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Being the owner of a brand new 2011 Bessacarr 510 I am wondering if I am expecting too much?
On first viewing the vehicle looked fine, the handover was very rushed (another story) and we didn't get the time to go over the vehicle properly, however the dealer agreed for us to go over the vehicle in our own time and upon returning from holiday contact them with any issues.
I must point out that the dealer is not in question in this thread but the generall quality of finishing works undertaken by Swift/Bessacarr. The van will be going back for remedials and hopefully all will be sorted.
The reason for this thread is to try and gauge the expected finishing detail of coachbuilts.
For instance, the quality of the mastic finishing on the outside and why do they use a mastic that is hard to keep clean, the door and skylights appear to have been installed with a putty type substance which is even worse at attracting dirt and as yet I haven't found anything to clean it.
There are a number of cracks in the roof section, perhaps only the gel coat but still not acceptable and also fibreglass residue left on various roof panels.
Moving to the inside there are screws missing from the over cooker section fixing to the roof and consequently this has dropped, screws have been tightened to the point that the tips appear through the finished panels.
Even the fitting of the awning was left to be desired - factory fitted and whoever fitted it drilled through the fixing brackect and into the awning body whilst the awning was closed.................. and yes drilled through the awning arms???
Most of the issues would appear to be carelessness or speed fitting issues and no doubt Swift will resolve all the issues but why should we as consumers have to put up with quality issues - these vehicles aren't cheap and thus deserve to be finished correctly. Now I have a 200 mile round trip back to the dealers twice with two vehicles - a total of 600 miles to get this sorted and at today's fuel prices that's a lot of money!!!
Another issue is I have purchased the Swift supplied ladder and roofrack for my vehicle and on fitting (by dealer) it is apparent that the main rails are to low as the cross roof bars are virtually the same height as the skylights - making them pretty useless if you want to put something on the roof!!! Hopefully Swift will come up with some extension brackets to raise the height and allow the rack to be used?
Excellent post, and you are absolutley right in your definition of quality finish, albeit a poor one
I can see the type of finish with my own Bessacarr which is just over 2 years old, and if this is the example of British quality then its a very poor one.
They have been using these allegedly quality materials for years and craftsmen, and women, appear to be on a quick finish at any cost.
I think that when I do change the MH I will be thinking twice about Bessacarr or Swift
Its all down to poor quality control and poor pdi. They let the consumer do it.
When the rectifications have been made the dealer will invoice the manufacturer fo his labour costs
We should be allowed to Invoice the supplier for inconveniance and costs of travel.
The car industry has tightened up on QC and pdi`s in the last 10 years or so and warranty claims have reduced enormously.
Dave p
______________________________________________________________ I never wish anyone dead, but I do take pleasure in reading some obituaries
This is a bit sad. We used to regularly have a spate of posts about the quality of Swift Group products, but they seemed to die down, leading me to think they'd smartened up their act.
We had a couple of little things fixed at the dealer (one heater control not straight), and I found another issue (wiring incorrect to the TV). I've just noticed that the driver's seat isn't quite square to the wheel when locked in position, so it's not just Swift products that have manufacturing QC issues.
I have watched motorhomes being built on the production line and that is exactly what it is - a production line.
On a production line a number of individuals will be involved and the finish will only be as good as each and everyone of them unless there is a final quality control procedure in place and this is where things seem to be lacking.
Your mileage back to the plant will be covered by the long distance selling laws and you might well be able to recover costs for both your time and travel/fuel.
Do not tolerate any fobbing off. If they cannot give you a fully finished motorhome as you would expect then you will ahve to consider getting it finished off elsewhere and asking them to cover the cost.
Screws sticking out are a health and safety as much as a poor fininshing item.
You'd think that manufacturers had got the message by now that people aren't prepared to sit back and accept sloppy finishing and shoddy workmanship at any price - let alone the huge amounts of money that they ask for their products.
You'd also think that in a shrinking market, where customers are thinner on the ground than they used to be, they'd redouble their efforts to get things right.
On the brighter side, it would seem that most 'vans - apart from the obvious stray lemons - settle down to give a long and reliable life after the teething problems have been ironed out.
It's enough to make many of us think twice about buying a brand new motorhome.
I believe manufacturers generally don't care. Most seem to work on the 80/20 rule, if 80% of it is OK send it out and see how it goes. Many people will not notice problems or will fix them themselves. That is cheaper than doing it properly.
If they did care or had proper Quality Assurance we would not see the same problems cropping up again and again. I also think there is no traceability so that a poor component or system or someone doing consistently bad work is not traced and rectified.
I would really like to know whether any of the manufacturers have an externally monitored Quality Assurance system. I am betting they don't.
It's not good enough but they know it's all there is and until one takes the bull by the horns and produces a properly sorted product they can all continue as they are. Delivering mediocre products and poor after sales care seems to be good enough for them, Alan.
The mastic has to be 'soft' in order to allow movement if the body flexes whilst in motion, it will 'ooze' out in some instances and can be tidied up using the edge of a credit card or other plastic tool.
It can be cleaned by wiping over with white spirit.
As to the other faults, they should all have been picked up on the PDI and rectified before handover.
The roof bar rails can be slid into any desired position as they are moveable.
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Am I expecting too much???
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