Buying a New Caravan

Caravans are expensive consumer goods that people can reasonably expect to use for many years.

However, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) warns consumers to be vigilant about warranties, as some manufacturers’ warranties may only be one to two years.

If your caravan has a major defect, you may be entitled to a refund or replacement under the consumer guarantees even after the expiry of any warranty.

Find out more about warranties and your rights.

If the caravan you buy fails to meet one of the consumer guarantees, you may be entitled to a repair, replacement, or refund. Whether you are eligible for a repair, replacement or refund depends on how major or minor the failure to comply with the consumer guarantee is.

Minor failure

Generally, a minor failure is easily fixed and does not stop the consumer from using the caravan. In this case the supplier may choose to repair the failure or replace the caravan or refund the consumer.

Major failure

A major failure is generally something that makes the caravan unfit for use. When a major failure occurs, the consumer has the right to ask for their choice of replacement or refund.

Whether a failure is major will depend on an assessment of the caravan. As a guide, courts have found the following to be major failures:

• many failures that suggest an unacceptable build quality, even if individually they appear minor and unrelated
• extensive failures with many failed repair attempts over a period
• water leaks which would interfere with a caravan’s core purpose – such as providing shelter.

Repairs must be completed within a reasonable time. If not, the consumer can:

• have the repair done by another business and recover costs from the supplier or
• reject the goods and choose a refund or to have the caravan replaced by the supplier.

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