New Benimars (1 Viewer)

[Howard H]

We have just got a new 243 and joined this forum to read up as heard one or two benimar owners were on here. Have joined owners forum but it seems a bit dead. So far have not been pleased with Marquis who did an awful job fitting an awning on new motor home in the wrong place to my mind. Result is we shall have 4 holes in a new van we did not need. After a week away and now having a 1000 miles on the clock, we also find habitation door hard to open from the outside. Also find waste water outlet is needing a diversion pipe for discrete use in UK. Our sunroof is badly fitted by benimar and has a corner screw falling out as frame was put on cock eyed, meaning it is too short to stay in. Not very happy with door lock on toilet door as it has just holds on edge of (MDF covered ?) frame. Any others not got a return plate to door on toilet compartment?
We also find the seats especially driving ones rather hard so have ordered coordinating dark brown colour L shaped garden seat cushions to go on top making them softer and also providing a bit of dog protection. Not noticed anything else much, usual plastic caps coming off and push studs to ventilator were found on the floor and returned to holes.
Are we pleased with it? The layout is good for us but do find table a bit fiddly and need to move drivers seat to sit at it. Not used fitted carpets and like Del think removable matts probably better especially with a muddy dog on board. Based near Brighton, but were off to Greece next week in new van, hopefully having had issues dealt with by Marquis tomorrow.

Hi mate, I have the benimar 294 bought from marquis we have the same problem as you with the habitation door ,it is a bit better now but not much and I agree with you about the waste outlet . We do love the mh and the layout is perfect for us although the heater was playing up last weekend but seems to have come right now ,keep us informed how you get on in Greece I would love to do that trip

I put hi mate but predictive text changed it to hi mate ,sorry
It's done it again sorry

 

[m8form8]

Hello, Howard,
The heater on ours seems good and highly efficient, but I do worry about everything being electronic these days. Its the 6kw on our van. As for Greece we have been before and its mainly why we got a motorhome to start with as have a small yacht we sailed out there and now intend to keep there. We drive out for 2 or 3 months sailing and that way keeping the yacht makes sense as costs less than having it in Brighton Marina where costs now are over 3k a year while in Greece its less than 1k a year and the advantage of nicer weather no or little harbour dues and better on my arthritis. Boat yard allows free parking for berth holders in secure compound so leave motorhome there to go sailing around the Islands.

 

[Howard H]

I am very envious you seem to be living the dream and good on you .

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[m8form8]

Anyone know what it is meant for? On the outside of the 2016 new benimar is a shower and gas outlet box. There is also a little electric switch under the outside flap. Any idea what it is for? While adding a further USB point to the 243 this afternoon had the locker open and noticed there are no wires connected to the switch inside. Lad who did handover said it switched from gas to water but that seems illogical and even more so now I know if is not actually connected to anything? Ideas folks? Pretty sure Marquis wont have any lol.

 

[Jamwitt]

Hi m8form8 I have 202 and awning was fitted by benimar !

 

[Tezza]

Hi mate

Apparently if the van was a commercial white van man vehicle then it would be wired up, but because we have a motorhome, we have the controls inside already so it's not required.

Hope this helps.

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[Tezza]

I have the same issue as Howard, I type (Hi M-eight) but it's used hi mate, bloody technology

 

[Howard H]

Anyone know what it is meant for? On the outside of the 2016 new benimar is a shower and gas outlet box. There is also a little electric switch under the outside flap. Any idea what it is for? While adding a further USB point to the 243 this afternoon had the locker open and noticed there are no wires connected to the switch inside. Lad who did handover said it switched from gas to water but that seems illogical and even more so now I know if is not actually connected to anything? Ideas folks? Pretty sure Marquis wont have any lol.

I noticed that the other day myself when trying to get the heater to work I would love to know what it's for

 

[Don Quixote]

Photos' would help

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[Howard H]

Photos' would help

Will take some at the weekend in the daylight and hopefully you will know what it's for .thanks

 

[Tezza]

Re the switch on the external gas/water outlet.

