Elddis Caravan Rumour Update. 

Just got this comment but it’s not showing up for some reason. @Caravanningwiththeho­opers Need to make a slight correction not that it’s a big deal, it wasn’t the CEO who invited us, it was Rachel Moncrieff another member of their management who invited and entertained us around the factory, did meet a few others as well but didn’t get to meet the CEO who is called Chris Short, he took over in 2022 You can read about their new pdi building below, it is a completely new building separate from the factory floor and yes every single caravan now goes through the PDI building www.linkedin.com/pulse/erwin-hymer-group-unveils-state-of-the-art-pdi- www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/caravans/news/erwin-hymer-group-opens-pre-delivery-inspection-centre

Very informative Darren. As a qualified and experienced ISO quality management auditor, I can guarantee you that implementing a good quality control system is significantly cheaper than not doing so. My own van was bought brand new less than a year ago, it is a gorgeous thing to look at and very well equipped. Stand back and look at it and you think wow, it's a beauty. But get up close and you'll soon be asking, who the hell built this! So far I have submitted 12 warranty claims and repaired a few other minor things myself. That's 12 times I've had to take my van to my approved workshop, 12 things he had to correct that should have been picked up before leaving the factory, 12 days I could have been away enjoying the van rather than having it fixed. Yes things do go wrong occasionally, even with a QMS in place but the real measure of an organisation is not only in preventing customer dissatisfaction but minimising it when things do happen. When you shrug off a problem reported to you, you also shrug off that person as a customer. Believe me, I am not making an idle threat when I say I will not be buying the same brand when I change in the next year or so.

Good and welcome update. Heard that the Elddis 2025 range will have no internal wallboard tape. That ‘may’ suggest a construction change to perhaps pre printed and balanced GRP inner walls (similar to Swift?). It will be interesting to dig more on this point. It’s always been a bugbear of mine seeing a 50k van interior walls with curling wallboard tape. And that would leave Coachman as the last remaining manufacturer that uses tape!

The reason they give only a 12 month warranty on the panels is that they don't expect them to last very long!

Hi Darren, I feel that a 10 year warranty on the front & rear panels should be standard. My van has just passed 6 years old. At present I have no intention of changing it. Great video pleased Elddis seem to be moving in the right direction. If they get this right they could become market leaders. Thanks Phil.🙂👍

We had an Elddis here in OZ, it had a cracked rear panel and soft floor, we have a 2016 Swift explorer 654 now, it's been an excellent trouble free van.

One of the reasons I purchased our tow car, a Ssangyong Rexton, is that it has a 7 year 150,000 mile warranty. It gave me confidence in the brand.

I've got an 11 year old sprite quattro... Swift.. After 18 months the front panel cracked with a creep originating from the awning rail... Swift refused to pay for it.. So I drilled at the end of the crack which was about an inch and a half... Then V Out the crack... Filled the hole I drilled with epoxy resin.. Then mixed up gel coat and finished by re sealing the awning rail with sika.... I regularly check on the repair and it's fine... As I do yearly maintenance on the awning rails and also the tape joint on the roof... Basically it's about keeping on top of any issues early doors

Great update , glad they looking at things

Great video as usual even with the voice and mouth movements not syncing for some of it. We have a 2006 Sterling Eccles Emerald and its been great. Small issue of a leak in the toilet roof vent but i sorted that. Simple electrics easily fixed if need be, no electronic rubbish. Good old blown air central heating that works almost instantly and can blow cool air in the summer, An Electrolux fridge that can still cool my beer and keep my English sausages frozen in the heat of a Lake Garda Summer without the need of silly vent fans. Its what caravaning is all about.Simplicity. 2800 miles in the summer touring Europe for 5 weeks and no problems,and we do it every year.

Elddis may have been letting people down but if the new CEO is pushing for better quality control then that surely is a sign they are acknowledging their problems and working to solve them. I hope for the sake of the industry and all the workers at Elddis people continue to buy their products and then Elddis continue to improve to justify their customers trust. If another manufacturer fails we surely would see stagnation in innovation which would be a shame.

