GEORDIE
Free Member
We took delivery of our new Dethleffs GlobetrotterXLi at a cost of nearly £100,000 from Lowdhams in Newark Nottingham Ion May 31st 2012. The handover was rushed but we did point out that as walking through the van the side locker door beneath the leather seating was pushing the door open forcing it to spring open as you moved past or sat on the seating. The response was the leather seating would wear in. There was initially a problem setting up the 2 televisions, but they managed to get both working.
We then left for a campsite to give the vehicle a trial run. There was a loud knocking sound coming from the left hand side of the dashboard. The televisions would not work at all, on inspection by a fellow camper it was believed there may have been an LNB Problem, I notified Lowdhams who suggested they were ok when they left them. On returning home one of the light fittings fell from the ceiling and disappeared under the seat. We also had a warning buzzer and a red light on the dashboard came on, unfortunately the notification panel was in German so we had no idea what it meant. The vehicle lost all power on the busy A326 and came to a stop. After a few minutes we were able to continue our journey home without further issue.
I contacted Lowdhams again and asked them to investigate the first two problems believing the loss of power incident was just a one off.
Lowdhams had a 6 week wait in their service department and referred us to Premier at Chichester, There wait was only one day nearer. Once again I phoned Lowdhams, we were extremely worried by the knocking sound coming from the front section beneath the dashboard. They contacted Premier who agreed to let the (Salesman) look at the vehicle to see if he could help.
We took it to Premier, they believed the knocking sound just needed insulating with padding, A new light was ordered and the televisions after much waiting for the satellite dish to lock in they finally got working. We still had to wait for the other issues to be repaired on the original date given.
That same weekend we went away, and once again the Televisions would not work, We also found the bathroom area flooded due to a faulty tap. I telephoned Premier who said they would order a new tap, and repair when we attended there workshop on the 2nd August The date being brought forward by nearly 2 weeks due to a cancellation.
We attended Premier, on the 2nd August, The knocking sound was made good, the light fitting replaced plus an additional light fitting that had dislodged from it’s housing on our way there., They were unable to fix the televisions as they were not authorised dealers of Teleco. The tap was not repaired as the wrong one had been sent so it was suggested they disconnect the pipework so we could still fill the system. The seating was photographed as it was clear the cushions were too large and were in fact pushing the door out of shape and alignment. These were then sent to Dethleff's.
It was pointed out to us that there was a knocking sound coming from the overhead cab bed. They also disturbingly pointed out low levels of fluid in the washer container and the engine coolant system. We were advised that there was a possible leak in that system. The tyres were all deflated by a 25%:Sad: as they contained too much pressure in them. They also changed the dashboard readings to English for us and changed the settings on the radio to the correct settings and showed us how to operate it correctly. A great service from Premier.
We went on a 2 night break after leaving the dealership, on arrival the engine coolant fluid was once again below the accepted levels, we also found on putting up the Awning one of the 2 legs holding the awning in place failed to hold rendering it impossible to put up. One of the adjuster knobs came off of the driver’s seat whilst attempting to adjust the seatback position.
We made a call to Premier who advised us to take it to the nearest Fiat dealer to us which is in Adams Morey Southampton.. to get the cooling system levels investigated. Once we were home we booked it in and thanks to them a leaking pipe was corrected.
In the meantime being so fed up with the television issue I contacted Teleco direct, who arranged for us to have it looked at by one of their recommended technicians. This was done and at last the cause was found to be what was suspected, a faulty LNB.
We set out on the 17th August for our 2 week holiday which was paid for some time ago. When we arrived at the first of the campsites booked for 3 nights, once again the buzzer sounded and the red light on the dashboard reading A Transmission fault. This was the same as what had happened the previous time but we assumed it was just a warning.
On Monday the 20th we were booked into a site in Islip Oxford. Within two miles of the site the buzzer sounded and the red light came on. Once again we lost power on a very bad stretch of road. After several minutes we got going again but several times we lost complete power , we were extremely frightened and I telephoned Fiat assist whilst Alan battled to get us to a place of safety as we were on the A34. We were by then only a short distance from the campsite so agreed to try and limp along and they would send assistance to meet us at the campsite. After an horrific last mile we made the campsite and within 20 minutes help as promised arrived.
It was deemed unsafe to drive , The local fiat dealers refused to take it, so The Assist recommended we take it to our local dealer . The assist contacted our local fiat dealer and we were advised to wait till morning as there was no guarantee that the recovery low loader needed would get us there before they closed.
Next day we packed up the vehicle and emptied the tanks. We then found an excessive amount of water in the kitchen area soaking the carpets. It seemed to be coming from beneath the sink housing. Also one of the stays appeared to be loose with trouble getting it to retract.
Once again I telephoned Premier who suggested a pipe separation behind the sink housing was probably the cause. We told her of our present situation and that we were being taken to the fiat dealership. She suggested we make an agreed time to get the outstanding issues rectified. The date given was the earliest being the 20th September. I have since been able to change that to the 19th as we are in fact supposed to be away on the 20TH September. Thanks to Lisa who has promised to get it in sooner if she has a cancellation.
Again I contacted Lowdhams as the dealer who sold the vehicle and told them it was there responsibility. They offered no help but suggested we keep in touch with regards to the situation with the Fiat dealers.No matter that our paid for holiday was being disrupted.
