Supreme Spirit

Supreme Spirit Eclipse 2007 specs – Hi we bought a Spirit Eclipse 2007 couple of years ago - so far so good with this van, although we have had problems with windows frame coming apart, but no evidence of rot in the frame. Our problem is that the van is 190kg heavier than ATM, but we cannot work out where the extra weight comes from. We are not sure whether the compliance plate… Read more

reflects the actual van or whether items such air con (normally part of the tare weight) and other components were added later, we contacted the Melbourne manufacturer and they have no records for 2007 vans. Does anybody have the specs for the Spirit Eclipse 2007? or contact details for other Supreme manufactures in Australia?

Thank you all so much and my sympathy to you.I nearly fell in..! – Thank goodness for this facility it has probably saved me from being added to the list of unfortunate caravanners who thought Supreme stood for the meaning of the word.I had looked at a number of used Supremes and also thought how good looking they were but after I found the same evidence in three of them that there was a chronic build quality and… Read more

very poor fitting windows with evidence of common water leaks. Should have checked "Product Review Site " first and saved my time.If a company that outsells this maker by at least 20 to 1 can produce a far better product and retain a customer satisfaction rate as high as it does (the big J) what is wrong with this company..? I am now looking at anything but Supreme.

The Agony and the Ecstacy!! – Have just seen reviews of Supreme Spirit caravans, and wish I could have warned others before they were caught. THE AGONY We bought a new Supreme Spirit Eclipse in September 2007. It has been well looked after, but about a year ago I discovered rot in some of the frame. To cut along story short, it has cost me $15,000 (yes, fifteen thousand) to… Read more

have it repaired, and that cost would have been nearer $30,000 if it had not been for insurance covering the removal and replacement of the outside skin due to hail damage. (This did NOT contribute to the water getting into the frame.)

Almost all the lower 1/2 to 3/4 of a metre of the frame had to be replaced as it was rotten. In several places, corners etc, it was rotten to the roof. The frame was untreated meranti; totally unsuited to the job, and not even undercoated to give some protection from water damage. There was little or no sealant used to prevent water from getting to, and rotting, the frame.

There were several places where metal staples had been put right through 240 volt wiring. Several metres of wiring had to be replaced.

In several places, a stud was too short to reach the plate to which it was to be attached, so 5 or 6 staples bridged the gap.

The roof was concave, not convex as it should have been, and water did not drain off as it should. It had to be rebuilt and strengthened.

Both chassis rails were bowed. The van has not been off road, or on any other roads that would cause this damage when the van was being used for the purpose for which it was intended. The use of low grade/undersize steel for the chassis almost certainly caused this.

The van is marked "Fully insulated". If ducks were as poorly insulated as this van, they would have been extinct centuries ago! A few wisps of fibre fill - the stuff used for filling cushions. Imagine some well teased-out cotton wool, and you will have the picture.

THE ECSTASY

After having our lap of Australia postponed for 4 months for the necessary repairs, we are now just a few days on the road and eagerly looking forward to the next months/years as we tour our great country. We love the van; that's why we bought it. We feel a great comfort in knowing that we now have a stylish, solid and reliable van.

BUT, NO THANKS TO SUPREME. They have caused us a great deal of heartache, anxiety and expense. I have a knot in my stomach every time I see a Supreme on the road, and wonder if the poor people who have bought it have any idea of what they are probably in for.

I would urge anyone to give Supreme Caravans a big miss! It looked good. Almost everything else!

Leaking Windows – The caravan was purchased this year via the show in Melbourne. We found the sales people to be accommodating & were able to negotiate the options we wanted. We exchanged plans & specifications on several occasions to get to what we wanted including asking their advice on which was the best facilities to include. This included going for the best… Read more

type of window.

After we collected the van we were able to spend the time to go over everything thoroughly which is when we started to find the issues popping up.

The main issue is with the windows leaking. After a lot of back & forward via phone & email we were handed to the warranty department to be looked after. That was went it all went downhill.

Not once did we get a returned phone call from the warranty department - every time we had to chase them - for all the good it ended up doing.

Our research seems to indicate that the wrong type of window has been used with the type of exterior cladding used for the van resulting in the rubber seal of the NCE windows being unable to seal around the raised sections of the cladding profile.

A basic design fault which along with the other issues points to a severe lack of quality control within Supreme.

We have ended up having the windows removed and fully sealed by a third party at our own cost.

I can only give you the benefit of our experience & let you decide from there. Looks Good oh dear !

No Quality Control at All – While the product looks ok you will find that there are many shortcuts taken that will come back to bite the owner down the track. Talking to others the word seems to be that Supreme pay low wages for low skill level workers & the buyer wears the result. Our issues included rust on the chasis, chassis numbers not lining up, window screws stripped… Read more

& not fully screwed and worst of all laeking windows. It turns out that the type of window seal is not compatible with the exterior wall profile. Even though we have written evidence that this is the case we lost confidence in them & had it fixed externally. They would not contribute to the costs of the repairs.

