Are you glad you bought a BT!

Submitted: Friday, Aug 11, 2006 at 04:18

ThreadID: 122842 Views:4387 Replies:6 FollowUps:4

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Grumblebum & Dragon

My son had his vehicle trucked to Perth (3000 km) to collect a brand new 24' 'van for his ladies mother to live in. I had forwarned him to a give it a thorough test around the back blocks of Perth and then go over it with a fine comb - to sort out any problems.

Pre delivery identified a few problems - door hanging off a cupboard, fridge shelves that could not be moved up or down as the door could not open wide enough and all the shelves were at the top!

Arrive at Geraldton some 450 km on the tar and the hot water hear had a leak that flooded the van. The shower leaked like a sieve as the plastic cover on the laminate had not been removed prior to siliconing ithe base into place - taking it off afterwards creates lots of leaks. An electrical fault in the van caused his car lights to continually fuse - he managed to trace and fix this fault after he ran out of spare fuses.

The cassette toilet was leaking..... don't ask! Several lights had cracked fittings and covers and an entire cupboard had fallen off the wall etc etc - I did not get all the details. Dealers comment "Bring it back and we will have a look at it"

It will be a really good idea for my son not to go back to Perth as his conflict handling skills may be exceeded. If this happens he will probably take the dealer - and his staff apart - in a very unpleasant manner.

Thank goodness we own a BT - that has done many hard miles without missing a beat.

Have a great BT day

Grumblebum and the Dragon.

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Reply By: Maximus - Friday, Aug 11, 2006 at 09:01

Friday, Aug 11, 2006 at 09:01

There is no harm in naming the brand, so you may as well let us know what it is.??? so we can warn people. It is the only way that other manufacturers can be made accountable for shody workmanship. I had trouble with the very poor workmanship in a Coromal and have no problem in warning people to be very carefull in there choice of vans.

AnswerID: 569045

Follow Up By: Bushtracker - Friday, Aug 11, 2006 at 17:24

Friday, Aug 11, 2006 at 17:24

Hello Barrie,
The Ranger doesn't think it is a good idea to be bagging other caravan brands on this site. To tell you the truth I have the biggest collection of HORROR stories told me by Owners of just about every other brand.

The bitumen running vans have a hard time holding up even on the bitumen as some of those roads are pretty rough patchwork quilts. In reality they appear to be made to Holiday somewhere for a couple of weeks parked up, once a year. Unfortunately from the ones we have seen and what is reported to us, some of the so called off-road ones are not much better. We get to hear all of the horror stories, and I don't think we should single out any particular brand....

In truth, the reality is that the Tourist Route is over crowded, and over Booked. And when people start trying to take these type of vans to more remote locations they start to have major problems... When they are out there, they meet up with You the Bushtracker Owners, and that is what sells our vans for us.

High diesel prices? Industry down an admitted 7% to 15% (so double that)? Bushtracker is rumbling along, Booked out about as far as we ever are, situation normal. Who wants to go overseas with the terrorism problems... The venues here are getting more crowded all the time, and out Bush, Bushtracker is the undisputed King. I would bet we have more on the Books even, than any other of the so called off-road vans. Truth is: I don't see the need, and would advise against, naming any of the other brands... please.. It would be a never ending task...

Better done, just saying to EVERYONE, don't buy ANYTHING, until you see how it is built in the respective Factories... Anyone that takes the time to look for themselves, will buy a Bushtracker, unless they just do not know what they are looking at.

Best Regards to all Readers of this site,

A bit of good Advice from the lone Ranger.... Don't buy anything, not even a Bushtracker, don't listen to anyone, not even me... UNTIL you have seen how they are built on the inside. We have your best interests at heart here, take the advice....

FollowupID: 846143

Reply By: Motherhen & Rooster - Friday, Aug 11, 2006 at 10:15

Friday, Aug 11, 2006 at 10:15

Some people who came to see our BT had always wanted one (since long before i had ever heard of Bushtrackers), but chose cheaper alternatives to try and save money, getting supposedly reputable brands (which i can't be sure of enough to name and shame) built to their specifications in the Eastern States. Major problems each time. Still wanting a BT, they acknowledged it would haver been so much cheaper to have got it the first time. I hope they have one either well on the way or delivered by now.

