Supreme caravans

Well thankyou so much for your ever so useful feedback. I will be sure to turn back time as soon as I can.
As I stated above we did research supreme caravans (extensively)along with many other brands. Each and every van within our price range had many reviews both positive and negative. Not everybody, paticularly those with a young family, can afford to buy a top of the range Kedron with little or no faults. There were no reviews on the particular model of caravan we have ordered however. We would therefore like some USEFUL feedback please on Supreme caravans in general and the things we may need to look for on inspection.
Maybe you should try and find something more useful to do with your time than making useless, time wasting comments like above.

Gday Rebecca
My daughter was Rebecca H as well ,and she would have said the same as you. Now that makes me wonder if all Rebecca H's are the same.
I hope the new van is good in all respects.

Haha thanks...I hope that's a compliment :)

Rebecca,
Just by coincidence my 1st daughter is a Rebecca too. Although she can be a little on the argumentative side now and then she doesn't have quite the amount of vitriol in her personality that you appear to have judging by your first reply. There are a lot of people on this and other caravan fora that have a store of knowledge which can be quite helpful.
Most are willing to share if approached in the right manner. Maybe that first answer hit a raw nerve.
Now if you are interested in reading further, yes, I own a Supreme, the on-road Spirit model. We have had this van for some four years and have just returned from a 3 1/2 month trip. Did we have any problems? A few, in my opinion, minor ones, a couple of light fittings (fluoro) need replacing and the fans in the ensuite are getting very noisy. Would I buy another Supreme? Yes, we are looking at a new Territory model simply for better road clearance and a better suspension (Simplicity). It will not, in my opinion replace a Bushtracker, Kedron or the like but for the dollar value will be all we will require.

Happy vanning
Pop

Your advice alone would have been lovely thanks "Pop'. My personality is far from acidic and argumentative. I wouldn't have posted here if I wasn't aware of the amount of knowledge on this site. I am simply after advice, not judgement. Thankyou

Hi Rebecca, we have a Supreme caravan, 5 yrs now. We are not unhappy with it, however, the fitt out inside like cupboards leave a lot to be desired. Check for loose panels inside the cupboards and big gaps between cupboards. Have a look inside the cupboard where the Suburban HWU is fitted, ours had gaps everywhere. Also check the sealing of pipes coming through the floor. On our first trip on a gravel road, dust came in everywhere due to sloppy sealing of gaps
The shower recess developed leaking water pipes. I finished up fixing all these problems myself in a proper workman like manner. I think Supreme employ cheap unskilled labour. My advise, go over it with a fine tooth combe before you accept delivery. Unfortunately we were not able to check ours before it was shipped to WA. Good luck. Cheers

Thanks very much for the advice. I will write a list of all of these points and take them with me. Which model is yours?

Hi Rebecca, ours is a Territory, 22 feet, with a Hyland tow hitch and Simplicity suspension. Cheers

Ok thanks. We will be going over all this stuff with a fine tooth comb before it leaves and giving it a good shake down over summer before the big trip.

Thanks we have already got that sorted. We upgraded the suspension so they upgraded the gvm to 3.5t I think the tare was only just over 2.5t so plenty of room to move there. Thanks!

Thanks Lynne!

Hi, We have a Landcruiser to tow with so all good. Have put a new tow ball on and have the right stickers etc for that. Our boat weighs around 3 tonne so we are pretty well set up for towing large items. Thanks :)

I just realised you were the Richard I was emailing a month or so ago (I think). How are your plans coming along? We are leaving in April now and will be back home about this time next year.

Hi Rebecca
Hopefully we will get away around March. We have got the children all set up for Distance Education, so all on track hopefully.
Richard

Good to hear! Have a great trip....we might cross paths at some stage!

Thankyou. The shower door was certainly on my checklist I have heard of a few vans have this happen.

