I think we have found our Van

[Luvin156]

Hi there

We are going to have a look at a Swift Lifestyle 590rs 2007 face lift on Monday and we are pretty sure that its the one

Just wondering what past and present owners of swifts think and any advise or key areas to have a look at when viewing?

We are quite lucky as the van still has 18 months Marquis warrantee left to run and apparently it is transferable.

Thanks in advance

Paul

 

[Mandthelifeboats]

Where can you buy a good damp meter!

 

[Luvin156]

Broadland Leisure vehicles in Acle. They don't have many, but maybe worth a look

They haven't got what we are looking for also I find them pricey for the age and condition compared to others

 

[scotjimland]

Becks are ok they let us down we had a deal in place and we're ready to pay the deposit and it had sold for more Within an hour or so!

I've never heard a bad word about Becks before now.. . .. we bought our van from them and had great service, wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.

Did you expect them to reserve it for you without a deposit .. did you sign anything to say you were buying ? No dealer would pass up on a sale because someone else had shown an interest.

Choosing ..

All motorhomes have the same appliances made by Dometic, Truma, Fiamma etc.. 90% have a Fiat or Merc base vehicle.. and perhaps Al-ko chassis.. so look beyond that..

The real differences are in the coachwork. ... the construction method..

My advice.. buy a van without a timber frame and you won't need carpentry skills .. look for motorhomes with a bonded sandwich construction, for example, Hymer PUAL system.. water ingress may happen at windows but it won't rot the wall or cause delamination.. the close cell insulation does not absorb water . There is no structural timber..

 

[Luvin156]

I've never heard a bad word about Becks before now.. . .. we bought our van from them and had great service, wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.

Did you expect them to reserve it for you without a deposit .. did you sign anything to say you were buying ? No dealer would pass up on a sale because someone else had shown an interest.

Choosing ..

All motorhomes have the same appliances made by Dometic, Truma, Fiamma etc.. 90% have a Fiat or Merc base vehicle.. and perhaps Al-ko chassis.. so look beyond that..

The real differences are in the coachwork. ... the construction method..

My advice.. buy a van without a timber frame and you won't need carpentry skills .. look for motorhomes with a bonded sandwich construction, for example, Hymer PUAL system.. water ingress may happen at windows but it won't rot the wall or cause delamination.. the close cell insulation does not absorb water . There is no structural timber..

Thanks for the advise I have always thought that timber construction is a bit of an odd material to use in a caravan/motor home.

As for Beck I'm not bad mouthing them by any way just thought that there customer skills were lacking when I came to dealing with us. We didn't expect them to reserve it for us until the deposit was paid but a call to say that they have someone interested would you like put a deposit down would have been good it was only a couple of hours between getting a deal in place and someone else buying it.

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[Minxy]

and the money saving idea of using non waterproof ply in the floors in 2004. must of cost swift millions in warranty repairs. even now they dont water seal around the rear wheel arches so the rot starts the first time they are driven on the road

I am certainly not laughing at swift, as a previous owner of a brand new one delivered with multiple faults, I would not recommend them or marquis to anyone

Or in our experience the gas locker bottom vent ... we ended up with a swimming pool in our 590RS (2001) as the water flooded in whilst we were travelling around Ireland and was sloshing around under the side sofa base ... I am NOT kidding!

Swift do make nice MHs it's true and do get ribbing about leaking etc but some of it IS deserved, however I wouldn't let it put me off it the one I was looking to buy if was truly damp-free.

Another thing to look for on any motorhome is the age of the tyres, including the spare, check when they were made as it's not uncommon for some vehicles to still have the originals on even 10 years later if they have a low mileage!

 

[scotjimland]

it was only a couple of hours between getting a deal in place and someone else buying it.

I understand your disappointment .. perhaps in this instance they could/should have let you know.. but good vans sell quickly... some are snapped up before they hit the forecourt.. the salesperson saw a sale and naturally took it..

it was a buyers market but it looks like that has changed.. motorhomes are selling in greater numbers than at any time in the past..

 

[Dave and Ginny]

I have to agree with what Jim has said above; we bought our 2002 Hymer privately and I have to be honest looking back with my limited knowledge on motorhomes at the time was a bit of a gamble where I came out lucky I think due to the quality of the product. I can honestly say that in 6 years of ownership it's not cost me anything beyond the routine service costs.

