New Autotrail (1 Viewer)

[enjohn49]

Hello everyone. We collected our long awaited new Tracker FB (2014 Model) from Simpsons Motorhomes in Great Yarmouth on April 30th. What a great experience; probably the best hand over we have ever had. Nothing was too much trouble to explain, a couple of minor 'niggles' were put right, and we were on our way to the camp site. We spent a few nights at the Caravan Club site at the race course (highly recommended) to test everything out and start the process of identifying where everything had to go! The only thing that hadn't been checked was the sun awning, which I did on the Friday morning. This was sticking a bit on one side, so I phoned Simpsons straight away. They asked me to bring the vehicle back, only about 10 minutes away, and they would rectify the problem. This they did as soon as we arrived; some Silicone Spray and a cloth did the job! Back at the camp site we were having a cup of tea when suddenly the heating shut down, showing an error on the control panel! A quick call to Simpsons and a quick walk through of things to try, but they didn't work. We called in to them on our way home the following day, but despite their best efforts the fault could not be rectified. Since then we have had numerous phone calls from them, a new control panel sent through the post to try; but the fault just kept coming back. Simpsons have been phenomenal in their support. A driver was sent to collect our van and they took it back and found that a new PSU was required, which they duly fitted. The 'van was delivered back to us, but then a further fault on the boiler reared it's ugly head! They sent a technician out to us who completed the work after a few hours, plus a few more 'niggles' whilst here was here. Then, 20 minutes after he left the heating system shut down once more; showing the sane error code as before! Yet another driver has been to collect our 'dream' motorhome and is on it's way back to Great Yarmouth once more! Even though the fault still appears to be lurking among the electronics somewhere, I cannot fault the service we are being given. Simpsons have at least manged to keep our stress levels under control; well the odd bottle of wine or two has helped too! We are due to go away on a 10 day break in Devon this Thursday, so we have our fingers crossed the fault will be rectified in time!

 

[Baycott]

Well, what a sad tale
I'm glad that Simpsons are giving you good after care as this does help the situation I'm sure.
Let's hope all is ok for Thursday

 

[Clarky]

We bought our last AutoTrail from Simpsons and found their pre and after sale service to be excellent.

Richard.

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[enjohn49]

Thank you John and Richard for your replies. The excellent service really does help. Long may it continue!

 

[knokinonabit]

If you have some time on your hands read this thread that I started.
www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/autotrail-woes.53600/

There is a lot of it so please try and read as much as your eyeballs can stand.
Good luck with your AutoTrail, I fear you may need it.

 

[Easyliving]

Hi

We have bought both our motorhomes from Simpsons, a 2nd hand Burstner and a new Swift and found the sales / handover process good both times. I suppose its unrealistic to expect aftersales and service to always be perfect but generally we have found them reasonably good at taking care of us. There are so many horror stories about people having problems with dealers its good to find one that is okay, most of the time anyway.

Paul

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[Neilfg]

If you have some time on your hands read this thread that I started.
www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/autotrail-woes.53600/

There is a lot of it so please try and read as much as your eyeballs can stand.
Good luck with your AutoTrail, I fear you may need it.

I just read this all, 19 pages! Seems to me that the AT dealers are OK (Simpsons seem excellent so far), the issue appears to be Autotrail and more importantly how they deal with ongoing issues. I hope the OP issues get resolved and do not drag on like @knokinonabit.

 

[knokinonabit]

I just read this all, 19 pages! Seems to me that the AT dealers are OK (Simpsons seem excellent so far), the issue appears to be Autotrail and more importantly how they deal with ongoing issues. I hope the OP issues get resolved and do not drag on like @knokinonabit.

I have stopped adding more faults to the thread because they keep cropping up more and more.
People may just think that I am a moaning old git, or making it up.
I may be the first one, but definitely not the second.
They aren't just recurring old faults, a lot of them are new.

The dealer has tried to resolve the issues and you are quite right. AutoTrail are the problem.

 

[injebreck99]

Another vote for Simpsons, we bought our Bolero from there, excellent hand over and after sales service, Brindley actually tried to persuade us(successfully), not to try and trade our M/H in for a P/V, saying we would be mad as our was much more suited to our needs, Highly recommended agents.

