Floor hatches flexing (1 Viewer)

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Steve and Denise

Steve and Denise

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Whats in the floor then is it different to the hatches? I would have thought they would use the same material for both, doesn't make sence to to use a weaker material for an item under more stress.
Well I understand what you are saying as it would make sense to do so but I have seen inside the hatch construction and when my new ones arrive I will take Some pics to show the polystyrene in the hatch construction there is no mistake here it is the white bobbley stuff that they pack TVs and other electrical items in.
I can not comment about the floor as I have not had the need to repair that yet but early days yet I do hope it don't come to that.
Oh and the roof is ally on the inside as I have drilled through that the outer roof skin is also ally with a sheet of GRP stuck on top.
 
Jun 30, 2011
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So burstners now have ally on the inside wall too, good progress.

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John Stanton

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We had this problem with our brand new Hymer B class - though it was one of the more minor problems we experienced.

The dealer said they had seen a few cases like ours but that it was "nothing to worry about". I made the observation that if we were dealing with a brand new £40-50K motor home I could possibly sympathise, but for the serious price we had paid for Hymer "quality" it simply wasn't an acceptable excuse. To be fair to the dealer it was fixed promptly and under warranty (as were the myriad of other issues) but really for the price paid for a supposed quality motor home this was just not acceptable, and just one of the reasons we vowed never to touch another Hymer with a barge pole.

We've moved on to a Rapido so let's hope they have a better build "ethos" than Hymer - not difficult from what we've heard.
 

Abacist

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This all sounds horrendous!

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funflair

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No idea I do not have a BURSTNER.
Dont think so(y) Hymer have only just caught up and just some models I believe.

N+B, Concorde and Phoenix have been doing it for years and Morelo since they started but thats not many years.

Martin
 

Abacist

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As a matter of interest I was talking to a Dutch guy on holiday who had a Concorde prototype with a slide out lounge which had been built by/for the father of the owner of Concorde. When the family who owned Concorde sold the company they then founded Morelo to start building motorhomes again, presumably after the usual non-competition clause expired.
 

Gorse Hill

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We had this problem with our brand new Hymer B class - though it was one of the more minor problems we experienced.

The dealer said they had seen a few cases like ours but that it was "nothing to worry about". I made the observation that if we were dealing with a brand new £40-50K motor home I could possibly sympathise, but for the serious price we had paid for Hymer "quality" it simply wasn't an acceptable excuse. To be fair to the dealer it was fixed promptly and under warranty (as were the myriad of other issues) but really for the price paid for a supposed quality motor home this was just not acceptable, and just one of the reasons we vowed never to touch another Hymer with a barge pole.

We've moved on to a Rapido so let's hope they have a better build "ethos" than Hymer - not difficult from what we've heard.
I think that's a very valid point, the Hymer being discussed here are serious money close to £100k and for that sort of money you would expect a very high quality finish/materials
Hymer is recognised as a premium brand with an excellent record for quality, probably why you still see more older models of there's still in action, more than any other brand
I find it surprising that people seem to accept poor quality workmanship/materials as the norm (as you put it possible sympathies with a model costing £50k, mine cost not much more) I think is an indication of how the market place has convinced us all its ok, after all it's a Motorhome what do you expect
You hear it so often from dealers, I've had the same comment made "it's nothing to worry about" when there's a fault I can't think of any other industry where you would get away with a comment like that after spending £100k

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Lenny HB

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Dont think so(y) Hymer have only just caught up and just some models I believe.

N+B, Concorde and Phoenix have been doing it for years and Morelo since they started but thats not many years.

Martin
Hymer only the DL since July 2016 & 2018 Exsis i models, don't forget Carthago.
 
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At Lincoln show SMC had a brand new Frankia - we have always thought that these were quality built vans - however 3 of the floor hatches were bowing upwards on all the edges very badly on that particular van- As we came out of the van I mentioned this to the salesman. - You know what? He didn't even reply! he just walked away - Says it all
 

Gorse Hill

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At Lincoln show SMC had a brand new Frankia - we have always thought that these were quality built vans - however 3 of the floor hatches were bowing upwards on all the edges very badly on that particular van- As we came out of the van I mentioned this to the salesman. - You know what? He didn't even reply! he just walked away - Says it all
Not bothered as he knows someone will buy it, crazy, but that's how it is in the world of Motorhomes

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OP
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Steve and Denise

Steve and Denise

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Well the glue has now dried over night on my temporary repair and I can stand on the hatch that failed (gorilla glue) but not sure how long before it will split in another area.
Like you @John Stanton we thought we were buying a top end van but on the up side of things the paint work is nice and shiney and lots of other things work ok on the van.
 

John Stanton

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Well the glue has now dried over night on my temporary repair and I can stand on the hatch that failed (gorilla glue) but not sure how long before it will split in another area.
Like you @John Stanton we thought we were buying a top end van but on the up side of things the paint work is nice and shiney and lots of other things work ok on the van.

I genuinely hope it works for you so you can carry on enjoying your new van until you can resolve this through a warranty claim. Looks like you've gone the opposite way to us ie. Rapido ----> Hymer ... I just hope our Rapido works as well as yours did when it finally arrives :)
 
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We've just paid £50k for a 5 year old B544, I went over it with a fine tooth comb. I can honestly say it's in virtually as new condition with 23k miles. We had a Hymer T class before which was also in very good condition, and made a conscious decision not to buy new as I am quite handy being a kitchen/bathroom installer, and can fix most things.

