SchadenfreudeFree
Free Member
I thought I'd post our recent experience with renting a VW Westphalia T25 from xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx so that others could learn from it. A few of these issues we were told about, on the day of picking it up, after we'd made full payment. The rest we discovered ourselves. Some of our points:
The only time we fully filled up the van, it stank of petrol fumes throughout it for the next 36 hours.
The interior lights throughout the back didn't work. My fiancé later discovered a wire hanging out in an overhead compartment. I managed to push it back in, and the lights came on. My surprise at how firmly this was then embedded was explained when having left it in, we discovered at 5am that a motor was whirring away under the chassis. Perhaps this is a known problem that was never mentioned? We put the wire back in its original position and kept all of the interior lights off.
There were a few working blinds, some were broken, and there were no curtains; the light flooded in from an early hour.
The gas hobs' base had been totally broken off the rest of the unit, meaning that pulling it out and putting it back was very tricky.
The van stalled no less than four times when I stopped at roundabouts and traffic lights.
The passenger's electric window button would occasionally not work at all for hours on end. By chance, this never happened when we were parking and the window was down.
The boot's piston didn't work at all, so getting luggage in and out was difficult, since it is so heavy.
The small zipper compartments on the wall had virtually no working zips, which meant they were practically useless.
The driver's electric window buttons were hanging off the door all the time, with the wiring also hanging out.
The brakes were very soft, and it took a lot of pushing and a long time to come to a halt safely.
In comparison to our last van, the overall state of the vehicle was poor. Old cushions, many scratches and scrapes on the bodywork and more. All in all, Just Go, for a similar amount of money had provided us with a pristine, much larger van, with better facilities. (I have no affiliation with them, its just my sole other experience). I had assumed that the lack of a shower and space in this van would be made up for by the quality of the rest of the van. Especially since their website describes it as 'built in the 1980's as a moving hotel room for German sales reps!'. Some hotel.
The only time we fully filled up the van, it stank of petrol fumes throughout it for the next 36 hours.
The interior lights throughout the back didn't work. My fiancé later discovered a wire hanging out in an overhead compartment. I managed to push it back in, and the lights came on. My surprise at how firmly this was then embedded was explained when having left it in, we discovered at 5am that a motor was whirring away under the chassis. Perhaps this is a known problem that was never mentioned? We put the wire back in its original position and kept all of the interior lights off.
There were a few working blinds, some were broken, and there were no curtains; the light flooded in from an early hour.
The gas hobs' base had been totally broken off the rest of the unit, meaning that pulling it out and putting it back was very tricky.
The van stalled no less than four times when I stopped at roundabouts and traffic lights.
The passenger's electric window button would occasionally not work at all for hours on end. By chance, this never happened when we were parking and the window was down.
The boot's piston didn't work at all, so getting luggage in and out was difficult, since it is so heavy.
The small zipper compartments on the wall had virtually no working zips, which meant they were practically useless.
The driver's electric window buttons were hanging off the door all the time, with the wiring also hanging out.
The brakes were very soft, and it took a lot of pushing and a long time to come to a halt safely.
In comparison to our last van, the overall state of the vehicle was poor. Old cushions, many scratches and scrapes on the bodywork and more. All in all, Just Go, for a similar amount of money had provided us with a pristine, much larger van, with better facilities. (I have no affiliation with them, its just my sole other experience). I had assumed that the lack of a shower and space in this van would be made up for by the quality of the rest of the van. Especially since their website describes it as 'built in the 1980's as a moving hotel room for German sales reps!'. Some hotel.
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why not message Jim with a request to change your forum name to something with a happier meaning for you and you won't be continually reminded of this episode ...... enjoy your future in motorhoming.