Apparently if the van was a commercial white van man vehicle then it would be wired up, but because we have a motorhome, we have the gas and water controls inside already so it's not required.
Just a standard fitting that doesn't require a connection.

Tezza

 

[Howard H]

What was it wired up to in commercial van form ?

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[Tezza]

No idea Just passing on what I was told by Marquis Service guys, I know vans like B Gas & RAC used to have wash basins etc in the back so may be in Spain as the weather is nicer than the UK they have external fittings instead.

 

[Howard H]

All is clear now thanks Tezza

 

[Howard H]

Not the best photos but hopefully you can throw some light on switch the first photo is on the inside the second from the out side

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[Tezza]

Info in case you need it, found out last weekend that one of my shower door rollers has gone AWOL, had the bolt but no roller, so called Marquis and sent a picture to be told don't keep them, bring the van up and we'll check and order one, 120 mile round trip not the best option this time so measured one of the wheels I have left, 19mm went on to fleebay, found a set of 4 for £6.49, ordered Wednesday 08.15, arrived yesterday fits perfect, door repaired.
Also today bought one of the 12v TV's from Alldi to upgrade our old one, will see over Easter if we have done the right thing and bit the bullet and got a new set of Silverscreens from taylormade.
Now all the extras are bought we are set to go away and use her.

 

[Howard H]

Hi Tezza, we bought two avtex TV when we bought the mh not cheap but I thought what the heck they should last a life time 12 weeks one has lasted I should have gone to aldi too. Our shower door must be different to your model so hopefully won't have the same problem as it doesn't have any rollers.

 

[DelMar]

Hi Tezza, how are you getting along with you mileo 286? We are still waiting, (impatiently) for delivery of ours, it has now been 5 months, beginning to forget how it looks.

DelMar

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[Tezza]

Hi Delmar
All going good at the moment, have reported the two issues (bathroom door warping and the gel coat cracking) but will wait until we get back from Scotland before taking the van up for inspection.
Re-pressureised the water system last weekend, using Aqua pure cleaner in the tank and pipes, so will drop that out tomorrow and flush it through ready for clean water.
I have started to drive it a bit more over the past few weekends so feeling more confident with it now, can even parallel park in our street, the street's a bit narrow but went OK, it is a lot different to my last van though.
Will be loading the clothes in on Sunday and off on Tuesday Lunch time, cant wait to use her properly.

 

[Tezza]

Hi Howard
That's not good for a TV of that quality, are they replacing or repairing it, I read somewhere that they had a good after sale service?

Tried our TV last night, sounds very good, picture very good, handset lights up when you press the keys, so Wife very impressed (shallow)

 

[Howard H]

Hi Tezza ,I have contacted marquis and they have said bring it in but we are away until tues so it will have to wait but then they have to send it away ,so I guess it's going to be a bit off a drawn out job . Glad yours has turned out OK they do seem to have some decent stuff at Aldi .

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[Tezza]

Van update;
Well after my trip to Scotland we encountered a few issues, spoken to Marquis and taking it back to them on Sat 23rd to get my faults checked over.
Gel coat cracking on trim under Hab door. (hardly anything but cause for concern for other parts of the van)
Hab door inside handle came lose, sorted it out but door would not close correctly, either kept bouncing back open or I had to go outside to close it, it's like it wont click shut.
Bathroom door warped (but getting better so could be moisture in the van over the winter)
Bed not stopping at pre set levels when bringing down.
Toilet flush control panel lose on the wall (not hanging off, but moves around)
trim under garage door lose from main wall. (not a lot but water can get behind it)
All the above are not major issues but best to have them checked out and fixed.

On the plus side, half a tank of fuel took me from South wales to Gretna, then jut under half a tank from Gretna to Fort William, roughly worked it out over the whole holiday, miles V's fuel spend and we averaged around 29.9 miles to the gal well pleased for a big van.

