Martin, Your new caravan and car will have a longer life span if you keep both hands on the steering wheel - so will you 😉

Hi Martin. I've had a variety of caravans since the 80s, We have had 2 Bailey Senators, the worst ones we've had, cost us lots of pennies. Got a Swift now and love it. Brother has a 2018 swift, had a few problems but nothing major. Well done buddy. Good luck and enjoy. Thumbs up thumped 👍 Stay safe. ....Pete and Su....

Thanks for sharing your experience and good on you for not passing the problem bailey on,i bought our 2015 bailey valencia 3 weeks ago,but before i bought it i went through the whole van with a damp meter and didnt find anything, and we love it,the criteries where a fixed bed Tall fridge,motor mover and single axle,i nearly went for a vigo privatly until i saw the service report in 2022 which stated 48% moisture reading and the engineer said it was ok for now but keep an eye on it🙄🙄 couldnt belive what an engineer had written ! so that one was a no brainer,but the guy readvertised on ebay not a mention of damp. i did buy from a dealer and luckly enough it came with everything,it was well looked after. I can understand when people have a bad experience with a caravan they wouldnt go back to that brand,but i think all brands have there issues. but you now have a nice van and hope you have a problem free experience

Well done Martin, the absolute best layout, you could’ve had a look in ours at donkey creek as we have the same , enjoy 👍

Lovely van, will look forward to watching your new videos. I too agree in my latest caravan it wasn’t cleaned to my expectations but was acceptable is how I put it

Hi guys, what a stunning van! Looks absolutely immaculate! I loved the Swift I had, you won’t go wrong pal 👍

Good choice of van , I have a 2017 560 , had it for 3 years now and never had any trouble with it so far.

That is so weird...we have just traded our 2018 challenger 560 in for a new Bailey Madrid. We loved the fixed bed but felt it took up too much space. Yes we now make up the 2 sofas into single beds and it literally only takes minutes. I am hoping it doesn't come back to bite us with it being a Bailey. We got it in March and have had 4 weeks and so far are loving it. Wishing you lots of fabulous holidays in your caravan you will love it

Congratulations to you both. What a lovely van. You seem very happy about your choice Martin, well done and we are looking forward to seeing your future videos 😃👍🏻 Trev n Sue

Good choice Martin and Angela. Welcome to the Swift clan 😁👍

Sorry to hear about your old Bailey but I knew about issues for the early Alu tec body shells. I have a series 3 Cartagena which we bought 2nd hand last year with no issues and a 3 year warranty including water ingress so hopefully should be covered if anything goes wrong. Only van I would change it for is a Swift 635 Grande challenger, which is similar to yours with the mid bathroom but transverse rear bed. Unfortunately I’m too tall for a rear end in line bed like yours even the twin axle version. Hope the new van brings you many happy memories. 😀

Congratulations guys , you were saying that the cassette stinks, we bought a 2nd hand caravan a few year’s ago, I don’t know if they still do it but we bought a toilet kit , it came with a new cassette and toilet seat , just a thought 👍🏻

Smart looking caravan Martin & Angela 👍. I bet it feels up to date and modern at the side of the old Bailey 😁. I wonder what you’ll be fitting to it first, maybe a motor mover 🤔. Look forward to your future projects. Cheers, Rob & Gail 😀

Pretty much the same as my bessacar cameo 645 2014. Cupboards etc.

Lovely van that mate, im team swift aswel 💪🏻. Best of luck

Looks like a lovely van, very posh!

Congratulations Martin and Angela, new van looks a beauty.

