please may I first say that Joe and co employees at Leisure Caravan in Fawlkner Victoria did a wonderful job on restoring errors of mechanics, sales persons, whilst restoring my faith re confidence in towing a van for first time.

Since left Newcastle mid November, these are the list of work re mechanics had done, but put my life, my passengers life, and everyone on road life in danger of being killed

FIRSTLY

Van  was purchased in Newcastle in October,2014 , second hand but still under 1 yr ,,,  van originally wired for 14point plug, but was changed to 7pt ,,, Knowing this, van sold. New to caravanning Upon towing van home, the van was extremely jerking car, so phoned salesman, who both come test drove and agreed problem till found towing hall button in car.

So van towed to house where it stayed in yard till early November till ready to retire and travel

Secondly

had break towing system removed from one car and put into another,,   At no time did this auto electrician ask for van, just asked number of points on plug,   So being green again, not realising , he had not bothered checking A) did system work properly B) did all wiring connect with van C) most importantly, told just to drive car, no problems, don't touch anything

Thirdly

when travel began, first day connected up van to go, no rear left blinker, so again to caravan company, who had one sent up from Melbourne,

Fourth

day blinker arrived, connected van to car, sparks flew,, drove to sales, had light fitted, and when told about sparks, went to back of van 8 secs, and all fixed told. So off I went, back home to pick a few things up, To cut a long story, Brakes behind front left tyre of car glowing red hot, squealing, and took to mechanic, checked brake pads, said it was dust , all ok to drive off

Fifth

Left Newcastle on 10th November, got as far as Pennants hills before brakes overheating again, trouble pulling up,,,   due to mechanics advice after test run, sent to elsewhere for thorough repairs

Sixth

So specialist had car for day, said all ok brakes on car, gave detailed instructions on what to do with braking system, and how to adjust braking system when caravan on.

Seven

left area next day with van in tow, adjusted braking system as instructed, and numbers on breaking system going off like a poker machine without jackpot,,  so found another auto electrician who said one in car faulty, need to replace, This mechanic had car and van, so put new system in place, and told to drive off, not touch a thing on controls

Eight

drove through to snowy mountains, put van in yard to do house sit, and 3 weeks later, put in mechanics hand to grease and oil wheel bearings of van, told firstly the magnets of van brakes were not sticking which meant the brake pads not engaging, ,,, then further investigation found the braking system needed to be levelled, After test run, shown to adjust dials, all well...  went back to house

Nine

after three days parked in yard, packed ready to go , did the usual check, no rear left blinker on van, same one replaced in November So phoned Joe at Melbourne Leisure Caravans, and he wanted to have van and car to find problems

So off I drove from NSW snowy mountains to Melbourne with no rear left blinker,  so in peak hour traffic it was a nightmare to say the least, Cars and trucks behind me had no idea what I wanted to do, so often had to divert as could not change lanes, And yes again Brakes overheated again so stopped at nearest caravan park

Ten

When arrived at Leisure Caravans in Fawlkner, to say I was not a very nice person was an understatement. I was livid, frightened, shaken, lost and ready to ditch van and run to the hills. Joe calmly said, calm down, we will look at whats happening, and rectify problems

Well these guys worked on it for 5 hrs, had to rewire van, back to 14 pt, rewire car to suit, fixed some other problems for me, re I lost a rear leg of van due to rock garden, lid on exhaust due to trees,  window damaged and not locking, and did some briefing with me,,, 

What was discovered from Joe, was !) van should never have been changed to 7pt and Anderson plug   2) the tyres of van were freely spinning, no traction on them,  3) when took brake system out of car brake wires were burnt

So moral of story, how car did not burn out, they do not know,    So with number three braking system put in since November 2014, I feel more confident driving with van now. This all goes to thanks for Joe and co workers for their support, understanding and only charged me for parts.re braking system and plug

So  hopefully I have helped some other green person like me to know what to get done , what to have checked,   All this has cost me so much money, stress, fear, and should all have been avoided by correct sales people and electricians.

good luck and take care, have good travels.

omg. leisure caravans in Victoria sure do deserve a plug on here.

Welcome to the playground . happy adventures from now on. regards. rocket n strop

Dougwe

If your fridge is a Thetford you will have the gas blow out every time the wind blows.   Make a cover about 4 in x 6 in and cover the exhaust outlet.  Make it similar in design to the Surburban HWH Cover.   Sides folded (1in face van wall) with top and bottom open.   You could have anymore problems.

Cheers

I feel for you Lynec61. It is sooo difficult to find a mechanic who knows about caravans and wiring and brake control systems!

We had problems with the brakes getting hot and squealing on one caravan wheel on GOR (not a Leisure caravan) and 1st mechanic repacked the bearings on that wheel and said its ok, $75. Halfway across Australia,... no mechanics workshop on the Nullarbor... we took it to a brake specialist in Esperance. New magnets in both caravan wheels, said its ok, $650. Still doing it in Perth, took to a caravan repairer there who checked both tug and van, all the wiring, and replaced the brake controller. Another $400.

All well now.

Lynette

I would take all this information and put a claim into your local Department of Fair Trading against the selling dealer and claim all cost incurred in having the van made suitable for purpose.

The caravan industry needs a good investigation by the ACCC on their operations and warranty procedures and I would be happy to put in a submission and have they industry cleaned up.

I what I see and hear is everyone has problems, but due to frustration many of the problems are fixed by the purchaser !!!!!!!!!!!!

thankyou for your kind words of understanding and advice,   My delimna here is a comedy (unquote) of errors,,,  

firstly caravan never leaves leisure caravans in Melbourne without 14pt plug

dealer bought van, sold it to a couple who after 6mths decided to trade in to upgrade, bigger van,,, they were the people who changed to plugs, but dealer should have still not sold van knowing the 7 pt and Anderson plug put itn

then auto electrician who took braking system out of jeep Cherokee into prado should have had van, and 1) checked unit 2) checked wiring against van

then the replacement brake system at I cant name place, had van and car, just replaced and not checked if all connected.  Also criminal he told me and co passenger at time to not touch unit, just drive, even though knew were going to snowy mountains

the repairs I had in snowy , they are getting in contact with leisure vans, as owner was away one day when his employees did some work, so heads may roll there

I am now in Victoria, going to Frankston tomorrow, first time I have towed van since the 18th as have done house sitting,,, I will not deny my nerves will be on edge, and quite frankly am thinking of selling van and buying a bus,,,

hope to meet up with you one day when your on the road,,, maybe soon

take care

lyne