Warranty and Habitation Checks

[Geoffla9]

Hi , can any of you comment on my current dilemma . I have a Hymer A class bought new just over a year ago . The dealer i bought it from has been in touch saying i must get a habitation check every year to maintain the Hymer warranty .
They quoted me just over £500.00 for the check ! . Given i love my motor home and intend to keep it for many years , am i now a cash cow for the dealer? I have had cheaper quotes from other dealers who are not Hymer agents , To me it look's they all do the same checks and issue the same certificate ( from an approved and accredited workshop) Do you think my warranty will be good if i get the check from someone else and not the dealer i bought it from .

thanks

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

I would check with other hymer dealers to find out what they charge and what you actually get for your money.
Maybe better to check with Hymer in Germany for a list of authorised companies allowed to carry out warranty hab checks

 

[Speve]

We had our Hymer B678DL from new and have never had a habitation check and as far as I’m aware it did not affect the warranty the only part that you need to get done is the six year damp Warranty check, to keep that valid. That’s a yearly thing must be done by Hymer dealer.

 

[Gerby]

Having a hab check as part of the warranty conditions is normal, you will need to check who Hymer require it to be carried it out by (normally a company approved dealer or freelance mechanic).

£500 seems rather excessive to me but I haven't got a Hymer to know if that's normal for that make of van I normally pay around the £200 mark

 

[Sixty-nine Chevy]

We are booked in at a Hymer dealer next week for our first habitation and damp check for considerably less than £500. I understand that the damp check has to be done by a Hymer agent to maintain the damp warranty.

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[SpeedyDux]

£250 is more like the going rate but even then it is questionable as VFM.

 

[Speve]

Having a hab check as part of the warranty conditions is normal, you will need to check who Hymer require it to be carried it out by (normally a company approved dealer or freelance mechanic).

£500 seems rather excessive to me but I haven't got a Hymer to know if that's normal for that make of van I normally pay around the £200 mark

this subject has come up many times on the forum if you search and the habitation check is not apart of the warranty, only the damp check.

 

[bellabee]

Speve is right! Damp check required to be carried out annually by a Hymer dealer, and recorded on the Hymer centralised computer system, in order to maintain the 6-year damp proof warranty.
No requirement for a hab check (although Travelworld tried to insist to us that there was.)
Our damp check was carried out in Belgium at a cost of 70 Euros.
If you're venturing to the Continent, it may be worth contacting a continental Hymer dealer to conduct the check.

 

[TheBig1]

I was just about to say, tie in a damp check with a quick European trip and even with the tunnel costs, you would be quids in. Get it done in Belgium by Hymer and you don't get ripped off

 

[Geoffla9]

Hi Bellabee , i was very interested in your comment . Travelworld have told me i must have hab and damp check done by them . Do you know how much they wanted for the damp check ? . If i have both done by them i think it will cost over £500 , if done for the next 6 years thats £3000.00 . Sounds a lot to me , maybe i will take my chances without the warranty . If i did get and damp issues (pretty unlikely i guess ) would it not cost less that £3K to fix it ?

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[Westbarn1]

I was in exactly the same position as you, as far as I'm aware ,you need a damp check, within 18months of 1st registration, mine was £240, if I recall correctly, cannot locate the bill at the moment, but was Becks in Norfolk.

 

[peterc10]

Hi Bellabee , i was very interested in your comment . Travelworld have told me i must have hab and damp check done by them . Do you know how much they wanted for the damp check ? . If i have both done by them i think it will cost over £500 , if done for the next 6 years thats £3000.00 . Sounds a lot to me , maybe i will take my chances without the warranty . If i did get and damp issues (pretty unlikely i guess ) would it not cost less that £3K to fix it ?

TW should be ashamed of themselves. You only need a damp check to maintain the Hymer 6 year damp penetration warranty. The damp check can be done by any Hymer dealer who all have the software to register it with Hymer. We get ours done by our supplying Hymer dealer, Becks in Norfolk, for about £180. I understand it is cheaper in Europe, but we are never over there in the winter when it needs to be done.

You do not need a habitation check to maintain the Hymer 2 year warranty for all of the other things in the habitation side. But it may pay you to get one done just before the 2 year warranty runs out so that if anything is found it can be dealt with under warranty.

You will also have a 2 year Fiat or Mercedes warranty for the mechanical side of things, and the servicing requirements for that will be in the Fiat or Merc service book.

 

[Lenny HB]

On our 3rd new Hymer never had a habitation check. When I bought the first one I asked my dealer about hab checks he said not necessary if you want one get it done at 5 years.
I do have the damp check done for €70.

The 1st damp check at 12-18 months has been discontinued its now at 12 months.

With Covid Hymer have extended the timescale for damp checks by 6 months.

 

[jdk62]

Whilst not a Hymer, our Burstner only requires the damp check to maintain warranty. Given Covid, our 1st year warranty has been extended to allow us to get the Moho to the dealers.

