Can you ever depend on a Motorhome to be reliable?

R

Rapides

Joined
Aug 18, 2017
Posts
169
Likes collected
344
Location
SK10
Funster No
50,054
MH
Coachbuilt
We bought our first Motorhome brand new two years ago and in that time we’ve rarely had everything working 100%. From the missing main fuses at delivery, through the saga of the FIAT EGR valve recall, broken habitation door lock and multiple Schaudt component failures to the current refusal of the Truma combi to work on gas, it’s been a very frustrating and occasionally stressful experience. Fortunately we found a dealer closer to home than the supplying one to take on the warranty work, because I’ve lost count of the number of trips made to get things repaired or replaced.

Have we just been unlucky or are the pleasures of Motorhome ownership always going to be countered by reliability issues? At the moment our Motorhome feels just like Citroens and Alfa Romeos I’ve owned in the past: nice but you wouldn’t necessarily want to keep it once the warranty was up.
 
I dont know what you've bought but our Pilote has has very little need for maintenance or repairs in over six years and never needed to go back for warranty work.

Some are good, some are bad and the majority tick over without problems - it's only the 'bad' ones that appears on the forums.

Hope you sort out yours.

?
 
Same with our Autocruise but we didn’t buy it new. Been amazing!
 
We had a new Autotrail - most of the warranty work I did myself as it costs more to keep going back than repair it yourself.

The dealer did the big stuff but all the silly failures I did. It was relentless in it's ability to find a new reason to fail.

Our next Motorhome was a IH - we still had a warranty claim - they fixed some of the problems.

The rest I did or are still on going projects.

Its a real cost to keep taking the motorhomes back and often not worth the effort.

We use it around six months a year and I am comfortable it won't leak and the heating etc will work when I want it too.

The Fiat bits has been largely faultless. We needed a new dash on the IH but in about 35k miles over both vans we have never had any major issues.
 
Apart from a weeping drive shaft seal ( fixed by Fiat Pro) we have had zero problems, faults or niggles with our Burstner. We took it on a 2500 mile trip the day after we bought it and have done another 9500 faultless miles since, in a few days short of it reaching its first birthday.
So, yes, they can be reliable.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Only very minor issues with my AutoSleeper from new, quickly sorted under warranty and it gets used very regularly, with many nights away and close to 25000 miles on the clock.

I agree with keithchesterfield2 it’s mostly the complaints that reach the forum. The ‘good news’ stuff rarely gets mentioned, not because it’s not there, but more likely that we’re not as good at complimenting as we are at complaining.

That said, if I had a list of constant faults like the OP, I’d be first in the complaints queue.
 
I have owned four vans, l now never expect everything to be right.
I enjoy the van inspite of the irritations.
Norman.?
 
Kingham said:
I agree with @keithchesterfield2 it’s mostly the complaints that reach the forum.
Click to expand...
It seems that way. If people have a bad experience they head straight to trip advisor or the equivalent. That said our review section. is full of largely positive reviews of dealerships.
 
Allanm said:
Apart from a weeping drive shaft seal ( fixed by Fiat Pro) we have had zero problems, faults or niggles with our Burstner. We took it on a 2500 mile trip the day after we bought it and have done another 9500 faultless miles since, in a few days short of it reaching its first birthday.
So, yes, they can be reliable.
Click to expand...

Funny old game isn't it. Our Burstner bought from new 12 years ago had the best part of an A4 sheet (one side :D) full of problems, one or two quite major ones too. Lost count of the amount of times we took the thing back to the dealer. All's been great though since ironing it all out.
 
Everyone has a laugh at our old ambulance, done 253000 when I bought it, now done 262000, I know where every screw is , heater , pump , electrics, but it hasn't had to be recalled for anything yet, everything is exactly where we want it ,no worrries putting another screw in for something else , doesnt have to go in for extortionate services just to keep warranty up. £4.500 against £45000.
Makes you think ay.
 
Our current motorhome, a Swift Select PVC, was bought in December 2017 and now has over 20k miles covered.

In that time we have had the following problems

Two screws securing the door to the gas locker were too short and had to be replaced. (Rectified by dealer).
A software mismatch caused problems with fridge operation. (Now resolved by Swift).
The blind cassette in the hab door gives problems by slipping in its case. (Not yet resolved).
Drainage pipe from fresh water tank came adrift.(rectified by dealer).

In addition, the dealer fitted an oven for us and a heat seal came loose. (Rectified by dealer).

No problems with the FIAT side.

In addition, Swift carried out two “recall” issues of their own on our driveway and at a time of our choice.

With the exception of the fridge issue nothing has caused real inconvenience. I feel that with handbuilt vehicles, and ours being the first of a new range, the problems were not too onerous compared to some I have read about.

It would be nice to buy a “perfect” motorhome though.
 
They should be reliable bearing in mind that they cost considerable sums of money. They are complex items but this shouldn't excuse the often-found poor workmanship and lack of quality control by sellers who allow motorhomes to be supplied to buyers that are not fit for purpose.