Gorgeous van. Can't wait to have the Grand Tour. X

Don’t forget a thetford toilet refresh kit it consists of a new tank and toilet seat enjoy your new van great channel

Lovely van Martin and Angela..love the carbon fibre effect front has locker door 👍 It was the alarm motion sensor flashing at you on the floor..it has a battery backup situated behind it. So glad you decided to keep on caravanning we like watching your videos. Looking forward to the second part of the update. Best wishes Linda and Glenn 🙂👍

Hi Martin, I’ve had 3 Challengers without any real issues, I think you’ll be glad you got one. Happy holidays

Hi Martin, hope you're both ok. Enjoy your new van, it reminds me of Deb & Tony's old van. my V5 hasn't been bad, just the front blinds, and seats saggy seat bases, not bad for a new van, see you soon Andy 👍

Very nice Martin 👍 To think not long ago you was giving caravanning up😂

There are serious issues across the industry. Take it from me (.i used to make motorhomes at the UK's largest independent motorhome manufacturer) and after the 2008-10 financial crash the ' upstairs staff ' worked tirelessly to source cheaper and vastly inferior raw materials. This had an obvious detrimental effect on quality. BUT all manufacturers did it yet increased their prices and maintained vast profit margins. In fact I asked the MD regarding water ingress and he told me that £2000 had been added to list prices purely because they knew they couldn't keep the water out, thus they all went to plastic framing ( replacing timber) and like bailey did, replaced plywood wallboards for a plastic too. Hence a lot of modern vans that let water in no longer smell fusty and damp. Bailey made their alutech bodyshell simply too rigid and caused numerous issues from the start.

That brought a smile to my face Martin😊 good luck to you both and many happy camping days to come. We bought a 2017 Challanger 645 last year and absolutely love it. Only thing is, it’s hard to find stuff to fix 😂.

We had exactly the same problem with a bailey pegasus we bought from a dealer. We decided 4 months later that it was the wrong van for us so we went to trade it in. And yes the checks showed up 75% moisture around the floor and door. Was gutted but fortunately the original dealer took it back at a loss to us, after much discussion 😡 enjoy your new van!!😊

Nice Van, looking forward to part 2 of the video.

Nice van Martin sure you’ll enjoy it

Hi Martin, nice new van, we looked at Swift 560 but due to centre wall & me being tall no room for my long legs so chose Elddis Chatsworth 550 due so my legs could hang over edge of bed 👍

Yes, swift challenger. Well done to the both of you. We loved our Coachman. But we love our Swift to. Hope you have many holidays and make many memories 😊 Paul and Sarah

Lovely 'van Martin. Sorry to hear of the bad news with the Bailey. Hope you both have many years trouble free with this one. Regards, Mo 😊👍

Hi there, we've just traded in our challenger 560 after four years. needed an end washroom so bought a new Coachman 575. you'll love the 560 though.

Sorry to hear about the issues you had with the last one. New van looks nice. Fingers crossed our Bailey is okay

Nice van, congratulations 🎉. I'm sure you will have a ball away in it. Same layout as our swift sprite dealer special. Love the layout. Enjoy 👍🏻

Lovely van good luck & have any great new adventures in it 🎉

Lovely caravan Martin. Single axle version of ours, about the only difference is the fridge and of course the length of a wheel👍🏻

Nice Van , Health to enjoy .

Great to see you back and with a new toy. We have a 4year old dealer special (Swift super FB Quattro) just off the phone after the annual service to be told that the floors knackered and it’s a factory repair after the summer 🤬not happy but hopefully it will all work out for the best

Martin you little tinka 🤩 no way that Bailey would of lasted another 40 yrs till you retire young man 😘 same layout as our van and it has to be the best layout its works so well for the 3 of us. I had some faults with mine at the started and hated it but now I’ve got them boxed off we defo keeping it another few yrs now 👍 had it over two yrs and updated the mattress to a duvalay 1000 pocket sprung and I love sleeping in the caravan more than I do at home 😂 look forward to your next video young man 👍 hope both are well

Fantastic very pleased for you and hope you have some great holidays in it.

Lovely van! This is what we was looking at once the kids don’t want to come with us no more only other 2 or 3 years to wait! Enjoy just in time for the nice weather as well ☀️

Great stuff! We have had identical van since 2020 and absolutely love it. I’m sure you will create many happy memories with it. 👍🏻

Hi Martin OMG I didn't think you would chose this make. Congratulations we hope you enjoy it. Cheers Phil🙂👍

Congratulations on the new van, that’s you sorted for content for a while, look forward to watching 😁👍

Sorry fella we bought brand new Bailey Phoenix SE 640 from Lowdens in Nottingham brand new in 2020 ,we absolutely love it no problems at all ,enjoy your van

Congratulations we hope you enjoy it

Wow i didn't expect that. It looks a lovely van with a great layout. I still think you should have gone blown air heating!!! 🤣. Enjoy your trips out in it. Hope to see you soon.