 

[Simon Select]

Any AWS should be able to do it.

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[Lenny HB]

Any AWS should be able to do it.

Has to be a Hymer Motorhome dealer.

 

[peterc10]

Any AWS should be able to do it.

As Lenny says it has to be a Hymer dealer. They have the Hymer software to record it in Hymer's database as being done.

 

[Peakclimber]

I have just bought my second Hymer from Travelworld, love the product but have to say the damp / habitation check after just one year is a real rip-off. When buying a Hymer you are told you are buying a quality product so why are they so concerned that you have a damp check so early in the motorhomes life? If it is so important, then a damp check takes just minutes, certainly not even half an hour so why the big expense in the U.K. and not the more reasonable cost as in Belgium. The truth is that with a limited dealership network you are being held to ransom and thus I agree a ‘cash cow’ for the dealers. Disgusting really.

 

[Coolcats]

Hi , can any of you comment on my current dilemma . I have a Hymer A class bought new just over a year ago . The dealer i bought it from has been in touch saying i must get a habitation check every year to maintain the Hymer warranty .
They quoted me just over £500.00 for the check ! . Given i love my motor home and intend to keep it for many years , am i now a cash cow for the dealer? I have had cheaper quotes from other dealers who are not Hymer agents , To me it look's they all do the same checks and issue the same certificate ( from an approved and accredited workshop) Do you think my warranty will be good if i get the check from someone else and not the dealer i bought it from .

thanks

Give Southdowns a call

 

[Coolcats]

I have just bought my second Hymer from Travelworld, love the product but have to say the damp / habitation check after just one year is a real rip-off. When buying a Hymer you are told you are buying a quality product so why are they so concerned that you have a damp check so early in the motorhomes life? If it is so important, then a damp check takes just minutes, certainly not even half an hour so why the big expense in the U.K. and not the more reasonable cost as in Belgium. The truth is that with a limited dealership network you are being held to ransom and thus I agree a ‘cash cow’ for the dealers. Disgusting really.

You are spot on Travelworld quoted me the same as an A class, a its only a 5.4 metre PVC you would think that there would be a price difference but nope its the same.

So I am off to Southdowns as thier pricing is more agreeable. and having the van serviced at Adams Morey who are a Fiat professional dealer and again the Service Manager Simon Potter understands about customer service.

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[Simon Select]

Has to be a Hymer Motorhome dealer.

Just had a look and yes I stand corrected!

 

[Lenny HB]

I have just bought my second Hymer from Travelworld, love the product but have to say the damp / habitation check after just one year is a real rip-off. When buying a Hymer you are told you are buying a quality product so why are they so concerned that you have a damp check so early in the motorhomes life?

And just to make you feel worse all the modern Hymers are a double skin aluminium construction so they can only do a visual inspection.

 

[bellabee]

We look upon the annual damp check in the same way that we would look upon an insurance premium.
Some people decide against maintaining the 6-year warranty others, like us, prefer to have the checks carried out, although we hope that there is a low risk of water ingress occurring.
If ingress does occur, we hope to avoid high repair costs, by having any work carried out at Hymer GmbH & Co KG's expense. (I don't know what Travelworld's hourly rates are, but I suspect they will be high .)
If we decide to sell the van during the first 6 years of it's life (unlikely), we feel that absence of a valid water ingress warranty could affect the sale.
This said, the size of the 'insurance premium' is an important factor. We are prepared to pay 5x70 Euros ie 350 Euros for a 6-year warranty, but we would not be prepared to pay 5x£500 for it. This is especially so, given that the habitation check has no bearing at all upon the validity of the water ingress warranty.
Geoffla9, it is the manufacturer of your vehicle, Hymer GmbH & Co KG, who has set the terms and conditions of the water ingress warranty. They state that 'The inspection must be conducted by the vendor or an authorised dealer or service partner of Hymer GmbH & Co KG and according to the Hymer GmbH & Co KG inspection guidelines.'
As I mentioned earlier, once the inspection has been carried out, the authorised dealer records the details on a centralised database. This means that you could have each inspection carried out by a different dealership, and Hymer GmbH & Co KG would have access to all of the information relating to the vehicle's inspection history.
As I understand it, the company from whom you purchased your vehicle is Erwin Hymer Centre (Tavelworld) Ltd. In spite of it's name, it is just one of many authorised Hymer dealers who may carry out the inspection in order for you to maintain your warranty.

