Having Extras Fitted To German-bought Van (1 Viewer)

May 8, 2010
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Following on from my other thread 'Hymer or Carthago', http://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/posts/1471398/ we've now made up our minds. We've made the 'safe' decision, and ordered a Hymer. (Although I do think the Carthagos are really beautiful.)

My next question relates the fitting of extras. Although the vans, themselves, are much cheaper in Germany, the fitting of extras seems to be more expensive. Our only concern about having things like awning, bike rack and solar panels etc fitted here, is the question of vehicle warranty. If, e.g., there was any water ingress (God forbid!), would the fact that a non-Hymer Main Dealer had fitted the extras be likely to invalidate the warranty? If we had them fitted by a Main Dealer in the UK, would this be likely to avoid invalidation of warranty?

We've had a quote for fitting the things we want, from a reputable, specialist motorhome fitments company which undercuts the Hymer quotes by a substantial margin, (No surprises there, then!), but we hope to keep this van for a long time and don't want to make any false economies.

What have others done?

Many thanks for your input.

Chris
 

Gorse Hill

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Following on from my other thread 'Hymer or Carthago', http://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/posts/1471398/ we've now made up our minds. We've made the 'safe' decision, and ordered a Hymer. (Although I do think the Carthagos are really beautiful.)

My next question relates the fitting of extras. Although the vans, themselves, are much cheaper in Germany, the fitting of extras seems to be more expensive. Our only concern about having things like awning, bike rack and solar panels etc fitted here, is the question of vehicle warranty. If, e.g., there was any water ingress (God forbid!), would the fact that a non-Hymer Main Dealer had fitted the extras be likely to invalidate the warranty? If we had them fitted by a Main Dealer in the UK, would this be likely to avoid invalidation of warranty?

We've had a quote for fitting the things we want, from a reputable, specialist motorhome fitments company which undercuts the Hymer quotes by a substantial margin, (No surprises there, then!), but we hope to keep this van for a long time and don't want to make any false economies.

What have others done?

Many thanks for your input.

Chris
If you have it fitted by a main dealer (hymer) in the UK can't see how that could possible invalidate your warranty and they will have the all the info regarding fixing points for any extras if you intend to keep the van
Even thou more expensive nothing compared to initial outlay and any issues if the warranty becomes invalid
 

dave newell

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Water ingress caused by the fitment of after market accessories is never going to be covered by the original vehicle warranty, it falls on the shoulders of the fitters of said accessories. As an example: I fit a solar panel to a motorhome and a subsequent water leak appears near to the cable entry position, you wouldn't go back to the manufacturer of the motorhome under warranty you'd come back to me under my warranty for fitting the solar panel, wouldn't you?

D.

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Techno

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My van had kit fitted by the German dealer for the first owner and the workmanship was rubbish.
I would find someone with a good reputation here as you don't want to be travelling back to a German dealer who won't want to know later.
 

Judge Mental

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the way I understand it it that anything that penetrated the vehicle skin needs to be done by a Hymer approved company. Have always found the cost of awnings, second battery etc...better value in euros, dealer supplied. Wrong dealer?
 

Techno

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If I bought a new van and needed an awning I would order it factory fitted or use a specialist in awnings like Rose rather than trust a dealer who may use joe bloggs unvetted by Hymer etc

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lorger

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We are currently in the process of purchasing a new van from Germany and just needing to decide what extras we're having, I have priced them for factory fit and also from Vanbitz and have to say they're about the same with vanbitz being slightly cheaper. I will most likely go with Vanbitz as im wanting a few things done by him anyway so may as well get the lot done, not forgetting fun member discount which makes a big difference if getting a few things done.
Give them a phone and ask, i did this last week and found them to be really helpful.
 

Gorse Hill

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Water ingress caused by the fitment of after market accessories is never going to be covered by the original vehicle warranty, it falls on the shoulders of the fitters of said accessories. As an example: I fit a solar panel to a motorhome and a subsequent water leak appears near to the cable entry position, you wouldn't go back to the manufacturer of the motorhome under warranty you'd come back to me under my warranty for fitting the solar panel, wouldn't you?

D.
Even if it was fitted by a main hymer dealer?
 
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[QUOTE="lorger, post: 1479685, member: disappointed regards steveWe are currently in the process of purchasing a new van from Germany and just needing to decide what extras we're having, I have priced them for factory fit and also from Vanbitz and have to say they're about the same with vanbitz being slightly cheaper. I will most likely go with Vanbitz as im wanting a few things done by him anyway so may as well get the lot done, not forgetting fun member discount which makes a big difference if getting a few things done.
Give them a phone and ask, i did this last week and found them to be really helpful.[/QUOTE]
I had work done at vanbitz you wont be dissap

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Theonlysue

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Not long enough!
Take the time to sit down and read the warranty, so you know what you are dealing with.
 

dave newell

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Even if it was fitted by a main hymer dealer?

Err well as your deal is with the dealer not Hymer and assuming its the dealer you bought the van from then the warranty is one and the same isn't it? If you used a different dealer to the one you bought the motorhome from then warranty for the work done by dealer 2 is dealt with by dealer 2 surely?

D.

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Judge Mental

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Following on from my other thread 'Hymer or Carthago', http://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/posts/1471398/ we've now made up our minds. We've made the 'safe' decision, and ordered a Hymer. (Although I do think the Carthagos are really beautiful.)

My next question relates the fitting of extras. Although the vans, themselves, are much cheaper in Germany, the fitting of extras seems to be more expensive. Our only concern about having things like awning, bike rack and solar panels etc fitted here, is the question of vehicle warranty. If, e.g., there was any water ingress (God forbid!), would the fact that a non-Hymer Main Dealer had fitted the extras be likely to invalidate the warranty? If we had them fitted by a Main Dealer in the UK, would this be likely to avoid invalidation of warranty?

