Warranty expectations

[Rex Mac]

Greetings experienced folks,

We have pretty much decided on our choice of MH to take us where we wish to go during our retirement. Being a really pernicious pair of characters we have narrowed our choice down to two options. Owing to the nature of our choice it seems to be highly unlikely we can expect to purchase our future MH from a local dealership and we will therefore require support from a local dealer who did not supply our vehicle from new.

The closest vehicles matching our desires are in Tyneside and Newark. Not exactly next door to us but within a few hours travel time. I would therefore need reliable service from someone closer to home.

In this case our closest dealership for both of our preferred options will be Spinney in Cranage, (Knutsford, Cheshire.)

Does anyone know if I am likely to receive adequate aftersales service from a non-original supplier under the manufacturers terms and conditions?

On a side note - and this is pure conjecture. However, assuming the UK exits the EU in January 2021 without a trade deal we will no longer be able to access the original manufacturers warranty without full service history from the initial supplier. Will we need to supply service history from both chassis and conversion manufacturer?












































In this case will we need to supply service history from the chassis manufacturer and the conversion manufacturer.

 

[Camdoon]

Your warranty is with the seller not the manufacturer.
The base vehicle components will be supported by the manufacturer.
All main dealers that I know of have more than enough work to keep them busy and find warranty work non profitable, never mind helping someone who has previously not traded with them.
Given the approximate distances you would have to return the van then you would be £200 plus a day's travelling for each visit.
Do you feel lucky?

 

[Hagstrom]

When you're buying a non-new vehicle, I understand the dealers buy a 3 or 6 month "warranty" from a specialised insurance company.
If anything goes wrong with the vehicle, the dealer has to contend with the insurer's policy small print and we know insurers are good at eluding a payout.
I think this may be another reason not to be enthusiastic about the strength of the warranty.

 

[The Wino]

As others have said it's different to buying a car and going to a local dealer who sells the same make. In effect you would have the same chance of getting warranty work done as buying a vauxhall and getting warranty work done at a Volkswagen dealer. Not only that but outside the first year any extended water ingress cover relies usually on up to date hab servicing from a dealer of the make of MH so its likely any warranties would become invalid. I just would either accept the journey or change choice.

 

[Otter Spotter]

If you think this through, why would a dealer close to you offer support for a vehicle he has no experience of, has had no profit from, nor will he be offered fair rates for any work he does, by the warranty company ?
I think that if you read the threads on here about appalling after sales service from dealers who have sold the vehicle and profited from the sale, why would any dealer change his spots for a motor he knows nothing about. The poor after sales services appears to be evidence of under resourced workshops who have to prioritise their work to keep their own sales customers happy.
just be prepared to travel the 2 hours or so if you need warranty work and factor in an overnight stay.

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[The Wino]

If you think this through, why would a dealer close to you offer support for a vehicle he has no experience of, has had no profit from, nor will he be offered fair rates for any work he does, by the warranty company ?
I think that if you read the threads on here about appalling after sales service from dealers who have sold the vehicle and profited from the sale, why would any dealer change his spots for a motor he knows nothing about. The poor after sales services appears to be evidence of under resourced workshops who have to prioritise their work to keep their own sales customers happy.
just be prepared to travel the 2 hours or so if you need warranty work and factor in an overnight stay.

And try to choose a dealer all other things being equal in an area you like to visit.

 

[Rex Mac]

Many thanks for your honest experience based opinions. I will clearly need to re-think whether or not to go back to tugging or just rent somewhere to stay as and when needed.

 

[Riverbankannie]

Many thanks for your honest experience based opinions. I will clearly need to re-think whether or not to go back to tugging or just rent somewhere to stay as and when needed.

That would be a shame. You would miss out on the extra freedom to travel that a MH will give you over a caravan.
We live in Bristol and travelled to Yorkshire for warranty work. It’s not as if you should need to go more than once or twice during the warranty period. The vast majority of things are little snags and can be left and grouped together. We treated the trips as a chance to look around another part of the country.
Once warranty period finished you can look for a mobile engineer but we are fortunate with IH that their senior fitter attends the Malvern Show and will fix anything whether within warranty or not just for the cost of parts.

The base vehicle - say Fiat - can be fixed under warranty at a Fiat dealership locally that can deal with the size of your MH.

 

[TCG]

Many thanks for your honest experience based opinions. I will clearly need to re-think whether or not to go back to tugging or just rent somewhere to stay as and when needed.

