Bad News For Us

[White rose]

So we finally found a caravan we really liked at the weekend, agreed a price, paid a deposit and the dealer has been out today to look at ours - only to discover that the BPW axle has started to drop on the nearside :-( So that's it - a 2008 van that still looks pristine, but is mechanically unsound. We've not yet owned it a year.

 

Understandably the dealers have no desire to take it in part ex, we won't sell it on privately knowing it has issues, we are reluctant to tow it with such problems so can't use it even if we did decide to keep it . ... They've quoted £1500 for a new axle but have stressed that they wouldn't be prepared to take it in part ex even with that work carried out (and it may take three months from ordering the axle to delivery!).

 

The only thing we perhaps could do is sell it stating the problems that it has, and stressing that it would be perfectly suitable as is for a family who wished to have a lovely caravan simply to site it somewhere, as it will be fine parked up. We'd be happy to tow it within a couple of hours' radius for the purchaser - but how on earth would I decide how much to sell it for?

 

Has anyone else been in the same position - and what did you do? A quick google suggests it's perhaps more common than I would have expected . ..

[mayblossom]

Can you get a second opinion regarding repair as that sounds a lot of money really sorry you 're having to go through this. Why would the dealers not take it in px after repairing the axle? If it's being done at the dealers workshop they'll know the work has been carried out properly . Did they mention if it was just the springs gone on the axle or something else?

[kirkcaravanservice]

I don't understand why they wouldn't take it after a new axle was fitted. but you probably could get it transported to a seasonal pitch and sell it as is may be your most cost effective option.

 

have you contacted bpw to fit a new rubber suspension rather than a new axle

Can you get a second opinion regarding repair as that sounds a lot of money really sorry you 're having to go through this. Why would the dealers not take it in px after repairing the axle? If it's being done at the dealers workshop they'll know the work has been carried out properly . Did they mention if it was just the springs gone on the axle or something else?

fitting a new axle is very expensive hence getting in touch with bpw for repair, dealers cannot replace suspension as you need a hefty hydraulic press to put it together

Edited March 26, 2014 by kirkcaravanservice

[OWOMW]

In your googling of this problem was it predominantly confined to BPW chassis or do AL-KO have a similar problem ?

[kirkcaravanservice]

alko and bpw are built in pretty much the say way so could result in similar problems but it is a pretty unusual one any roads.

[dougie]

Al-ko will rebuild your axle for around £250. BPW do not refurb axles. A new BPW is around £600-£800. . An axle change is straightforward and can be done in 1-2 hrs. Did a spate of both types last year.

[milkymarsh]

Surely it can't mean that you in effect have to throw the van away when the axle fails. I'd go for a second opinion.

Good luck btw!!

 

May be worth trying these. They are a bit of a journey, but they say they repair anything. ...

http://www. lodgefarmleisure. com/repairs. html

Edited March 27, 2014 by milkymarsh

[pagan]

If you have only owned it for less than a year was there no warranty from where you bought it?

[White rose]

Thank you all for your help and suggestions! I'm not feeling quite so defeated by it today, though I still have no idea quite how best to proceed. I need to do a bit of planning today. ..

 

If you have only owned it for less than a year was there no warranty from where you bought it?

 

Nope - it's the first (and last!) time we've bought anything so big privately so we have no comeback. I suspect now that the seller may have been aware of the problem but been less than open about it - we were putting quite a few things together when we talked about it last night. We had the van checked out by a mobile repair man, but he missed a couple of lesser things so I'm not sure he would have picked up on this.

 

May be worth trying these. They are a bit of a journey, but they say they repair anything. ...
http://www. lodgefarmleisure. com/repairs. html

 

 

Thank you - have sent them an email - they're only an hour or so away from here so will see what they suggest.

 

 

Al-ko will rebuild your axle for around £250. BPW do not refurb axles. A new BPW is around £600-£800. . An axle change is straightforward and can be done in 1-2 hrs. Did a spate of both types last year.

 

Thanks Dougie - it's interesting that you did a spate of them last year, the ones I've seen on the internet seemed to be occuring in vans that were around five years old - I wonder whether there's a common theme here? How much would you say would be a reasonable price for doing the job and did you have to wait long after ordering the chassis?

 

In your googling of this problem was it predominantly confined to BPW chassis or do AL-KO have a similar problem ?

 

They mostly seemed to be in BPW, but whether that's because AL-KO can repair rather than replace so it's less of a dramatic problem?

 

I don't understand why they wouldn't take it after a new axle was fitted.

 

 

Can you get a second opinion regarding repair as that sounds a lot of money really sorry you 're having to go through this. Why would the dealers not take it in px after repairing the axle? If it's being done at the dealers workshop they'll know the work has been carried out properly . Did they mention if it was just the springs gone on the axle or something else?

 

I don't know - I think I was a bit too shell-shocked yesterday to ask them, I think maybe because the van would still show cosmetic signs of the movement and that would make it harder to sell? There's some screws coming down the wall at the end of the front bed that are starting to go out of alignment. ..