Elddis build quality (SoLiD ?)

[Richard n Ann]

Went in the van wheel arch cupboard the other day and the food tins are leaving rusty rings on the floor. Got my damp meter on the case and the floor is wet through and even starting to go up the wall. Last time we used the van it was throwing it down on the motorway all the way home, so something isn't right round the plastic wheel liner edges.

Went underneath today and found out why, no sealant round the arch liner leading edge, absolutely thrown together with staples up the sides, gaps and no sealant...

The van was cheap at 36.3k new but I'm sure they could stretch to £1 worth of silicone. Also the blue circle is exposed wood!
2014 Elddis accordo 105

If you own one get the wheels off and give it a careful look at ?

 

[Richard n Ann]

Rotten staples with gap behind...

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

That's bad for 5 years old, should have a10 year warranty for water ingress, or 6 years if second purchaser, have it repaired ASAP, not just sealed over.

 

[Richard n Ann]

I had a high damp reading in the same cupboard about 4 years ago, turned out the sink drain was assembled all wrong with a female fitting pointing down so it was never going to seal. How can an experienced builder get the simplest of tasks so wrong?
The film "idiocracy" is coming true ?

 

[Lenny HB]

Sounds like the same problem they had before the SOLID construction they never learn.
At leastyou caught it before it's got too bad, worse bit is going to be getting the timber fully dried out, hopefully no rot.

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[Richard n Ann]

Sounds like the same problem they had before the SOLID construction they never learn.
At leastyou caught it before it's got too bad, worse bit is going to be getting the timber fully dried out, hopefully no rot.

Yeah there's no rot or marks anywhere. Got a fan heater on it. It's drying. Slowly ?

 

[TinaLes]

Horrible, disappointing discovery for you, you have my sympathies, yet another let down on UK build techniques.
Why do Uk companies use staples to secure so many internal/external items, they always rust so have a limited lifespan as your picture clearly shows. Our last Swift caravan (2015) used them inside to secure cover trims, maybe thinking that they were not that obvious, but once you spot them, you cant take your eyes off them, all for the sake of saving time on the production line, and chucked in willy nilly at random not even in a straight line.
A solid moulded HD plastic wheel arch box dropped in and fixed from the inside would have been a much simpler method surely. I thought thats what all manufacturers used these days, so disappointing.
Hope you get it sorted soon, not a great time of year to be lying underneath a van either.
Les

 

[nicholsong]

Horrible, disappointing discovery for you, you have my sympathies, yet another let down on UK build techniques.
Why do Uk companies use staples to secure so many internal/external items, they always rust so have a limited lifespan as your picture clearly shows. Our last Swift caravan (2015) used them inside to secure cover trims, maybe thinking that they were not that obvious, but once you spot them, you cant take your eyes off them, all for the sake of saving time on the production line, and chucked in willy nilly at random not even in a straight line.
A solid moulded HD plastic wheel arch box dropped in and fixed from the inside would have been a much simpler method surely. I thought thats what all manufacturers used these days, so disappointing.
Hope you get it sorted soon, not a great time of year to be lying underneath a van either.
Les

Only if they use ferrous ones instead of the more expensive stainless steel ones.

 

[Richard n Ann]

Only if they use ferrous ones instead of the more expensive stainless steel ones.

Yes horrendous nonsensical penny pinching, these firms are obviously run by accountants. Elddis will be bled dry by these parasites and go bust sooner or later. We'll probably never buy another van but if we did it would be a PVC.

 

[rosalan]

Stainless steel staples....are there such things!
Sadly your tale about poor finishing is not unusual. Perhaps you could look at the situation as a part finished vehicle and complete the work to your own satisfaction and 'snag' the works that both factory and dealers PDI failed to resolve.
The only problem here is that although your vehicle would be up to scratch, the manufacturers reputation on resale may not help you.
While there are some problem vehicles about, they are not all bad but we do tend to hear about the rogue vans a little too often.

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[IanLouise]

We've just bought the Encore 275 2016 model after being with several German Manufactures over the years....So far I haven't found any issues with the van except minor internal wear/tear...... I must admit after reading some of the above comments I'm a little worried that SOLID with 10yr warrantees on ingress maybe covering other downsides to buying a British van again after being burnt by buying our first van (11 month old Autotrail Scout SE) back in 2005... heap of rubbish...
Please advise if there's weak points that I should be keeping a eye on over the next few years of ownership... many thanks

 

[Richard n Ann]

How long is this drying out lark supposed to take?
At first I had a little 500w fan heater pointing at the floor area around the effected wheel arch for a couple of hours a day, trouble is, heat rises and the floor stayed cold. At least the wall gets warm.
The damp reading started at around 23% but after the heater has been on it will drop to about 8%. Then the next day it's 20 odd % again ? nothing is coming in, it's in the garage.

