Rotten Swift - don't trust damp checks (1 Viewer)

[cotswoldman]

I purchased a new 2006 model Bessacarr E725 from Marquis. Every year I have complied with the conditions by having a habitation service and damp checks carried out. The damp check results have always been OK and there have never been any smells or other indications of a problem.

In December 2011 I had the annual check carried out and some damp was found around the rear offside window. The floor directly below it produced a very high reading too.

I took the van in to Marquis to have it repaired after having had a quote for £400.

The following day I was requested to visit them and they showed me what they had found. The area of floor that produced the high damp reading was far wetter than could be attributed to the leaking window. They dismantled the vehicle and found that the whole offside of the vehicle in front of the rear wheel and below the floor was absolutely rotten. This was the area behind the bathroom and the boiler/wardrobe.

The wood fell to bits when touched - just like a rotten fence post.

The technician investigated and found that a seal fitted when the vehicle was manufactured had NOT been fitted correctly and water had been leaking past it for many years - probably before I purchased it.

Marquis took photographs and contacted Swift on my behalf - they Swiftly replied that the vehicle was out of warranty ...... they just didn't want to know.

I was stuck with a rotten vehicle partly dismantled and was facing a bill far higher than the original quote. It had to be repaired so I had no other option than to authorise the repair. It eventually cost me just under £3000 to complete the necessary repair work.

Marquis had done an excellent job with the repair, but I was very annoyed ( I can't print what I really felt) that I had to fork out my savings to put right a manufacturing defect caused by Swift's employees.

I wrote a long letter to Swift explaining the problem and asking for some assistance with the expenses I had incurred through no fault of my own. I enclosed copies of the photographs taken by Marquis and a copy of the invoice which I had paid.

I had forgotten to include a copy of the Service Record but forwarded that at the request of Swift.

The outcome of my contact with Swift was a complete refusal to make any financial recompense towards my outlay.

So, my warning to all motor-home owners, especially those of you running anything from the Swift factory is:

1. Don't trust your damp checks. There are areas where the damp meters will NOT reach.
2. The Swift warranty and good name does not cover anything that they have done wrong ..... if it is not found within the warranty period.
3. Before your warranty runs out pull your nice vehicles apart to check any areas that are not able to be checked with a damp meter just to make sure that your vehicle is sound. (Sorry! I am just being cynical)

If you have a manufacturing defect like mine - Swift will NOT want to know.

 

[Terry]

Interesting SWIFT PROMISED this would not happen They knew of the manufacturing fault (admitted what was at fault) and said they would mend vans as and when they turned up even out of warranty - This is clearly no longer happening:thumb:
I would be very worried if I owned a 2006/7 Swift
terry

 

[jaygee]

"They knew of the manufacturing fault (admitted what was at fault) and said they would mend vans as and when they turned up even out of warranty - This is clearly no longer happening"

Are you saying that this is a known fault that has occurred before in other vans?
If this is the case I'd be writing to every motorhome magazine asking them to investigate!!

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[DESCO]

Interesting SWIFT PROMISED this would not happen They knew of the manufacturing fault (admitted what was at fault) and said they would mend vans as and when they turned up even out of warranty - This is clearly no longer happening:thumb:
[HI]I would be very worried if I owned a 2006/7 Swift
[/HI]terry

Terry I would be very worried if I owned any Swift any year.

 

[scotjimland]

Once upon a time SwiftGroup was a member on here and would address these issues.. and try to help.. but no longer ..

There is a SwiftGroup forum and a SwiftGroup owners club.. get on every motorhome forum you can register on and give them hell... also look for consumer group forums ..

Also contact trading standards, this product is not fit for purpose .. end of

 

[Chris]

You might also be able to sue them. You have 6 years to bring a claim , possibly longer as you have only just discovered the problem.

Go to your local County court and ask for a Part7 claim form. They might even be on line.

Claim on the form for the cost of repairs. State they are in breach of contract and in breach of the Sale of Goods Act.

You will need to prove

1. that they admitted a manufacturing defect

2. Your losses so you will need to produce the receipt.

Technically you would need to sue the dealer. Issue against the dealer and Swft Group.

