Is hail really that much of a problem?

[Ralph Hardwick]

In another post I mentioned that I was planning to get a new Swift 622 and asked for tips on negotiating a good price.

I also mentioned that we would consider secondhand if something came up. well something might just have come up

We have spotted a 2015 Swift Rio 320 which has tickled our fancy.

Obviously buying an older van has pros and cons. The biggest pro is a £10k saving one of the cons is the lack of any technological advances that have occurred since it was initially sold.

One thing I keep hearing about on newer vans is a 'hail resistant' roof. I realise that a lot of people drive around in older vans, so I just wondered if this was something I need to consider?

Your thoughts would be most welcome

 

[MichaelT]

We had a caravan that got hit with some golf ball sized hail in France and the front and roof were badly damaged as it only had an alloy skin. Only cosmetic but a payout from the insurance company. With our MH it has hail resistant GRP skin so hopefully will not get dents in and its also quieter in the rain.

 

[funflair]

Hail damage to the roof if it were to happen would be cosmetic rather than structural, the extent to which the roof was visible might dictate wether it was a problem or not, but the majority of vans on the road do not have a "hail resistant roof" and we don't hear/see anybody complaining, plus if the roof were to be damaged there is a fair chance some other panels that are a lot more visible would suffer as well.

Martin

 

[PeteH]

My Mate has a Caravan with "Hail Damage" on the roof, you cannot see it from ground level, but it was discounted 2K!! over book price. (almost half the "asking" price)

 

[gus-lopez]

Hail doesn't come straight down so although the roof is out of sight if it hits the sides it is horrendous.

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[Ralph Hardwick]

Thanks everyone. So, by the sound of it, a hail resistant roof is a good thing to have, but not a 'deal breaker' if a van doesn't have one.

 

[funflair]

Thanks everyone. So, by the sound of it, a hail resistant roof is a good thing to have, but not a 'deal breaker' if a van doesn't have one.

Cover the roof in solar panels and it will be OK

Martin

 

[Podney]

Don’t worry about it,it’s about number 99 on the worry list.
And don’t worry about the “lack of technological advances” on older vans...........half of them are unnecessary and the other half don’t work anyway!!!!

 

[MyrtleGuru]

Aluminium hail damage example:

 

[keithchesterfield2]

We were parked up in Nevers (France) last year when a hail storm started.

We were pounded for about three or four minutes and every one managed to miss the roof lights and solar panel - thank goodness.

There wasn't any sign of indentation on our roof despite some of the stones being the size of the one in the picture - I photographed, with my reading glasses for size comparison, straight after the storm had passed.

We have a Pilote with a very strong roof.

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[Richard n Ann]

And don't worry about the technological advances.

Our van (2014) has a manual fridge, it uses the power source I tell it to, when I tell it to. No 15minutes wondering what it's going to do, or wondering if it's going to cause an explosion at the petrol station, or flatten the battery ?.

The control panel has physical switches, you know, old ones, that click and complete electrical circuits, not an LCD screen, and microprocessor firmware options ?

And the diesel engine, although not perfect (it still has a compooter ?) but at least it doesn't need ad blue.

We bought ours at the perfect time ?
IMO

 

[Ralph Hardwick]

Thanks again for the comments.

Since 2001 we have travelled to the Sahara, Iceland, The Arctic Circle and Asia in a fully mechanical Land Rover discovery. The only 'technology' it relied upon was an electronic fuel solenoid . So we're not averse to a bit of good old 'engineering' rather than tech.

For our motorhome we don't anticipate relying upon a local blacksmith to fix it so we're happy to have few mod cons

We do realise that not all progress is in the right direction though

 

[dave newell]

A few years ago a regional manager for one of our suppliers had a Mercedes car and new caravan written off due to hail damage while in Switzerland, unfortunately the same thing happened the following year and another almost new Merc and caravan were written off by hail damage. No body panels on the car were left undamaged and all the glass was smashed, caravan had all floodlights destroyed and roof and sides severely dented and in places punctured.

D.

 

[Emmit]

And don't worry about the technological advances.

Our van (2014) has a manual fridge, it uses the power source I tell it to, when I tell it to. No 15minutes wondering what it's going to do, or wondering if it's going to cause an explosion at the petrol station, or flatten the battery ?.

The control panel has physical switches, you know, old ones, that click and complete electrical circuits, not an LCD screen, and microprocessor firmware options ?

And the diesel engine, although not perfect (it still has a compooter ?) but at least it doesn't need ad blue.

We bought ours at the perfect time ?
IMO

Oh! God!!! Ours has a 2005 front end and a 2006 Habitation back end. I sometimes have trouble drawing water from the on board well, and the two sticks with which we were provided to get the open fire started sometimes give us gip but, other than that (and a lazy donkey used to pull us along) our unit works just fine,

 

[Mr Chrysalis]

Just sayin

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[PJGWiltshire]

We have a 'Modern van' with the hail protected roof. As has been mentioned hail does not come down straight. Last year was caught in a big down pour and after checked the roof. Not a mark, rear end panel a few small indentations on the aluminium skin thats life! thats the result of a large box ownership.

My view would be older models do not have the new roof structure, therfor how old is the van. If its say 6 -8 years old and there are no golf ball dents why worry. Pick up a good van and if you come to be the unlucky owner caught in a storm make sure you have insurance.
The van has gone years without damage its no difference than having a traffic accident, sometimes things happen.
Our last van we owned for 8 years sold without a mark on it from hail !! and it did not have the roof design structure.

 

[Pausim]

I first discovered the hail damage to my previous motorhome roof when I tried to attach a suction mount aerial, it kept falling over. Other than that it wasn't a problem.

 

[GWAYGWAY]

If you have multiple dents it is worth buying a paintless dent removal kit and learning how to pull those out with a hotglue pulling set.

 

[Spriddler]

'Technological advances' are mostly solutions to problems you never had until they were fitted.

 

[funflair]

If you have multiple dents it is worth buying a paintless dent removal kit and learning how to pull those out with a hotglue pulling set.

The trouble with a motorhome is that normally the outer skin will be bonded to a foam core so if you try to pull it you will delaminate the skin from the foam or nothing will happen.

Personally if it was just the roof I would stick with the dents.

Martin

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