Heating still very good.
Seats still very hard.
Table a pain having to put it back in the garage after every meal
Flushed the water system through but used bottled water on this trip, next time out the tanks will be used.

Fiat side superb she drove very very well, so smooth and easy to drive plenty of power when required, but I do get a burning sensation in the neck and between my shoulders after a long drive.

During some very strong gusty winds at Bunree and in Aviemore the van did a lot of rocking which surprised me being low profile, and must admit up at the ski centre in the Cairngorms the wind was so strong the kitchen window (one of the larger ones) was physically flexing inwards under the pressure so much we actually came from there.

One down side was we did slightly ground out on the Corran ferry, one corner of the rear sub frame caught on the way off, no damage though as it protrudes below the rear bumper.

Tezza

 

[Howard H]

You are not alone on that burning sensation in the neck and back ,I think it's because the swivel seat mechanism raises the seat up and you are always stooping to look through the windscreen.

 

[Tezza]

Hi Howard

How's your van going, what news on the TV?

T

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[Howard H]

Hi Tezza ,the van is going great and touch wood (kiss of death by saying this lol )nothing has gone wrong yet although I did have a scare last weekend when I thought the engine had gone into limp mode it would not go over 30 mph but I had knocked the cruise control on . It only took me about 6 miles to realise . The tv was collected by courier last frid returned on the Tuesday,all is working fine now but it came back with no note or explanation of what was wrong or what they had done but pretty good service I think.

 

[Tezza]

Delmar

Not long now, is it next Friday you pick the van up?

 

[Tezza]

we had to take our Aldi TV back, annoyingly it wasn't compatible with the set up we have, could only get a very bad black and white picture and no sound and would have involved cutting holes in the van to change cables to scart etc, so took it back.

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[Howard H]

That's a shame I guess you get what you pay for .i would throughly recommend Avtex the picture quality is great the sound ok and all the free channels both through the arial and the satellite are great hopefully the memory fault was a one off .

 

[Tezza]

Hi Howard

Cruise control or the speed limiter?

We thought we had a leak on the back wall, we had some water runs down the back wall in the garage and a slightly wet garage carpet, then when we lifted the insulation foil I put on the wardrobe floor that was wet too, emptied everything out cleaned it up, then did the same on the other wardrobe, (ours goes all across the back but split in two) above the garage, and same result there as well, wet underneath the foil but then realised, when al the clothes were taken out that I had put one of those larger moisture traps in the back of that wardrobe in a box to take any moisture out of the air and this had filled up and then tipped over spilling the contents, so we went from being annoyed and worried to embarrassed but relieved very quickly.

Where have you been in your van so far?

T

 

[Howard H]

Hi Howard

Cruise control or the speed limiter?

We thought we had a leak on the back wall, we had some water runs down the back wall in the garage and a slightly wet garage carpet, then when we lifted the insulation foil I put on the wardrobe floor that was wet too, emptied everything out cleaned it up, then did the same on the other wardrobe, (ours goes all across the back but split in two) above the garage, and same result there as well, wet underneath the foil but then realised, when al the clothes were taken out that I had put one of those larger moisture traps in the back of that wardrobe in a box to take any moisture out of the air and this had filled up and then tipped over spilling the contents, so we went from being annoyed and worried to embarrassed but relieved very quickly.

Where have you been in your van so far?

T

Not quite sure about the cruise control or the speed limiter I haven't quite Sussed them out but to be fair have never used them on my other vehicles so it's not a problem. We have stopped out quite a bit in the van but only for long weekends we have been to Hawes/ clitheroe /chipping/Northwich /Ambleside /Morton on the marsh/Chester /Ludlow/Moffat /Keswick /Kendal /kirby Lonsdale /garstang/southport/high Bentham and we have many more booked for this year plus a couple of weeks in France. Your experience with the moisture trap is the sort of thing I would do lol

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