A new motorhome, what a nightmare, beware. (2 Viewers)

[iandsm]

How do you/we know that they aren't.

What we do know in here is there is a shortfall in parts available from FIAT. It's FIAT who are the villains of the piece, producing crap equipment as they have been for 10 years to my knowledge - remember Juddergate - remember the unreadable instrument panel - remember the cheap nasty leaking plastic oil filter housings, the list goes on and on.

I don't know for certain and I didn't say they wern't but it has not been suggested, although perhaps if overtime is being offered I would have thought the OP would know if that is the case and bearing in mind they have had direct dealings with the motorhome dealer, the motorhome manufacturer and the garage concernedI suspect they would have mentioned it. The OP said,

"So far, the combined might of Spinneys, Autotrail and ourselves has failed to elicit any response from Fiat other than “we have booked customers to deal with and they take priority"

 

[Manxcat]

Just to try and bring balance to this argument. We have a Fiat Ducato van 4 years old from new. Absolutely no complaints about the engine/van. The only niggles we have had can be pointed to Globecar, the converter. And those are minor niggles.

Having said that if you spend over 50K on a new van and it will not work after 3 days I would be looking for a full refund.

 

[hilldweller]

Having said that if you spend over 50K on a new van and it will not work after 3 days I would be looking for a full refund.

Then organise another with a chance that will break down.

It's life, sometimes it's not perfect.

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[Manxcat]

Agreed

 

[buttons]

In law your contract is with the dealer you entered into a contract with regardless of who made the parts I to would use a solicitor to inform them of intended action for lose of use

I agree that the dealer who sold the vehicle is your point of contact and any potential actions by the manufacturer will still have to filter through the supplying dealer. If you have problems getting satisfaction through the dealer then factual communication with the UK management team will most definitely speed things up.

 

[Cridon]

Hello everybody, thanks for the comments and advice. At present we are assured Autotrail will be making representation to Fiat about the damage to their business that these types of issue are causing. How much they will push is anybody’s guess. What we are certain about is that the motorhome is not fit for purpose, not as described and importantly we were misled in the emphasis given to the recovery cover that each new Fiat carries and how that influenced our purchase decision, similar to the Autotrail warranty. We have now informed Spinney that we are at the point where we will be taking legal advice as we are members of ‘Which Legal’ and that they are who we deal with under consumer law. We will see what tomorrow brings, after our last conversation with Spinneys their parting comment was ‘enjoy your weekend’........ wish we could, especially if we had a motorhome!!

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[bobandjanie]

We had a new Smart car and it broke down within 20 miles, phoned to be told phone the breakdown service in your booklet.
Yeah right come and get this heap of crap off my drive, they came out with a loan car took the new one away, they gave Janie some flowers that bad died on the way home because the engine had got so hot.
They had it nearly a week, phoned and said it's done, I said I wanted a new engine if it gives anymore problems in 60000 miles, Sorry can't do that, then I don't want it.
That was the diesel they had a petrol same colours we had that in a week, and never had any problems car / dealer or Mercedes after and she got more flowers.

Needless to say I would reject it, if nothing else it will get things done.

We are now on our 3rd Fiat and had 1 Mercedes and to be honest with modern technology they can all stop just like that.
Good luck hope you can soon enjoy your motorhome. Bob.

 

[Manxcat]

Just a thought

All those Fiat delivery vans. Everywhere! They must be reasonable .

 

[TUCANO]

After our first van that we bought new, an Autotrail incidentally,that we had lots of grief with, 'Juddergate' and also torrents of water cascading down the windscreen and onto the electrics etc etc which unfortunately was the norm for Fiats at that time, 2006, I vowed never to buy another new van.
I have been happy with the two second hand vans that I have since bought and expecting there to be problems with them, regrettably new vans are not without their problems also, it shouldn't be that way considering the cost of them but
Good luck with your attempts to have matters resolved to your satisfaction, don't let it put you off your motorhoming dream as it does get better

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[Arzedby]

We have had our Ducato Based Pilote for just coming on 2 years now and the only issues we have had have been minor habitation area niggles. Being built towards the end of 2015 and delivered 2016 it is probably one of the last Euro 5+ engines. When we had it serviced at Adams Morey Portsmouth a couple of weeks ago I was chatting to the service bod and mentioned the current spate of Euro 6 Recall Issues. He said that there is normally a flurry of these kind of issues when a new Tech Baseline is introduced. The Euro 5+ and Euro 6 Engines are more or less the same and are well proven units. The differences are in all the other gubbins strapped around them. His advice; if you want to avoid most of these issues, don't by in the first year of a new Tech Baseline. Probably good advice.

