Annual Habitation & Damp checks

HUGGY

HUGGY

Joined
Jul 20, 2008
Posts
51
Likes collected
27
Location
North Hampshire
Funster No
3,374
MH
Bailey AA 625
Exp
7 YEARS
Hi All,

We have had our Bailey Autograph 625 for just under 12-months now. Van has complete main dealer service history including annual hab and damp checks It came to us with an extended water ingress warranty which has 6-years cover remaining. In order to maintain the warranty Bailey state that the van MUST have an annual hab and damp check and this MUST be completed by a Bailey main dealer . Just been quoted £270 ! (all in) by my local Bailey dealer, work will take 4-hours to complete. Seen prices quoted by local independent service centres which are way less than above. Don't want to getting into warranty void issues with Bailey (should the need to claim arise) so, is it a case of swallowing hard every time I pay the invoice at my local Bailey dealer ? .

Any advise and/or suggestions are very welcome.

Thanks for reading,
 
You may be able to use an AWS workshop do it rather than a Bailey dealer - Bailey are supporters of the AWS so should enable any of their members to do the habitation etc check.



Certainly worth asking the question of Bailey - if they say no then it begs the question as to why they are supporters of the AWS scheme!
 
WE had our Bailey annual service for the caravan under the AWS by a mobile guy which maintained it's warranty and a lot lot less than the dealer and it didn't need to be gone for ages

Ask them
 
Wow, that's about 3 grand with inflation as the price inevitably goes up every year over the 10 year period.

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CazPaul said:
Wow, that's about 3 grand with inflation as the price inevitably goes up every year over the 10 year period.
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Yip they are on the pigs back :) , also who is the MH manufacture i read about sometime ago where the longer you go into their damp warranty period that you make a claim , the more the end user ends up having to pay towards and repair costs ??
 
Many thanks for all your comments, will certainly look into the AWS scheme and ask Bailey if It's in order to use etc.

Thanks,
 
If your tied into warranty agreements then that's unfortunate but understandable & above replies noted ..,
However, most hab checks are just that ....they are checks ...
So ... if yre in yre van for a few weeks away .... every day you are doing a hab check ... Yre using probably all the systems on the van & you will know very soon if any systems fail...
personally of many years of FT .. I've never had a dealer Hab check , apart from 2 new vans where I was required to do so re warranty for I think one year (ages sgo) ...
My own opinion only ..... Many dealers tie customers into hab checks re warranty for years & as you quoted £270... well .. that is just crazy , but yre obliged to adhere to the warranty ..
However I can undestand the warranty issues ... but ?....HAVING a fitter going round the van with a damp meter & gas device re checking leaks, getting a torch to see if any leaks from taps etc is just a ripoff ...which takes about 30 mins max more so less .... . But that's the system if ya need to maintain the years of warranty . No doubt customers will pay for that but as always it's risk assessments if anything does go wrong ...
like wise to mechanical ... If owners looked at service intervals , most are check this & chdck that ... Yeah .... we can all do that & don't need to pay done dealer £70.oo or to visually check the engine ...& I can assure you its a visual check ..
ie ... check power steering/ . Brake fluid .. . Coolant ..oil . Levels ...check brake pads ( little bit more involved)...hand brake ... driving lights etc ... That takes me 20 mins ... max ...
Well.... Just saying ...
 
Newtothis said:
Result !

Bailey have confirmed that using AWS will not effect my warranty, and I have a mobile AWS engineer 8-miles from my home. MFUN sub, best money I ever spent !
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Can I suggest that you double check that you can use any AWS. Some (certainly Auto-Trail) insist that the AWS is VAT registered. Not sure why, but I struggle to understand so much these days. If you have a good AWS, they can sometimes sub the mechanical service to a nearby (non VAT registered) garage and you can therefore avoid main dealer prices but stay within warranties.

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Our Swift dealer told us they would like to do the annual hab check, but it can also be done by anyone who is authorised to complete a certain type of summary form for warranty purposes, probably AWS as mentioned above.

We'll probably have the first hab check done by the dealer anyway, as there's one or two minor warranty niggles I'd like sorting, but the mobile guy who serviced our old MH only used to charge us £80-100 so it'll be interesting to see what the dealer's price is. As for the Fiat engine and mechanical service - I'll be taking it to a trusted local independent garage who've been doing our cars for ages.
 
magicsurfbus said:
Our Swift dealer told us they would like to do the annual hab check, but it can also be done by anyone who is authorised to complete a certain type of summary form for warranty purposes, probably AWS as mentioned above.

We'll probably have the first hab check done by the dealer anyway, as there's one or two minor warranty niggles I'd like sorting, but the mobile guy who serviced our old MH only used to charge us £80-100 so it'll be interesting to see what the dealer's price is. As for the Fiat engine and mechanical service - I'll be taking it to a trusted local independent garage who've been doing our cars for ages.
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Good idea - if there's warranty issues in the first or second year, the manufacturer normally expects the dealer to resolve those out of their profit margin.Personally, I'd rather they built them better. I'm fed up with working as unpaid quality control.
 
I've just googled an AWS approved workshop for a habitation check in the hope of saving money after reading this thread and there is one only 3 miles away. Quoted £270, yet the dealer i bought it from 6 months ago, Brownhills charge less at £249. Looks like its back to them unless anyone can recommend one cheaper in the Lincoln area
 
Try camper uk think they charged me 250 last year
My local AWS mobile guy has indicated will be half that this year
 
I use GW Caravans in Creswell - they charge £150 and do a good job. Probably a bit far for you unless you have a wander around Creswell Crags while they do it.

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Hi All, Read through my Bailey warranty T's & C's last night (slept very well after that !) and they state that an approved agent (i.e AWS) can be used for annual hab / damp checks during the warranty period. Bailey reserve the right to determine where and who will be used for any repairs arising from ingress etc. So, I'm as sure as I can be that I do not need to use a main dealer in order to maintain warranty. Local AWS engineer as quoted £125 main dealer wants £269.99

The front end (cab) now out of warranty is looked after by a local independent guy who provides an excellent service.

Again, Many thanks for everyone's help and comments. MFUN, what a mine of info and worth every penny of the sub.
 
Our SunLiving has 5 years hab service and damp check included in purchase price :)
 
I appreciate that not everyone is willing or capable, of carrying out what (to me) are the sort of logical checks needed to maintain the Motorhome in "good order". One of the problems is that they are time consuming, and most workshops have a minimum charge and a hourly charge which has to cover (expensive) overheads and labour, VAT and Taxes, NI, H&SE. The manufacturer has to be sure that the vehicle has not been neglected, as the cause of any failure. That is why they put in place the warranty "T&C`s". Put the two things together and the cost of a hab service and damp check, etc; can easily look as expensive as it does. To put it in to some context. I had to replace the gearbox in an R-V some years back at a cost of £6.500. 60% of which was charged as "Labour".

Having said that, It is one of the reasons I would never buy any NEW vehicle. I always remember my Dad brought his then Brand New Ford Anglia home, and had lost 20% of his purchase just crossing the kerb at the dealership!.
 
PeteH said:
I appreciate that not everyone is willing or capable, of carrying out what (to me) are the sort of logical checks needed to maintain the Motorhome in "good order". One of the problems is that they are time consuming, and most workshops have a minimum charge and a hourly charge which has to cover (expensive) overheads and labour, VAT and Taxes, NI, H&SE. The manufacturer has to be sure that the vehicle has not been neglected, as the cause of any failure. That is why they put in place the warranty "T&C`s". Put the two things together and the cost of a hab service and damp check, etc; can easily look as expensive as it does. To put it in to some context. I had to replace the gearbox in an R-V some years back at a cost of £6.500. 60% of which was charged as "Labour".

Having said that, It is one of the reasons I would never buy any NEW vehicle. I always remember my Dad brought his then Brand New Ford Anglia home, and had lost 20% of his purchase just crossing the kerb at the dealership!.
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But if I and other lovely Funsters on here didn’t buy new, you would not be able to buy our “previously owned” models.;)
 
Ex-caravantugger said:
But if I and other lovely Funsters on here didn’t buy new, you would not be able to buy our “previously owned” models.;)
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I would not disagree, and I hope you all carry on so doing.:D2. But I was born and raised in Yorkshire!:D2(y). Where we can show the Scot`s what "Tight" is:whistle:. The Yorkshire war cry is "HOW Much?" :cry:.

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PeteH said:
I would not disagree, and I hope you all carry on so doing.:D2. But I was born and raised in Yorkshire!:D2(y). Where we can show the Scot`s what "Tight" is:whistle:. The Yorkshire war cry is "HOW Much?" :cry:.
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Which bit of Yorkshire?
 
you are lucky it's not a GERMAN m/h then you are in the shit only main dealer at £260 long storey ray xx lol still lol and they bombed the local chippy they can :lips: my :moon2:
 
I reckon MotorhomeFun could/should strike a deal with a Mobile AWS engineer. Then when we have a rally the AWS guy could turn up and do any work needed.

Habitation, gas , solar, satellite, tv aerials, batteries, navigation, minor repairs, leeks, sog, reversing cameras and much more.

Different engineers could be involved at different venues throughout the year.

A decent discount for Funsters and a decent workload in the one area for the Mobile AWS engineer.

The organiser of the meet would advertise the fact that an AWS engineer will be available at certain times. Obviously if you were travelling to the meet to have a hab service you would book with AWS so as not to be disappointed because he was over booked.

If the prices were reasonable then it could really take off.

A win win situation for all.
 
We sort of do don't we ( have Motorhome fun network) with out Motorhome fun recommended companies section. I've used rhino Installs about 40 miles away. His prices are reasonable but not bargain cheap but he has a special system the main dealers never have. Whatever the price charged HE DOES A PROPER JOB AND CORRECT AND BY THE BOOK AND YOU NEVER NEED TO GO BACK UNDER WARRANTY COS THE JOB HE'S DONE DOESN'T GO WRONG. (he also puts right jobs done by the dealer while he's at it) So I know where my pound gets spent

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