Anyone had dealing with Freeborn Motorhomes Guildford (1 Viewer)

lorger

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Hi folks just wondering if any of you have had any dealings with Freeborn Motorhomes, good or bad all welcome.

I have been given a price to change my mh for a newer one and seems a good deal and they have so far answered all the questions I have asked and ones they didn't know have phoned me back with the answer, so so far quite happy to deal with them but being so far away I don't have a clue about them.
 

scotjimland

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Morning Gerry

no matter how good the deal or the dealer.. things can and do go wrong requiring a trip back to them.. Personally I wouldn't buy from a dealer who was so far away..

good luck with your search :Smile:
 
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lorger

lorger

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Hi Jim
I have to agree with you a bit but there aren't many dealers round my way and I have spoke to them about the warranty and what would happen with silly little things as well as larger things going wrong hoping there are no issues though. They have told me they or warranty company would meet cost if done at an approved dealer have also said they would talk to Dumfries caravan centre my local dealer and make sure they are happy to take any work on on their behalf before I buy the van.

Ideally I could find the van I want a lot closer but unfortunately we don't live in an ideal world.

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scotjimland

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Hi Jim
I have to agree with you a bit but there aren't many dealers round my way and I have spoke to them about the warranty and what would happen with silly little things as well as larger things going wrong hoping there are no issues though. They have told me they or warranty company would meet cost if done at an approved dealer have also said they would talk to Dumfries caravan centre my local dealer and make sure they are happy to take any work on on their behalf before I buy the van.

Ideally I could find the van I want a lot closer but unfortunately we don't live in an ideal world.

Yes, I appreciate your point about the lack of dealers in your locale Gerry, but there are quite a few in the central belt.. a lot closer than Guildford..

As for third party warranty companies...and dealers promises, well, in my experience not worth the paper written on.. nothing beats a local dealer with your best interests at heart .. I'm afraid it's 'out of sight, out of mind' for many..

Have you spoken to Dumfries caravan centre about sourcing a vehicle for you or considered buying private.. ?
 

canopus

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We have an immaculate December 2009 low mileage Rapido 909 Mercedes A Class with full service history and hab cert for sale Gerry should you be interested :Smile:


Ken & Lynda
 
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lorger

lorger

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Had thought about buying and selling privately Jim. And might still do it hasn't thought of going to DCC and asking them to source one though, have bought from him in the past when we where caravaners and would be quite happy to buy from him again although I do find his prices to be a bit high. Might pop in this afternoon when passing.

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JOHNSTEY

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Had the same problem ourselves and made the mistake of making buying local (Perthshire Caravans) the first time.Ended up with the wrong van and paying too much for it.If you are anywhere in Scotland the choice is limited.We ended up buying our next van from Lowdhams, Nottingham which is one of the few dealers dealing with Knaus Vans.We have had no problems and I think it's best to get the van you want rather than just get whats available locally.:thumb:
 
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lorger

lorger

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Yes John I agree if I could get the van locally for roughly the same price then I'd go of it, dealers seem to know they don't have great competition up here so don't offer as much in discounts and don't want it costing me more by having to change the van again in a year or two. What ever van we get this time it will have to do for at least 5 years and hopefully loads more, the van we have just now has lasted us 5 years and just out grown it now or wouldn't be changing it.
 
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lorger

lorger

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We have an immaculate December 2009 low mileage Rapido 909 Mercedes A Class with full service history and hab cert for sale Gerry should you be interested :Smile:


Ken & Lynda

Ken I have seen your van and would love it but I don't think you will do it for 20k plus our van :ROFLMAO: I'd have to sell my body to afford yours and not sure Lorraine would be happy with all the young ladies that would be bidding so for that reason will have to give it a miss. Well until you drop your price:ROFLMAO:

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JOHNSTEY

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Yes John I agree if I could get the van locally for roughly the same price then I'd go of it, dealers seem to know they don't have great competition up here so don't offer as much in discounts and don't want it costing me more by having to change the van again in a year or two. What ever van we get this time it will have to do for at least 5 years and hopefully loads more, the van we have just now has lasted us 5 years and just out grown it now or wouldn't be changing it.

Our thinking exactly Gerry.We bought the first van with ease but what good is that if you soon find out it's not right for you.It took a lot of research to get it right and we took that time on the basis that we won't change for 5 years.:thumb:
 
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lorger

lorger

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well so far very happy the way the dealer has been dealing with my inquiry, he is even bringing the vechile up from Guildford to Dumfries for me to view it.

This saves me a few pound and a long drive to view it, even though the van is just about 2 years old i have asked if he minds if i have a caravan/motorhome engineer look over it for me while its up in Dumfries and he has no problem with this.

So far every thing i have asked of him he has come up trumps so if everything is as expected we could have a new van shortly.
 

Chris

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well so far very happy the way the dealer has been dealing with my inquiry, he is even bringing the vechile up from Guildford to Dumfries for me to view it.

I am surprised you didn't offer to go for a jog and meet him half way::bigsmile:

Hope the van works out but don't forget to think what it would be like to spend a rainy day in it if you are still going for the fixed bed.

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Popeye

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I'm just down the bottom of the A3 Gerry if that is any help. You can stop over down here or I can pop up to Guildford, whatever.

Best of luck mate, pm me if I'm needed, Griff :thumb:
 

scousebird

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We bought a new MH from Freeborn and had excellent service, they answered all our queries before collection and we had the best handover we ever had in many years of caravanning. They even managed to get our van 3 months earlier than the original order date. ::bigsmile:
 

Jim

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If you have used this company, please do leave a review here Broken Link Removed The more reviews we have the more valuable this resource will become:thumb:

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Southampton

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I bought our new Autotrail Commanche from Freeborn in November and they have given us excellent service so far. They have been very responsive with any queries and sorted some minor niggles immediately. I have no hesitation in recommending them as a reputable dealer. Jim, I will put a review of them on the dealer page as suggested.
 