Hi Martin and Angela you made the right choice with a challenger they are my favourite van, we had a bailey phoenix brand new and the first few days of having it we had a leak, didnt like the bedroom area we had a corner wardrobe also a few other niggles, we got rid after a few months 🤦we said we would never have another. Angela looks well, hope you enjoy your new van, see you both soon xx

Congratulations Martin and Angela 😊🎉❤ on the purchase of your new caravan ! Just watched your video and it's absolutely gorgeous 😍 love the colour scheme. Enjoy your many fantastic travels and adventures in your cosy home from home ! Xxx

Stewart longtons are a fab dealer , we got a sprite a few years ago and they couldn’t do enough for us. We part exchanged that for a elegance at Preston caravans and there customer service wasn’t a touch on Stewart Longtons. Enjoy your new van 👍

Enjoy your new caravan 👍

Nice looking van Martin. Enjoy it

Hope you enjoy your new van, we would not have a van without Alde heating.

Congrats Martin, nice caravan. Our Bailey Valencia 2017 is going for assessment on the floor after our holiday in August....holding our breath that it can be sorted properly ( MJ Lovells of Highbridge are assessing it and they have a good reputation for caravan and motorhome repairs). We are looking forward to your new adventures in Swifty McSwift face ( or what ever you decide to call it), and wish you all the best with it. Steve n Jeanette

Congratulations. Nice Caravan. I'm sure you'll enjoy many getaways in it. Enjoy.

Nice caravan. Enjoy

Looks a very smart caravan 👍

Very nice van. Enjoy. Look forward to lots of new content now.

New van looking good Martin. Just going through insurance write off for our van due to hail damage. My question is, why were you so keen on Alde heating ?

Happy new caravan, its really nice x

Fab caravan .congratulations guys

Very nice

Hi Martin, I totally agree with you on the Bailey, we had a 2015 Unicorn Vigo which we sold two months ago after going down the static route, I thought for a quick sale I would offer it to a dealer who advertised in the C&M Club Magazine when he came out and looked at it, he pointed out that the floor like yous was rotten in all the corners and around the wheel arch you could put yer finger through it at some points, he still took it though at a very reduced rate, (there must be some money in it for them) I hope you enjoy your new caravan, I don't think I will be looking at a tourer anytime soon. PS I also watch Atlantic Caravans he's very good and the info he gives is excellent, I would buy from him pity he's at the other side of the country though.

Well done, bet when you went to pay you said “ADDYS 10” 🤣

Hi Martin, we've got a Duvalay quilted mattress topper for sale as we've now got single beds it was for your island bed, PM me if your interested, by now RW.

Congratulations mate, shame about your bailey..... Lovely caravan you've got there, we upgraded last year to the Elddis crusader super cyclone. Twin single beds, before that we had a 2012 Lunar Venus. Served us well, but the floor got delamination. I'd repaired it a few times myself, but this time I think it needed a whole new floor. So decided to upgrade, but the same layout that suits us. More happy memories to be made in your new caravan. Has it got a motor mover?

Hi caravan nut, immediately you said "damp floor" I said Bailey!. I had a 2019 Cadiz which had a wet floor, water runs down the caravan sides and awning rail and enters the floor edges. (capillary action pulls water into the floor). Replaced the Cadiz this January for a brand new Pheonix, and guess WHAT exactly the same problem, this is a common problem so it seems. I have found a way to stop the problem happening. FIVE YEARS ON and WHY havent Bailey sorted the problem!. I also had water issues with water entering the front bulkhead and the small opening front window. Is this REALLY GOOD ENOUGH!