We had a water leak around a fiamma fan vent over the kitchen whilst in Scotland. I got into a right panic as I had previously owned both a Swift and a Compass caravan that had suffered horrendous damage due to water egress. No problem with the Pual construction though, just a case of removal and re-fit.

 

[Luvin156]

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Found this, seems too good to be true can i have peoples thoughts please, its a LHD, we will be doing 70% uk and 30% europe.

 

[Dave and Ginny]

Looks a good price and nice spec and I'm assuming this is the kinda layout that your looking for.
As for LHD, well it does reduce the sale price but also don't forget the re-sale price. But I have one and never thought I would use it abroad as much as we do...so I now have a preference for LHD (once you get over using the door handle to change gear its all good ) Good luck.

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[Luvin156]

Looks a good price and nice spec and I'm assuming this is the kinda layout that your looking for.
As for LHD, well it does reduce the sale price but also don't forget the re-sale price. But I have one and never thought I would use it abroad as much as we do...so I now have a preference for LHD (once you get over using the door handle to change gear its all good ) Good luck.

Thanks, we have two growing lads so need as much room as possible

 

[scotjimland]

I've never heard of a Hymer Nobel art , as far as I know Nobel Art is made by SEA .. could be wrong of course.. try Googling it

If so, then has been misrepresented.. and know little about it ..

I think this is the same motorhome on Gumtree , 108 days ago at £29,995, being sold through motorhomedepot.com..https://www.gumtree.com/p/campervan...-6-berth-left-hand-drive-motorhome/1168832810

be very careful, I smell scam

 

[Luvin156]

I've never heard of a Hymer Nobel art , as far as I know Nobel Art is made by SEA .. could be wrong of course.. try Googling it

If so, then has been misrepresented.. and know little about it ..

I think this is the same motorhome on Gumtree , 108 days ago at £29,995, being sold through motorhomedepot.com..https://www.gumtree.com/p/campervan...-6-berth-left-hand-drive-motorhome/1168832810

be very careful, I smell scam

I have been googling it and can't find any info on this van which i find a bit funny as i can in everything else i have looked into, and when the wife entered the reg no. into the .gov website it couldn't find it.
I will give this a wide birth

 

[Luvin156]

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This is the MH we are looking at tomorrow

 

[hilldweller]

Fortunately those days are long gone,

Is that why they dumped the whole wooden construction method and moved to plastic with the comment on one of their videos "now if it leaks it does not matter, plastic does not rot" or very similar wording.

Yes a good one is very good but a bad one is very bad. All the evidence is here and on other forums.

Take great care buying one is the best advice.

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[scotjimland]

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This is the MH we are looking at tomorrow

Do you have children.. your avatar says you may have ?

This van only has two travel seats.. that will only be the driver and front seat passenger with seat belts

 

[deleted-member02]

Becks are ok they let us down we had a deal in place and we're ready to pay the deposit and it had sold for more Within an hour or so!

On the plus side, if it sold quickly it was probably a 'good un' so you're obviously looking at the right vans

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Found this, seems too good to be true can i have peoples thoughts please, its a LHD, we will be doing 70% uk and 30% europe.

Looks good, around the right price I would've thought, they're very popular in Europe ( a few hire companies have them).
Chausson Flash 03 and Hymer 622cl have the same layout

Speaking of layout - we also have two kids, bunks are great, but living with just a dinette can be hard work. Seating position is not the most comfortable and you can all feel 'a bit on top of each other'.
Not an issue if you're mostly living outside but since you'll be mostly in the UK it's worth considering...

These layouts offer a huge improvement in the quality of your living space (speaking from experience) and not much longer.

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[Minxy]

Do you have children.. your avatar says you may have ?

This van only has two travel seats.. that will only be the driver and front seat passenger with seat belts

No it has 4, the front facing dinette has 2 x 3-point belts too, they've just been tucked away out of sight, you can see the centre support for the top of the belts covered with the material.

 

[scotjimland]

No it has 4, the front facing dinette has 2 x 3-point belts too, they've just been tucked away out of sight, you can see the centre support for the top of the belts covered with the material.

I can't see the bottom part of the belt.. but you may well be correct..