If companies pre drilled pilot holes it would help... They take a shoddy approach to using air tools and just gunning screws in through GRP.. basically lazy

For me, and my wife, we think 10 years from new is the ideal time for us.

great content again,.i commented on A Js recent vlog about the longer drawbar on the new elldis. got to be the german influence. more of it for me and elldis will be the market leader in this country. great theory on caravan size causing problems. but LMC and the likes dont see as many problems. but the sealant they use is BLACK like tar. i would love to know if its nothing like the stuff our manufacturers use cos it defo dont put me off em. i love em

My story is with motorhome I bought new in 2021. I had a jab check done in 2022 without any problems however in the 2023 hab check there was damp found in the walls behind each wheel. Probably spray going up where is hadn’t been properly sealed. A warranty claim was made to the dealer who took it in for their own inspection. They found the same thing and raised the claim. Then it all problems started. They apparently ordered a repair kit and we had to wait till that came and book it in again. After a few weeks they said they h were still waiting for parts. I took it on myself to contact the factory in Consett who advised the parts were with the dealer, gave a date and who signed for the delivery. The dealer still denied they had them. After a little too and frowning the factory arranged collection of our motorhome and they have it at the factory. They have been keeping me informed on what’s happening. They have totally rebuilt the motorhome using their new panel system. I have been told it will go through their new quality assurance system to ensure it is in an as new condition. They have also installed 5G WiFi and an external awning (probably as a sweetener) and I should have it back in the next week or so. My experience since dealing with them has been as I would expect but the dealer was atrocious. They lied and put off things rather than work for the customer. I would buy another Elddis but not from this particular dealer. Fingers crossed it is all good on its return and my confidence grows again.

I’ve still got a warranty claim pending from the beginning of the year when my caravan was serviced with 40% damp readings so I doubt very much that things have changed on the warranty front.

I know of no other Manufacturer in the world that would dream of shipping the product without proper QC checks. Any company not following these basic manufacturing principles is frankly suicidal. Added the general poor manufacturing quality across the industry as a whole makes this either a conceited or an arrogant viewpoint towards the end user and obviously dealers who are lumbered with the warranty work.

Darren I’ve got a buccaneer 2021 with awning light leaking water where do you get parts for them really struggling

The Erwin-Hymer Group is part of Thor Industries which also owns Airstream in the USA.

I'm sited next to a dethliss camper and the quality of this caravan stand's out a mile, panel fit and no unsightly sealant on show , and these are under the hymer group.

Vehicles 4 leisure folded an Eldiss dealership. They have had a stand at the NEC. The main creditor was Eldiss all the documents are on the Companies House website. Those vehicles need selling someone is going to get a bargain.

I’ve looked at the new Elddis 2025 on line, and I really do like the style, but as you say, have I the confidence to actually buy one yet. And that’s a pity, if they have upped their game.

🤔 When you have zero quality control as you say it’s not a big step forward to now put a quality control department in place that is testing - that is the minimum that any half decent business should have had in place years ago!

Having had 2 Elddis products both using the SoLiD build system both products were poor quality and suffered damp issues The second only lasted 6 days before I rejected it under the consumer rights act.

Im afraid Elddis have burnt their bridges with me regarding rear panels cracking after 3yrs and basically throwing us under the wheels. I would never purchase another van of this company infact i dont think id purchase another british caravan again.

Swift just laying some off

Hi Darren, my caravan is just coming upto 8 years old and I have had it from new. My back panel cracked within the 3 year time frame and Elddis said it was not covered by the warranty, because of this and other issues this is my first and last Elddis.

Still not inspired by this news. You can't test quality in - it has to be a controlled process of quality assurance throughout - all the way from good engineering design, procurement of good materials in an efficient way, training of staff and attention to detail during construction. The whole thing from design to manufacture needs a quality assurance programme. That's expensive to begin with, but pays off in the long run. It would be interesting to know some detail on Elddis's change of heart thinking. And it wasn't just their big vans. The Xplore 304 was a beautifully laid out lightweight small family van. The front leaked around the window, the roof leaked around the roof lights, the gutters leaked into the van at the back and the back panel leaked. The 2018 models even had a battery meter held up by sellotape. (ask me how I know!) The lovely layout and high spec cooker with microwave was completely wasted. Such a pity. And the 12 month panel guarantee was laughable. I think the goods were not fit for purpose and people didn't realise that they had some comeback under the Consumer Rights Act. Otherwise the expense of putting everything right was down to the customer. Word about the quality issues spread fast and Elddis really shot themselves in the foot. It will be very difficult for them to come back from that.

Somewhat ill-informed in places, can’t even name the not-so-new CEO and which a quick Look online would have showed the OP. Although not without their issues, just like any caravan manufacturer, Elddis have always had a PDI unit/tent and checked 100% of vans ahead of dispatch out the back gate as well as end of line checks by heads of production and designated inspectors. They have an internal quality department focusing on production quality and goods in/supplier quality. They have invested heavily in the new unit as well as introducing changes in the body shapes which are presumably to alleviate any pinch/movement points that may have previously been causing the cracking on the more square looking designs. Will be a real shame if Elddis go under, the loans owing are sizeable but they have only tried to improve things having first ushered out a lot of the old senior leadership.

Had two buccaneers,both leaked like a sieve,side panel with huge cracks manufacturer not interested. Never buy from this company again…