OK – supreme spirit 2060 took delivery sept. 2010 the van to date has had 41 faults almost all of which I have repaired myself only fix the dealer repaired was a bad roof leak which was hard to find, I am generally happy with the van except it's a little light on the ball and my ATM is too low after dealer fitted some accessaries which supreme should… Read more

have fitted before they weighted the van and added 400kgs for load, Supreme are not helpfull in correcting this problem even after they promised a amend c/plate before delivery. I had VC cruise master suspenion fitted so nothing moves on or off road, strong chassis. custom build so I have to be happy Won,t like to be dependant on supreme for back up ( my dealers ok )

Never Again! – We ordered our brand new Supreme Spirit at the Sydney Show 2011. Painstakingly detailed, in writing, the fitout,fittings,finish etc., etc. Contract signed & sealed with delivery promised for a particular date. Did any of it happen? It did not. Delivery was weeks overdue which cost us money in rental as we had already sold our home to coincide… Read more

with the expected delivery date. When the 'van finally did arrive the fittings & finish were nothing like what had been specified. Interior finish were nothing like what had been specified, there were cupboards where they hadn't been requested, bench space cut by a quarter, tele fittings exactly where we had asked them not to be. Added to that the entire ensuite had been turned back to front making it virtually impossible to access the wash basin amongst other things. Oh! And a radio that when it did pick up channeled only FM boom, boom stations. When we pointed all this out we were "childish & petty". Already weeks overdue & $$$'s out of pocket we reluctantly accepted the 'van with promises of replacement fittings etc., at a future Supreme dealership. Nine months & countless dealers later little had changed.

By this time we had discovered how often the cupboard/drawer locks jammed or alternately flew open when on a less than perfectly smooth road: that the varnish finish throughout wasn't finger scratch deep: the microwave was tempermental to say the least: fridge fan was vented into the adjoining pantry, making it impossible to store food there: pull down step continually jammmed and was set too far back for safe step down: you had to be a contortionist to attach the barbecue bayonet, oh and the radio, even when replaced never ever worked.

That's just a few of the small problems with our Supreme Spirit Elite, shall say nothing about the weight of the drawers or the uselessness of some cupboards. Shall we be buying from this maker again? Not on your life.

Everything! Particularly the ignorant attitude of the maker.

No customer service attitude at all – We looked around and decided on Supreme based on friends who have one and that the van seemed to be what we wanted. And probably was. After we had signed up the world fell apart with Supreme. They did not follow our request to not issue the final plans until we had reviewed the colour scheme. They did not return phone calls or emails. Every… Read more

contact had to be initiated by us.

Then when the specs arrived they were obviously incorrect. Fundamental stuff like the chassis size and van GTM were wrong. Fittings were left off. Colour scheme was wrong. In all 9 errors on the spec sheet.

So after a few attempts to contact them we were finally successful; and arranged to go out to the showroom to sort it out, a 45 minute drive for us. The first thing the salesperson said was that he had personally checked and signed off the specs. So how did he get it so wrong? Don't know must have missed it was the only response. Then in an open office area we had this salesperson having a loud discussion with the person in the next office (over the wall) about a van they had "misplaced" and the need to not tell the Partners until they had sorted out where it was. In front of prospective customers. Then the salesperson completely ignored us across his desk while he read his incoming emails, and seemed proud to tell us that he had just received an email from another customer giving him a burst as he never returns phone calls or emails. Again in front of us, prospective customers. Must try to get better at this stuff was his only mitigating comment.

Anyway we got it sorted and as we were going away for 2 weeks arranged for the new specs to be emailed to us and we would call in upon return to sign the Authority to Commence. 24 hours before starting the return journey from our holiday still no revised specs. So we made contact again to remind them of their promise. An email arrived with incorrect specs on it, again. So another email from us to them telling them they had it wrong. Another email arrived, no explanation, just a forwarded email from the Planning department with a revised spec sheet attached. Colours still wrong.

So we called in upon return as arranged. And were handed a non current spec sheet to look at. Explained that this was not correct and at this stage a Partner of the business got involved. Ahhh all fixed we think. We went through it all again with him. He acknowledged that the errors were due to Supreme and as a result promised to have new specs done, that would be correct and that they would have them to us within 24 to 48 hours.

Did they arrive? No way. 8 days later we emailed them to remind them of their promise. A return email said that they did not have the specs and could not get them as it was an "early day" for the Planning. But the plans would be with us on Monday. Did they arrive? Of course not. They did arrive 24 hours later but in the meantime there had been no contact. Nothing.

At this stage we have lost patience and advised them that we wanted the order cancelled and our deposit refunded. What was the response? No and we are going to sue you for loss of profit. No apology, no attempt to sort it out, just bash the customer again.

So in summary, poor communication (read no communication), repeated errors in specifications, failure to deliver to promise, diabolically poor customer service and then blame the customer.

Would we deal with Supreme? No way ever. It will probably cost us but we refuse to have anything to do with them. Caravan looked good. Poor customer focus, played the blame game with us.