Latest / Off Grid Down Under by MDC / EP 45 | He's Reviewed Them All. Here's What He Really Thinks.

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EP 45 | He's Reviewed Them All. Here's What He Really Thinks. · Off Grid Down Under by MDC

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, there's a there's a guy over there looking at caravans and look, you know, taking photos and going through our vans.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, well, that's that's Max.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_02: Just let him do his thing.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_02: Just let him do his thing.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_07: Do they really say that?
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_07: For real.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_04: Because people believe there's no such thing as a perfect caravan, and there's probably not.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_04: In a digital environment, they want to see truth and credibility.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_04: And it doesn't take long to lose that credibility.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_04: Like we've built up 30,000 YouTube scribers, but we could lose them all very, very quickly if we're not careful.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_04: Back then, a good caravan had a 100 amp hour deep cycle battery.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_04: You might have had a foot pump on the um near the kitchen.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: I definitely got in this late.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_04: Um, you know, you've spent 100 grand on this caravan, and what, it's gonna break the first time you take it off-road because the manufacturer hasn't thought that piece here might get hit by a stone.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: It's because they're not using the product.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_04: 100%.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_04: But also, okay, so I mean I could keep going.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_05: Hi folks, and welcome to another episode of the Off-Grid Down Under Podcast.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_05: And today, a very special guest.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_05: We have with us Max Taylor, who is your title.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_05: What is your title?
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_05: Well, I like to think of myself as the managing editor of Go R V.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_05: And that's a big deal, especially like you've been at the pointy end of I guess that for a decade now, so it's a big thing.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_05: And also with us, we have Vaughn Heinley, our CO, and the amazingly handsome Wayne Shevis in all his bearded glory.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_05: So, welcome to the podcast.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_05: Thanks for coming in and checking us out.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: Now thanks for having us, Steve.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: And how come I'm not amazingly handsome?
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_05: You are, but you don't know telling.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_05: You know.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_05: It's a sales thing.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_05: You hear that every day.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_05: It's just a give it, isn't it?
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_05: You hear that every day.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_05: So, you know, you've been testing vans and calling out the good, the bad, and the ugly of the industry, and and you've really been there, you know, through the whole evolution of the introduction of the Chinese import campers, hybrids, etc., and whatnot, through.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_05: And given the the media that's available these days, everyone's gone away from print and all the rest of it.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_05: I think what you do and people like yourself do in bringing that information to the general public is very, very important.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_05: So tell the people who haven't come across our RV Go before what it's all about.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_04: Go RV.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_04: So um, I've actually been doing this caper for more like 20 years.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_04: 20 years.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_04: 20 plus years.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I go back to um back when it was ACP magazines, um, before the Bauer family from Germany bought the company ACP.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_04: I was running Caravan World magazine, Camper Trailer Australia, and Vaughan.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_04: I know that uh there's a there's a lot of uh history there with Camper Trailer Australia magazine with you guys.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_04: Um Motorhome World, the Caravan World Yearbook.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_04: That was all under my umbrella, and I did that for over 10 years.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_04: But then what media group was that with?
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_04: Uh um Bauer.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_04: Bauer Media.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, yeah, okay.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_04: Formerly Kerry Packer's ACP magazines, and uh, you know, we did that for 10, 11 years, and we got to the point where we felt as though we um, well, it was me and Grant Manson and his his brother James Manson.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_04: We we saw an opportunity to um create a fully fledged digital media business because you know, 10 plus years ago, there was a uh a real thirst, a real need for that.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_04: Caravan World, etc., was all very much print focused.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_04: There was a burgeoning sort of um desire within the business back then to go digital, but it wasn't happening quickly.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_04: Um, we felt that it needed to happen quickly.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_04: So, Grant, me, uh James, his brother, uh ex-football player, we all decided to just go out there and have a crack and go all digital.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_04: And mate, that was over 10 years ago.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_05: No, almost 10 years ago.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_05: Something that the audience probably wouldn't understand being outside and not having experience in the media industry, is what a huge deal that is to manage and succeed in that transformation from print media into digital because there's those that simply couldn't do it.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_05: Like we saw the decline of express media that just couldn't bring it to digital media, so they got out of it completely, went into selling products, and then a YouTube channel spun off from that.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_04: Partially, I think that that's um to do with the fact that digital and print are very different beasts in the digital environment.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_04: People want to scroll, they want to click, and they want to move on very, very quickly.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_04: Whereas a uh a print media, such as a magazine, people buy it for nine, ten dollars, they've made an investment, they're going to then make a time investment within that magazine and they want to read longer, richer content.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_04: Um, the digital environment is very, very different.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, um, like uh I guess my point of view, like they used to say uh picture is same as a thousand words, but then what's a video?
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, absolutely, it must be a million words, and then when you look at the digital thing, it's uh videos, it's short content or long content.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: You can actually tell more of a story, you know, a picture is just one point in time, whereas a video you can tell um a lot of things.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: And um, Max being around 20 years doing this thing, mate.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that's just amazing, eh?
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: Like you see people dug in and out, and you guys are still here.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: So, Max, 30,000 YouTube viewers, mate.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: That is huge.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: You guys have some.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_04: I I feel like uh it it's been a labour of love.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and I know that sounds like a bit of a cliche von, but it's the truth.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_04: We are a small business, so every person that works in the business wears three or four different hats um because that's what you need to do in order to make make it work.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_04: 30,000 YouTube subscribers, I think, is just a reflection of the fact that we've been consistent.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_04: Um, we've cared about what we've done, we've always delivered what we say we're going to deliver to our clients as well as to our readers.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_04: And although it's a grind, I mean, 30,000 YouTube subscribers is fantastic, but that's taken us 10 years.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_04: 10 years of being consistent and um of living up to our word.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_04: Really, that that's what it's been.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_04: Um, what happens next?
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, it it I don't think it'll take us another 10 years to get to 60,000 because it seems to be like in YouTube, once you get the ball rolling, you you start to gather some momentum.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_04: But yeah, it's a grind.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_04: It's a grind.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_04: Um, anyone who says that going into digital media with the intention of making a million dollars um is fooling themselves, unless they're very, very lucky.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and what I love about you guys, it's not like pay to play.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: It is what it is.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: You do a you know, a uh walkthrough on a particular caravan or a review, you know, it is what it is.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: You you you say what you see.
