Bailey

[Fishmantogo]

Thinking of buying a Bailey motorhome
What should I look out for ie damp ford engine
And anything else

 

[Pausim]

Never owned a Bailey but have two friends who did and both had water ingress problems. Their experiences may not be typical.

 

[Neil S]

never had any problems with our Bailey when we bought it new in 2015 it was pretty reliable and gave us 4 years and 20,000 miles trouble free motoring .
it was Peugeot engined

 

[Bailey58]

We had water coming into the overcab section on our new Bailey in 2013 but it was a poor seal on a covering plate with the water escaping down the B pillar. There was no contact with any part of the van and it was sorted at the dealer in no time. Went into limp mode which was discovered to be a relay but apart from those minor faults it was sold with a clean damp check in 2023. Peugeot based too.

 

[Ingwe]

Our 2012 Bailey 620 Approach has no water ingress issues. Checked annually during hab check. Been pretty happy with it overall.

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[Pausim]

Might be worth looking at this thread.

Asking for a refund - how to calculate fair wear and tear?

We bought at brand new motorhome from a local Hampshire dealer in September 2023. With some extras we had fitted by the dealer before purchase (wifi, tracker, alarm, etc) we paid just shy of £78,000. We've had mechanical and habitation problems from the 2nd day, we've taken it back to them...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

 

[Ray-Vic]

I think you need to consider that Bailey is a large company who've been around for a very long time. Whilst some would and do argue that the quality of finish isn't good, this isn't our experience with our 2020 79-4. We've had no major issues at all, and only a couple of small ones with some screws coming loose on a cabinet catch (replaced with slightly larger screws resolved that) and the straps holding the sliding doors open using poppers kept coming off, so replaced with webbing and toggle catches.

We've had no water ingress issues, and have used ours all year, including driving and staying in very heavy rain.

We have a Peugeot cab so can't comment on the Ford engine, and this has been faultless.

 

[4b2b2b]

We purchased our Bailey 75-4 from new in 2019. The only issues were where the Dealer’s complete incompetence at even being able to achieve anything like an acceptable PDI!
Having driven it away from the Dealer ( just), and getting to know all of its quirks on the whole I must admit it has been a really good van. There was very minor issues to sort out but in my opinion these should have all been resolved by the Dealer but I would not have trusted them to service my wheel barrow!
No signs of water ingress whatsoever and for my own peace of mind in the winter I put one of these cheap dehumidifier hang up bag things. To date I have never had a drop of water.
It’s based on a Peugeot and has performed perfectly to date and 13,000 miles.
I often look at other Motor Homes at dealers and am still reassured that it was a good buy.
Would I buy a Bailey again?
Yes

 

[PaulC70]

I guess you will note that

a) all motorhomes have varying issues on pickup (first Bailey brand new had a knackered fridge, all sorted by dealers, second Bailey, no real issues, a couple of niggles that I sorted myself as it's easier than waiting for warranty claims)

and

b) All replies are re the Peugeot bases, ie Advance, Alliance and Autographs. The Adamo on the other hand is based on the Transit and personally, if you go for the Adamo, you're first stop should be Vanbitz for Alarm/tracker/metastop as you may as well leave them unlocked otherwise.

 

[starquake]

ref b). Even with a Peugeot the inbuilt immobiliser is worthless, can be reprogrammed in sub 30 seconds by a locksmith (and I imagine a thief) withotu the original keys. (We had to get a key cut and it was AMAZING how quick it was for a locksmith).

Whatever you do on any van get a good third party immobiliser introduced into the van -> and not one that's trivial to remove is my advice. We went with Vanbitz for the immmobiliser, alarm and tracker. Remember you probably will be spending 50k+ for a good example so insurance may insist on a S5 tracker anyhow, so you may as well get the immobiliser at same time. (not having one will limit underwriters too, so you may pay more if you can even get insurance).

Ref; Bailey, we've had ours a year, no signs of damp (yet) and it's holiding up well despite heavy use, we've used as much in last year as the previous owner had done over 4. We're off to the continent next year for an extended break but are mostly doign UK touring due to our jobs not allowing us to work abroad in meantime.

