Carthago C-Compactline I-138 - issues etc

[Minxy]

Just thought I'd update on some of the issues we've had which I may, or may not, have mentioned previously in other threads such as those below:

(3) Oh heck ... yet another very, VERY expensive show ... | MotorhomeFun | The Motorhome Support and Social Network​

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Poor service from dealers

Sometimes with the best will in the world, ordered parts are not forthcoming and this makes people who may have just paid huge sums of money for their vans, rightfully very cross and wanting to tear strips off dealers. I know there are rogue dealers out there who, once you have collected your...

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Well, it FINALLY went in for it's habitation service on 11th December and we collected it on 18th December, below are the things we asked them to sort for us under warranty.

Hob: It wasn't sitting 'flat' on the worksurface at the front where the control knobs were, ie it had a bow in it, it also moved back/forth when the glass lids were lifted so wasn't fully secured into the worksurface itself, also the glass lids never aligned when in the vertical position (ie open), so it looks like we had a 'wonky' one. This has now been replaced by the dealer with a new one.​

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Fresh water system: we had a lot of issues with the taps spurting, glugging, with lots of air in the system which we couldn't get rid of completely. I discovered air was somehow getting in the pump filter clear plastic 'dome' as the water could be seen draining out of it. It has finally been resolved by the dealer who found that the actual filter casing had a hairline crack in it so they have replaced it all - apparently this isn't the first one they've had like this so they suspect there was a badly manufactured/faulty batch; on all the ones they've fitted new ones to none have had to be replaced again.​

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USB socket: The USB socket on the lower left of the dash nearest the cab's passenger door was broken as the small plastic flat piece that holds the external USB in place within the slot was missing, they have replaced it with a twin socket.​

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Passenger door: This clunked a bit and sometimes stuck so not always easy to open, they've now adjusted it so it works as it should.​

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Habitation door: we noticed shortly before we were to take it in that both bottom corners of the hab door painted aluminium frame were bubbling, this has been cleaned up and repainted so hopefully won't return, none of the lockers had this issue fortunately.​

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Small over-sink cupboard & TV cupboard: the doors rubbed on the side walls when being opened/closed - they adjusted these.​

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Washroom door: this sometimes rubbed so has also been adjusted, I assume part of it was down to temperature changes but obviously it should open without a problem whatever it's like.​

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So all well and good? NOPE! Unfortunately we have some 'damage' ... whoever was working inside has somehow put a horizontal 'scratch' roughly 10mm wide on the left side of the washroom door frame, it's not very big but as it's just at eye height and where you look when opening/closing the door we'll see it every time we use the washroom! We've no idea how it's happened and neither has the dealer, it could simply have been from something on a piece of clothing, but however it's happened we're not best pleased as you can imagine - last time it went in for a socket issue it came out with a ruddy great scratch down the garage door although they did compensate us for that (we might get it sorted one day when we can get it booked in somewhere!). In order to sort the scratch they're sending me some 'wax' sticks so I can see if I can 'blend' it myself, which is what they'd do, as there's no way we're doing a 5 hour round trip for it. We'll be giving it a good looking at this week to ensure that there's nothing else ... I hope not as I'll go ballistic.

At some point we'll get the stuff back in it so I can have my conservatory back ... Christmas dinner isn't gonna be had in there this year!

 

[Dorset Diver]

Just one comment Minxy Girl. That problem with the water pump filter housing has been a "feature" for many years. It was a bloody nuisance on an AT we had.

 

[fullfat]

Bloody hell
Glad I went down market and bought Hymer

 

[MajorClanger]

Passenger door: This clunked a bit and sometimes stuck so not always easy to open, they've now adjusted it so it works as it should.