• 6:47
  unknown: Yep.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_04: You you say what you see.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_04: Um we also do written reviews as well within our e magazine, which also gives us a lot of um scope to um be quite forthcoming about what we think about a particular caravan.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_04: But the reality is, Vaughan, there's a lot of good product out there that from uh perspective, from my perspective, it can be quite difficult.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_04: And yet you end up just you feel like you're just picking nits um just for the sake of trying to come across as credible to your readers, because you know, people want to because people believe there's no such thing as a perfect caravan, and it's probably not that's that's a fair thing to say.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_04: Um, but if you're not, you know, prepared to say that, people will walk away.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_04: They they want to see in the digital environment, they want to see truth and credibility.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and that's a an important thing to build up, and and it's more important to maintain that credibility over time, which is you know, it has its challenges.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_04: It has its challenges, and it doesn't take long to lose that credibility.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_04: Like we've built up 30,000 YouTube scribers, but we could lose them all very, very quickly if we're not careful.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_05: But I I think something that the view that the readers uh lose sight of is when you're uh looking at a van and and doing an appraisal and and a write-up about it, it is a brand new van.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_05: It has not done a hundred thousand kilometers of off-road, it hasn't had the snot beaten out of it, so it is is brand new.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_05: So you you can only work with what you got.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_04: Look, and I'll expand on that point, Steve, because you're dead right.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_04: These are brand new caravans that we take out.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_04: Look, sometimes we have the ability to take these caravans out for days at a time, and that's when we get the best result, because that's when we can really say that this is this caravan is great for you know the livability perspective, and that you know, nothing broke, etc.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_04: etc.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_04: But sometimes we we only have the ability to take the caravan out for a short period of time.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_04: You know, quite often it's in completely tear condition, there's no water in the tanks or whatever, so it is very much just a uh a bare bones sort of appraisal of a caravan.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_04: There's only so much that you can say if you haven't lived in the caravan for six months.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_04: Um, because my experience with a caravan two or three days is going to be very different to someone's experience with a caravan, you know, over a period of six months on the road.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_04: They probably should have put you in my car for the cake trip last year.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_04: I would love to have been there.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_05: It was so much fun.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: It was my invite.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the old telegraph track and towing two caravans through that's pretty crazy.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, Wayne, the caravan industry is very mature.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: It is, and the customers these days are very well educated, and so when Max talks about nitpicking, it's very much the small things these days, right?
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_02: I I was just gonna touch on that.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_02: Like, Max, you and I have passed across paths at uh many a trade show before, and it is it is always that buzz of like, oh, there's a there's a guy over there looking at caravans and look, you know, taking photos and going through our vans, and I'm like, well, that's that's Max, just let him do his thing.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_02: Just let him do his thing.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_02: Do they really say that now?
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_02: No, for real.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_02: Stand down last year.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_02: I had six of my guys come up and go, there's a guy in a van looking at everything.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, yeah, that's Max, leave him alone.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_01: Our team, our team, right, and and our national sales team are actually, they all work for MDC, so they're not ring-ins, and so do we train them up when people are there and they're taking photos and videos, and it's just too much concentration on particular things that are maybe uh new and innovative.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: Very much so, yes.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: They're like, hey, what's going on?
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_01: What are you doing?
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's uh protecting it.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: We used to have no photo signs.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_01: We used to write them in Chinese too.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, but with with Max, obviously, it is always a good, bad, and the ugly, and it's you know, there's no no holes barred.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_02: And it is it is refreshing to see that in the industry where you you just say it how it is.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_04: So yeah, I think I'm I mean I'm reasonably well known.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_04: Like when I go to a caravan show, people tend to you know want me to come onto their stands and showcase their products and whatever.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_04: So to the extent that I've done that for you guys, I'm I'm I'm pleased.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: And um today we're here at the MDC Muster, Queensland Muster in Gucci Creek.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_01: And we do this in uh five states around the country, and we do this for our customers in me.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: And yourself and Jacob, who um is doing the video work for you today.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you've come a long way.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, we flew in from Melbourne.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_04: Um, you know, like I'm not an MDC owner, so it was quite a quite a thrill actually to get an invite to come and um check it out.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_04: This is the first time I've been to one of your your musters, so it's a really good setup.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_04: So we yeah, we flew in from Melbourne yesterday, stayed near the airport, drove into Gucci uh this morning, and uh yeah, hopefully get to uh wander around and chat to some of the people and and see what they think.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, so um, for all the customers out there today, Max is gonna go around and interview all and um please please say nice things about hard questions.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_05: And they will talk to you.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_05: This is the friendliest group of people you'll ever find.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_05: They love talking about their vans.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_04: See, it's places like this though, that from my point of view, it's really interesting because in this environment, people are gonna be very honest about what they think about their caravan, they're not gonna hold back.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_04: And I have been to musters for other manufacturers before, and this is where you get the gold.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, you do, and um particularly later into the evenings.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, once they've had a few minutes.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: Around the fire, and if you're not doing something right, they'll certainly let you know.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_04: Do you find though, um, that at these musters that people will come to you and say, you know, I've had this issue, I've got this question, or whatever.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_04: So they use these musters as a as an opportunity to learn more about their van or where they might take it.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and um, you know, we've got some of our guys here from the um after sales service team.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: And so typically it doesn't get to me with we have a problem.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's hey, we came here, we weren't sure how to use something, links come out or something's not quite working for me, links fixed it, and then you know, around the fire it's like, hey, your team's amazing, they really help me out, and I've learned something about my MDC.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_02: But not, yeah, not nothing's a disposition at these, it's what we're all here for.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_02: We are here for our customers.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_05: So and it's a good opportunity like where people you've helped previously over the phone, they want to come over and say thanks, shake your hand, and uh that sort of thing as well.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_05: It's something that this you know, we've got over 200 people at this muster.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_05: It's a big event, and it's not something that happened because we thought about doing it last year.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_05: This has been a progression of customer service, building relationships, uh, activity on the social media groups, and a constant support for the customers that they all feel so confident they can come out here, have a great time, and there's lifelong friends will be made out here this weekend.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_05: That's that's what we love about it.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_05: It's really good.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_01: And I love seeing the socials blow up.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like the last week's been amazing, you know.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_01: People are taking photos and videos of the getting their van ready, driving out from home, the trip here.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we've got some guys that have travelled a long way to be here this weekend.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, from Perth, from Western Australia.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_04: There's a couple here from WO.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_04: I reckon that that says a lot about you and and the brand, though, doesn't it?