Really!!!! A couple of hours drive to the purchasing dealer is not unusual. So you really would not purchase your chosen motorhome because the dealer is not on your doorstep.... there are people on this forum who have purchased from abroad

 

[The Wino]

We travelled from Whitby to Cannock this year for our hab service it's not that big a hassle.

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[raysalaugh]

We bought a new Auto-Trail from Spinney and the aftersales service was diabolical, I wouldn't trust them
with Lego bricks. So if your considering going to them for warranty work on a van they haven't sold good
luck.

 

[peterc10]

When choosing a dealer to buy from, the quality of the aftersales service on offer is much more important than their location IMHO. Have a look at the Reviews section in this forum and read what others have said about dealers. There are good and bad ones out there.

We live in Kent and bought from Becks in Norfolk, about 3 hours drive away They have provided excellent aftersales service and we go there every year to get the damp check done. While we are there we get the MOT done as well as the Fiat service now we are out of chassis warranty. They have been very good at putting problems right. We treat each trip as a few days out. We stay on their forecourt the night before the service and they give us a free loan car for the day.

In fact we are off up there in a couple of weeks time, and this time we have combined the trip with a visit to Alde to service their heating in our motorhome. Another excellent company I am told. We were also going to get our hydraulic levellers serviced as well by S&P, again another company offering a great service, but we are going to have to cancel that bit of the trip because Doncaster has now moved to Covid Tier 3.

 

[Otter Spotter]

Many thanks for your honest experience based opinions. I will clearly need to re-think whether or not to go back to tugging or just rent somewhere to stay as and when needed.

You should not be put off motorhoming, you could have similar issues if you buy a caravan. Motorhoming will give you freedom, it will allow you to visit places and stay where you may not be able with a caravan or cottage. The immediacy of being able to just jump in your MoHO and go when ever you want within having to book, or plan far ahead is fantastic.
if you know what van you want then find the nearest dealer who has one and talk to them, ask them the painful questions, what’s their services levels like? what do they prioritise? What are the workshop times like,? If something goes wrong, how long before you can get it fixed, what’s the spares situation? Don’t just talk to the salesman who shows you a van, speak to the dealer principal, and the service manager, find out if they are working together, many salesmen make promises that the service team cannot deliver, dont be afraid to ask what they are. This is not unique to MoHo,s caravans have the same issues.

 

[Rex Mac]

Your warranty is with the seller not the manufacturer.
The base vehicle components will be supported by the manufacturer.
All main dealers that I know of have more than enough work to keep them busy and find warranty work non profitable, never mind helping someone who has previously not traded with them.
Given the approximate distances you would have to return the van then you would be £200 plus a day's travelling for each visit.
Do you feel lucky?

Many thanks Camdoon, you have confirmed my expectations. To date I have enjoyed full dealer support for my choice of vehicle. More or less twelve months ago I had a problem with my electronic steering lock. The system failed - no power, no steering no control whatsoever.

No worries - quick call to my service provider - "No probs Mr Mac "We are on our way! - Some hours later a guy in a Ford Transit turned up and said "there is no way I can shift that off your drive." - Two other recovery teams turned and up and said * Sorry mate, can't do that."

Two days later an enormous truck turned up with an entire team of very determined young guys - "No probs, we'll shift that for you." - Several cups of coffee and many slices of cake later my car was on the back of the recovery truck. A system involving my car being lifted onto skates and manually manipulated and gently nudged into position finally reached a position of being transported to a point of service.

At this point I now have to prove that I actually own the vehicle which has caused so much inconvenience. I have to supply copies of my passport, My V55, My original purchase documents and my birth certificate.

"Check out your local Dealer" sounds really reassuring. Until they actually need to deliver.

 

[Mike Warland]

Greetings experienced folks,

We have pretty much decided on our choice of MH to take us where we wish to go during our retirement. Being a really pernicious pair of characters we have narrowed our choice down to two options. Owing to the nature of our choice it seems to be highly unlikely we can expect to purchase our future MH from a local dealership and we will therefore require support from a local dealer who did not supply our vehicle from new.

The closest vehicles matching our desires are in Tyneside and Newark. Not exactly next door to us but within a few hours travel time. I would therefore need reliable service from someone closer to home.

In this case our closest dealership for both of our preferred options will be Spinney in Cranage, (Knutsford, Cheshire.)

Does anyone know if I am likely to receive adequate aftersales service from a non-original supplier under the manufacturers terms and conditions?

On a side note - and this is pure conjecture. However, assuming the UK exits the EU in January 2021 without a trade deal we will no longer be able to access the original manufacturers warranty without full service history from the initial supplier. Will we need to supply service history from both chassis and conversion manufacturer?












































In this case will we need to supply service history from the chassis manufacturer and the conversion manufacturer.