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[Ninovan]

Resurrecting an old thread. We bought our Apache 634 new in October 2013 from an established dealer in Southampton, it was their demo model from the Romsey show. One or two problems that were eventually sorted out under warranty - new door and frame (Dometic) required due to frame cracking at two hinge mountings, water gauge not working and another couple of niggles but nothing serious. At it's first hab check Oct 14, 27% damp found in rear "garage" lower right wall. AT agreed to warranty claim and the wall board has just been replaced. While it was in their workshop I got them to do a hab check & damp test for this year. Guess what? 24% damp in the wardrobe, actually visibly discoloured near roof line which we had not spotted. Looks as though it might be coming from adjacent awning mounting. What is it with this manufacturer? Getting on for £50K for a new van, you could buy a house for that in N Ireland! Now got to arrange even more time in the workshop and off the road. Not happy to say the least.. Sorry about long post - just needed to get it off my chest.

 

[Ninovan]

Sorry, wrong thread! Re-posted on Autotrail Woes!
Edit. Scrub that! It went missing lol. Guess we'll have to stay with this one.

 

[Speve]

we changed our 2013 Tracker FB for a Hymer Exsis in June although we liked our Autotrail We had lots of issues with it from new and to cap it all even after a weight uprate we could not tow a car trailer with it so bit the bullet and changed to A class no regrets and someone has got a top rate Autotrail as long as they don't want to tow.
I always felt that Autotrail do not do pre delivery inspections and rectify faults before handover making the buyers experience very hectic and stressful they don't seem to care once they have got your hard earned.

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[knokinonabit]

It has gone in to the dealers today for what is hopefully the last of the faults to be rectified.
Only three and a half years so far.
The last two are a repair to the PSU which prevents the step operating properly, and a repair to the entertainment/reversing camera system, which intermittently blanks the screen, but full time won't play DVDs. It will play CDs though.
We expect this work to take around three weeks, but we aren't holding our breath.

I thought that there was going to be another fault to add to the list this weekend just gone.
To cut a long story short, the Dometic AES fridge and freezer had switched itself off, unnoticed by us, and had thawed everything out.
After going through all of the fault finding checks and getting nowhere I realised that it was the blue warning light flashing and not the red one, which warns of a failure.
The blue one was flashing because the switch in the door lock had failed to operate and the fridge thought that the door had been left open.
This resulted in it shutting down, even though everything else, gas, 230v and 12v where still operable.

After wiggling the metal flap in the lock with my finger, as if by magic, all worked again.
I will be keeping an eye on it now.

 

[Ninovan]

The saga continues. Update on our damp Autotrail. When the van was in the dealers having the damp sorted out under warranty, I had asked them to do a hab check as required by the warranty. This was also to include a damp check. When we went to pick up the van, I was handed a sheet of paper that purported to be the 'certificate', with no readings or any other info., & was told that everything was OK. When I queried this, I was told that was the normal paperwork. When I asked for proper paperwork, the van was taken back into the workshop & a damp check carried out & readings taken & noted. This was when they discovered damp in the wardrobe . I.E. no check had been done even though they charged for it. Anyway..... they agreed to contact AT to arrange for repairs & also arrange to repair damage they had done to the furniture when replacing original rear wall board.Took the van home & then remembered I hadn't asked where the original damp was getting inand had they sealed/cured it. The answer was........ No, we just replaced the wall board. In other words treated the symptom not the cause, and just covered it up. Now we come to the next lot of damp to be sorted out & I am not confident in their abilities at all. Phoned AT & spoke to "Colin" in Warranty dept (?) who only would say he was sorry about the situation. I am steaming . I wouldn't trust the dealer to change a light bulb without blowing all the electrics. Sorry about the long post again, does anybody have any advice? Bearing in mind it is now 2 years old, could I insist on a replacement van as unfit for purpose? I feel as though I cant ddrive it in the wet as I dont know where the damp is getting in at the back, nor can I leave it parked outside in the rain due to the damp getting into the wardrobe. I am getting so stressed I feel ill. HELP!!! Thanks for readeing this, sorry again it is so long.
Chris

 

[tonka]

Colin..... would most likely be Colin Treacher.. "CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGER".

When I had my issues I took it back to the factory to be sorted, my view was that there could not be any further ongoing dispute if I had any more issues, they built it and only they did the repairs..

Ref hab check... I never use the dealer but prefer an independent engineer. The only criteria Autotrail state is that they must be NCC approved...

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[Ninovan]

Thanks @tonka . If it was Colin Treacher, he sounded very cagey & not a lot of help. Think I can feel some e-mails coming on to AT & the dealers MD. Suspect with AT I'll just get pushed back to Customer Service, though by all accounts (on here?) not very helpful.