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_04: Like that people are willing to travel so far to participate.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_05: And and then there's the surprise things on the way up here.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_05: Um, one of the ladies in our group, uh, her car broke down.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_05: And funny, I pulled up to make the offer that we would tow her van here for her and get it home, however.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_05: And I wasn't the first person in an MDC car to stop and do that.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_05: And so she's here now.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_05: Linda, she's having a great time.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_05: Uh a friend's actually taking her car back home.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_05: Uh sorry, picking her up to take her back tomorrow.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_05: So the community is great.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_05: Everyone wants to help each other and do the right thing.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_05: So I think we're very lucky in that regard.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_05: So anyway, let's get back to it.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_05: You've been covering the industry for you know for 20 years.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_05: What's the single biggest shift you've seen in Australia when it comes to caravan?
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_04: I reckon my answer to this, Steve, is a a little bit different to what you might think.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_04: Um, I've been around long enough to remember the shift from hand-built furniture, which was all framed in Maranti, um, and all hand built to the flat pack CNC style that we have today.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_04: And um, you know, and it's not even that far back.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_04: I'm talking 2010-ish.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_04: There was one particular company that that came out with it, and within six months, every other manufacturer in the country was building their furniture in the same way.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_04: And now, you know, every manufacturer's got a CNC machine.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, it's the norm.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_04: You you wouldn't buy a caravan brand new that w wasn't built that way.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_01: Just the way you can machine everything and the tolerances, and you can guarantee that every piece as it's drawn is gonna come out of the machine exactly the same way.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_04: And from a manufacturer's perspective, it's also a heck of a lot more efficient, surely.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_05: Absolutely.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_05: With you know, when you started, what did a good caravan look like?
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_05: What you know, we we know those brands that have been around forever like Kedron, you know, bulletproof.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_04: What they were definitely overbuilt, over-engineered, but back then a good caravan had a 100 amp hour deep cycle battery.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_04: Um, depending on how far you go back, you might have had a foot pump on the um near the kitchen.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_04: Um a foot pump?
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_04: Built into the floor so that you could use your foot to pump the water through.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: I definitely got in this late.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_04: Um no, they're still out there.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_04: Well, not not brand new, that's for sure.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_04: But uh, I've seen a few on the secondhand market that still have the old foot pump.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_04: Um so what made a good caravan?
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_04: Um because it's difficult because the technology has changed so much in a fairly short period of time.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_04: Um, yeah, a good caravan back then had a basic battery setup, it had a basic water system.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and you know what?
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_04: If you had a satellite dish back in 2000, 2006, 2007, you were doing pretty well.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I guess too.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_05: Also, I guess it's it's with technology and all the rest of it.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_05: When we go back 20 years and beyond with caravans, they were built by artisan tradesmen.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_05: And we all know that now, uh, with automation, robotics, and all the rest of it, a lot's changed.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_05: So, and that's probably a demand thing.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_05: Businesses stepping up their production capabilities and and looking for more consistent and better tolerance in the builds.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_05: But uh, yeah, I do understand the first caravan I ever went anywhere in had a hand pump.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_05: It had no battery, no light, nothing unless it was plugged into Maine's power.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_05: So and to have an outdoor kitchen back then was considered the height of luxury.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_02: My my first soft floor camper had a a swing out kitchen and a hand pump.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_02: It was it was pretty mint.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: I remember the old comic hand pump.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, that's what mine had.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_05: I my my first van that I owned was pretty special because it had an electric pump, and if you lift it up the handle, it started pumping itself.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_05: So it was pretty fancy, I guess, in under those terms.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, off-grid capability has obviously come from very humble beginnings.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_05: And to look at what we have now available to us to get off-grid, get further away.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_05: How do you see that change?
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_05: Where do you see that big strides have been made in that area?
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_04: Obviously, the um the the the 48-volt revolution has been um front of mind this year and and last year, and I know that you guys are making some progress uh in in in that regard.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_04: Um, before that, you know, what were we on?
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_04: We had we had our our 12-volt systems.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_04: Um, we some caravans would come out with a second 100 amp hour uh AGM battery, and they were always considered a little bit, you know, special special.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_04: Um, but now what have we got?
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_05: Lithium batteries that can keep you off grid almost indefinitely.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_05: Yes, absolutely.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_05: It's gas and water are the limiting items, and if you go to I guess induction cooking and whatnot, it's just your water supply.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna um show everyone here today a podcast that we shot last week, and it was the evolution of MDC.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: And if you look at the electrical system starting in the um camper trailers back then, it was literally a hundred amp hour battery and a Repco battery charger.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: That you know, a little uh oh would have been a 40 amp charger, I think.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_01: And it was actually Repco branded, but it was made by Projector, and that's where our relationship with Projector started.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um and now we're running the Projector 48 volt, which is cutting edge.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, it's a big change.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_04: Battery management systems really didn't become come into vogue until 2010, 2012 with the BM Pro systems, I think they were, that really were sort of at the forefront back then.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_04: Now you wouldn't buy a caravan without it.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_04: They're very sophisticated and they're good for the young people that understand them.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_01: If something goes wrong.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_02: If it has an app, we're all over it.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_01: But also it makes it more difficult for the um after sales service team, right?
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: Because the systems have actually got more complex, and so if something does go wrong, um they're harder to assess and um understand what's happening and and to fix.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_05: Well, with with multiple screens and stuff, the the saving grace from that aspect is we can FaceTime chat our customers to work through those issues.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_05: So it does take a bit of the heat off, but yeah, they do get more and more complex.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_05: Now there's been a massive wave of people coming to buy caravans and that sort of thing over the last few years.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_05: So from what you've seen, how does that change what manufacturers in the industry need to do?