As of today we still have no idea what the problem is with the engine side of the vehicle. I have seen posts by Sonesta on Motorhome Facts that describes the power loss of their van identical to our problem.. I do hope we will be back on the road sooner than they were. I did ask Lowdhams if we could have a loan van, but no joy.
At the moment we are extremely despondent, where do we go from here?
We then left for a campsite to give the vehicle a trial run. There was a loud knocking sound coming from the left hand side of the dashboard. The televisions would not work at all, on inspection by a fellow camper it was believed there may have been an LNB Problem, I notified Lowdhams who suggested they were ok when they left them. On returning home one of the light fittings fell from the ceiling and disappeared under the seat. We also had a warning buzzer and a red light on the dashboard came on, unfortunately the notification panel was in German so we had no idea what it meant. The vehicle lost all power on the busy A326 and came to a stop. After a few minutes we were able to continue our journey home without further issue.
I contacted Lowdhams again and asked them to investigate the first two problems believing the loss of power incident was just a one off.
Lowdhams had a 6 week wait in their service department and referred us to Premier at Chichester, There wait was only one day nearer. Once again I phoned Lowdhams, we were extremely worried by the knocking sound coming from the front section beneath the dashboard. They contacted Premier who agreed to let the (Salesman) look at the vehicle to see if he could help.
We took it to Premier, they believed the knocking sound just needed insulating with padding, A new light was ordered and the televisions after much waiting for the satellite dish to lock in they finally got working. We still had to wait for the other issues to be repaired on the original date given.
That same weekend we went away, and once again the Televisions would not work, We also found the bathroom area flooded due to a faulty tap. I telephoned Premier who said they would order a new tap, and repair when we attended there workshop on the 2nd August The date being brought forward by nearly 2 weeks due to a cancellation.
We attended Premier, on the 2nd August, The knocking sound was made good, the light fitting replaced plus an additional light fitting that had dislodged from it’s housing on our way there., They were unable to fix the televisions as they were not authorised dealers of Teleco. The tap was not repaired as the wrong one had been sent so it was suggested they disconnect the pipework so we could still fill the system. The seating was photographed as it was clear the cushions were too large and were in fact pushing the door out of shape and alignment. These were then sent to Dethleff's.
It was pointed out to us that there was a knocking sound coming from the overhead cab bed. They also disturbingly pointed out low levels of fluid in the washer container and the engine coolant system. We were advised that there was a possible leak in that system. The tyres were all deflated by a 25%:Sad: as they contained too much pressure in them. They also changed the dashboard readings to English for us and changed the settings on the radio to the correct settings and showed us how to operate it correctly. A great service from Premier.
We went on a 2 night break after leaving the dealership, on arrival the engine coolant fluid was once again below the accepted levels, we also found on putting up the Awning one of the 2 legs holding the awning in place failed to hold rendering it impossible to put up. One of the adjuster knobs came off of the driver’s seat whilst attempting to adjust the seatback position.
We made a call to Premier who advised us to take it to the nearest Fiat dealer to us which is in Adams Morey Southampton.. to get the cooling system levels investigated. Once we were home we booked it in and thanks to them a leaking pipe was corrected.
In the meantime being so fed up with the television issue I contacted Teleco direct, who arranged for us to have it looked at by one of their recommended technicians. This was done and at last the cause was found to be what was suspected, a faulty LNB.
We set out on the 17th August for our 2 week holiday which was paid for some time ago. When we arrived at the first of the campsites booked for 3 nights, once again the buzzer sounded and the red light on the dashboard reading A Transmission fault. This was the same as what had happened the previous time but we assumed it was just a warning.
On Monday the 20th we were booked into a site in Islip Oxford. Within two miles of the site the buzzer sounded and the red light came on. Once again we lost power on a very bad stretch of road. After several minutes we got going again but several times we lost complete power , we were extremely frightened and I telephoned Fiat assist whilst Alan battled to get us to a place of safety as we were on the A34. We were by then only a short distance from the campsite so agreed to try and limp along and they would send assistance to meet us at the campsite. After an horrific last mile we made the campsite and within 20 minutes help as promised arrived.
It was deemed unsafe to drive , The local fiat dealers refused to take it, so The Assist recommended we take it to our local dealer . The assist contacted our local fiat dealer and we were advised to wait till morning as there was no guarantee that the recovery low loader needed would get us there before they closed.
Next day we packed up the vehicle and emptied the tanks. We then found an excessive amount of water in the kitchen area soaking the carpets. It seemed to be coming from beneath the sink housing. Also one of the stays appeared to be loose with trouble getting it to retract.
Once again I telephoned Premier who suggested a pipe separation behind the sink housing was probably the cause. We told her of our present situation and that we were being taken to the fiat dealership. She suggested we make an agreed time to get the outstanding issues rectified. The date given was the earliest being the 20th September. I have since been able to change that to the 19th as we are in fact supposed to be away on the 20TH September. Thanks to Lisa who has promised to get it in sooner if she has a cancellation.
Again I contacted Lowdhams as the dealer who sold the vehicle and told them it was there responsibility. They offered no help but suggested we keep in touch with regards to the situation with the Fiat dealers.No matter that our paid for holiday was being disrupted.
As of today we still have no idea what the problem is with the engine side of the vehicle. I have seen posts by Sonesta on Motorhome Facts that describes the power loss of their van identical to our problem.. I do hope we will be back on the road sooner than they were. I did ask Lowdhams if we could have a loan van, but no joy.
At the moment we are extremely despondent, where do we go from here?
oh:
