Elddis Explore 304

What a shame, the xplore 304 is a great caravan except Eldiss has not only cut back on quality and workmanship but thier after sales/warranty service is absolutely terrible.

We love the whole idea of our little 304 but..

Damp is a bug problem - and many other owners have said this.

Weak bed support.

Leaking seals.

We dare not open front window as the caravan can not support it and you struggle to shut it.

The battery charger regulator failed and are gas alarms went off, the battery was extremely hot and ready to explode.

Gas locker door broke soon after purchase - took months to sort under warranty

All this within the first 3 years. We thought we were wise to buy a brand new caravan, sadly not.

We bought an elddis xplore 304 and at first we thought it was just what we wanted but it has been truly awful in reality.

The main plus point of the caravan was the layout including a useful small side dinette and the fact that it can be towed by a smaller car.

HOWEVER: Elddis have seriously compromised the most important aspects of this caravan i.e. it's internal frame, its panel construction and its body integrity.

The ABS plastic panels on the front and back of the caravan are not fit for purpose and are liable to crack within around 2-3 years. Elddis' warranty only covers the "seams" for water ingress apparently - so is misleading and useless and designed only to help Elddis & certainly not the customer.

Added to this Elddis has an awful policy of fobbing customers off when they have serious issues due their poor standards during manufacture.

The other negative points raised by the earlier reviewer(s) are spot on.

My advice is to buy something else if you value your sanity.

Conceptually, a lovely caravan. The reality is rather different, however. I have my doubts that the Elddis warranty is worth anything.

The 304 is a lightweight and very 'compact' caravan, nominally a 4-berth - if you define that as 2 adults and 2 children. It's fine for 2 adults, ideal for 1. The layout is quite clever, though with such a compact caravan most aspects have required compromise. Its not the practicality that I find dissatisfying though, its the build quality and Elddis' response to warranty claims.

Within the 18 months we have observed :

1) The shower curtain isn't long enough. It sticks to the outward-opening door, and dumps large quantities of shower water into the main cabin. We pointed this out to Elddis and commented that a 100mm deeper drop to the curtain would have solved this. Their response was that the couldn't source a curtain with a deeper drop. What they meant is they couldn't be bothered to order a 'special' from a manufacturer and would rather see new customers muck up their van than solve the problem. Pretty complacent thinking.

2) The factory fitted bike rack on the back of the caravan obscures the rear number plate on the van and is thus illegal. Elddis' response was 'no it doesn't' despite being set photographic evidence. I beg to differ; even a blind person could 'feel' this was a problem.

3) The Whale water heater had developed a fault on the thermistor and keeps tripping out. Not strictly an Elddis problem, but finding a local service centre who is prepared to do a warranty repair has proved impossible.

4) The (rear mounted) bike rack came away from the rear face of the van because the fitter over-drilled the pilot hole for a screw and then, rather than properly deal with the problem of his own making, filled the hole with silicon sealant and pushed the screw into that. The rail partially came away whilst on tow. Pretty negligent really, but what took the biscuit was Elddis then claiming that they didn't fit it, despite the fact that it was a factory fit item, and refused a warranty repair on it.

I also know of other Xplore 304 users who have had the rear corner mouldings on the tops of their caravans crack open and allow water ingress. Evidently a design fault.

The earlier models of Explore 304 also had problems with cracks developing in the shower basin floor where there was insufficient support around the shower drain hole, and people stepping into the shower tray (which you can't avoid doing) to get to the loo stressed the plastic until it cracked.

My conclusion is that I think Elddis' service is unacceptable and quality of workmanship poor. I wouldn't recommend them to others, and wouldn't buy another product from them - whether a caravan or motorhome. There must be other manufacturers out there that try harder, in all areas of design, manufacture and service.