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_05: So more more buyers in the market, you mean?
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, and the demographic has changed enormously.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_05: I've noticed more people buying caravans in campus now that have no history of or legacy of caravan ownership in the family.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_04: They're voting with their wallets, I think.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_04: At at the end of the day, um, caravans are getting more and more expensive.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_04: Um, so so we're seeing the import market, such as what we have here, is becoming more and more um desirable uh for people who want to get out there because because at the end of the day, it comes down to value for money.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, we we're in a cost of living crisis in this country.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, things aren't aren't affordable anymore.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_04: So when you've got the ability to go out there and and live that lifestyle that you've always wanted to for$20,000 cheaper, well, I know which one I'm gonna choose.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_05: Well, yeah, I and I agree with you.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_05: And do you think that the market in terms of the imported trailers has responded the right way towards it?
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_04: Well, when you look, I mean, i the the the the the proof is in the pudding.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_04: The four of the top five manufacturers in terms of numbers, you know, caravans being sold are importers, and MDC is one of them.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_04: Um and again it comes down to the fact that the I mean, Vaughn, I'm sure you would have some some thoughts on this.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_04: The the cost of labour in Australia is almost prohibitive.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_05: Yes.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, we've got deep experience in that.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_04: He obviously doesn't want to expand more.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_04: Can I ask you a question though, Vaughan on that on that?
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_04: No, I've been.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_04: I've been thinking a lot lately about automation, and I was at the um Victoria's.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_04: Victorian industry trade show a few weeks ago, and they had a humanoid robot there, and it was all very pie in the sky.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_04: This humanoid robot that was dancing for the masses.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_04: But the people there that had this robot on display were quite clear that this robot had the ability to be programmed in order to work in a factory environment.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_04: It could be programmed to carry sheet metal from point A to point B.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_04: It could be programmed to torque up these screws to a particular setting, whatever it was.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_04: Um, so the factories of the future are going to be well potentially automated to a degree that we would never have thought of in in Yeah, and just seeing recently um in China they had the robotic Olympics, right?
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_01: And you see the progression there between what's happened this year and last year.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_01: We have automation in our factory.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, the competitive advantage for us is we're actually building the caravans from the raw materials, and so it's the RHS steel, it's a flat aluminium plate, it's the composite panels, and everything is sort of cut, welded, painted, powder coated, and we control the process from go to woe, which is a little bit different to how uh how it's sort of done um in Australia.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, there's a lot more outsourcing here.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_01: We try and do everything so we control all the raw materials all the way through to the final product.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_01: Now I don't see robots, um humanoid robots working in our factory in the immediate future, but some of the machines there are amazing, like for instance, RHS steel.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we have 3D laser cutters, and these things go 100 miles an hour and they're twisting the RHS and they're laser cutting at the same time, and so the complete caravan chassis and all the um aluminium RHS that goes into the frame is actually all cut by a machine, and it's very quick and very accurate.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and and that reduced costs and also reduced waste wastage.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_01: So um overseas they're very um very uh waste conscious they don't waste conscious, they're like um things are built to use all the materials as you know, Steve.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, oh absolutely.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_05: But one of the things is it's great that this technology is becoming available, and sure, the Australian caravan builders need to look at it, but uh in Australia, are we educating enough people in those fields to program, maintain, and run that kind of equipment?
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_05: Because we're not talking just a CNC lathe or something like that, the expertise to run that kind of robotics, I don't see any strong areas of education for industry in that market in Australia.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_05: So I'm I think it's a great idea, but can we sustain it?
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_05: Do we but also would Australians stand for it?
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_05: I don't know.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_05: Well, that's that's another very, very good point, would they?
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_05: But in terms of competitiveness, they have to look at it.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_05: And you know, obviously when Ford Holden and everything went to robotics, uh robotics production lines and all the rest of it, which I know quite well because the company my dad worked for built those production lines.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, it was a uh hoo ha about robotics on that well in the day.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_04: I believe that BMW is um trialling humanoid robots in their factories, so you know, I think this is gonna happen one way or another.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_04: It might not be tomorrow or next year, but it's a future that I think every manufacturer is going to have to reckon with.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_01: When we get that one nailed, Max, you can come to our factory and we'll we'll do some videos and bring Jacob with you.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_04: Uh are you suggesting an all expenses paid trip to China?
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_01: No problem, it's not that far.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_05: Mate, you'll you'll love you'll love the flight.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_05: No, I've flown to China before.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_05: It's uh it's a long one.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_05: Oh, first first trip I did there with Vaughan was sitting in the plane, and when it took off, it sounded like bore bearings running down the air conditioning duck in the roof.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_05: Vaughan's just smoldering tight in his seatbelt.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_01: That actually wasn't, and that was a Taiwanese-owned plane company.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: And and I've actually flown on a Chinese-made plane.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: I did that in China last time I was there.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it was a uh what was it, a joint business operation with McDonnell Douglas back in I think 2010, and then things fell apart.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_01: I think maybe they were getting too good at making planes, and someone within the US government said stop making planes with China.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: Anyway, they went through with it.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and yeah, we had our team on a plane, we were doing an internal flight within China.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_01: China made plane, and it was no different to a normal plane.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, we got there and back, it wasn't a problem.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_05: I'm still here.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_05: So, Max, when you're putting a caravan through its paces and and you're reviewing it, what do you think the questions are that the consumer isn't asking at point of sale?
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_04: Um, well, that's a hard one to answer.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_04: I'll I'll tell you what I look for.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_04: I I look for the small details, the the things that tell me that the manufacturer has actually thought about this this van.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_04: Um, the amount of times I've looked under a caravan and seen like this terminal block sort of dangling near the suspension coil, um, it it befuddles me because to me that seems like a potential point of failure.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_04: Um, why can't you just wire your electric brake straight to the hub?