Ours had exactly the same issue. The dealer had to take it off completely to realign it. No problems since; opens and closes beautifully

 

[Zepp]

Bloody hell
Glad I went down market and bought Hymer

Nothing wrong with hymer or carthago it’s all down to luck you either get a good one or a bad one lol ........think I was unlucky lol

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[PJGWiltshire]

Like all units. They have hundreds of components that go wrong. As has been said all rectified. The scratch is another issue. Accidents happen. Yes if it blends in and you are happy all sorted. If not it’s fir the company to repair simple. As you found out they paid out for previous damage. Like many when we hand over to the dealers service time they go round marking and agreeing damage. On collection I always repeat the process prior to driving off

 

[fullfat]

Nothing wrong with hymer or carthago it’s all down to luck you either get a good one or a bad one lol ........think I was unlucky lol

Only jesting

 

[Zepp]

Only jesting

I know lol we nearly bought a hymer so wish I had ......I was laughing at your post

 

[Lenny HB]

At some point we'll get the stuff back in it so I can have my conservatory back ..

Why? We never take anything out of our van when we take it in for a damp check or warranty work.

 

[DuxDeluxe]

Why? We never take anything out of our van when we take it in for a damp check or warranty work.

Some people do, some don’t. I do empty all the cupboards and things so that a full and proper damp check can be carried out, otherwise they usually won’t do it If it means moving a customers personal possessions

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[Lenny HB]

Some people do, some don’t. I do empty all the cupboards and things so that a full and proper damp check can be carried out, otherwise they usually won’t do it If it means moving a customers personal possessions

Normally have ours done when we are on a trip by our Belgium dealer. Its not critical as the inner skin is aluminium and its only a visual check.

 

[138go]

Sorry to read this Minxy. We have the same motorhome and we are extremely happy with ours. We bought from Southdowns and we're very happy with the service we get.

 

[Lenny HB]

Problem with all the modern vans is the strive towards lightweight construction. None of them are a solid as they used to be, I reckon our last van a Hymer Exsis was better constructed than our current Hymer Dynamic Line due to the weight saving.

 

[fullfat]

I know lol we nearly bought a hymer so wish I had ......I was laughing at your post

 

[fullfat]

Minxy Girl
Sorry you have found damage
I was only pulling a leg
Hope you get sorted quickly, it's annoying when you get let down with a service

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[Minxy]

Why? We never take anything out of our van when we take it in for a damp check or warranty work.

Some people do, some don’t. I do empty all the cupboards and things so that a full and proper damp check can be carried out, otherwise they usually won’t do it If it means moving a customers personal possessions

We were asked to empty it as much as possible so they could do the hab check fully and also the warranty work too, as we leave our stuff, including clothes etc, in it normally so obviously they needed removing so they could do a full damp etc check. We didn't bother emptying the washroom cupboard as they are all acrylic backed so no point, nor the central wardrobe which I use as a larder, but the rest came out. We left the bedding though as the rear bed has heating pipes running round it so they could access the walls etc if needed and obviously the front bed is a drop down anyway.

Its a good excuse to go through what we've got, whether we still need it and if so if it needs to go in a different place to where it was.

 

[Minxy]

Minxy Girl
Sorry you have found damage
I was only pulling a leg
Hope you get sorted quickly, it's annoying when you get let down with a service

Don't worry, I'm quite happy to have my leg pulled, just don't 'pull' any other bits or you're likely to get a good slapping with a wet fish!

The wax sticks have arrived today, well little bits of them, so I'll have a play when it's a bit warmer as it's been ruddy cold here today at just above freezing.

Oh, we took the car in for the windscreen to be looked at and are now £75 'lighter' as it had to be replaced as we suspected, if the damage had been on the passenger side we'd have got away with a repair.

 

[fullfat]

Don't worry, I'm quite happy to have my leg pulled, just don't 'pull' any other bits or you're likely to get a good slapping with a wet fish!

Will that be a sprat to catch a mackerel or a wet plaice ?

 

[Lenny HB]

they needed removing so they could do a full damp etc check.

Pull the other leg, yours is an internal aluminium wall, all they do is a quick glance. Damp meters don't work on aluminium.

 

[Minxy]

Pull the other leg, yours is an internal aluminium wall, all they do is a quick glance. Damp meters don't work on aluminium.

It's difficult to 'glance' if lockers are full of stuff and even with an aluminium skin internally it still doesn't mean that we can't have 'leaks' via openings, panel joints etc ... they asked us to empty it as much as possible so we did, nothing wrong with that especially since they needed access to areas to do warranty work.