It's a small claim ( less than £5k) so all you are risking is the court fee and your time. I would think the court fee will be about £100.

Go for it and good luck:thumb:

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[JJ]

An absolute and utter disgrace...

This should be fought all the way down the line...

I hope you have drawn Swift's attention to the post you have (and the posts you will) put on here drawing as many people's attention as possible to this disgraceful service...

As Funsters let's start kicking some butt... :Angry::Angry::Angry:

JJ :Cool:

PS. Was it Marquis who carried out the annual habitation checks?

 

[Terry]

"They knew of the manufacturing fault (admitted what was at fault) and said they would mend vans as and when they turned up even out of warranty - This is clearly no longer happening"

Are you saying that this is a known fault that has occurred before in other vans?
If this is the case I'd be writing to every motorhome magazine asking them to investigate!!

Have you had your head berried in the sand There is more on this than gassing
terry
EDIT WILL FIND SWIFTS RESPONSE TOMOZ

 

[madbluemad]

On face value, you must be able to sue them. Sorry for your problems and good luck
Jim

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[jhorsf]

In a post the other day a funster doubted I had ever even owned a Swift when I dared complain about them, this Pissed me off a little as I have 1, FIRST AND LAST.


What I find strange is some people's praise of this manufacturer when they need a new floor as its rotted away on a newish motorhome while this continues they will continue to make leaky vans

 

[Scout]

I'll chuck in a tenner to help sue them, anybody else?


mail me

 

[lunarman]

SwiftGroup used to monitor the forum and did provide a lot of help to members. It seems however that they no longer do that their last visit was 07-07-2011 and they now have read only status. So don't expect an answer from them on here any time soon.

Lunarman

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[jhorsf]

Perhaps they are to busy booking in repairs:Sad:

 

[jonandshell]

This sorry tale sounds so familiar.................

Sorry to hear of your problems, we had a similar situation with an Elddis, it was in warranty, it took nine months for the repair to be authorized and the workmanship of the repair was crap. I finished it properly myself!

Rule one of Motorhoming, never trust anyone in the franchised dealerships or the manufacturers!

Rule two, it you aren't a keen DIYer, find a good local independent workshop, they beat the socks off the 'technicians' in the dealerships!

Rule three, forget about having a warranty, it won't be worth anything!

Hope all goes well for you in the future.:thumb:

 

[M1TCH]

I'll chuck in a tenner to help sue them, anybody else?


mail me

Even thought i dont own a Swift i will throw a tenner in as well because it could happen to any one of us whatever van you have, i had a problem with a failed turbo on my Transit last year 15000miles but seven months out of warrenty Ford did not want to know even though the company i work for run a fleet of Fords both Transits and 4x4 Rangers which i can influance what we purchase but it made no differance, my Ford dealer were fantastic and they got Ford customer service to go half and they discounted the labour cost so reducing it again to a level that did not hurt as much, so the little man needs to stick together :thumb:

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[haganap]

This sorry tale sounds so familiar.................

Sorry to hear of your problems, we had a similar situation with an Elddis, it was in warranty, it took nine months for the repair to be authorized and the workmanship of the repair was crap. I finished it properly myself!

Rule one of Motorhoming, never trust anyone in the franchised dealerships or the manufacturers!

Rule two, it you aren't a keen DIYer, find a good local independent workshop, they beat the socks off the 'technicians' in the dealerships!

Rule three, forget about having a warranty, it won't be worth anything!

Hope all goes well for you in the future.:thumb:

That's so true,
I have had 3 vans and had to carry out all manner of repairs on them. All minor damp work and all other manner of jobs. Not one of the vans was older than 4 years.
We should be warning people that due to the appalling level of craftmanship of motorhoming building, if you aint got a screwdriver and knowledge of how to use it, Then Stick to hotels.

 

[Chris]

We should be warning people that due to the appalling level of craftmanship of motorhoming building, if you aint got a screwdriver and knowledge of how to use it, Then Stick to hotels.

Or you can hire someone with a screwdriver that knows how to use it:thumb:

I am completely hopeless at anything technical with absolutely zero interest in improving myself.