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_04: I I don't get that.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_04: Um, sometimes I see things that are dangling down from the chassis that is um, you know, perfect for it for Stone Strike, you know, if you're going along the new Nadata track, whatever it is.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_04: Um, I like to see things that are nicely done.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_04: So I was looking at one of your vans earlier, um, not to blow smoke or anything, but I was looking at the the new S SR19 um and what I noticed is that you've got the gas bayonet, but you've mounted it flush with the um body of the van.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_04: And hallelujah! Like these are things that can be done that manufacturers can do, but so often they they will take the easy route.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_04: And and I'm I'm look, I'm I'm sorry, Vin um Vaughan, because I'm sure you've probably done this in the past yourself, but mounting a piece of checker plate off the chassis and putting the gas bayonet on that.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_04: To me, that that is a point of vulnerability.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_04: Um I get why, I get that it it's it's a cheap and it's an easy way to do it, and not not all manufacturers are thinking about every little thing that could go wrong down the track, but those small details to me are a suggestion that the manufacturer has actually engaged their brain matter here.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and Wayne, it's it's the one percenters these days, isn't it, that makes the difference.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_02: 100%.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_02: It is it is uh from our personal experience, so it's it's us using the vans, it's us living in them.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, I think my my first trip was eight weeks, you know.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_02: I'd I'd never been in a caravan for more than a for for a week, and eight weeks in a caravan and uh learning from through trial and error essentially out out in the Simpson Desert with with everyone here.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_01: So and one thing we we do differently, uh Max is we've actually have a fleet of caravans within the MDC pool that anyone that has worked or is working within the company can actually take out with their family and use, and that works really well, I think, for um staff retention.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_04: So, do you also encourage a culture of feedback though?
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_04: So if a customer takes out one of your new goal class models, they can come back to you and say, you know, Vaughan, I love the van, but X, Y, and Z.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and you you talk about feedback.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_01: We have a model development team, of which Steve and Wayne's on, and obviously I'm on, but also some of the ladies in admin, they're actually part of the mod dev team because when it comes to interiors and actually using the inside of the vans and functionality, there's things that they pick up on that we don't actually care about.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_02: That we definitely don't, yeah.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and at the end of the day, we all know it's it's the wives that actually make the decision.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_01: The guys would pretty much I'm happy with any caravan, I just want a caravan, and it's uh it's uh the ladies that actually say which one you can have or which one they like.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, I reckon there's definitely some truth to that.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_05: Oh look, when it comes to interior design, if someone said to me, What should we put in that hole in that in that caravan?
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_05: I'd say, Oh, I'll put a live bait tank in.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_05: The girls are going, no, it's a microwave.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_05: Simple as that.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_05: So you do need that those eyes with a completely different perspective.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_05: And I see it all the time with customers because I guess in the industry, sometimes it's you'll walk past things and and not notice because I I guess you you come desensitized in ways, but you get out on an adventure like this with the customers, and they'll awaken you to the things that you've missed and give you some of the best ideas you'll find.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_05: You know, Mark Mark Banks started as a customer of ours, came up with what we call the Banksy Draw in one of the models, and that became a feature and and things like that.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_05: So, yeah, the there is 200 people here that are all part of the moddev team in some way.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_01: And Steve, we've got something on the um desk there that one of our customers had an idea that's come up with.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_01: Let's have a quick talk about that.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_05: I reckon this idea is fantastic.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_05: My mate, Mr.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_05: Wales.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_05: Everyone's well, most people, especially if you drive like us and go off-road like us, have had the Anderson plug dislodged from your vehicle many times.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_05: I can tell you that we have got to big red bash events and had to refit a dozen um Anderson plugs to vehicles.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_05: And this whales clip, and I have one myself, it's fitted on to the Anderson plug, and when you push the trailer plug in, the clips on, holds it in place.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_05: It cannot come off.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_05: So absolutely get yourself a whales clip, it's painted it.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_05: You can go to whalesclip.com or shoot an email to info at whalesclip.com and get one yourself.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_05: Comes with the mounting hardware, screws, and all that sort of thing, little all the nuts and washes and things that you need.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_05: They are brilliant.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_05: And for flush mount, if you've got a flush mount Anison plug, this is the whale's pin.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_05: And basically, the concept is you drill a hole between the contacts and slot the pin in through that, and it even comes with the correct size drill bit.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_05: Easy as, same guy.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_05: Check it out.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_05: These are these are really clever.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_05: That was come up with by one of your MDC customers.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_01: And just to be clear, this is the unpaid promotion.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_01: We actually don't even we don't sell these, and it's just a customer of ours who has an MDC.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_01: We thought it's a great idea, and so we like to talk about it.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, and it's it's a brilliant thing.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_05: It is so simple and so clever.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_04: But that's one of the things that I love the most about um caravanning and meeting other caravanners on the road is these awesome ideas that they've come up with.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_04: They're they're often so simple.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_04: It might be just you know something to make dispensing the paper towel in the kitchen easier, but there's there's so many like lateral thinking ideas that you know really kind of get me going.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_05: Absolutely.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_05: There's some really clever people out there, and we we have so many, so many lines of feedback from the customers, it's amazing, you know.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_05: The social media, these events, etc.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_05: The the number of ideas are incredible.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_05: So it helps keep us at the pointy end, and and we're grateful for them.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_05: And like I said, the Wales Clip folks, you'll not have to worry about your Anderson plug again.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_05: So back to it.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_05: What are the common mistakes that you see manufacturers making?
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_04: Well, I mentioned the terminal block issue earlier, I mentioned the the gas bayonet.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_04: I I don't like a gas bayonet dangling off the drawbar so or the chassis, and that's just me.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_04: Um common mistakes.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_04: Um well, let's throw that to you, Vaughan, actually.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_04: Um I'm kind of curious about your opinion.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_04: Because like I've got I don't want to I don't want to I don't want to upset anybody out there in the industry.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_04: I can think of a few things.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_01: Common mistakes.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_04: Um for me that it they they literally come down to the one percenters.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_04: You know, I've saw, for example, I'll give you an example.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_04: I once saw a fusion radio mounted in literally freaking mounted into the overhead locker door so that you open the door, right, and then you would see the wiring harness coming coming off the fusion radio through your cupboard space.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_04: And I'm thinking, like, okay, I get the fact that this van is sort of a prototype, but surely you could have found a a better place to mount this freaking radio.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_02: One of my pet peeves is uh seeing uh gas and water outlets mounted on the outside of an A-frame.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_02: Like I understand mounted meant a tap on the inside of an A-frame.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, you okay, you're gonna you're gonna get me going near one.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_04: Um here's another thing I absolutely hate is a um is a is a fresh water tap on the A-frame that doesn't have a single piece of like checker plate's not expensive, right?
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_04: Like it's not it's because they're not using the product.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_04: 100%.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_04: But also, okay, so I mean I could keep going.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_04: So you you've got your checker plate up underneath your uh your van for your water tanks, right?
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_04: And then you've got your dump valve on your grey water tank or whatever, but then you so it's effectively a piece of PVC jutting out from where it's actually protected.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_04: So what's the point of the protection?
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_04: It might protect the tank, but that bit of PVC is an integral part of the system.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_04: So can we sorry, I'm not I'm not, I'm not trying to No, no, no, no, no.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_04: But at the same time, like it it's not not difficult.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_04: You're not a good thing.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_04: I'm not a fabricator, but I but I reckon I could easily fold up a piece of checker plate to do that.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_01: So I don't know if I could fold up checker plate.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_04: But why can't why can't the rest of the industry they've got the tooling?
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_04: Um but these uh but as to Vaughn's point, these are the people who um, you know, for them it's a job, it's a career, it's not a vocation, it's not a it's not a lifestyle.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_04: So you you almost can understand why you would see these issues on these vans.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_04: 100%, yeah.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_05: And you see the workarounds for it, like you know, big red bash is the most enlightening place to see the shortcomings in caravans.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_05: Well you see someone pull up and they'll have four different coloured pool noodles zip tied around every vulnerable piece under the caravan.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_04: But to me though, Steve, that shouldn't fall to the customer to do that.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, I totally agree.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_04: I love I love sort of seeing the the solutions that customers and people come up with to protect these sort of vulnerable components.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, some of them are really quite creative, but for God's sake, that you know, you've spent 100 grand on this caravan and what it's gonna break the first time you take it off-road because the manufacturer hasn't thought that piece here might get hit by a stone.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_05: Again, it all boils down to like, and that's the that's the thing.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_05: Like, I I my first contact with working with MDC was back in 2014.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_05: And I remember even back then the the things that were on an MDC that made all the difference, like gas struts on the on the door doors for your fridge, because you could pull that fridge out and you didn't have to worry about the wind blowing it onto your knuckles, taking the skin off your knuckles and all that sort of thing.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_05: And all that early early pioneering was done by people in the business using the product and improving the product.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_05: And I think to get to 2026 and there's still people in the market that aren't doing that is a bit of a blight on the industry because you've got to test, you can't have your customer base being your test crew because it's too late, they've bought it.
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_04: There are a number of manufacturers though that come to mind that have done that have been out there testing their products um for decades.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_04: Um and and they've done very, very well in the media space, but also in terms of just the sales of their caravan because they've tested it and they've shown to people the results of their testing.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_04: They've put out DVDs and whatever, doing things with caravans that I would never do.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_04: I would not take a caravan um down gunshot.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_04: Well, I worked for that media group.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, you know who I'm talking about.
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_04: But I would not take a caravan down gunshot.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_01: Steve wouldn't either last year.
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_01: We were sitting at the uh intersection between uh go around track or gunshot.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_01: No, I take a gun for two caravans, and Steve's like, absolutely not going down gunshot.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_01: No, and I'm like, I'll go down for a look, and I I wasn't towing at the time, and I went down there and I'm gone, come back and I'm gone, yeah.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, like doing it.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_04: I see people do it on social media as you do, and you know, fine.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_04: If you want to break your your expensive four-wheel drive and give you no way to get home, yeah, fine.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_04: But I tell my kids that just because you can doesn't mean you should.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_05: Mate, I'm in a I'm in a ranger with two-inch lift.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_05: Like there is not enough entry or exit clearance on that thing to do gunshot, let alone with the you know, 1800 kilos of caravan behind it.
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_04: I think I might have even seen a video, this is going back a while, um, where they they might have put a chain at the back of the caravan to to anchor it, and um they they might have done the same at the front of the caravan in order to keep the van on the one axis.
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, yeah.
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_02: I've I've seen that kicking about.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_02: So the caravan didn't flip over the car.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_04: If you have to go to those levels, yeah, and when you've got a chicken track right there, I mean, what are you doing?
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_04: Like, I I think at that point you're really you're not thinking and you're thinking more about how much of a hero you are.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_04: Sorry to everybody who does that, but come on.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_01: It's very expensive to get out of there too, if you do break something.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_05: That's it.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_05: Uh no one's coming to your rescue, are they?
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_05: Well, yeah, they'll come and do a recovery, but it's gonna cost you.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I don't know.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_05: And if you if you're driving a a GQ, it's probably not worth a recovery.
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_05: My son drives a GQ and he he sunk so much money into it, but he absolutely loves it.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, they're a great thing.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_05: If you're gonna get a pre-electronics traction control and all that sort of stuff, that one's got the toughest diffs.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_05: They're the hardest ones to break.
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, I just I just missed my 80 series.
• 40:16
  SPEAKER_04: You know what I did?
• 40:16
  SPEAKER_04: I I had this 80 series that I sold for four grand just before COVID, and then that all happened, and suddenly that car was worth 20 grand.
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_05: Oh, I know, increased.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_05: I did, I sold mine just at the start of COVID because I wasn't driving it, I was sitting there unregistered, and uh a young bloke on Facebook had just had an accident in his and he had spent everything on everything.
• 40:37
  SPEAKER_05: It was, I think it was uh the multi-valve engine and all that sort of thing.
• 40:41
  SPEAKER_05: So he needed a donor car, and mine was really straight, so I sold it to him.
• 40:45
  SPEAKER_05: It was an auto um 4.2 turbo, and then okay, might have been a bit cheap on that, but hey, I wasn't using it, and I only miss it because the only thing that nagged you was the fuel light, it didn't nag you for not having a seatbelt on or anything like that, and you know from home in an 80 series, you know, and now modern cars like if I if I'm going too fast and someone's turning right in front of me, it's oh you're gonna have a crash.