The reason I booked the hab check with the dealer was because the van was with them anyway & it was due.

 

[Judge Mental]

Cover it with signs and park up outside the dealer every weekend, inform local press. Personally I would get rid and buy something else but then I would never buy one in the first place.....

 

[gus-lopez]

Cover it with signs and park up outside the dealer every weekend, inform local press. Personally I would get rid and buy something else but then I would never buy one in the first place.....

That is what my missus used to do at the show home office of the 'builders' of a new house we bought. works.

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[Candapack]

Excellent. I'm picking up my new Autotrail in the next few days, so this is just the sort of stuff I like to read.
Thanks chaps.

 

[Judge Mental]

Bring a damp meter.....not as if the info not out there!

 

[Southdowners]

Excellent. I'm picking up my new Autotrail in the next few days, so this is just the sort of stuff I like to read.
Thanks chaps.

I hope your new vehicle will be a lot better than the ones on this and other threads. As you say, not what you want to hear!

I wonder why they have problems? I would not be put out with teething problems (had a few of those) but to have damp in a new vehicle - that's something I wouldn't expect to find.

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[tonka]

Excellent. I'm picking up my new Autotrail in the next few days, so this is just the sort of stuff I like to read.
Thanks chaps.

You better not join the Facebook Autotrail group then. !! It will be like halloween every day,!!
Seriously, I love my Autotrail but so damn annoying that you have a van with a retail price of over £50,000 and get these issues. Damp in a year old van just should not happen, to make it worse you get a dealer who either does not reply or shows little interest. Autotrail the manufacturers are not even decent enough to say sorry or give you the fuel money to take it back to the factory. !

Rant over... I have my next Hab check soon.. FINGERS CROSSED...

 

[Judge Mental]

I hope your new vehicle will be a lot better than the ones on this and other threads. As you say, not what you want to hear!

I wonder why they have problems? I would not be put out with teething problems (had a few of those) but to have damp in a new vehicle - that's something I wouldn't expect to find.

Old-fashioned heavy wood construction methods plus no quality control.....laughable to be honest in this day and age.

 

[knokinonabit]

Did the Autotrail factory tour, and one of the things they stressed was that each one is made for a particular customer to order.
When I pointed out that mine was from a dealers forecourt they said it could never happen. Bo***cks.
Just saw at least ten at Catterick Caravans waiting for a mug, sorry, customer.

They also stress how good their quality control is. Even bigger bo***cks.

We are now seriously thinking of giving up on motorhomes and going back to tugging.
I know they have their issues, but at least it's not as much money to lose.

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[Candapack]

I'm not anticipating any major problems. I know a number of Autotrail owners who have had no issues at all.
The only ones I hear about are on forums.
It's the old story, those who have problems go into print, those who are quite happy don't bother. The ratio of one to the other is in my favour.
(I'll still have my fingers crossed though).

 

[knokinonabit]

I'm not anticipating any major problems. I know a number of Autotrail owners who have had no issues at all.
The only ones I hear about are on forums.
It's the old story, those who have problems go into print, those who are quite happy don't bother. The ratio of one to the other is in my favour.
(I'll still have my fingers crossed though).

I have to disagree a bit on that.

Having actually spoken to quite a few owners who never went to print, it turns out they have lot's of the same problems but don't complain.
It's a British thing.

 

[Speve]

I'm not anticipating any major problems. I know a number of Autotrail owners who have had no issues at all.
The only ones I hear about are on forums.
It's the old story, those who have problems go into print, those who are quite happy don't bother. The ratio of one to the other is in my favour.
(I'll still have my fingers crossed though).

Nothing wrong with an Autotrail if you get a good one! I expect there are bad in most makes,GOOD LUCK with yours.

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[rolandrat]

If you want to use a damp meter get the best there is and make sure it has a calibration certificate with it.

 

[Candapack]

Old-fashioned heavy wood construction methods plus no quality control.....laughable to be honest in this day and age.

Here's a picture from Autotrail brochure re construction.

 

[scotjimland]

Nothing wrong with an Autotrail if you get a good one! I expect there are bad in most makes,GOOD LUCK with yours.

buying a van shouldn't be a £50k lottery .. AT clearly have problems with either the design or it's execution..

and no, there is not 'bad' in 'most' makes.. German and continental vans in general do not come off the production floor with water ingress problems..

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