We are happy with our purchase. Across the road is a two year old Autotrail that has been back twice for water leaks and other problems, as we live 30 miles north of Inverness that's quite a trip, and one reason we decided to buy private used instead, with our eyes wide open and knowing what make/model we wanted. We travelled down to Warwick to see the van we wanted and asked plenty of questions also asked for extra photos etc before we went to see it. It met our expectations up to 95% as we really wanted underfloor external storage space, but as we were buying used you can't have everything.

As with anything there will always be problems but dealing with them can be difficult especially when you have travel, distance and time involved, I always think you have to eliminate as many of these as possible, that way you have a better experience if anything does go wrong.

I personally think that Hymer are a good brand, and after seeing other makes, like my brothers Leaky Lunar which was a disaster from day one, to others on here with similar tales of woe, you don't see many bad Hymers.
 

Lenny HB

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Well Lenny you were parked next to s at Newbury and the internal filling of our new Hymer floor hatches is 100% polystyrene and not pu but that is not to say that other models are the same.?
I remember now having a chat with you on the Monday morning.

Well I understand what you are saying as it would make sense to do so but I have seen inside the hatch construction and when my new ones arrive I will take Some pics to show the polystyrene in the hatch construction there is no mistake here it is the white bobbley stuff that they pack TVs and other electrical items in.
I can not comment about the floor as I have not had the need to repair that yet but early days yet I do hope it don't come to that.
Oh and the roof is ally on the inside as I have drilled through that the outer roof skin is also ally with a sheet of GRP stuck on top.

Just had a look under a draw where there is a hole cut in the upper floor for cable access and my upper floor definitely has PU foam in it, so hopefully the hatches will as well.
I'm fairly certain the only Hymers with internal Alloy walls are the DL and the very latest 2018 Exsis and the new narrow bodied 2018 B Class SL.

I agree this sort of thing shouldn't happen they have been making them long enough.
Sometimes people expect too much of them they are only a mid range van but have been hyped up by UK dealers in the past to premier status which they are not.

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OP
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Steve and Denise

Steve and Denise

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We've just paid £50k for a 5 year old B544, I went over it with a fine tooth comb. I can honestly say it's in virtually as new condition with 23k miles. We had a Hymer T class before which was also in very good condition, and made a conscious decision not to buy new as I am quite handy being a kitchen/bathroom installer, and can fix most things.

We are happy with our purchase. Across the road is a two year old Autotrail that has been back twice for water leaks and other problems, as we live 30 miles north of Inverness that's quite a trip, and one reason we decided to buy private used instead, with our eyes wide open and knowing what make/model we wanted. We travelled down to Warwick to see the van we wanted and asked plenty of questions also asked for extra photos etc before we went to see it. It met our expectations up to 95% as we really wanted underfloor external storage space, but as we were buying used you can't have everything.

As with anything there will always be problems but dealing with them can be difficult especially when you have travel, distance and time involved, I always think you have to eliminate as many of these as possible, that way you have a better experience if anything does go wrong.

I personally think that Hymer are a good brand, and after seeing other makes, like my brothers Leaky Lunar which was a disaster from day one, to others on here with similar tales of woe, you don't see many bad Hymers.
I think we have been rather unlucky with the floor hatches but it is a recognised problem on some vans but on top of the crap service we are getting from Lowdhams it has rubbed salt in so to say.
Any way it goes in for 2 weeks in November to get the sat nav sorted hopefully they will correct all the bits then fingers crossed.

Thinking back we bought a new Chieftan from Brownhills in 2010 and yes that was one c++k up after another.
 

canopus

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Have you thought about taking it to a different dealer?

Campirama is a fair ride away Lenny. So of all the Hymer dealers in the UK - which one would you take it to? :eek::eek::eek:

Pity Peter Hambilton can't carry out warranty work.
 
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A couple of the internal floor hatches on our B678 started to bend slightly. Dealer agreed to replace both under warranty without any problem at all. Looking at them they are built of exactly the same sandwich material as the floor that surrounds them.

Our Hymer is double floored. As far as I can see the bottom floor, which is the one that gets all the muck thrown up on it, is has grp or some other form of plastic both sides of a foam core. The top floor has a lower skin of plastic and the upper face of marine ply again separated by a foam core. I will live with that type of construction happily.

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Lenny HB

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Campirama is a fair ride away Lenny. So of all the Hymer dealers in the UK - which one would you take it to? :eek::eek::eek:

Pity Peter Hambilton can't carry out warranty work.
Premier at Birdham near Chichester only 20 miles from me.
Did you buy from Campirama?
 

Theonlysue

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Not long enough!
On my starline these also flexed.
I went to hymer in germany at bad waldsee and they would replace under warranty. They said its because the glue dried too quickky. As you said, a known problem.
 

canopus

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Who is the guy you mentioned @canopus

Hi Steve, Emmanuel Demuynck along with his brother and elderly father owns Campirama in Kortrijk, Belgium. Between them, they have a wealth of knowledge on Hymer/Eriba products and they are one of the oldest established Hymer dealers in Europe.
 

Lenny HB

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Hi Steve, Emmanuel Demuynck along with his brother and elderly father owns Campirama in Kortrijk, Belgium. Between them, they have a wealth of knowledge on Hymer/Eriba products and they are one of the oldest established Hymer dealers in Europe.
I think it was 1962 that Julian (Dad) bought their first Hymer caravan.

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