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[wiljoy]

Pull the other leg, yours is an internal aluminium wall, all they do is a quick glance. Damp meters don't work on aluminium.

Don't you stop the dealers making lots of LOLLY with quick glance hab checks

 

[Pappy]

Hi Minxy Girl, would you still recommend a Carthago? We are still looking.

 

[Minxy]

Hi Minxy Girl, would you still recommend a Carthago? We are still looking.

Definitely, we used ours from December 2019 to February 2020 in France/Spain and it was brilliant, so easy to use, lovely to have lots of storage space for out kit and be able to access it without having to turf loads of other stuff out of the way first (double floor). It's a quality bit of kit which was important to us as we have 2 dogs (had 3 originally) so it had to be 'tough'. We were lovely and snug when the temperatures dropped as the heating works really well and due to the insulation it keeps warm without the need to keep it on more than the low setting.

The issues were pretty minor to be honest and seeing as ours was touted at various shows being their display model we expected it to have a few odds and sods that may need sorting so wasn't a surprise and the after sales have been great to deal with, probably the best of all the ones we've ever had to liaise with (this is at Go European).

Not sure what models you're looking at but if you can get one on the heavy chassis - we have the light chassis as that's all that was available barring a factory order - we've uprated it to 3850kg which was possible without modification but kept the axle capacity as they were but we needed more so to be able to increase the rear axle capacity from 2000kg to 2240kg we had rear semi-air fitted at a cost of £2,000, which is something that hubby would have wanted anyway even if we'd got a heavy chassis one.

 

[Pappy]

Definitely, we used ours from December 2019 to February 2020 in France/Spain and it was brilliant, so easy to use, lovely to have lots of storage space for out kit and be able to access it without having to turf loads of other stuff out of the way first (double floor). It's a quality bit of kit which was important to us as we have 2 dogs (had 3 originally) so it had to be 'tough'. We were lovely and snug when the temperatures dropped as the heating works really well and due to the insulation it keeps warm without the need to keep it on more than the low setting.

The issues were pretty minor to be honest and seeing as ours was touted at various shows being their display model we expected it to have a few odds and sods that may need sorting so wasn't a surprise and the after sales have been great to deal with, probably the best of all the ones we've ever had to liaise with (this is at Go European).

Not sure what models you're looking at but if you can get one on the heavy chassis - we have the light chassis as that's all that was available barring a factory order - we've uprated it to 3850kg which was possible without modification but kept the axle capacity as they were but we needed more so to be able to increase the rear axle capacity from 2000kg to 2240kg we had rear semi-air fitted at a cost of £2,000, which is something that hubby would have wanted anyway even if we'd got a heavy chassis one.

Thanks for your usual comprehensive reply. I'm looking at a Compactline 141 at 3.5t. There are not many around and none on the heavy chassis. We have bikes, fishing tackle, dog, and all the usual stuff and there is less than 500 kg payload. I think we'll need at least to uprate to 3850 kg.

 

[Minxy]

Thanks for your usual comprehensive reply. I'm looking at a Compactline 141 at 3.5t. There are not many around and none on the heavy chassis. We have bikes, fishing tackle, dog, and all the usual stuff and there is less than 500 kg payload. I think we'll need at least to uprate to 3850 kg.

Yup you'll definitely need to uprate as the 141 is heavier by over 100kg but in order to do so you'll need to budget for the rear semi-air and the cost of uprating ... we were fortunate that our dealer paid for the actual paperwork bit as we'd agreed with them when we bought it that it should be 3850kg and they did it at 3700kg, if they had somehow been able to do it at 3850kg we'd still have had to pay for it as we needed to up the rear axle capacity.

This is something that you need to watch for - even if you are able to get at 3850kg from new you'll still have to do the semi-air and uprating as the one from the manufacturer won't increase the rear axle so it will stay at 2000kg.

We considered the 141 but didn't like the bathroom moving wall/door arrangement and didn't want to go to the extra length of the 143, but we solved the requirement for separate beds with the 138 as we use both double beds, hubby has the front drop down and I have the rear fixed ... pure bliss!

