Well, we had the planned visit and factory tour today.. 200 miles each way, but worth the trouble... It took about 2 hours and included every part of the production process.....
We were very impressed with the whole thing.... the planning and attention to detail and the care taken at each stage.. The tour guide was an ex employee with 30 years on the 'shop floor' and a good knowledge of all the processes.... 12 of us on the tour, some Autotrail owners, some with vans on order like us and some newby's... The quality of materials and design are the key to the strength of the final van, with a great deal of care taken to ensure the integrity of the body with regard to ingress of water ( the biggest fear of most of us)
Every entry and exit point on the van where anything passes between the inside and outside are 'grommeted' and then sealed with silicon from underneath on the final process prior to Pre release PDI, which is carried out in another building... Yes, I am sure that the more technically minded of us could,, if we sat down and picked at each element,, could find ways to improve some "bits and bobs", but overall, it is as good a product as any of the many vans
to be found in the current market,, with the exception of the Niesman bischof types, at 5 times the price !!! I do hope that this is of some reassurance to those who have vans on order and maybe even poor old "Knockinonabit" who is having problems with his.. This is the first van I have witnessed being built, but I did spend 47 years in the motor trade, both on the spanners and as a boss and I was pleased with what I saw and look forward to seeing our new Tracker in February.. Hope I haven't "droned on" too long and that you find this useful... Mitch.. :thumb:
We were very impressed with the whole thing.... the planning and attention to detail and the care taken at each stage.. The tour guide was an ex employee with 30 years on the 'shop floor' and a good knowledge of all the processes.... 12 of us on the tour, some Autotrail owners, some with vans on order like us and some newby's... The quality of materials and design are the key to the strength of the final van, with a great deal of care taken to ensure the integrity of the body with regard to ingress of water ( the biggest fear of most of us)
Every entry and exit point on the van where anything passes between the inside and outside are 'grommeted' and then sealed with silicon from underneath on the final process prior to Pre release PDI, which is carried out in another building... Yes, I am sure that the more technically minded of us could,, if we sat down and picked at each element,, could find ways to improve some "bits and bobs", but overall, it is as good a product as any of the many vans
to be found in the current market,, with the exception of the Niesman bischof types, at 5 times the price !!! I do hope that this is of some reassurance to those who have vans on order and maybe even poor old "Knockinonabit" who is having problems with his.. This is the first van I have witnessed being built, but I did spend 47 years in the motor trade, both on the spanners and as a boss and I was pleased with what I saw and look forward to seeing our new Tracker in February.. Hope I haven't "droned on" too long and that you find this useful... Mitch.. :thumb: