Brand new motorhome gone totally wrong after 6 days!

[Talitha]

We traded in our old MH and bought a brand new Autotrail V-Line 634 sport. On the first day our problems began when the reverse camera failed. (there were other small issues too). Yesterday evening we went out for a run in it and it conked out and we managed to make it home at a snail pace. We contacted the dealer who said we should call Fiat assist, basically letting us sort it our ourselves. Surely the dealer should take responsibility? Or the company that built it? It's such a disappointment!

 

[Richard n Ann]

Look on the bright side. At least it's under warranty and they will have to fix it for freeee

 

[Hellski]

Sorry to read of the issues experienced since collecting your new pride and joy; ownership is certainly eventful and on new ones the owners seem to spend most of their ownership fixing things before going on to sell, giving the second owner a trouble free MH.......

Unfortunately, the vehicle side of the problem will be down to Fiat and to be honest you will be better off speaking with Fiat direct; going by previous posts on here, and although unwanted the experience with Fiat appears to be on the whole positive.

Good luck and hope you get it sorted with the minimum of inconvenience; oh and welcome to Fun.

 

[Littlewheels]

It’s quite understandable,would ask the builder to fix the Oven in brand new house? No, you would contact Neff or whoever you need a specialist and the Fiat Dealer
Is the first people to call.
As a general a New Motorhome is quite complex with lots of electronic wizardry now and a few problems can appear but are often simply overcome, your issue is on the Vehicle side but probably easily solved nd you have three year recovery from Fiat.

I do hope you resolve the issue quickly and get back to enjoying your MH

Do keep us informed.

 

[Talitha]

Thanks for all your responses. We decided to contact Autotrail directly, and someone is going to get back to us. I can't believe how sloppy they've been. I know you can have teething troubles with vehicles, but this is ridiculous.

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[Kingham]

I know it’s disappointing on a brand new van, but the minor things are just that, including the reversing camera and I wouldn’t let them spoil your excitement of owning a new van.

I agree that Fiat are your first and best route to getting it fixed and hopefully that problem will also prove to be minor and easily fixed.

 

[DBK]

We traded in our old MH and bought a brand new Autotrail V-Line 634 sport. On the first day our problems began when the reverse camera failed. (there were other small issues too). Yesterday evening we went out for a run in it and it conked out and we managed to make it home at a snail pace. We contacted the dealer who said we should call Fiat assist, basically letting us sort it our ourselves. Surely the dealer should take responsibility? Or the company that built it? It's such a disappointment!

Legally, your contract is with the company you bought it off and though in theory you could insist they sort out all problems this isn't sensible for vehicle related issues. All you would do is introduce the dealer as a middleman between you and Fiat.

When you contact Fiat they will arrange a local Fiat agent to sort things out.

For the MH stuff, and that will include the reversing camera assuming this is an Autotrail item, then the dealer is your point of contact. The manufacturer won't be interested unless you bought it directly from them, as we did with our Murvi but this only applies to a few small scale companies.

 

[Steve and Denise]

Stick to a Fiat dealer for Fiat issues as AT are a waste of time !
Well they were in our case when we bought a new one.
Hope you get it sorted soon.

 

[Talitha]

I know it’s disappointing on a brand new van, but the minor things are just that, including the reversing camera and I wouldn’t let them spoil your excitement of owning a new van.

I agree that Fiat are your first and best route to getting it fixed and hopefully that problem will also prove to be minor and easily fixed.

Thanks for your kind words, butI don't think that a brand new van breaking down is a minor issue. We can't use it. :-( Hopefully, we'll get some joy from AutoTrail. You don't pay over 50k for something, only to have it conk out in less than one week. That's not acceptable.

 

[Kevan]

We traded in our old MH and bought a brand new Autotrail V-Line 634 sport. On the first day our problems began when the reverse camera failed. (there were other small issues too). Yesterday evening we went out for a run in it and it conked out and we managed to make it home at a snail pace. We contacted the dealer who said we should call Fiat assist, basically letting us sort it our ourselves. Surely the dealer should take responsibility? Or the company that built it? It's such a disappointment!

Whoops? we have just bought exact same motor home automatic version, from a well known dealer just of the A1, did 170 miles bringing it home and it had 10 miles on clock when purchased, so 180 miles in total, no real niggles yet, fingers crossed

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[Cheshirecat57]

Thanks for your kind words, butI don't think that a brand new van breaking down is a minor issue. We can't use it. :-( Hopefully, we'll get some joy from AutoTrail. You don't pay over 50k for something, only to have it conk out in less than one week. That's not acceptable.

@Talitha
Your original post, i assume, was to seek advice
The consensus of advice, and I agree, is that approaching AUTOTRAIL direct will get you nowhere
Now if you want to wait months and find that out for yourself, then crack on with AT

If you ring FIAT they will sort it

Also, Free Advice is actually £15 pa on here by subscription

 

[DavidG58]

Little bit of buyers remorse maybe here, sad as it is, I really don't see why you are so cross with the dealer, the engine breakdown is just bad luck, these things happen

FIAT seem to be by far the most obvious option for sorting what is clearly a FIAT issue, did anybody suggest turning ignition off and restarting, this can often resolve an awful of lot of management light problems. It might even be the problem has self healed when you start up next

Hope you get it sorted and don't be so hard on the dealer, FIAT or yourselves

It could all have been so much worse and will all hopefully be quickly fixed

 

[mitzimad]

Thanks for your kind words, butI don't think that a brand new van breaking down is a minor issue. We can't use it. :-( Hopefully, we'll get some joy from AutoTrail. You don't pay over 50k for something, only to have it conk out in less than one week. That's not acceptable.

just contact fiat assist by going to AT all your doing is prolonging the problem whats right and whats sensible are not always the same thing alternately send the dealer a letter of rejection as not fit for pupose and sit looking at it untill its resolved your choice

 

[mitzimad]

could this be your problem?https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/fiat-safety-recall.197358/

 

[sylvester1954]

I agree with the general advice given by others on here.. If its a problem with the carrier vehicle, Fiat in this instance, then go directly to them and leave AT to resolve the rest of the problems..

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[Riverbankannie]

Hi Talitha
As everyone else has said, it’s in your best interests to contact Fiat about anything Fiat related. There’s another thread on here about a recall, so you can also ensure any recall work is done at the same time.
https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/fiat-safety-recall.197358/

 

[G7UXG]

I’ve had a couple of issues with Fiat based motorhomes. Contact Fiat Camper Assist. I’ve always found them very helpful.

It’s probably a sensor fault or something simple. Choose your Fiat Professional dealer carefully if you have a choice as some of them couldn’t detect a fart in a spacesuit let alone an electronic problem.

 

[Kannon Fodda]

The reversing camera on a V-Line is part of the media pack which I believe would be part of the Fiat base build. But with it being a PVC I wonder if the wiring and stuff could have been disturbed during the conversion.

I know I'd be gutted if a new van actually broke down within a week and few miles of purchase. Yes Fiat Assist may help, and it should be a warranty issue with the base vehicle. But I would certainly be expecting the dealer to get involved. You bought from the dealer, not Autotrail or Fiat, your warranties and contracts are with the dealer.

 

[hilldweller]

You don't pay over 50k for something, only to have it conk out in less than one week.

I think you just did.

You'll be laughing about it soon enough, sat in the sun, with a half empty bottle of wine.

 

[Kingham]

Thanks for your kind words, butI don't think that a brand new van breaking down is a minor issue. We can't use it. :-( Hopefully, we'll get some joy from AutoTrail. You don't pay over 50k for something, only to have it conk out in less than one week. That's not acceptable.

My thinking is that it could be a sensor or something relatively minor that’s put the van in to ‘limp mode’, which will be easily fixed by Fiat after Fiat Assist take it to them. Involving your dealer is only going to slow down the procedure, as they will have to book it through their system and will then have to arrange to transport it to Fiat.

