So… an overnight detour down to Craigieburn, northern industrial area of Melbourne, where the Supreme Caravan Factory, Dealership and Service Center are located.

Warranty Repairs

I don’t think that any caravan in history has come off the production line and not suffered some issues. Our van is not different and prior to this trip (as well as during) we had a number of warranty issues pop up. Given that a couple of the fixes could only be done by Supreme and the fact that we were in Victoria for the second half of the trip we organised to drop into the Supreme Dealership and Service Center to get our issues sorted.

We were booked into the Supreme Service Center at 3:00pm on Thursday, 8th April. So a three and a half hour drive from Corowa down to Craigieburn. We were met by our Supreme Service technician Daniel, who was a really nice young bloke who carefully went through all of the warranty items on our list and assured us that they would be complete by 3:00pm the next day. We handed over the van keys and headed off to the nights accommodation.

The following day we were called at 1:00pm and told that the van was ready, two hours ahead of schedule. Happy days! Daniel once again took us through all of the repairs and made sure that we were totally satisfied with the work that was done. He also answered a number of questions we had regarding other aspects of the van.

We are incredibly happy that we chose a Supreme caravan and cannot fault their service and support post sale. If these are the worst problems we have then we are lucky van owners…

Interior Water Leak

When we first picked up our van in February 2019, we discovered after a heavy rainfall that water was leaking into the front right-hand cupboard. We subsequently discovered that there were a couple of holes in the silicon seal on that side of the van. This was fixed at the van’s first service by our local service center (Capital Caravan Service Center). That fixed the initial leak but we later discovered when towing through some heavy rain that water was still getting in. Our local service guy, and Supreme, said that it was likely getting under the horizontal joins in the panels at the front of the van. Silicon was run along horizontal joins and hopefully that is the end of the internal water leaks.

Table Leg

When we originally picked up the van we noticed that the table leg was square unlike the display van we had viewed, which was round. We discovered that this was a different leg to the one originally specified on the plan and was probably an automatic upgrade.

Unfortunately… the square leg only allowed the table top to move up/down, left/right and backwards/forwards. It did not allow the table top to swivel. This made it awkward getting in and out of the seating.

Given that our floor plan originally specified a Nuovo-Mapa (brand) table leg, Supreme gladly swapped it over and now the table top swivels as well. The original leg looked a bit more stylish but being able to swivel the table top makes the sitting area so much easier to use and comfortable to sit in.

Overhead Locker Strut

On one of our weekends away one of the struts in the overhead lockers above the table had come loose and the plastic edge strip deformed. Rob had tried unsuccessfully to repair it previously but the deformed plastic strip kept pulling the screw out when pressure was applied.

Supreme replaced the plastic strip and strengthened the point where the screw held the strut in place. Looking new again after the repair.

Water Level Indicator

After a couple of weekends away we noticed that the water level indicators for the two fresh water tanks were not working. It was originally thought that the sensors needed adjusting. Supreme discovered that the battery in the indicator was flat and that there was a short circuit in the indicator. This was fixed, battery replaced and the indicator is now working perfectly.

Radio Blue Tooth Connection

The van is fitted with a radio/DVD player that can also connect to our phones via Bluetooth to play music, make phone calls etc. The radio itself was working fine but the Bluetooth connection was failing.

Supreme noted that there was a known fault with this brand and installed a new replacement unit, which is now connecting without any problems.

Water Hose Line Leak

As noted in our post about Corowa… The day before we headed down to Supreme, serendipitously, we discovered water leaking down one of the tires. It turned out that the water line had come loose from its anchor point above the tire and had been blasted by road debris coming off the tire to the point that it was punctured and water was constantly dripping out of it. The timing for this to occur could not have been better.

Supreme cut out the punctured hose and replaced it with new hose, including a filter, and reattached it to the underfloor. The hose is still exposed above the tire but we will monitor it during our next few trips and if it looks like it is still being damaged then we may have a piece of checker plate installed over it.

Airport Tourist Village

Whilst the van was being repaired, we stayed overnight at the Airport Tourist Village in Attwood. No photos… but we can say that it is good value for money if you’re going to Melbourne Airport or the Craigieburn area.

It consists mostly of various relocatable style cabins (that you find in caravan parks), however we stayed in a brick apartment that had a king bed in a separate bedroom, large living area with large television, good-size kitchenette and bathroom (shower was a little squeezy though). The apartment was very clean and the air-conditioning was good.

For $121/night we can thoroughly recommend this as a good place to stay for a reasonable price in Melbourne if you’re happy to be on the northern outskirts. It is also walking distance from a cluster of cafes and supermarket.

The only downside was the people in the neighbouring apartment were quite loud and carried on until around 3:30am. Jo slept through it all but Rob had a very restless night’s sleep. Not the Village’s fault though.

This was the penultimate night of our ShakedownTrip so after picking up our van, which Supreme had given a complimentary wash, including glossing the tires as well, we felt as though we were driving away with our new van again. Very happy customers.

Off to The Plough Inn in Tarrawingee for the last night of our ShakedownTrip before heading home.