I've now got a 120w heater tape on the floor round the wheel arch with a thermostat set to 70°c it's reading dry but I bet more damp will come to the surface as it cools.

 

[Richard n Ann]

Just to conclude. Sealed round the wheel arches with black stixall (bonds & seals ?) and sprayed lithium grease on anything rusty after.

 

[ManTheVan]

Phenomenally incompetent build and quality control. The Accordos have a nice design but the build quality sometimes lets them down.

We hired an Accordo 125 in Scotland last year. It was only 18 months old but I spent quite a lot of our week away fettling as there were so many issues that were entirely due to shoddy workmanship, not frequency of use.

The owners of the hire firm (Coast2Glen) were lovely genuine people but said they were getting rid of their Elddis vans because of the seemingly endless list of faults that they’d had to deal with. Such a shame. I’m sure they are not all bad and we had a great time, but it certainly made us think when it came to buying our own.

 

[Wee Bold Davy]

How long is this drying out lark supposed to take?
At first I had a little 500w fan heater pointing at the floor area around the effected wheel arch for a couple of hours a day, trouble is, heat rises and the floor stayed cold. At least the wall gets warm.
The damp reading started at around 23% but after the heater has been on it will drop to about 8%. Then the next day it's 20 odd % again ? nothing is coming in, it's in the garage.

I've now got a 120w heater tape on the floor round the wheel arch with a thermostat set to 70°c it's reading dry but I bet more damp will come to the surface as it cools.

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Have you managed to solve your damp problem? Timber naturally has a reading around 12-15% damp (moisture) which could go up to 17-19% with condensation. We've had our Accordo 105 for 2 years now (although we can't count the last 6 month as we've not used it!) We've been very fortunate to have had no issues other than the toilet door lock sticking due to a weak spring and the occasional annoying false alarm on the Peugeot dash. We've just changed the grey waste tap to improve the abysmal flow while emptying.
Davy

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[Richard n Ann]

Have you managed to solve your damp problem? Timber naturally has a reading around 12-15% damp (moisture) which could go up to 17-19% with condensation. We've had our Accordo 105 for 2 years now (although we can't count the last 6 month as we've not used it!) We've been very fortunate to have had no issues other than the toilet door lock sticking due to a weak spring and the occasional annoying false alarm on the Peugeot dash. We've just changed the grey waste tap to improve the abysmal flow while emptying.
Davy

Yes got it down to 18% ish. Not tested it for a while, it would go down really low to 5% or less with the heaters on it but would then creep back up.

Our toilet door torsion spring broke 2 or 3 years ogo and wouldnt stay shut (the catch wouldn't come out of the door edge) when we got home I stripped it down and made a new torsion spring out of a half inch AC pipe spring. Been ok since.
Ours is a 2014 van so they might be different now but I would check round your rear wheel arch liners for sealant, we go to Benidorm so it took 5 years for the damp to show it'self.

 

[Wee Bold Davy]

Our toilet door torsion spring broke 2 or 3 years ogo and wouldnt stay shut (the catch wouldn't come out of the door edge) when we got home I stripped it down and made a new torsion spring out of a half inch AC pipe spring. Been ok since.

Sounds like the same problem we've had. Was it much of a job to replace that spring? Any particular tools required?
Would hate to unscrew it and have bits fly all over the place!!

 

[CazPaul]

Imagine the issues if you didn't have a dry garage to store it in, you have done a good there of sorting it.

 

[Richard n Ann]

Sounds like the same problem we've had. Was it much of a job to replace that spring? Any particular tools required?
Would hate to unscrew it and have bits fly all over the place!!

No it's quite straight forward, take the catch to bits (nothing goes ping because the spring is buggered ?) and use 2 long nosed pliers on a bit of coil spring and bend 2 ends at right angles to work the catch at the right angle ? Errrrm that probably sounds confusing but you'll know what to do when you see the old torsion spring ?

PS also you can buy assorted torsion springs on ebay.

 

[Wee Bold Davy]

No it's quite straight forward, take the catch to bits (nothing goes ping because the spring is buggered ?) and use 2 long nosed pliers on a bit of coil spring and bend 2 ends at right angles to work the catch at the right angle ? Errrrm that probably sounds confusing but you'll know what to do when you see the old torsion spring ?

PS also you can buy assorted torsion springs on ebay.

It's still working but sticks from time to time. A job for the future, we're in the middle of redecorating the whole house

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[Richard n Ann]

Latest problem is the outside handle on the toilet door hanging off. On further inspection I've found Elddis selected screws for it that if you pull and wiggle them they come through the bracket class.

Put it back together with the next screw size up but the 'wood' is very weak where they go into so put a spot of wood glue on the threads first.

Wouldn't have cost them any more to do it right.. Same as with most issues I've fixed.