It would be better if it hadn’t broken down, but it has and it’s your choice how you deal with that. Best of luck with whichever option you choose.

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[Larrynwin]

I think you just did.

You'll be laughing about it soon enough, sat in the sun, with a half empty bottle of wine.

Half full bottle for me Brian

 

[buttons]

We traded in our old MH and bought a brand new Autotrail V-Line 634 sport. On the first day our problems began when the reverse camera failed. (there were other small issues too). Yesterday evening we went out for a run in it and it conked out and we managed to make it home at a snail pace. We contacted the dealer who said we should call Fiat assist, basically letting us sort it our ourselves. Surely the dealer should take responsibility? Or the company that built it? It's such a disappointment!

Not the best start but Hey it can only get better....

 

[two]

Sadly, dealers are not the "one stop shop" you might wish for. When they do accept responsibility for things I think they merely pass it back to the manufacturer (Fiat in this case). You mistake (IMO) was to buy Fiat. From my experience, it's best to cut out the middle man and deal directly with Fiat. My problem took months to fix, meanwhile without use of a vehicle. It seems to be OK now, but never again if I can help it.

 

[Southdowners]

It's very common for vehicles to have teething problems - even ones costing six figure sums.

Just contact Fiat Assist and they will sort it out for you. It probably isn't a big issue and will be fixed very quickly.

Enjoy your new vehicle!

 

[Steve and Denise]

Thanks for your kind words, butI don't think that a brand new van breaking down is a minor issue. We can't use it. :-( Hopefully, we'll get some joy from AutoTrail. You don't pay over 50k for something, only to have it conk out in less than one week. That's not acceptable.

Well I must admit when we spent 90k (2012) on a motorhome only to break down on our first journey I felt quite peeved, even worse when I was told I was not driving it fast enough, I said what 70mph not fast enough !
Fiat dealer fitted new DPF sensor it ran great for the next five years.
Then bought a new fiat all good I am glad to say.
You don't say where you are based but there are some good Fiat dealers about, look for a recommendation.

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[bobandjanie]

Our first new Smart car only just got us home 20 miles, rejected it because it got red hot, and I said any more problems I wanted a new engine they couldn't do that, so keep it then got us another. Bob.

 

[Kevinthecat]

My experience with Fiat was brilliant , great English and they kept in contact almost daily with the issue I had.
I agree spending all that money , my expectation would be like yours that the showroom /service dept should sort it out. Unfortunately, MHs come in two parts base and body.
Your find liaising with Fiat support will be a positive experience, I used Fiat a Swindon to do the work and they were supportive an proactive .
Good luck , it will get sorted.

 

[SteveB123]

Thanks for your kind words, butI don't think that a brand new van breaking down is a minor issue. We can't use it. :-( Hopefully, we'll get some joy from AutoTrail. You don't pay over 50k for something, only to have it conk out in less than one week. That's not acceptable.

Forget Autotrail go to Fiat direct

 

[Puddleduck]

Fiat customer service did us proud with our previous motorhome when the Fiat Professional garage messed up.

We were quite happy to buy another Fiat based van.

The question really is do you still want the vehicle or not? If not then reject it and get your money back, otherwise you have to go through the tedium of getting stuff fixed.

 

[mikebeaches]

Fully appreciate your disappointment, given the circumstances.

In an ideal world (apart from not breaking down in the first place), you might expect your supplying dealer to say something along the lines of...

"Oh I'm very sorry to hear about that, but we'll get on to Fiat for you and ask them to sort the breakdown out as quickly as possible. Do get back to us if you don't hear from them shortly, or you have any other concerns".

Sadly, in the real world, it rarely works like that, and you are expected to do the chasing around, even when you've just spent north of £50k.

But, as everybody has said, I'm sure Fiat will get it sorted for you - and it will all be fixed under warranty.