 

[nicholsong]

We will see what tomorrow brings, after our last conversation with Spinneys their parting comment was ‘enjoy your weekend’........ wish we could, especially if we had a motorhome!!

Cheeky, uncaring bastards.

Solicitor, Letter before Action, Writ.

That sequence does not cost much and surely concentrates minds - and arseholes(both kinds)

If you need a good Solicitor in the Knutsford/Wilmslow area I can get you some recommendations.

Geoff

 

[Bobby22]

That's very sad to hear. It sounds as if Spinneys has been as much help as a chocolate watch.

I hope it gets sorted soon.

To be fair to Spinney's i had issues with my new van, not Fiat but converter, and they were very good in everything the did for me, along with the converter i may add.
I have had dealings with most depts and every single one of them have been very professional. Yes sometimes issues did take a little time to sort out but sort out they did. Even to the point that the service manager stayed behind after hours, to the wrath of his wife, to sort out a problem.
I cannot fault the service manager or his team, for me the whole of Spinney's from the cleaners/valets to the owners were nothing but first class.

PS. I have owned 2 x Fiat based motorhomes and they have never missed a beat in 4 years and counting.

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[hilldweller]

To be fair to Spinney's i had issues .

We just bought one off them. Nicer people I have never met, Andrew, the sales manager is one of the most down to earth easy to get on with people I've ever had the pleasure of dealing with and he responds to emails very quickly even on days off.

But not a pushover, I'm sure I could have done a better deal financially if I had travelled but I didn't want to do that.

In this case, as I have said, FIAT are the bad guys, it's no use getting high handed and wasting money on lawyers, this moves at FIAT's pace. More or less if you want a MH you buy FIAT and as said above, there's millions on the road so can't be that bad long term. Our last van did over 70,000 miles with no more than routine maintenance, still on original exhaust when we sold it.

 

[nicholsong]

It is unfortunate in the MH trade that the Dealers do not have much clout over the base vehicle manufacturer as their contractual arrangements are with the converters, wheras in the car dealer's situation his contract is with the vehicle manufacturer, so can threaten to change marques next year.

However in law it is difficult for a buyer to take action against the base vehicle manufacturer, unless it were for negligence, for example.

So the buyer's only recourse is against the dealer, in the hope he can pressure the converter and base vehicle manufacturer to solve the problem/compensate etc.

Geoff

 

[raysalaugh]

We just bought one off them. Nicer people I have never met, Andrew, the sales manager is one of the most down to earth easy to get on with people I've ever had the pleasure of dealing with and he responds to emails very quickly even on days off.

I have to agree with you there, I don't know if it was because I was spending a large amount of money with them but they were very nice. It was when I started having problems things went pearshaped, I rang them to ask for some warranty work to be carried out, they requested photo's to be sent by email which I did, next they said Autotrail would
need to authorise the work. 3 months later I rang them to find out what was happening, yes its been approved they say so I book it in for the work to be carried out. Whilst its there the hab service is due the following month so I said do that at the same time. Fast forward 8 months and some of the warranty work they have carried out has failed, I ring them to explain what has happened and ask for the repairs to be done again. Send photo's and we'll get back to you they replied. A few days later they ring me and say my warranty has been voided because the hab service has been carried out 2 weeks too early and they won't rectify the current faults. I asked them why they hadn't warned me at the time of carrying out the hab service this would happen, they replied it was my responsibility to be aware this would happen. So I say it's work you have already done under warranty that's failed, well we don't guarantee any work we do they say!. If you want it doing you'll have to pay yourself.
Time to contact a director, sent email and he replied almost immediately, promised to look in to the matter.
A couple of days later the "service advisor" rings me and says they will repair the faults as a goodwill gesture, so I booked the van in for 8th of Feb 18 and left it for a week. I then get a phone call saying the weather has been too cold to repair the gelcoat cracks, it will be 24th Feb before it can be repaired. Beginning of March I get the phone call to say it's ready so make the 60 mile trip to pick it up, find it in the yard, check it over and no repairs have been done. One of the service staff came out and asked was everything OK, I told him they had not done the repairs, he thought I was joking. Upshot was they said we'll do it tomorrow and we'll ring you when ready. Wasted an afternoon and 120 mile round trip. Finally when I collected the van they had only partially repaired it. I certainly won't buy another motorhome from Spinney.