The Ford cab based Baileys do have more issues judging by posts on the Bailey owners group on Facebook however -> and they are also a heavier chassis, but this is probably because this is all that is being delivered for most part at moment, so you are getting a lot of first timers.

But I'm equally a realist, if you visit any UK campsite you'll see a lot of Bailey owners, and the majority of them we have met are very happy with their motorhomes.

If you think payload will be a problem you may want to look at the slightly older Alliance series Bailey ran to 2021-2 as these had actual decent payloads (500-700kg) for a normal licence (3.5t) drivable van unlike the Adamo/Autograph series (usually sub 300kg) which pretty much will all need a C1 license to drive as likely will need upplating (unlike the older models). The older models are attracting a premium price on the second hand market from what we have seen due to the high (and real) payload.

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[Googlebot]

I had 2 Bailey caravans from new, both leaked, one significantly.

I probably wouldn’t buy another, but that said, they were good vans at the right price overall.

They pack a lot of van, into a smaller price IMO.

If buying new, choose a dealer close to home, you will need to return it several times to sort niggles out, it gets annoying if it’s miles away.

If second hand, choose a good dealer and check it to within an inch of its life while they warranty it.

Finally, check the payload, it’s woeful on the Bailey vans generally and you might get caught out.

 

[starquake]

Finally, check the payload, it’s woeful on the Bailey vans generally and you might get caught out.

Indeed, expect to need to upplate a Adamo or Autograph series van -> with only 2-300kg payload, arguably you'll fill that before having your belongings fully in the van. Remember food and drink also are a substatial weight if you carrying a weeks worth (as we have been known to).

Worth noting the lack of payload isn't a unique to Bailey thing -> many motorhomes based on the Ford chassis suffer this.

 

[PaulC70]

unlike the Adamo/Autograph series (usually sub 300kg) which pretty much will all need a C1 license to drive as likely will need upplating (unlike the older models). The older models are attracting a premium price on the second hand market from what we have seen due to the high (and real) payload.

Indeed, expect to need to upplate a Adamo or Autograph series van -> with only 2-300kg payload

Weird as my Autograph (2020) 792F has a payload of 780Kg

 

[starquake]

Weird as my Autograph (2020) 792F has a payload of 780Kg

Oh thats nuts, I didn't know the 2020's had that. All of the models we looked at had 3-400Kg, may depend on the model then I guess. We looked at a few 2018-2021 and all has lower, but that was what was avaialble at time, which was different from what was sold.... most had been upplated.

Similar to you our Alliance came from factory with a similar payload, meaning it's near impossible to overload no matter how much we put in the van.

 

[PaulC70]

Oh thats nuts, I didn't know the 2020's had that. All of the models we looked at had 3-400Kg, may depend on the model then I guess. We looked at a few 2018-2021 and all has lower, but that was what was avaialble at time, which was different from what was sold.... most had been upplated.

Similar to you our Alliance came from factory with a similar payload, meaning it's near impossible to overload no matter how much we put in the van.

Yep, I love our autograph but kinda miss our Alliance I have to admit.

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[Ray-Vic]

Oh thats nuts, I didn't know the 2020's had that. All of the models we looked at had 3-400Kg, may depend on the model then I guess. We looked at a few 2018-2021 and all has lower, but that was what was avaialble at time, which was different from what was sold.... most had been upplated.

Similar to you our Alliance came from factory with a similar payload, meaning it's near impossible to overload no matter how much we put in the van.

The models do vary quite a bit. My 79-4T is 574kg.

 

[Gerby]

Bought our Autograph 79-6 back in 2017 and thus far had no water ingress issues at all, the Peugeot boxer engine has always been pretty much spot on, as with most people had a few minor issues when first purchased all of which were sorted out for me by the dealer.

 

[Pausim]

The only way to know the real payload is get the motorhome weighed. I had my last 2 new motorhomes weighed by the dealers before I completed the purchases. I also weighed them again after purchase, as soon as I had them fully loaded. The published figures for my 2019 purchase were well out, my 2024 purchase was pretty much bang on. Beware the payload fairy stories, especially in the older brochures.