Wow wasn't expecting this. If it was water ingress in the floor it's common

Lovely van! The affinity 550 would have had alde heating, your friends have an avante 550 which has blown air heating. The affinity is a nicer spec but has darker wood unlike the avante.

Great choice ....we changed our Baily for a swift because of the faults...and haven't looked back....enjoy ...

How did the issue with the Bailey not get picked up on service? I would suggest whoever services your van has some explaining to do.

Congratulations on new caravan its lovely we've got a swift. Don't like your heating olny because of our dogs if it leaks. Happy caravanning. Xx

Congratulations on getting your new caravan it looks great and it’s a good layout. Bailey aren’t bad vans but I don’t understand people’s allegiance to them unless they are getting amazing deals

We have just had to sell ours, it was getting too much and it was a shame to leave it in storage as it was a beautiful van with an amazing large rear bathroom with a double shower and fixed bed. We fell lucky and ours sold in 3 days. My in-laws have sold theirs as well theirs was a swift limited edition but it’s a challenger style.

Just got a swift challenger 560 myself! Looking forward to your vlogs. What are your plans for wifi?

Sorry to hear that you had to get rid of your Bailey, however your new Swift looks like a superb replacement. Was your decision to get a Swift, influenced by spending time at Donkey Creek with the Caravan Addy's? Funny that you mentioned the Atlantic Caravan channel, I have been watching his videos over the last week or so and that guy speaks a lot of sense, really highlighting the issue across all the manufactures, its a great channel. Anyway, looking forward to seeing more of your new caravan and upcoming adventures.

Can I ask Martin was it the 4 corners and also behind the wheels where the floor is rotting I have the same van as you and we are going to have to fix it. Loving you new van we have been looking around too.

You need a twusch ceramic toilet insert no more stains

I always think the "Just inside" readings are wrong given the fact that the floors get water on them and slowly rot away. We had that bailey 2017 and the back corners had already started to go as the corners were keep getting wet on the floor and didn't dry out quick enough. Glad you didn't buy an Elddis as they are like submarines they are often damp after first year.

Apologies for the long message but is probably worth reading all of it. You did the same as us mate, we got rid of our 2016 Bailey two years ago and got a 2018 Swift Celeste 560 (which is a dealer special of a challenger), the Bailey was nice but had to trade it in because of damp in front and rear corners on the floor and a leaking roof strap (we got it all fixed under a third party warranty but it just put me off keeping or owning another Bailey. Will be interesting to see what you do with the TV as I keep meaning to mount ours, I'm just worried about a screw going through the shower wall so might have to mount it in the cupboard above the plugs, only issues we have had with our Swift is things tend to come apart whilst towing, which I assume is down to vibration or very high tyre pressure (we are correctly inflated but a starting pressure of 64psi means that it is soon into the 70s once you have been driving a short distance, we have shocks fitted (think they're standard on the challenger) but not sure they do much, having new tyres in a couple of weeks so will make sure they balance the wheels! Also the cooker knobs are piss poor and fall off, a few people have done videos on them (Phil at Lost Weekends did one if I remember correctly). The LED lights also used to flicker and flash when the water pump was on, it's pretty annoying so we ended up getting a suppressor and fitting it to the wiring going into the water pump (Keith & Michelle did a video on this a few years ago, you may have a caravan where this has been updated as I believe Swift did a mod for it and fitted it under warranty (ours didn't have the mod), if you need one, Google SUR-APU-001-NE and it's a company called Apuljack that sells them, they cost about £20 including postage and are easy to fit. Also, if yours didn't have the software update that I believe was made available, the fridge will probably give you some issues, this is to do with the swift command, we ended up having to disconnect the communication cable inside the lower fridge vent as we kept having the alarm going off on the swift command panel, I have also read that you are better off using the Alde panel to control your heating rather than the swift command panel. They're only minor issues, especially compared to the damp on the Bailey and they haven't spoilt our enjoyment of the caravan, hope you both enjoy it Martin and at least you won't have to keep sticking that bit of internal trim back up every year after winter any more 😂😂

Good choice! Wrong layout?

Shame about your Bailey but this looks like a cracking van!

Very nice