 

[Peakclimber]

We look upon the annual damp check in the same way that we would look upon an insurance premium.
Some people decide against maintaining the 6-year warranty others, like us, prefer to have the checks carried out, although we hope that there is a low risk of water ingress occurring.
If ingress does occur, we hope to avoid high repair costs, by having any work carried out at Hymer GmbH & Co KG's expense. (I don't know what Travelworld's hourly rates are, but I suspect they will be high .)
If we decide to sell the van during the first 6 years of it's life (unlikely), we feel that absence of a valid water ingress warranty could affect the sale.
This said, the size of the 'insurance premium' is an important factor. We are prepared to pay 5x70 Euros ie 350 Euros for a 6-year warranty, but we would not be prepared to pay 5x£500 for it. This is especially so, given that the habitation check has no bearing at all upon the validity of the water ingress warranty.
Geoffla9, it is the manufacturer of your vehicle, Hymer GmbH & Co KG, who has set the terms and conditions of the water ingress warranty. They state that 'The inspection must be conducted by the vendor or an authorised dealer or service partner of Hymer GmbH & Co KG and according to the Hymer GmbH & Co KG inspection guidelines.'
As I mentioned earlier, once the inspection has been carried out, the authorised dealer records the details on a centralised database. This means that you could have each inspection carried out by a different dealership, and Hymer GmbH & Co KG would have access to all of the information relating to the vehicle's inspection history.
As I understand it, the company from whom you purchased your vehicle is Erwin Hymer Centre (Tavelworld) Ltd. In spite of it's name, it is just one of many authorised Hymer dealers who may carry out the inspection in order for you to maintain your warranty.

I fully understand the details of the warranty, however, don’t you think Hymer GmbH & Co KG should ensure that their authorised dealers shouldn’t take advantage of their end customers and so advertise a fixed price or better a purchase package for this warranty when the vehicle is purchased. At the end of the day the excessive cost from dealers in my mind reflects badly on them

 

[IslandApe]

This might sound like a stupid question from a newbie, but car manufacturers cannot insist that you use their service agents, only that the work is carried out properly (paraphrasing a lot!)

Why doesn't Block Exemption apply here?

I'm assuming it's legal but curious how they manage to be treated as a different case to, say the Fiats and Mercedes that their vehicles are based on.

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[Minxy]

Fortunately when we bought our Carthago I knew that the first year habitation check could be expensive so we negotiated as part of the deal, that's £380 saved. As for year 2, we'll decide on what to do about that nearer the time.

 

[Minxy]

This might sound like a stupid question from a newbie, but car manufacturers cannot insist that you use their service agents, only that the work is carried out properly (paraphrasing a lot!)

Why doesn't Block Exemption apply here?

I'm assuming it's legal but curious how they manage to be treated as a different case to, say the Fiats and Mercedes that their vehicles are based on.

The issue is that car/van dealerships are usually 'one make' specific and only sell those vehicles (new anyway) so there is much more clout from the manufacturer to get them all to play ball. A van/car dealer will usually do the work on the base (Fiat, Merc etc) if they have a suitably equipped workshop but not the habitation side. As dealerships change allegiance from one MH maker to another every now and then there is no 'iron clad' link to Hymer as there is with new car dealers, thus no way Hymer can make non-supplying dealers do the work even if they are dealers of Hymer MHs. Also even if you are lucky enough to find one that may, you'll likely be right at the back of the queue as they'll generally deal with their own customer's vehicles first. There aren't the numbers of MH's dealers or MHs being sold in the UK compared to a car manufacture so less competition too which gives dealers the upper hand. I could go on but I think you get the gist!

 

[IslandApe]

Thanks Minxy.

That explains the commercial drivers (or not) for the dealers. It also explains the shoddy practices in other areas I'm reading about here.

What I don't understand though is that I thought there was applicable legislation precluding restrictive practices iro servicing - certainly there is for cars and motorbikes.

 

[Minxy]

Thanks Minxy.

That explains the commercial drivers (or not) for the dealers. It also explains the shoddy practices in other areas I'm reading about here.

What I don't understand though is that I thought there was applicable legislation precluding restrictive practices iro servicing - certainly there is for cars and motorbikes.

Its not a restrictive practice as such as base vehicle servicing is definite requirement by the manufacturer whereas a habitation check required by a third party (ie MH manufacturer) is optional and won't affect the base vehicle warranty. Some dealers just make it 'difficult' to book appointments so by default you can't go there, although some are totally honest and say they won't deal with an MH not supplied by them, so in effect they choose which MHs they do. Another consideration is warranty work on the hab side ... when dealers sell MHs they tend to build in a cost for any future warranty work to offset the lower labour rates they get, so if you go somewhere else obviously the other dealer hasn't got that in place to offset the cost.

 

[peterc10]

Thanks Minxy.

That explains the commercial drivers (or not) for the dealers. It also explains the shoddy practices in other areas I'm reading about here.

You have to remember that the small motorhome market is a "cottage industry" compared with the huge market for cars and commercial vehicles. With one exception there are no large chains of dealers, nearly all are individual businesses. And dealers get paid at a considerably reduced hourly rate by the manufacturers for any warranty work they carry out.

Not all dealers are "shoddy" or overcharge. I have no complaints about the dealer I bought my new Hymer from, Becks in Norfolk. They are a long way from our home in Kent but worth it. We got a good deal and had a pleasant experience when buying in 2015 and their service has been excellent ever since.

Have a look at the reviews section in this Forum and you will see that there are plenty of good dealers about.