That some owners are able to effect repairs themselves, is fortunate for them, but is no excuse for dealers to dodge their contractual obligations to supply motorhomes that are as described in the sales particulars and fit for the purpose intended.

A lot of dealers often blame the manufacturers, when it is the dealers who bear the contractual responsibility. I'm not tarring all dealers with the same brush; there are good and bad. My experience with my dealer was bad and they'll never get another chance but there are many positive reviews of dealers on this forum and elsewhere.

I think that the motorhome industry is slightly unusual in that customers seem to accept quality levels and standards of service lower than say, the car market. Would someone buying, say, a new BMW or Jaguar for £80k, accept service that included missing main fuses, ill-fitting doors, scratched panels, rattling windows, glove boxes not fitting etc and then being told "it's the manufacturer's responsibility" or to keep bringing it back for repairs? I doubt it.

One would hope that competition between dealers would drive up standards but that doesn't seem to be the case. It's very much 'hit or miss'.
 
The OP makes an interesting point.

Our first new motorhome (Autotrail, bought in Sep 2016), was built by Stevie Wonder with the help of his chocolate mechano set. Thinking back now, I would spend hours fixing 'the shed' on our weekends away on C&MC sites so after a few months we just got rid of the horrible thing.

Our second new MoHo (Pilote) had Truma failure, engine problems and leaks (*) in the first week of ownership so as you can imagine I was starting to lose what little confidence I had in 'new van' reliability.
* - The dealer forgot to seal the roof after the fitment of the solar unit and wires.

This one, Globecar, has had silly little issues only but, when the Fiat recall came through the post a few months ago I began having flashbacks to how it was with the other two.

My confidence is slowly returning with the ownership of the PVC but, that being said, I still whisper "thank feck for that" every time the engine starts up or the Truma heats the boiler.

.....so do I have much faith in new motorhomes and their reliability - not really.
 
It was because of the experience of our first motorhome, bought brand new Flair from Hymer in Preston which had loads of problems that I decided I would never buy from anywhere more than an hour or so away.
It used to be a day out of my life to go to Preston and I must have gone back 15 times over 12 months to sort out the issues we had, the worst of which was water sloshing around under the floor.

I am rather more pragmatic now - these machines are very complex and the more you spend, the more complex they are. So, the odd minor thing doesn’t upset me. After all you are driving this thing around rocking and rolling somethings are bound to give once in a while.

What I can;t stand is the use of poor materials - why fut a crap cupboard hinge when for another quid you could fit one that lasts a lifetime for example?

Very happy with our current Elysian - always things you might have chosen or done differently but the main thing is to get in and ENJOY it!

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Ingwe said:
I think that the motorhome industry is slightly unusual in that customers seem to accept quality levels and standards of service lower than say, the car market. Would someone buying, say, a new BMW or Jaguar for £80k, accept service that included missing main fuses, ill-fitting doors, scratched panels, rattling windows, glove boxes not fitting etc and then being told "it's the manufacturer's responsibility" or to keep bringing it back for repairs? I doubt it.
Click to expand...
Yes, just as bad if not worse. Porsche "lost" my 911 once and in an £80K Merc I owned, the gearbox from new was crap and after 8 attempts to fix a fault they decided that it was "a known fault" which is trade talk for we can't fix it. Merc had it back.

The marine industry is even worse! About ten years ago we had a boat that we were keen to sell having stupidly bought another one (Part exchange doesn't exist in the boat world) The broker asked if they could "borrow" the boat for a journalist to do a review on, "Being featured could help sell the boat" So we agreed

The "dealer" took the Journalists out, not knowing what I do for a job, so not aware that there everymove was being monitored. They ended up sticking the boat on Poole rocks and had to have the lifeboat out.

The dealer tried to say that they weren't responsible so had no liability, then they admitted that they had liability, but suggested that the easiest way to get the boat repaired was for us to claim on our insurance as they weren't 100% sure about their cover for seatrails!

You couldn't make it up
 
I don’t know what we’d have done if we had to do the 400 mile round-trip to the supplying dealer every time something failed. The people doing the warranty work are an hour away and I too have decided that’s quite far enough if we ever think of changing.
I’ve no gripe with the build quality of my vehicle, it’s just the multiple failures of components common to many converters that’s really tainted the whole experience.
 
This thread touches a nerve for us. Our Hymer is 2.5yrs old now and has been in Travelworld for 5 weeks waiting for door lock parts. When only 3mths old it spent 6 weeks off the road waiting for Dometic fridge parts from Germany.
The van has done over 2000 miles either travelling to and from Travelworld or diverting to dealers with faults whilst abroad.
Sadly, it took a really shitty review on Google to get the dealer to take the issues seriously.
Being fairly mechanically minded, I try to be pragmatic about some of the issues but my wife has had a guts full.
The problem doesn't just lay with dealers, I feel that the industry has gone through a huge boom time in the last few years and in a search for expansion, the manufacturers/dealers have let quality slide down the pan.