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lorger

lorger

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I'm just down the bottom of the A3 Gerry if that is any help. You can stop over down here or I can pop up to Guildford, whatever.

Best of luck mate, pm me if I'm needed, Griff :thumb:

Hi Griff thanks for the kind offer, another funster kindly popped round and had a look at the van for me I think it may have been while you where enjoying the sunshine:ROFLMAO: I may keep you offer in mind though if the deal goes ahead and we come down to collect it. They have said they would like us to stay locally for a night or two so if we have any issues they can get them sorted. As I mentioned so far they are saying and doing all the right things.
Thanks Gerry
 
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lorger

lorger

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I am surprised you didn't offer to go for a jog and meet him half way.

I had thought about it but thought it was a bit silly when I could cycle down in half the time :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:

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lorger

lorger

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Desperate or wot !

That's costing him a load of cash so you didn't haggle hard enough :winky:

Brian that was the first thing I thought but nothing agreed yet, but the price he has offered me to change is far better than I expected, as for the haggling I have actually got quite a bit off from his first offer so not doing to bad I'm sure he is still making a few pound on it.

Have tried several dealers with similar or same van and they can't touch him on price.
 

hilldweller

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Brian that was the first thing I thought but nothing agreed yet

So you are sat there thinking "what's the catch ?".

I guess he's thinking "he's a nice safe distance away, won't have any trouble from him".

So if the van's a good-un you're laughing, if it's not, well, poo and deep come to mind.

Good luck.


PS.

The deep poo condition can just as easily kick in if the dealer is right next door to you, they are such a variable breed. It's all in the hands of the gods.

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lorger

lorger

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Not really thinking that Brian just thinking what a load of cash he must make off selling Motorhomes. I have the local caravan/motorhome service engineer booked for Sat so he can have a good look at it. The money I save from driving down is paying for the inspection this guy has been in the trade for over 20 years so I trust him to inspect it and give me an honest report and will take his advice if he says walk away from it I will. With the van only being 2 years old and low mileage I would hope there isn't any problems with it but better to be safe than sorry if I do all I can to make sure it's a good one then less chance of being in the poo poo.

Or I could just sit with the motorhome I have thinking we could do to change but better wait until a local dealer gets one in and five years on still waiting.
 
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lorger

lorger

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Perfect.

Original owner got to sort the niggles out and take The Big Hit. You get a bargain.

If it is an X250 juddergate chassis make sure he does a good reversing test.

Brian thanks for that how do I know if its this model as it is on the fiat ducato 2.3. If it helps I could give you a link to the mh if you can tell just by looking.

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Chris

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Brian thanks for that how do I know if its this model as it is on the fiat ducato 2.3. If it helps I could give you a link to the mh if you can tell just by looking.

I think its ok if its 2 years old.

Mine is a 2008 and I dont think its got the judder, although perhaps I just haven't noticed::bigsmile:
 

hilldweller

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Brian thanks for that how do I know if its this model as it is on the fiat ducato 2.3.

I don't know but it is the one downside of what seems to be a really good chassis. Just because it's registered 2009 does not mean it's not an early judder chassis.

Well judder and water dripping on the cylinder head rusting the injectors.

Have you got any steep slopes he can reverse on ?

If it does judder and you can get FIAT to do the full fix, FOC, - rear gear, clutch and engine mount, I think, you are on a real winner.
 
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lorger

lorger

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Thanks Brian yes I have a very steep hill that's leeds up to my drive and my drive is quite steep and about 100 yards long so will give it a go on the two hills.

Feel free to add anything else as its these little things that can make a difference.

Thanks again Gerry

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Terry

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Hi Gerry, check everything :Smile::thumb: If you spot anything wrong make sure it's been repaired/replaced before you get it Don't take anyones word that it has been done ::bigsmile:
I went to look at my mate's van for him :thumb: the dealer had a list of several thing's he would do before he delivered the van to him :thumb:I spotted about another 7/8 things that they had missed, main one being a broken roof light (looked ok from inside) a few other minor faults which they promised to fix and deliver the van the following week to give them time to fix the faults, make sure they had his money before they delivered::bigsmile:
I told mate to make sure they had done all jobs as promised because I would not be there on hand over :thumb:
Long story short he checked nothing :Eeek: just happy to drop driver off at train station :Doh: and drive new van :Smile:Out of there list and mine about 12 faults in total only 5 very easy fixes were done (told him all were done) the R/L was switched from front to rear so now the broken one was at front :Doh: not replaced :Doh::Eeek: and a couple more things exchanged from within the van so that the catch on say lh cupboard worked (on list) but now rh door did not work :Eeek::ROFLMAO: you can get the picture :winky:TRUST ONLY YOURSELF and make sure it all works
If I had been around it would have taken 5 mins to check all had been done and another 5 mins to check the rest of the van :Doh:
Terry
 

jb0371old

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Go with your gut, if the dealer is happy to answer any questions honestly without being to keen then why not, we bought our van from chelston down in taunton and we live in norfolk, i questioned quite strongly on the warranty as its a long way and it was good as the van did need a warranty visit which i got done up here (would not recomend greentrees) chelston paid for everything upfront with no quibble.

We caught the train down and spent the night just to get used to van and if we did spot anything then they could fix it there and then (window strut and bathroom hinge) both fixed straight away. The sales team reccommended that we stay the night to find such faults and to double check all of there work etc.

So to sum up, check everyhting go with your first impressions and stay the night at there facility.

Also we coudnt see how they were making any money on our deal either as it seemed to good to be true.
 

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