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[Pappy]

Yup you'll definitely need to uprate as the 141 is heavier by over 100kg but in order to do so you'll need to budget for the rear semi-air and the cost of uprating ... we were fortunate that our dealer paid for the actual paperwork bit as we'd agreed with them when we bought it that it should be 3850kg and they did it at 3700kg, if they had somehow been able to do it at 3850kg we'd still have had to pay for it as we needed to up the rear axle capacity.

This is something that you need to watch for - even if you are able to get at 3850kg from new you'll still have to do the semi-air and uprating as the one from the manufacturer won't increase the rear axle so it will stay at 2000kg.

We considered the 141 but didn't like the bathroom moving wall/door arrangement and didn't want to go to the extra length of the 143, but we solved the requirement for separate beds with the 138 as we use both double beds, hubby has the front drop down and I have the rear fixed ... pure bliss!

Thanks Minxy Girl. Could I pick your brains again please, I might buy a 2019 141. I have 2 reservations. It is a long way from where I live and it has the comformatic gearbox, I keep being told that the new auto gearbox is much better. The distance could be an issue if I need any warranty work, that's something I'll have to judge. I would be interested in your view of the comformatic. Or should I save my pennies and get a new one?

 

[Scotch mist]

Pappy , IMO , save your pennies, get the ZF auto , the comformattic is agricultural , the ZF is fluid & really sweet to drive , the comformattic is not problematic BUT if you do get problems it can be a nightmare (especially out of warranty) , I speak through experience

 

[Minxy]

Thanks Minxy Girl. Could I pick your brains again please, I might buy a 2019 141. I have 2 reservations. It is a long way from where I live and it has the comformatic gearbox, I keep being told that the new auto gearbox is much better. The distance could be an issue if I need any warranty work, that's something I'll have to judge. I would be interested in your view of the comformatic. Or should I save my pennies and get a new one?

Our Comfortmatic is the first we've had and hubby loves it, we've had auto Smart cars (various models/gearboxes) and this is what made the decision that we wanted an auto MH if we could get one.

As for comparing the Comfortmatic with the new one ... we've never driven the new one but it would have to be closely priced for it to be worth it to us.

Its a lot of money so I wouldn't risk buying without trying both if you aren't sure and have the money to go the whole hog if that's what you want. As for distance, it can be a nuisance as we've found but not usually a problem as we've bought a few MHs from a distance and often if it's just a minor issue or something I have the competency to do I've sorted it myself without bothering them, been sent the parts and done it myself, or had a local firm do it with the dealer paying. We have sometime had to go back to the selling dealer, with our Carthago we did so as we had some warranty stuff to do (although I could probably have got an agreement for this to be done locally) but also a free habitation check (worth £380) so it made it worth it for us to go, drop it off, and collect it again a week later.

I've just had a quick shuftie and if it was the one at Chelston in Somerset it's sold I'm afraid.

 

[Pappy]

Our Comfortmatic is the first we've had and hubby loves it, we've had auto Smart cars (various models/gearboxes) and this is what made the decision that we wanted an auto MH if we could get one.

As for comparing the Comfortmatic with the new one ... we've never driven the new one but it would have to be closely priced for it to be worth it to us.

Its a lot of money so I wouldn't risk buying without trying both if you aren't sure and have the money to go the whole hog if that's what you want. As for distance, it can be a nuisance as we've found but not usually a problem as we've bought a few MHs from a distance and often if it's just a minor issue or something I have the competency to do I've sorted it myself without bothering them, been sent the parts and done it myself, or had a local firm do it with the dealer paying. We have sometime had to go back to the selling dealer, with our Carthago we did so as we had some warranty stuff to do (although I could probably have got an agreement for this to be done locally) but also a free habitation check (worth £380) so it made it worth it for us to go, drop it off, and collect it again a week later.

I've just had a quick shuftie and if it was the one at Chelston in Somerset it's sold I'm afraid.

Thanks. It's the one at Travel World.

 

[Minxy]

Thanks. It's the one at Travel World.

Is that the one which says 'deposit taken'? If so, is that you?

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