I was just going by the advert description.. 'Two travelling seats' .. which can be misunderstood.. as I have done..

they are usually described as belted seats.. in which case that would be FOUR belted seats..

on a lighter note.. surprised it didn't say how many children it had given 'birth' to

 

[Night Owl]

If the van you are going to see had a habitation check in March 2016 it should be ok regarding damp etc and you can always check it yourself with your damp meter. Seems a good deal to me. Good luck

Peter

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[Luvin156]

Do you have children.. your avatar says you may have ?

This van only has two travel seats.. that will only be the driver and front seat passenger with seat belts

We do have two boys, the add is a bit confusing as when We spoke to the current owner he did assure us it was two rear travelling seats

It seems a good deal and all sounds good on the damp front but will still take a damp meter to have a nosey around myself.

I've tried to have a little barter down on the price but he is sticking to his guns.

 

[Luvin156]

Also has anyone ever heard of a 12 year manufactures water ingress and de-lamination warranty? As the owner has said that the swifts all come with this from the point of registration.

 

[DanielFord]

Also has anyone ever heard of a 12 year manufactures water ingress and de-lamination warranty? As the owner has said that the swifts all come with this from the point of registration.

In the land of make believe that might be true, but no, that is totally far fetched. Never heard of anything like that. The van does look good though!

 

[Minxy]

Also has anyone ever heard of a 12 year manufactures water ingress and de-lamination warranty? As the owner has said that the swifts all come with this from the point of registration.

Sorry that is just wrong, there's no way ANY motorhome manufacturer would ever give that ... not even Hymer!

 

[Minxy]

If you definitely want it insist on it being taken to a weigh bridge first so you know for sure what payload you've got left in total and on each axle.

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[Minxy]

deleted ... thought I saw something weird in one of the photos but it wasn't ... must go to get some new glasses!

 

[Debs]

Also has anyone ever heard of a 12 year manufactures water ingress and de-lamination warranty? As the owner has said that the swifts all come with this from the point of registration.

Some of the caravan manufacturers started to do that - our coachman came with a 10 year guarantee & I think Baileys stated to do it....

He should have the certificates & paperwork to prove it. No idea if Swift will talk to customers direct but is it worth ringing them & asking?

Looking at the links from kasbroodge I notice a ci Mitzur - @Ralph-n-Bev had one of those & loved it when their kids still travelled with them.

Good luck in your search

 

[Minxy]

Some warranty info here for pre 2012 models:



I suspect he's mixing the 12 month first year (from new) warranty up and thinking its a 12 year one!

 

[Langtoftlad]

Bailey's did do a long guarantee but they've now backed out of that commitment. Doesn't cover damp now.

 

[Spanda]

I know i suppose that i wouldn't buy any van, but its hard to know whats best.

Im going to have to travel 4 hours to go and see this van so maybe its too far to be disappointed yet again.

We have only just bought our first motorhome - a Swift Sundance 590 RS - so we can't comment on the build quality etc of Swifts as yet. But we did find lots of variable quality in the dealers we visited. I wouldn't have bought a bicycle from some of them. Pushy sales types at some, couldn't care less attitude at others, and the odd arrogant so and so who treated us like idiots because we didn't know anything about the technical side of motorhomes. In the end we went with a dealer we felt comfortable with after researching them thoroughly on the web. So that would be our advice. If there is even the vaguest question in your mind when you ring the dealer to arrange to go to see their offerings, don't go. Wait until you find a dealer you feel comfortable with. There are always loads of other dealers and loads of other motorhomes.

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[madgeD]

Thanks for this

I didn't realise they were made fun of, they seem to be a very popular brand.

I'm taking a damp meter with me and I'm going to go through it very well. He people who are selling it have kept up to date with the habitation certs and servicing to keep the marquis warranty going, that I have looked into and seems very good. So hopefully all will be well.

You will find that the people that make fun have never had one we had a Swift kontiki 610 it was a lovely van well made we only sold it to downsize. Check it over, use a damp meter , we didn't have any damp , but any van no matter what make can have problems, make sure you have a warranty and if you are unhappy about anything go back and insist it is put right.

Good luck and enjoy motor homing.

We bought our new van from Marquis it's a PVC we had a problem with marks inside window, and I wasn't happy with seat cover on bench seats both were sorted in a couple of weeks and I found the staff very helpful.