If Spinney are a dealer for the manufacturer why not ask them if they can match the deal offered elsewhere, you never know. We have done this twice with our local dealer thank goodness because they have had warranty work both times but at least they are only 30 minutes away.

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[Minxy]

As already stated the contract is with your dealer not anyone else so being able to get another dealer to sort it for you is highly unlikely, however, if it's out of the manufacturer's warranty including the 'water ingress' part which usually lasts a lot longer, then you can use whoever you want and there are many independent repair and service places and mobile ones too that you could use.

Are you looking at buying new, one still in the manufacturer's warranty period or an older one?

 

[markandy1994]

I purchased a 4 month old pvc privately with 400 miles on the clock so it was virtually brand new. The original dealer loves to keep "reminding" me that I didn't actually buy it from them when I have a problem. They must keep overlooking the fact that the vehicle was purchased from them and I am sure they didn't mind making a good profit on it from my seller. It makes you very wary of dealers and I will choose very carefully where I go for my next vehicle.

 

[corconx]

Rex Mac i think I have been lucky. I purchased our last two new Motorhomes abroad - Rapido in Germany in 2008 and warranty work on a fresh water tank was couriered from France and carried out in Wokingham - organised by France for us. They also carried out water ingress problems in rear garage. Our current Dethleffs we purchased in France near Poitiers. I had checked with my nearest dealer (130) miles away if they would be prepared to carry out any work and they agreed. We’ve been going to them for three years now.
We live in Cornwall and no dealers here

I wouldn’t buy British and be very careful who you do use. I hear excellent reviews about Camper UK

Remember most manufacturers have a similar/same layout in their catelogue

carol

 

[Coolcats]

Greetings experienced folks,

We have pretty much decided on our choice of MH to take us where we wish to go during our retirement. Being a really pernicious pair of characters we have narrowed our choice down to two options. Owing to the nature of our choice it seems to be highly unlikely we can expect to purchase our future MH from a local dealership and we will therefore require support from a local dealer who did not supply our vehicle from new.

The closest vehicles matching our desires are in Tyneside and Newark. Not exactly next door to us but within a few hours travel time. I would therefore need reliable service from someone closer to home.

In this case our closest dealership for both of our preferred options will be Spinney in Cranage, (Knutsford, Cheshire.)

Does anyone know if I am likely to receive adequate aftersales service from a non-original supplier under the manufacturers terms and conditions?

On a side note - and this is pure conjecture. However, assuming the UK exits the EU in January 2021 without a trade deal we will no longer be able to access the original manufacturers warranty without full service history from the initial supplier. Will we need to supply service history from both chassis and conversion manufacturer?












































In this case will we need to supply service history from the chassis manufacturer and the conversion manufacturer.

Interesting question if the dealer in Tyneside is Tyne Valley the service side has been good, we live in Essex, we had a couple of issues all of which I have 'fixed' myself but had access via the service department with the technicians on site. so a combination of video and conversation helped fix the issue. the first was the touch sensitive control panel, once we established this was the fault they sent me a new one. Had I not have been able to do this they have a network of 3rd parties they pay to carry out warranty work across the country. I assume that other dealers may do the same.

On another note the whole MoHo dealer support network needs a big shake up, and if you're buying a new Caravan the same may apply.

Just a note if its a Fiat based vehicle and its new make sure you get the extended warranty you only get about 15 days to do this when you take delivery. So as others have said the vehicle warranty is undertaken by the manufacturer eg ford Fiat Mercedes etc and the MoHo by the dealer who sold you the vehicle on behalf of the Manufacture Dampness checks may be a condition of the warranty but habitation checks are optional.

Dampness and habitation checks from different dealers seem to range from about £200 to £500

 

[Minxy]

Just a note if its a Fiat based vehicle and its new make sure you get the extended warranty you only get about 15 days to do this when you take delivery. So as others have said the vehicle warranty is undertaken by the manufacturer eg ford Fiat Mercedes etc and the MoHo by the dealer who sold you the vehicle on behalf of the Manufacture Dampness checks may be a condition of the warranty but habitation checks are optional.

Dampness and habitation checks from different dealers seem to range from about £200 to £500

Not always, it depends on the manufacturer.

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[Coolcats]

Not always, it depends on the manufacturer.

That’s interesting most posts seemed to suggest it is just the dampness check although there was one saying even this was not required for the HymerCar range.