Drove past the Brisbane RV Morayfield site on the weekend and thought the yard looked empty.
More manufacturers fall over
- Thread starter Crusty181
- Start date
their website still appears to have plenty on it. is the bubble starting to burst and have prices reached the maximum people are willing to pay?
I have said it before, don’t know if it was here or elsewhere, but when your van costs more than your car something is wrong. Think of a typical new 4WD and look at the R&D, engineering, tooling, factories and workforce and admin, technology in the engine and transmission and safety features, 50 airbags, abs, downzhill assist, hill start, anti trailer sway, hell even the entertainment system that goes into building one of these cars and yes economy of scale comes into it and compare that to a caravan, a box on wheels essentially and tell me where the value is.
It's the individual effort and loving care put into building your dream, not like a car mass produced on an automated assembly line by uncaring robots, your van symbolises your inner dreams, shows you to be the adventurer in the likes of Harry Butler and Mike Leyland ....................... its all about the paint job and the decor..... Thats why you pay, not to mention to cover the cost of the Resort in NQ, ski boat, aircraft, Basketball and V8 racing team.
Mate bought a New Age 15 months ago.Around $70000.00.Leaked from day one .Took six months to get it so called repaired here in Yamba under warranty ,still leaked.Shop owner would not release van as not been paid for warranty work,nearly had to call police to get the van out of the workshop..(Meanwhile New Age went into administration,taken over by Walkinshaw.) .He has been so p-----d off about it he parked it down the bottom of his block out of sight .Two weeks ago a large hailstorm hit our area ,his van is now up for a complete full reclading of roof ,sides,new vents etc.Not a happy chappy.!!
Big Mal has $37000 on it, the repair from hail was like 23K they fixed it.......A couple thousand km with a good bit if rain so far and one leak, not where the new stuff was, a loose rivet....and the new AC is brilliant..... My WA mate is heading home after 15 mths in his New Age, its booked in for repairs in Perth, leaks, cracks in interior walls and some other bits, that's after having the BM35 fixed and power points failing and dodgy 12v wiring.......not all that good for expensive new vans.
I was reading the recent Unsealed email and there was a story about the Facebook group Lemon’s or whatever it was called. I have never visited that page but might take a look one day but it appears to be very vindictive and I can see from the article that a small rumour or incorrect quote can really tarnish a manufacturer and be the beginning of the end.
If you ever want to see how some of these new vans are built/or not built, have a look in a caravan repair workshop !!
Wrong sealants used ,wrong diameter wiring, poor quality exterior plastics that yellow in six months,poor quality exterior metal fittings/screws that rust in weeks,poor welding , interior fittings not fixed , windows that can not cope with the Aussie heat and crack,water systems that dont work. wheel alignment 3/16 inch out, ,total lack of any quality control.This was my 2015 Jayco Journey Outback .!! Luckily being an ex boat builder none of it worried me too much,got it at the right price as previous owner had given up,so many issues.However when you are parting with plenty of hard earned cash and expect to get a quality built van they are going to be hard to find.
Wrong sealants used ,wrong diameter wiring, poor quality exterior plastics that yellow in six months,poor quality exterior metal fittings/screws that rust in weeks,poor welding , interior fittings not fixed , windows that can not cope with the Aussie heat and crack,water systems that dont work. wheel alignment 3/16 inch out, ,total lack of any quality control.This was my 2015 Jayco Journey Outback .!! Luckily being an ex boat builder none of it worried me too much,got it at the right price as previous owner had given up,so many issues.However when you are parting with plenty of hard earned cash and expect to get a quality built van they are going to be hard to find.
Thats what I found with my 14.44 @BJM , it had sat in a shed since new for 3 yrs and never used, so I had a 3 yr old van out of warranty with all the new van faults not being one to care about warranty I sorted it all out myself, pretty sure a better job and once done it was done...................
Have to agree with you @MDS69, the lemons website started off well but turned into a very vindictive site with a lot of petty whingers which overwhelm the legitimate ones with problems and in typical facebook style very little substance.
Have to agree with you @MDS69, the lemons website started off well but turned into a very vindictive site with a lot of petty whingers which overwhelm the legitimate ones with problems and in typical facebook style very little substance.
The problem is many owners would not know how to even fix a minor repair/warranty problem.So in their mind this small problem now becomes a major problem.Try and get even a wheel alignment done under warranty at a Jayco dealer.!! Sometimes weeks down the road.Or take a van into a makers recommended warranty repair agent. Many repairers now ask up for a payment up front and you the owner then have to be reimbursed by the maker.
My rule is if you didn't get it right the first time you won't get a second chance to stuff it up..... On the rare time others do work on my gear they have no doubt only one chance..... Been using the same mechanic for over 55 yrs, only stuffs up occasionally but I like him so gets a chance, he started on billy carts... But doesn't like the hard stuff nowadays, swears a lot but is cheap.....
I have a theory about online reviews. They are undoubtedly negative biased. Often people only feel the impulse or need to write a review when something has gone wrong. And this doesn't go to just vans, but everything. So I need to see a well established rational bunch of negative reviews before I completely write off a product. For example, my New Age van was (and hopefully still is) brilliant. In fact our overall New Age experience was very positive. As was pretty much every New Age owner we've come across. No one brand is faultless and I'm of the opinion if a company stands by their product, then that's good by me.
When your new $70000.00 plus New Age van leaks like a sieve and you are getting no real help from New Age or the designated warranty repairer (referring to my mate) I do not think your mind would be full of positive comments.!! The ACCC took a big stick to Jayco in 2017 re fobbing off /ignoring warranty work,consumer complaints. etc etc.Other brands are in the ACCC firing line.Most of this industry has one big flaw , little or no quality control.
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My company is. Or at least, upto and including today. Next week?? Well, we'll wait and see