Doesn't stop me wanting a Motorhome though:thumb:

 

[Snowbird]

Am very sorry to hear of your predicament which is totally unacceptable in a luxury item like a motor home but I wonder why the people at Excel spent £8.7 MILLION on Swift products in one weekend last week. They obviously didn't do there homework. If I was spending something like £70000 on a motor home I wouldn't want a 10 year guarantee, I would want a lifetime guarantee.oh:

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[Minxy]

We once had a Swift Suntor 590RS (from new) ... never again! We had 'unique' extra in our van ... an indoor swimming pool! We didn't know about it though until we went on holiday to Ireland (where it rains a lot!) and found the underneath of the side sofa awash with water. The swimming pool was caused by Swift not sealing round the gas dropout vent which was immediately behind the rear nearside wheel - when driving the water was spraying up from the wheel and into the gap then making its way along and under the sofa. We ruined a video camera (which were very expensive at the time) and it was absolutely sodden. When we got back I had to take it immediately to Swift themselves (fortunately they are just a mile away from us) as they had never (apparently) had this before, they crawled all over the 'van and found that the gas vent had a 1 inch gap all the way round which hadn't been sealed so no wonder the water was getting in. The had it a while to dry it out and repair it, but this was just the latest in a long saga and we sold it after 18 months as we'd had enough.

 

[Peter JohnsCross MH]

To be honest as a Swift Dealer whenever we have had a problem with a van it has always been sorted out properly and no cost either to us or the purchaser.

This includes vans that have been out of the normal warranty period with this wet floor problem and has included vans NOT supplied initially by us.

Peter

 

[TheBig1]

we also owned a 2004 swift, purchased brand new from marquis. The list of rejects when delivered was pretty long, but the biggest issues were the leaks and the roof skin being so loose that even a light breeze sounded like a thunderstorm inside. Swift sent a rep to inspect it and in their view, it was within acceptable tollerances. Says plenty about the lack of quality assurance within the manufacturing process at swift.

Eventually we sold it on at a loss after 6 months. You cant reach an appropriate repair plan with a company that cant see how poor quality their workmanship is. Sad thing is, the layout and cab were great and we loved it, but where ever it is now, it will be worthless despite being just 8 years old.

Thats the last time we waste our money on a brand new van. We stick to buying vans about 3 years old that we can see how they have lasted. Still well over £20k invested each time, but you can see what your buying and less to devalue if it does start leaking like a seive

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[Jaws]

Errrr... All I can say is I rest my case

And of course really sorry to hear of yet another poor sod getting the poo end of the stick from a company determined to see its own demise as soon as possible

At this rate we will need a new section on the forum JUST for swift water ingress problems !

 

[Geo]

Errrr... All I can say is I rest my case

And of course really sorry to hear of yet another poor sod getting the poo end of the stick from a company determined to see its own demise as soon as possible

At this rate we will need a new section on the forum JUST for swift water ingress problems !

Why?
It's already got half the internet

 

[Forestboy]

Does'nt say much about British products does it, no wonder most people buy foriegn vans.
This is the very reason we went from a 2009 van back to a 2002 because the quality difference is quite amazing.
Good luck I would certainly pursue them through the small claims court another £100 ain't gonna make a lot of difference this far down the line.

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[buttons]

Errrr... All I can say is I rest my case

And of course really sorry to hear of yet another poor sod getting the poo end of the stick from a company determined to see its own demise as soon as possible

At this rate we will need a new section on the forum JUST for swift water ingress problems !

I have spoken about this on numerous occasions in the past. Some time ago I purchased a bran new Swift Kontiki, nice van and a joy to own. Apart from the fact that you required an umbrella inside the van to stay dry. From six months old it went back to the factory to have the roof off and resealed. After that it still leaked like a sieve every part of the van was sodden. I spoke to a number of dealers about the problem, they all had the pet name for this Swift being the KONLEAKY. My one and only Swift never again.:Sad:

 

[beachcaster]

With that attitude I would never ever consider Swift.

As a manufacturer of anything.... when things go wrong...its is an opportunity
to put things right and develop your reputation as a organisation that supports and cares its users.......or in the case of Swift today.........does not support its users.