Terry
 
Our van is 11 years old and has covered 73k since we purchased it new. Every trip something fails, sometimes minor, other times major. Fortunately as an engineer I can tackle most things, especially those jobs the dealer, can't or won't do.

They are complex and are bound to have problems, we fix them.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
WillH said:
Our van is 11 years old and has covered 73k since we purchased it new. Every trip something fails, sometimes minor, other times major. Fortunately as an engineer I can tackle most things, especially those jobs the dealer, can't or won't do.

They are complex and are bound to have problems, we fix them.
Click to expand...
With respect, this sort of misses the point I was making. People shouldn’t have to rely on their own skills (or lack there of). Trivial or serious, problems should be addressed by the dealer.
I fully understand the pragmatism of fixing it yourself if you can but that shouldn’t excuse bad building, poor quality control and dodgy service.:)(y)
 
It’s like your house, there’s always some maintenance that needs doing..... then add to picking your house up and move it around for a bit....

wear and tear and keeping on top of it makes things seem less of a dilemma....?
 
If you can afford the time, and the money, to go to a dealer with your problems fine. I know your expectations were for a perfect fault free van, but in the real world this is unlikely.

You have my sympathy, as my dealer was a 240 mile round trip, and his technicians heavy handed to say the least, I looked forward to the day the warranty ran out.

I could list the things I fixed that the dealer could, wouldn't or told me that it's like that on all of them but I won't bore you. At 11 years old things on the van are wearing out, not unexpected really given how much we use it. I just fix them.
 
Terry242 said:
Do you think the quality/service is any better than European?

Terry
Click to expand...
Service definitely absolutely first class service from Signature RV who supplied our current van and better than first class from Oakwell Motorhomes who supplied our previous camper.

Quality? well a lot more toys as standard and having had the van, from new for a year, the only warranty job required was the drivers window had condensation in it as a seal had gone, and as all the American windows are glass double glazed, like they are in a house, the seals can have a manufacturing fault

Full 1st year chassis and engine service (V10 engine bear in mind) under £400 including parts and VAT from a Ford authorised service agent

Spares next day from the dealer or, typically four days from the States
 
If the OP means is there a make of m/h guaranteed to have no problems he might be deluded in thinking there is a make of car like that I think there are always a few dodgy ones and if they were built in the limited number and by hand like m/h there would surely be more how many people would expect to buy a new house and have no snags?

That being said ours has been pretty good with no problems at all on the mechanical side after 34k miles and 5 1/2 years. Our last one needed a new erg valve at 40k plus but thats all both are Fords. The hab side has needed a new heater pcb a stress crack repair on the overcab and a couple of new taps (cheap at Screwfix) plus a few odds and bobs.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
There really is no reason that a low volume hand built means of travel shouldn’t be well made and trouble free.
My Sister bought a British built yacht ( Moody 36) which cost around the same price as a mid range motorhome.
She had it for 25 years, it was serviced and cleaned yearly and nothing fell off or stopped working and no trips back to the dealer. If you think a motorhome gets shaken about a lot on a trip, you should try crossing the channel in a 36 ft yacht!
I think a boat is far more complex than a motorhome, yet boatbuilders seem to get it right!
 
Allanm said:
There really is no reason that a low volume hand built means of travel shouldn’t be well made and trouble free.
My Sister bought a British built yacht ( Moody 36) which cost around the same price as a mid range motorhome.
She had it for 25 years, it was serviced and cleaned yearly and nothing fell off or stopped working and no trips back to the dealer. If you think a motorhome gets shaken about a lot on a trip, you should try crossing the channel in a 36 ft yacht!
I think a boat is far more complex than a motorhome, yet boatbuilders seem to get it right!
Click to expand...
Are you sure the new price was similar to a new m/h at the time? I had a quick look and a secondhand one in good nick from 1997 is £73k!!!!!
 
Much of this thread makes quite quite sad/depressing reading really so many dreams sunk without trace, I count myself lucky having covered close to 60k miles in our 13 year old van and it has not seen the inside of a dealership during our time with it, OK I have done a few little jobs but nothing major and never bought any parts from N+B.

Normal chassis servicing at a specialist every year irrespective of miles (but we do keep it rolling).

Martin
 
One of the many advantages of buying an older motorhome is that 'niggly from new' will have been sorted out
We have had ONE problem in our years of Autotrail ownership, that was when a Sargent component caused our step to pop out at random times..
Sure we had had other issues ( a couple of loose door hinges, a water pump that died ) but there has been nothing to get excited about

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 

Join us or log in to post a reply.

To join in you must be a member of MotorhomeFun

Join MotorhomeFun

Join us, it quick and easy!

Join us

Log in

Already a member? Log in here.

Latest journal entries

Back
Top