Deposit down (1 Viewer)

[Rudski01]

That Carthago is a beautiful van with great spec. Best of luck with it!
Apologies for 'jumping in' on your thread, due to my interest in the Concorde.
Kilroy

No problem at all, it’s good that a thread can be started about something but helps others looking in, for a 2008 it was a tidy van, there was no way the mrs was entertaining a french bed though.

 

[Kilroy]

No problem at all, it’s good that a thread can be started about something but helps others looking in, for a 2008 it was a tidy van, there was no way the mrs was entertaining a french bed though.

Thanks for that. In fact I was just now reading back over your previous thread when you were considering a different Charisma, but you passed on it in the end. I was looking at the "snag list" of questions you had prepared at that time......I wonder did you go through that list with this Charisma..i.e. windows, tyres etc? I'm in Ireland so would need to clarify as much as possible before investing in the hassle of a trip over, and I am also not knowledgeable at all about MH"s & how to assess condition or value.
Any advice or observations from anybody most welcome!!
The french bed actually works for me as I will be a solo traveller, if I ever get travelling.!!! Been in lockdown here for over a year & had to cancel a planned trip to Germany last September. Now with a vaccination cert I hope t get to Germany after July 19th sometime, to visit a few dealers. I noted your observation that mobile.de isn't offering anything cheap at the moment, though the speed of sales of items on my watchlist seems to have slowed a bit over the last weeks

 

[Rudski01]

Thanks for that. In fact I was just now reading back over your previous thread when you were considering a different Charisma, but you passed on it in the end. I was looking at the "snag list" of questions you had prepared at that time......I wonder did you go through that list with this Charisma..i.e. windows, tyres etc? I'm in Ireland so would need to clarify as much as possible before investing in the hassle of a trip over, and I am also not knowledgeable at all about MH"s & how to assess condition or value.
Any advice or observations from anybody most welcome!!
The french bed actually works for me as I will be a solo traveller, if I ever get travelling.!!! Been in lockdown here for over a year & had to cancel a planned trip to Germany last September. Now with a vaccination cert I hope t get to Germany after July 19th sometime, to visit a few dealers. I noted your observation that mobile.de isn't offering anything cheap at the moment, though the speed of sales of items on my watchlist seems to have slowed a bit over the last weeks

The original Charisma I considered if it’s the same one, (I seemed to have been looking via the internet at so many lately) it was at 4front down towards Brighton, it looked pretty unloved on the video footage, and not a lot seemed to work or they hadn’t a clue how to work anything, I was v dubious as the reviews were all over the place, some scathingly so, anyhow he said I’ll call you back when we fix the control panel and never did.
Someone from the Concorde forum had looked at it and said it was dog rough, the guy whom I’m buying this off had also said they were awful and lots wrong with them, if it’s not that one then I apologise for the waffle.
The double glazed windows need to be clear and not misted up as this shows they’ve blown.
To be fair the one we looked at serenity leisure is really tidy, at the end of the day it’s a 2008 so a little dated furniture wise, the misses just wasn’t happy with it and she’s the boss
It’s not often she wants to spend the extra cash but she really likes this one, she’s even mentioned about a m bike for the garage, let the search begin, I do like the KTM duke doesn’t look that comfortable for a pillion though

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Rudski01]

Just to note also is the 20% VAT on used if importing, lots of choices though happy hunting.

 

[Kilroy]

Thanks for your feedback
It sounds that you are well on your way now, with new van selected and SWMBO enthusiastically on board!
Best wishes for the next stage of the adventure.

 

[Rudski01]

Update, having seen this image above from Manic with the question of was there a problem with the graphics I meticulously inspected this van, took it for a test drive, re inspected and bought it, we spent the night close by just in case of any snags, the next morning the sun came out and wham, exactly what is on that image became apparent.
I honestly felt sick to my stomach and even more of a fool, how could I not see it before?

I phoned the dealer who came out and immediately said he would sort it, he knew a good body shop that had seen this before don’t worry, v apologetic, we left the vehicle with him and still had questions, how would they sort it?

Two weeks later we met near Birmingham, I could see vaguely where it was repaired but said until I had done a full inspection in warm sunshine I will reserve judgement, next day it looked like this when the sun was in full midday warmth

Needless to say I was not happy, and immediately informed the dealer, he totally agreed and would sort it out.
He said he’d taken it to somebody different so he could get it back to us quickly as the other body shop was too busy.
To cut the last few months of stress short, I spoke with some specialist body shops and Carthago technical from Germany, yes it could be fixed at much expense but could easily happen again in a Spanish sun or Scottish winter, so our perfect van was now rejected.

So we didn’t get our planned hols that we were looking forward too so much, and the dealer decided he was having a month in Majorca.

So Today we finally met at Penrith and got our money back, delighted to have the money in the bank, but now not sure if I can be on with this motorhome malarkey anymore.

