufacturer than the dealer they did everything they could. We are not new to caravanning and have enjoyed the involvment with caravanning for well over 35 years I look forward to enjoying the van once we get it on the road.

Gidday willow 123, I am with you having to take it back a second time for something as simple as a leaking window is not acceptable. it may be the manufacturers fault as he fitted the window, and made the van his finished product !!! Yes, we know the quality of vans leave a lot to be desired, however the dealer is the selling representative of the brand and should be able to fix minor problems like yours[ the first time ]
I like you would have asked for some type of token compensation for my SECOND return to fix a window that should not of leaked in the first place.
And also like you, if not satisfied with the service or quality of product, i would post it on this and any other public forum, and also discuss it around the many campfires we sit around in our travells,it may save another vanner from having the same [ deal done we don't care anymore approach May i add i have always thought that Supreme was a reasonable quality van for the money, but that does not mean much, if there is no warranty service, good companies that do have an after sales reputation, also appear on these public forums, to their Advantage ?? and this also helps other vanners when they update, from what i read some of the better ones are Evernew, Coromal, and even Jayco, have a good service and warranty record, Hence when i update to a shwr/toilet model, they are the ones i will check first to see if they have a model to suit me
Anyway Supreme are a reasonable van so iron out your little bugs, and then enjoy your travells ok, Rgs dazren

Hi Everyone!
Not all manufacturers are like that, we bought second hand Tvan that was over 5 years old when we bought it and it had a leak so we rang the manufacturer and they couldnt have been more considerate offered to pay for the repairs at a repairer that was close to us but my Hubby who is fanatical and an extremely fastidious tradesman asked could he repair it and they said yes provided us with all the materials required and more and provided us with all the info we needed. They didi not have to do that it was well out of waranty but bent over backwards to help us to be happy with their product. So some manufacturers are a pleasure to deal with.

Barb