So if this how you rate a good dealership they are fantastic.


Ray.

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[hilldweller]

So if this how you rate a good dealership they are fantastic.

Ray.

Disgraceful but I can only report my personal experience which has been positive so far.

Of course you only really find their worth when it all goes wrong. Fingers crossed I get lucky.

 

[Sausage44]

We've got a new Swift Kon-tiki on a Fiat base (Euro6 engine) which broke down on the way back from Bath late last year. The engine management light came on. I rung Fiat and they sent out a breakdown truck. He plugged his computer in and said the EGR valve was faulty but it was ok to drive. So we got home ok.
I booked it into the local Fiat Professional workshop the next day - they ordered the parts as per the Fiat recall (waited a couple of weeks) and fixed the van early January. All I had to do was to give them a copy of my V5 so that they could claim the warranty from Fiat. Excellent service.

 

[gradyp]

We bought our current Autotrail from Spinney
and I have found them to be completely USELESS. The warranty work they carried out failed after 8 months and they refused to do it again claiming they don't guarantee the work. I contacted one of the directors who said he would look in to it .A few days later
I got a phone call from the service advisor I had been trying to reason with saying they would repair it as a goodwill gesture. They
were having a laugh as they only carried out a partial repair when it went in. So I won't be buying another motorhome from them
The service advisor was totally arogant and as much use as a chocolate teapot .
So don't rely on Spinney being much help.

Ray

Totally agree service department tell lies , tried to say I was telling lies.
I can go on but it only makes me mad and this is on 1 year old Bailey which had been put together poorly but could have been easily fixed by Spinny.
Anyway I'm trading it in for new caravan and ordered new land rover
Lost abit of money but in the end I could not take the s**t from the stealers and idIfell out of love with the van

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[Blue Knight]

To be fair to Spinney's i had issues with my new van, not Fiat but converter, and they were very good in everything the did.

That's great news Bobby but what type of issues did you encounter - were they the type that force you to sit on a hard shoulder of a busy motorway.

The reason why I ask is that I have that OCD-thingy which requires me to compare things on an apples-for-apples basis.

I get the distinct impression from reading many hundreds of MoHo incidents that dealers have two levels of aftercare: Firstly, we have the type that is easily rectifiable, within reason, while not affecting their profit margins and then there's the "too bloody inconvenient" category where the dealer just can't be arssed as it's likely to knock his bottom line.

 

[robnchris]

Our 2013 Fiat based Autotrail Apache Engine Management Light used to come on then go off did this from 18 months from new, we also had the instrument cluster problem.
Just as the warranty run out the Engine light comes on but this time stays on, I rang Fiat and they were brilliant, our nearest commercial dealer was in Liverpool they told me that our motorhome was treated by Fiat like a emergency service vehicle would be treated.
Although out of warranty Fiat paid for a new instrument cluster and all costs unfortunately an air bag sensor was faulty which I paid for but still the engine light remained on
The commercial dealers said they couldn`t find the correct computer program to et all the new parts to talk to one another.
After a lot of faffing about and many weeks of the vehicle going back and to to Liverpool and the problem still not being sorted our local garage fitted another sensor which fixed the problem.

 

[Cridon]

Hello y’all, well, firstly very big thanks to Shiftzz for the information on Fiat HQ. Wrote an email to the big boss and got a very quick reply. HQ are now pressurising the dealer to get this done quickly and ringing us daily. Thanks for all your comments and never wanted us to be the priority over other customers, just take us to a garage that can fix it. Having been told they have 3 weeks work booked, asked the question that we have now been waiting over two weeks so when do we become a priority? Anyway, it now appears there is an expectation from HQ of the dealer that is not the same as the garage sees matters, so we may be in a the middle of an internal battle, suspect it may be a realisation by the HQ that what they have as a camper assist programme is not actually true in reality and ai have suggested to them that they need more garages willing to accept motorhomes otherwise the scheme will continue to attract criticism. On a final note, the EGR has been tested and found faulty after 274 miles and a replacement is on order, will keep you informed, but the way, Spinney have acknowledged things could have been don better in the support we deserved and are doing their best to push Fiat and Autotrail. Regards to you all.

