Never too old to learn

[Petros90]

I joined this forum very recently, too late unfortunately not to make a serious error buying a late 90s (British-made) (Swift) damp van for too much money. The mileage was low, the van attractive with no smell of damp.

I partly blame myself for not actually doing more research. I have been reading posts on this forum the subjects of van construction especially in regard to water ingress. I empathise with the owners' plights,

It does seem quite bizarre to me that in the late 20th century our manufacturers would be using designs, techniques and materials that will fail in the short-term, never mind the long term, when used for the purpose for which they are intended.

The 'new' 'improved' 21st century designs (eg solid, smart) don't seem to address the whole problem, merely a part of it. e.g. Swift say they are using 'timberless' construction but I suspect they are still using ply which can rot and aluminium which can oxidise in the presence of water. Any perforations to the outer (for fixings and joining the main panels together) means that water ingress is still going to be the biggest single cause of a shortened van life and / or Major repair bills.

It's too late for me (!) as I have spent my once-in-a-lifetime pot of money on a duck and now have to find a way round it.

But maybe we could all put our heads together and come up with a way of forcing these manufacturers to re-address their designs.

It's worth remembering at this point that the boss of BMC - I think it may have been Leonard Lord - once said "We are not in the business of making motor cars, we are in the business of making money".

As long as potential customers are under-informed the current situation will carry on, and people will continue to lose huge sums of cash.