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_05: No, I'm not, I'm watching.
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, some of that technology is just a little bit too much for me.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 41:17
  SPEAKER_02: So, Max, you and I spent a bit of time with the uh Ford SR uh Ford SR 19 today, the series two.
• 41:25
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, what was what was one of the big standout features in that van for you, mate?
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, she's a nice beast, isn't she?
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_04: She's a nice beast.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_04: 19 foot is a good length, I reckon, for a caravan.
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_04: It gives you uh uh uh your layout design is enough scope to do something creative but nice, um, and it gives you a good good amount of living space without being ridiculously heavy.
• 41:46
  SPEAKER_04: I think that caravan was just a shade over 2600 kilos.
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, correct.
• 41:50
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, the overall fit and finish, it was was awesome.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 41:53
  SPEAKER_04: Like you can't, you really can't fault it.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_02: Well, that's we we spent a bit of time in it, obviously.
• 41:57
  SPEAKER_02: Outside, we we spent a bit of time on the inside.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_02: So what what was one of those things that really makes uh I don't really know how to put this question.
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_02: Like, what are we doing right in that space?
• 42:12
  SPEAKER_03: Sorry, how do I put this?
• 42:14
  SPEAKER_04: You guys are putting, I think, um, extra attention um towards compliance and making sure that every caravan is is to the letter of the law where it should be.
• 42:25
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, um, I don't know a Vaughn if that's a fair comment, but you know, if you took you think back to the early days, it's not where you were now.
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_04: Yep.
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_04: Um I look at your caravans and I see what fans that are really well sorted.
• 42:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and then that's building the team.
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_01: So back in the day when we were very small, that was sort of me doing the RD and compliance stuff.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_01: But as we've grown, you know, we've got James Field, our um general manager of product and technical, and he's gonna be on your podcast in a couple of weeks in Melbourne.
• 42:54
  SPEAKER_01: And so all those technical things and compliance, you can quiz him there on that one, I reckon.
• 42:59
  SPEAKER_05: And I I think that's somewhere where everyone in the industry needs to be strong.
• 43:03
  SPEAKER_05: It's it's it's about keeping people safe.
• 43:07
  SPEAKER_05: And I think, yeah, we ever a lot of people could do better in that.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely, it's not easy to build a caravan.
• 43:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um most people have no idea.
• 43:16
  SPEAKER_01: You proximities of water to electricity, to gas, to gas flues near windows, like you know, you you think you can just put stuff wherever you wanted to wear it.
• 43:29
  SPEAKER_01: You can't.
• 43:30
  SPEAKER_01: Used to see stuff actually very difficult.
• 43:32
  SPEAKER_05: Used to see stuff I've seen it elsewhere where it's new to market, and if you pulled a wall socket out, there'd be that much bare copper from the jacket on the wire into the back of the PowerPoint.
• 43:43
  SPEAKER_05: Oh, that's a bit of worrying.
• 43:44
  SPEAKER_05: Simple things like that.
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_05: Now, yeah, it's come a long way, but I'm pretty sure there's some of that still goes on.
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_05: But if you can get to our factory and see how things are made, it will change your whole perception about what you can do in a in a factory with.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_05: Manufacturing.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_05: You've reviewed a lot of ants.
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_05: Is there a philosoph philosophy or a design that you think people are doing right?
• 44:11
  SPEAKER_04: No, because the thing is, like everyone wants something different.
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_04: Like there's no such thing as the perfect caravan or the the one van that's going to suit all people.
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_04: And this manufacturer might do this right for that set of customers.
• 44:33
  SPEAKER_04: All I can really do is talk about what my preferences are, and I like a small compact caravan.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, I can see that XT10 pop top from where I'm sitting.
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_04: To me, that that's the sort of thing that I would want to take on a big lap of Australia.
• 44:47
  SPEAKER_05: Have you seen our Forbes 11?
• 44:49
  SPEAKER_05: Uh I'm not sure that I have.
• 44:50
  SPEAKER_05: I'll show you later.
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_05: You won't even look at that again.
• 44:55
  SPEAKER_05: It is amazing.
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_01: Or a Fortnite Plus.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_01: But I mean an easy to take over.
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_04: In my time, I've I've seen some wacky things.
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_04: Some wacky things that people have put in caravans, like a spa bath, like literally a spa bath in a caravan.
• 45:09
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 45:09
  SPEAKER_01: Is that an option?
• 45:10
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, there's a lot of weight, a lot of weight in water.
• 45:13
  SPEAKER_04: A lot of weight in water.
• 45:14
  SPEAKER_04: I'm willing to bet you're not filling up that spa bath when you're free camping.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_04: Um, but it goes to show, like even dishwashers.
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 45:23
  SPEAKER_04: Um to me that's gotta say I'm a fan.
• 45:27
  SPEAKER_04: That's fair.
• 45:27
  SPEAKER_04: That's totally fair too.
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_02: Dishwasher, washer dryer combination in the in the uh ensuite as well.
• 45:32
  SPEAKER_02: If you use melamine plates, you can throw them in the washing machine anyway.
• 45:35
  SPEAKER_05: 100%.
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_04: It's all horses for courses.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_04: I think the idea of a dishwasher in a caravan is ridiculous.
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_04: But that's me.
• 45:41
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, like the fact that you love them, God bless you.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_05: Washing dishes is my pet hate.
• 45:46
  SPEAKER_05: That was a thing I was forced to do every night as a kid, and yeah, it is my pet hate.
• 45:51
  SPEAKER_05: But uh can we all agree that a spa bath is one is a definitely funny?
• 45:55
  SPEAKER_02: Mr.
• 45:55
  SPEAKER_02: NDC over here, he's he's my dishwasher.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_02: Always, mate.
• 46:01
  SPEAKER_02: Always.
• 46:01
  SPEAKER_05: From a media and review standpoint, what would you want to put the SR19 Series 2 through to really stress test it and make sure it's meeting all the claims that we make?
• 46:13
  SPEAKER_05: Because we make some pretty big claims.
• 46:15
  SPEAKER_04: Well, it's it's not an off-road caravan, is it?