When word gets round....they will pay a far higher price by ignoring this issue.

Sadly a short sighted British manufacturer.

barry

 

[Terry]

This was SWIFT's response to another soggy floor

We have investigated the matter of the omni-step pulling away from the floor of the motorhome.


The floor is sourced from a well established composite panel manufacturer in Europe who supplies a large number of Motorhome manufacturers with this design. They are a well known supplier within the caravan and Motorhome industry. Their specification of flooring as supplied and fitted to the Motorhomes consists of vinyl faced plywood on the underside of the composite construction

This material provides excellent moisture resistance to the underside of the floor, however, if any moisture infiltrates the floor structure the vinyl face materials will then prevent trapped moisture from escaping easily. In this instance if not rectified the internal floor materials can deteriorate and result in the damage that people have reported on the forum.


Swift have the expertise and are confident that the floor can be successfully repaired to prevent a re-occurrence of this problem, a blackened WBP ply can be used as a recognized alternative which will allow the materials and the floor structure to breathe.

We have changed our production and changed the flooring from the composite material to ply so that it is breathable.

Regards
Kath

They also said it was caused by the skirts not being sealed to the sides and I believe they instructed all of there retailers/service engineers to seal the skirts as they came in for yearly water ingress inspection or service work
Kath has since retired and I am not sure what happened to Peter (ceo)
terry

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[buttons]

This was SWIFT's response to another soggy floor
We have investigated the matter of the omni-step pulling away from the floor of the motorhome.
The floor is sourced from a well established composite panel manufacturer in Europe who supplies a large number of Motorhome manufacturers with this design. They are a well known supplier within the caravan and Motorhome industry. Their specification of flooring as supplied and fitted to the Motorhomes consists of vinyl faced plywood on the underside of the composite construction
This material provides excellent moisture resistance to the underside of the floor, however, if any moisture infiltrates the floor structure the vinyl face materials will then prevent trapped moisture from escaping easily. In this instance if not rectified the internal floor materials can deteriorate and result in the damage that people have reported on the forum.
Swift have the expertise and are confident that the floor can be successfully repaired to prevent a re-occurrence of this problem, a blackened WBP ply can be used as a recognized alternative which will allow the materials and the floor structure to breathe.
We have changed our production and changed the flooring from the composite material to ply so that it is breathable.
Regards
Kath
They also said it was caused by the skirts not being sealed to the sides and I believe they instructed all of there retailers/service engineers to seal the skirts as they came in for yearly water ingress inspection or service work
Kath has since retired and I am not sure what happened to Peter (ceo)
terry

I understand that Rolls Royce supply a good quality umbrella with every new vehicle. Just a thought

 

[Welsh girl]

Funnily enough we had a new umbrella( big blue one with Marquis advert slogan ) with our swift voyager when bought new from Maquis, we have had only teething problems with this one which has been sorted by but had lots of problems with our Sundance on a 09 plate, traded that in that with lots of faults and took a huge loss on it, got fed up with all its faults , didn't know when or what to expect next to go wrong.
Our next one will be a hymer but an older one, cant afford a new one, pity as this one we have now suits us perfectly with the layout.
Been searching for the right layout in a German van

 

[Terry]

To be honest as a Swift Dealer whenever we have had a problem with a van it has always been sorted out properly and no cost either to us or the purchaser.

This includes vans that have been out of the normal warranty period with this wet floor problem and has included vans NOT supplied initially by us.

Peter

Hi Peter my above post was taken (and saved by me)from one of the many replies about soggy floors/Swift where Peter who was CEO of Swift,assured everyone (at the time) that even if the soggy vans presented themselves out of the warranty period Swift would stand by there product and sort any/all repairs.This was made to assure people buying Swift vans that they would not be left with a worthless van 4/5 yrs down the line.
I remember at the time you were quite vocal (but guarded) with your comments about Swift where you also assured people buying a Swift product that you would have no problem buying a Swift repaired van as trade in after the repair had been done :thumb: Have you instructed your staff to watch out for soggy floored Swifts now this seems to have changed ?
There is loads on this subject on the dark side.
terry

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