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[Bobby22]

I

That's great news Bobby but what type of issues did you encounter - were they the type that force you to sit on a hard shoulder of a busy motorway.

The reason why I ask is that I have that OCD-thingy which requires me to compare things on an apples-for-apples basis.

I get the distinct impression from reading many hundreds of MoHo incidents that dealers have two levels of aftercare: Firstly, we have the type that is easily rectifiable, within reason, while not affecting their profit margins and then there's the "too bloody inconvenient" category where the dealer just can't be arssed as it's likely to knock his bottom line.

I had a few hab problems, my van was a new model layout on its first year.
1/ one of my loose lay carpets didn't fit.
2/ my lounge layout had velcro cushion fastenings that didn't line up.
3/ my drop down bed was damaging the moulding on the edge of the fridge and oven housing.
4/ Shower screen coming was apart.

After communication problems all round we had a meeting with the dealer and the converter at the dealers office. The outcome was that i got a whole new set of lounge cushions a whole new set of loose lay carpets with the problem one custom made for my van. And the dropdown bed adjusted and the molding and shower screen replaced.
We did have one or two other minor things sorted at the same time ( i complained about every last little thing).

At the meeting everything was ordered that was needed the dealer and the converter agreed a timescale and i was contacted when everything was in place and they had workshop time.
I travelled over 200 miles to have the work done over two days and camped in my van in the evening in the dealers carpark with ehu. We had the use of a courtesy car for the two days.
At the end of the second day i noticed my new shower screen wasn't moving freely and the service manager stayed behind to fix it. ( friday )

I was forthright in my communications with both Spinney and Rapido and to their credit they seemed embarrassed that the problems were there in the first place.

Spinney did the warranty work athough it took them much longer than the time Rapido had factored in, again to their credit.


Both Spinney and the Rapido, as a goodwill gesture, paid my out of pocket expenses and i got a few freebees as well.

Edit.....i now have two brand new sets of loose lay carpets and a spare set of lounge cushions as well.

 

[DL42846]

I have a Fiat base MH as here in France 82% of all MH are on a Fiat base. I'm by no means a Fiat person but you have little choice. I have had two vehicles from new which also broke down. One on its first outing , the other after a week or so. Once they had been sorted out they lasted for several years without any further incidents. I hope this will be the same in your case.

 

[Cridon]

Hello y’all, got a call today saying motorhome was fixed with a new EGR valve, had to travel 100 miles in total to pick it up and return home, approx 5 miles from home, broke down again with same fault. Currently contemplating our options and staring into the bottom of a large glass of red wine whilst waiting for all the parties to tell us again, who is picking it up and where it is going, a very sad day....... regards

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[Jimbohorlicks]

Oh dear, sorry to hear that, worst nightmare scenario. No van and lots of stress. When its fixed again you will still be unsure about it no doubt.

 

[Casper46]

Hello y’all, got a call today saying motorhome was fixed with a new EGR valve, had to travel 100 miles in total to pick it up and return home, approx 5 miles from home, broke down again with same fault. Currently contemplating our options and staring into the bottom of a large glass of red wine whilst waiting for all the parties to tell us again, who is picking it up and where it is going, a very sad day....... regards

Reject it. Ring the dealer and tell them you are taking it back to them. You are never going to trust it again.

 

[Blue Knight]

Reject it. Ring the dealer and tell them you are taking it back to them. You are never going to trust it again.

Too right, I would be getting rid asap.

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[Bobby22]

Reject it. Ring the dealer and tell them you are taking it back to them. You are never going to trust it again.

Its broken down, how is he going to take it back?

 

[The Wino]

Suggest when the view of the bottom of the glass becomes less red fill the glass!!!!!!!!!. Hope you get it sorted and its ok in the end at least its money/hassle dissapointing not health

 

[Podney]

Oh,what a bustard. Feel sorry for you. I don’t know much about consumer rights but seems to me it’s not fit for purpose. I think you need to know what your legal position is,if you don’t already,so that they don’t give you the runaround. Very best of luck.

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