• 46:17
  SPEAKER_04: So we're we're not going to be haking it up to um gunshot, so for a start.
• 46:21
  SPEAKER_04: Um, but that looks like a nice highway one sort of um touring caravan.
• 46:27
  SPEAKER_04: Um, I reckon you would want to do the middle.
• 46:29
  SPEAKER_04: I reckon I'd I'd take that out to Ularoo and I'd I'd go up to Darwin and I'd go out to Kakadoo.
• 46:35
  SPEAKER_04: Some of the tracks out to like Gunlum Falls and Twin Falls, they're pretty gnarly.
• 46:40
  SPEAKER_04: But a good on-road caravan is, you know, more than capable.
• 46:43
  SPEAKER_04: Um, that sort of train I reckon would suit that van.
• 46:46
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, and it's although having said that, like I'm not entirely sure what what your thoughts are around warranty for your um touring caravans.
• 46:54
  SPEAKER_04: So if somebody actually did take it out to, you know, I said Gunlum Falls, it's corrugated red earth.
• 46:59
  SPEAKER_04: Um would you want to see one of your caravans taken out to that?
• 47:03
  SPEAKER_04: I'm not entirely sure, but I reckon it would be alright.
• 47:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think with the on-road ones, we say like, you know, three or four kilometres of just dirt tracks similar to coming in here is okay.
• 47:12
  SPEAKER_01: Just drive to the conditions, is the most important thing.
• 47:16
  SPEAKER_05: If the road says do 10 kilometres an hour, do 10 kilometres an hour.
• 47:20
  SPEAKER_05: And if you don't break anything, there's no worried claim to worry about, is there?
• 47:24
  SPEAKER_04: But I'm I'm I'm also a little bit skeptical about the um claims about being able to float across the washboard tracks going at 80 kilometres an hour.
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_04: I I've tried it.
• 47:33
  SPEAKER_04: It's like, I mean, are we serious?
• 47:35
  SPEAKER_04: Can we just lower our tire pressures and just go slow?
• 47:37
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, keep lowering your pressures and lowering your speed until your teeth don't feel like they want to jump out of your head anymore.
• 47:44
  SPEAKER_05: And you're pretty right, you're not gonna break anything.
• 47:47
  SPEAKER_05: So well, you know, we're sitting at the the Mustart.
• 47:51
  SPEAKER_05: What do events like this tell you about the state of caravan, caravanning, and the community?
• 47:58
  SPEAKER_05: What do you think?
• 47:59
  SPEAKER_05: Is that is this the future?
• 48:01
  SPEAKER_05: Is it more people need to do it?
• 48:04
  SPEAKER_04: Um, I think if more people were were part of their local manufacturer caravan clubs, that they would get a lot more out of out of their caravan because that they would be engaging with like-minded people who own similar products from the from the same manufacturer.
• 48:19
  SPEAKER_04: Um so I think I see events such as this as very, very important.
• 48:23
  SPEAKER_04: Um it's community building as well, it's networking.
• 48:27
  SPEAKER_04: Um in general, I think that events such as this um just boost the the enthusiasm for this lifestyle in this country.
• 48:35
  SPEAKER_04: Um I like to go to these events as well because you that's where you get the the real the real gist of what the manufacturer is doing.
• 48:43
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, oh look, I agree.
• 48:45
  SPEAKER_05: I think um I think as a manufacturer you should be grateful for every every customer that buys your product and and try and give them the best possible owner experience.
• 48:54
  SPEAKER_05: So I think as an industry we should all do that.
• 48:56
  SPEAKER_01: So um, gentlemen, it's um I see we've got the gin tasting over there under the marquee, and it is 430.
• 49:04
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not I'm not looking gin.
• 49:06
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 49:07
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe a bit of mix.
• 49:08
  SPEAKER_05: He has rum as well, Max.
• 49:09
  SPEAKER_01: It'll be my first gin tasting, so hey, I'm not trying everything once.
• 49:14
  SPEAKER_05: I think that's a subtle hint to button it up.
• 49:16
  SPEAKER_05: Before we go, mate, tell the viewers where they can find Go RV.
• 49:21
  SPEAKER_04: Well, they can always check out our website, go rv.com.au, follow the links, you'll absolutely find our e magazine there, which if I can point out is entirely free.
• 49:30
  SPEAKER_04: Like, you know, there's there's a whole load of content about new caravans and destinations, hints and tips and all that.
• 49:35
  SPEAKER_04: We don't ask for money for that.
• 49:37
  SPEAKER_04: Like, you can just log on and you can read our mag for free, won't cost you anything.
• 49:40
  SPEAKER_04: Um check us out on YouTube.
• 49:43
  SPEAKER_04: Um, Vaughan mentioned 30,000 YouTube subscribers, which is a for us, that's a huge thing.
• 49:48
  SPEAKER_04: We are a small business and we're we're we're working a way to make it as interesting and as relevant as possible.
• 49:55
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and every every person who checks us out is is is helping us out to to maintain our business and continue to be a voice for this industry.
• 50:05
  SPEAKER_04: Use it or lose it, folks.
• 50:06
  SPEAKER_05: Come to a trade show.
• 50:07
  SPEAKER_05: You might have a special guest to transcribe.
• 50:10
  SPEAKER_05: Make sure you subscribe, folks.
• 50:11
  SPEAKER_05: It doesn't cost you out.
• 50:12
  SPEAKER_05: Doesn't cost you.
• 50:14
  SPEAKER_05: It's great information, it is free, and it's one of the few credible places where you can get information that's going to be truthful and you can help make you buying purchases into the future.
• 50:28
  SPEAKER_05: But we'll wrap it up.
• 50:29
  SPEAKER_05: Thank you everyone for coming along.
• 50:30
  SPEAKER_05: Thank you, Max.
• 50:31
  SPEAKER_05: It's been an absolute pleasure.
• 50:33
  SPEAKER_05: Thank you for watching this episode, and we'll look forward to seeing you on next time.
• 50:38
  SPEAKER_05: In the meantime, check out everything else on our YouTube channel and check out our website for upcoming events involving MDC and the MDC owner community.
• 50:49
  SPEAKER_05: Thanks again.