We've had a quote for fitting the things we want, from a reputable, specialist motorhome fitments company which undercuts the Hymer quotes by a substantial margin, (No surprises there, then!), but we hope to keep this van for a long time and don't want to make any false economies.

What have others done?

Many thanks for your input.

Chris

Sooooooo.., Chris which model have you gone for?:)

Eddie
 
OP
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the way I understand it it that anything that penetrated the vehicle skin needs to be done by a Hymer approved company. Have always found the cost of awnings, second battery etc...better value in euros, dealer supplied. Wrong dealer?
Take the time to sit down and read the warranty, so you know what you are dealing with.

Yes, you're both right! I checked the warranty details and work has to be carried out either by Hymer AG or by 'an authorised workshop.' So, I need to find out whether e.g. Vanbitz are 'authorised'. I'll also contact Travelworld.

The prices I've been quoted by the German dealer are:
Awning Euros 995 (Previously quoted Euros 1450 by another German dealer)
2x100 watt solar panels Euros 1350 (Previously quoted Euros 1190 for 1 x 100 w panel by another dealer)
TV with Oyster 85 Vision mit Alphatronic TFT (whatever this might be??? - total overkill for us because we don't watch much tv - mainly just watch a few dvd's) Euros 2,749 !!! (Previously quoted Euros 3,000 by another German dealer for TV with Alden 80) - In our last van we just had a Status Antenna fitted, and that was more than adequate.
Double lense Waeco reversing camera Euros 1390

Sooooooo.., Chris which model have you gone for?:)

Eddie

We're the 'Last of the Great Risk Averse.'
When we sold our Nexxo, with fixed corner bed, and uncomfortable half dinette, we thought we'd go for an A Class with an L-shaped seating area.
Having spent many confusing hours looking at various Hymers and Carthagos, we decided that we didn't want an A Class after all. We didn't want the A Class bed.
We then started looking at vans with transverse beds over large garages - but they always felt a bit 'enclosed'. We didn't like the fact that Hymer Tramp CLs have steps in the habitation floors. This seems to split the floor area up, and as we have a large dog, we need room for him to lie down in comfort.
We wanted to keep under 7 metres, if possible - above that length would have meant moving a wall on the front garden.
Sooooooooo - in the end - we went for ---a Hymer Tramp SL 554.
It's the same layout as the Nexxo - but it has a comfortable L-seating group. It has a double floor - which Graham particularly wanted, and the internal floor is all on one level.
It doesn't have a huge garage, so we'll need a bike rack, and while many people report that they were on their third van before they found their perfect layout, we were lucky enough to get it right first time with the Nexxo.
So, there you have it - same as before but with a lot of refinements!
 

Gorse Hill

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Err well as your deal is with the dealer not Hymer and assuming its the dealer you bought the van from then the warranty is one and the same isn't it? If you used a different dealer to the one you bought the motorhome from then warranty for the work done by dealer 2 is dealt with by dealer 2 surely?

D.
You do surprise me there dave, and you may well correct in what you say, however if it was me I would argue the point that's it's a hymer van and as such the warranty is ultimately with hymer as they built the van
If a dealer is approved by hymer, either in the UK or Germany then they meet the required standard to be a approved dealer therefore I would have thought any warranty issues would be honoured on that basis

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kelv

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Hi bellabee
I have a hymer 554 tramp cl owned for just over ten months from new great van very comfortable.we have 2 folding electric bikes which go in the garage with ease also had a 240 socket installed in garage on the high shelf and installed a microwave which is easy to access by lifting the bed when needed.
 

dave newell

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You do surprise me there dave, and you may well correct in what you say, however if it was me I would argue the point that's it's a hymer van and as such the warranty is ultimately with hymer as they built the van
If a dealer is approved by hymer, either in the UK or Germany then they meet the required standard to be a approved dealer therefore I would have thought any warranty issues would be honoured on that basis


Ok so lets look at why you might use a different Hymer dealer (dealer 2) to fit accessories than the selling dealer (dealer 1), presumably because dealer 2 is closer, cheaper or you don't trust dealer 1. So you have an awning fitted by dealer 2 to a motorhome that you bought from dealer 1 and you have subsequent water ingress around the fixings. Who are you going to first?

D.
 

Gorse Hill

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Ok so lets look at why you might use a different Hymer dealer (dealer 2) to fit accessories than the selling dealer (dealer 1), presumably because dealer 2 is closer, cheaper or you don't trust dealer 1. So you have an awning fitted by dealer 2 to a motorhome that you bought from dealer 1 and you have subsequent water ingress around the fixings. Who are you going to first?

D.
Just re-read original Post and your reply, I agree with what your saying it would be the dealer, whoever that might be has the responsibility to put it right as it wouldn't be a warranty issue
The only I would say thou is that by using an approved dealer (until the warranty expires) means there's no chance of any come backs should anything go wrong by using an non approved dealer leaves you open to the warranty becoming invalid
I have a new Germany van and some off the workmanship is very poor by the approved dealer but at least I can go back to the manufacture (which I have) to have it put right, believe me am pretty easy going but the work carried out was extremely poor
When my warranty expires in 18 months I will be using yourself or eddie for future work having read about your quality workmanship from a very demanding funster community

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@kelv Hi. Glad to hear that you like your van. I think we'll probably have a look for some folding bikes. It's more secure than having the bikes on the back. Good tip about the microwave!
 

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