Thanks. I hope there's not too much wrong we are looking at it on Saturday and it will be shipped on Monday :/ I am thinking about contacting the dealer and asking them to go over things thoroughly as well before we get there. We will be using it most of summer so should be able to get a good idea of everything then. We will be on the boat in April so any problems may have to be fixed at the start of our journey then. Thanks merry Xmas to you too!

Sorry to hear that. Fingers crossed we don't get a lemon!

Good advice, will do! Thanks

Thanks for the advice!

Strange considering Supreme chassis are made by G&S an Australian manufacturer.

I think G&S make the chassis for almost every caravan manufacturer in Victoria.

Graham, yes G & S do make the majority of them. The chassis on our van for instance has a G & S plate.
Kyle, I'm simply relaying what the owner told my wife, even stated the specified wall thickness and that of the one delivered. Perhaps they did import for a while? This van is 2 yrs old and is being collected by Supreme here in Brisbane and freighted to Melbourne for repairs.

I meant to mention, its great to see that Supreme are standing by their product and fixing the issue for these people.

The chassis wasn't imported I know that much.

I agree with Hopscotchs remarks on the electrical and gas creticicates.

Another thing worth having or getting someone to chech is the 12 volt system
Van manufacturers do not size the cable to allow for volt drop etc.
In my van the cable from the solar controller was les in cross sectional area than the cable from the solar panels.
I had about 1.3 volt drop from the controller to the batteries.
No wonder it took a while to charge them

Now been remedied by me as were a number of issues too numerous to mention.

The final straw with this manufacturer with a warranty issue was the steps.
When asked if he was going to replace them (reattach) after their removal, his comment was "don't you think we have done enough for you"

Noted a comment about sealing. Most manufacturers use split conduit to run cables below the van. Ensure the conduit is sealed on the outside as well as inside the conduit. Water will get in and stay where the penetration is.

Another issue I have seen on vans is if there is a lift up bed base.Check the fixings at the end of the gas struts. There is a lot of weight placed on these and most wooden structures will move over a year or so with this stress.
We had to "beef up" considerably the end of the bed base at this point

Not too sure who commented on manufacturers but they listed a couple of top end models and they too have issues.

It astounds me just how they manage to get away with it. These are not the first vans they have ever built.
I think there is NO Checking or followup on work and stages of work done at all.

Any way Becs all the best with the new van.
I do hope this has not put you off at all but the comments here are all valid and come from more expertise and experience than you can poke a stick at.
Maybe ExploreOz should start manufacturing caravans????

regards

Geoff

Good luck! We all look forward to hearing how yougo! Lynne

Rebecca,
I hate to have to say this but, the early model Supreme Caravans were much sturdier than the new models. This is the reason for keeping it in this price range. The cost & keeping it in the price range has made them have to compromise. I was told that they tell new buyers this. We aren't into the new market so we aren't worried.We had a look at a brand newie just quickly inside .
We have looked at both old & new second hand Off Road vans. We noticed that to go really off road that the new ones undercarriage isn't as tough as the old & the door didn't seal properly but this newer model was second hand too. The people there on the day we visited were very good.
Don't know about after sales.
Even the top of the market Vans can have things go wrong. Supreme used to have a terrific reputation.
Good luck with it & enjoy Christmas.
Take care, safe travels
Bye for now, Ma.

Back again, Rebecca,
What have you bought? On Road or Off Road rated & what Model?
Some one mentioned an Outback, I didn't know Supreme made one.
We were looking at the Getaway model.
Bye again Ma

We had a classic custom built with offroad independent suspension and stacks of extras such as more solar panels and water tanks etc. we had a look today and the structural side of things all looks pretty good. Few concerns with some finishes and they forgot to do a few things so fingers crossed they sort it out before it is shipped next week.

Hi Rebecca,
That's good news. Which dealership made yours, for further reference for us, If they're good to deal with. Hope they can get the Problems fixed in time. Have a great Trip.
Take care, Safe travels.
Bye for now Ma.

It was made in Melbourne. My email is rebecca.harding@education.tas.gov.au
I'm happy to run you through pros and cons if you want to get in touch.