Sorry for the long post, just a warning this vehicle will be back on the market as he reckons he will have no issue selling it once he sorts the side out, he was very apologetic and we could have been fighting this for months, it might never pop again but if it had in the future, it would be moi having to repair it

Do I start the search again or take time out? I feel frazzled and deflated

Cheers
Mark

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[cyberyacht]

That's the trouble when previous owners try to avoid the "window tax"

 

[jongood]

Update, having seen this image above from Manic with the question of was there a problem with the graphics I meticulously inspected this van, took it for a test drive, re inspected and bought it, we spent the night close by just in case of any snags, the next morning the sun came out and wham, exactly what is on that image became apparent.
I honestly felt sick to my stomach and even more of a fool, how could I not see it before?

I phoned the dealer who came out and immediately said he would sort it, he knew a good body shop that had seen this before don’t worry, v apologetic, we left the vehicle with him and still had questions, how would they sort it?

Two weeks later we met near Birmingham, I could see vaguely where it was repaired but said until I had done a full inspection in warm sunshine I will reserve judgement, next day it looked like this when the sun was in full midday warmth


View attachment 547454
Needless to say I was not happy, and immediately informed the dealer, he totally agreed and would sort it out.
He said he’d taken it to somebody different so he could get it back to us quickly as the other body shop was too busy.
To cut the last few months of stress short, I spoke with some specialist body shops and Carthago technical from Germany, yes it could be fixed at much expense but could easily happen again in a Spanish sun or Scottish winter, so our perfect van was now rejected.

So we didn’t get our planned hols that we were looking forward too so much, and the dealer decided he was having a month in Majorca.

So Today we finally met at Penrith and got our money back, delighted to have the money in the bank, but now not sure if I can be on with this motorhome malarkey anymore.

Sorry for the long post, just a warning this vehicle will be back on the market as he reckons he will have no issue selling it once he sorts the side out, he was very apologetic and we could have been fighting this for months, it might never pop again but if it had in the future, it would be moi having to repair it

Do I start the search again or take time out? I feel frazzled and deflated

Cheers
Mark

Ouch!! what a right PITA for you. Its hard to see from this angle, is it the decal or a blister in the side skin?

Don't let it get you down Mark, you ve just been unlucky. Fortunately apart from the travelling costs you havent suffered a financial loss And at east you can now buy one on a MAN Chassis

 

[Southdowners]

That's dreadful - I'm surprised they even thought it was an acceptable repair!

What exactly was wrong? Is there delamination in the actual wall of the motorhome? If it's just the decals I can't understand why they couldn't remove and replace them.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Rudski01]

Ouch!! what a right PITA for you. Its hard to see from this angle, is it the decal or a blister in the side skin?

Don't let it get you down Mark, you ve just been unlucky. Fortunately apart from the travelling costs you havent suffered a financial loss And at east you can now buy one on a MAN Chassis

It was the whole section that delaminated, when it was in the workshop/showroom you couldn’t see anything, after looking at the image I discounted it as a reflection, so when I went down a second time I homed right in on this area, looking down the side, feeling for any give and there was nothing, even after a test drive parked it outside nothing. Here’s a couple more of the repair afterwards.
I highlighted in marker above and below the bit they didn’t bother attempting to repair.

 

[Rudski01]

That's dreadful - I'm surprised they even thought it was an acceptable repair!

What exactly was wrong? Is there delamination in the actual wall of the motorhome? If it's just the decals I can't understand why they couldn't remove and replace them.

No, full delamination, they basically cut a square out and re bonded it, badly

 

[Southdowners]

It's unbelievable that the dealer thought he could pass the 'repair' off as being a solution to the problem.

They'll need to replace the whole side of the vehicle to put that right. I hope no-one else is palmed off with it as it is.

You must be so relieved to get your money back. Good luck with your next purchase!

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Rudski01]

It's unbelievable that the dealer thought he could pass the 'repair' off as being a solution to the problem.

They'll need to replace the whole side of the vehicle to put that right. I hope no-one else is palmed off with it as it is.

You must be so relieved to get your money back. Good luck with your next purchase!

Speaking with the MD of DMS repair shop Doncaster, he said it would be difficult to repair, Carthago technical at Germany sent details of how to repair it to me, but this will involve stripping internals out to drill holes to allow the glue out, good in theory, maybe not so after a bogged job first time around.
Delighted to have the cash back in our account, but had quite a few sleepless nights.

No idea what to look for now, there really doesn’t seem to be much about and the extra duty importing knocks a big chunk out of the budget

 

[Lenny HB]

No idea what to look for now, there really doesn’t seem to be much about and the extra duty importing knocks a big chunk out of the budget

German dealers appear to charge 19% vat on the full price with s/h vans so if you can get that back it will be OK.