Motherhen

Red desert dreaming

Follow our travelogues, bush camping and other travel hints at www.australiasomuchtosee.com

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AnswerID: 569046

Reply By: Bushtracker - Friday, Aug 11, 2006 at 17:29

Friday, Aug 11, 2006 at 17:29

Grumblebum and Dragon,
Thank you for the kind words on an ealier post regarding my endeavors...

Please see my response above to Barrie who requested the brand of the caravan horror story you have Posted, and my advice that we not start down the other brand naming. It is not a single brand issue from all of the horror stories we get here...

Thank you again, lone Ranger.......

AnswerID: 569047

Follow Up By: Grumblebum & Dragon - Friday, Aug 11, 2006 at 22:52

Friday, Aug 11, 2006 at 22:52

I have no intention of naming the brand or the dealer. I guess they get more than enough feedback from their customers - who will probably only ever buy one of their vans.

have a good horse day.

John

FollowupID: 846144

Reply By: Maximus - Friday, Aug 11, 2006 at 21:05

Friday, Aug 11, 2006 at 21:05

Steve

Fair enough. I went too far on that one. I get a bit angry at times with these stories as I currently know of 4 friends with new vans , all different brands and none are happy with what they got. I take your point that there is no gain in stirring up too much mud on the BOG. I guess we really have to accept that a vast majority of buyers just do not have the coin to buy a Bushtracker. Let me say though that 2 of them want to have a good look at our Bushtracker..

Cheers

AnswerID: 569048

Follow Up By: Turist - Friday, Aug 11, 2006 at 22:55

Friday, Aug 11, 2006 at 22:55

Barrie have a read of post 2362 on the Owners Forum.
Says a lot about this subject.
And probably best left on the owners forum for the reasons given there.

Regards
Bob

"Do It While You Can"
Nobody is getting any younger.

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Reply By: Maximus - Saturday, Aug 12, 2006 at 03:46

Saturday, Aug 12, 2006 at 03:46

Bob

Yes I read that. You got it in one.

Cheers

AnswerID: 569049

Reply By: Turist - Thursday, Aug 17, 2006 at 00:04

Thursday, Aug 17, 2006 at 00:04

Another reason to buy a BT.
I borrowed this post from another forum, sure they won't mind.
You really have to feel sorry for the owners though.

We didn't want to labour this as appearing to seek sympathy, but we needed to show what rubbish is being churned out by the caravan manufacturers today.
These are the defects the manufacturer is attending to currently, albeit somewhat reluctantly.
The roof leaked badly, and the ceiling sheets were damaged as well as the cabinets, the solar panels fixed incorrectly, the roof depressed causing ponding, the shower waste outlet was 4 mm higher than the floor, water pooled and couldn't drain, a door hinged the wrong way and reversed leaving exposed screw holes with coloured putty to camouflage it, a damaged rangehood, microwave fixed out of level, shower leaked into the cassette compartment, vinyl floor damaged,CD/DVD/Radio didn't work, no remote no instructions, the sink leaked badly, wall light didn't work, a light hanging off wall, shoddy finish to all cabinets and furniture, no chassis riser as ordered, most shelf edges delaminating, downlights poorly fitted, staples through ceiling sheets, staples rusting in cupboards, pantry shelves collapsing when travelling, bench top join substandard, galsheeting in boot unfixed, flapping loosely. There are other minor things but that will suffice for now, without nitpicking. Last Monday, 7/08/06, we faxed a letter of complaint to the Recreational Vehicle Manufacturers association of Australia setting out the list of defects, and also our concerns over one of their members, and they have just ignored us. Says it all doesn't it?

"Do It While You Can"
Nobody is getting any younger.

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Follow Up By: Bushtracker - Thursday, Aug 17, 2006 at 02:56

Thursday, Aug 17, 2006 at 02:56

Thanks for that Turist,

I get to hear all the horror stories here at Bushtracker.... I think they all just trade Customers around to keep on doing the same thing... In all fairness, from some of the prices I see on this stuff, I sometimes think WE SHOULD RAISE OUR PRICES MORE.. Ha!

At the very least, with some of the prices they are charging, for dubious quality to say the least, we are absolutely the best value for money... And in comparison, we are inexpensive for what you get. To top it all off, four other Companies are now as or more expensive!! And from what I am told, we have the highest resale of any van in Australia.

Quality pays off in the long run.
Lone Ranger, doin the right thing,
Semper Fidelis

FollowupID: 846146