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hobby rooflight


mavatbls

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To any interested hobby owners about the outcome of my roof light that blew out some weeks ago, and I apologise for not saying sooner. The fixed acrylic panel was eventually received at the local dealers some 10 or 11 weeks later. They found it prudent to get Autoglass to fit it, as they thought it would take them ages. Apparently they did it in no time, along with having to get rid of all the tape and silicone that I had put onto the temporary piece that I fitted. All's well that ends well, but I do have to say that I am not impressed with the after care of Hobby, with no reflection on the dealer. They now have a new man at the dealer, Paul, who does get on with things, and I am sure he was the one that got it sorted in the end.
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mavatbls - 2013-10-23 9:26 PM

 

To any interested hobby owners about the outcome of my roof light that blew out some weeks ago, and I apologise for not saying sooner. The fixed acrylic panel was eventually received at the local dealers some 10 or 11 weeks later. They found it prudent to get Autoglass to fit it, as they thought it would take them ages. Apparently they did it in no time, along with having to get rid of all the tape and silicone that I had put onto the temporary piece that I fitted. All's well that ends well, but I do have to say that I am not impressed with the after care of Hobby, with no reflection on the dealer. They now have a new man at the dealer, Paul, who does get on with things, and I am sure he was the one that got it sorted in the end.

All (eventually) under warranty, I hope? Might that new man be part of the reason it got done (or perhaps his predecessor the reason it wasn't!)? Very irritating for you, but I'm sure getting a specialist to bond it in was a wise move. To loose one rooflight might be regarded as a misfortune................................etc! :-)

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With regard to the comments about the outcome of the hobby rooflight, I think that initially the fault lay with the factory shutdown and the none existence of a part at the factory anyway, but I also think that the new man at the dealership accelerated the final fitting of the rooflight and the decision to get autoglass to do the job was a wise one. But all in all it does make one a bit wary of what would happen next time a problem and a factory part was required during the summertime, and how long it would all take, especially if it was something that grounded the vehicle. It may still be worth investigating an English made unit.
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mavatbls - 2013-10-25 9:30 PM

 

........................ It may still be worth investigating an English made unit.

As said before Graham, there is really no such thing. Motorhomes are assembled, not made, from bits supplied by others. Whether the motorhome is assembled in UK or abroad is unlikely to make a significant difference to the availability of parts. Most of the parts are made outside the UK. The main exception would be body parts for the coachbuilt part of a UK produced van. Unfortunately, because the "manufacturers" change the shape and colour of their coachbuilt bits so frequently, and do not maintain extensive stocks of spares (too many variants), the availability can often be measured in months, not mere weeks. This applies to UK (some might argue more so), as well as non-UK, made vans.

 

You have been very unlucky to experience the total loss of a body part that, it seems, was in short supply from its maker. In view of your experience (and mine on another Hobby with a similar rooflight but with the outer skin definitely glass, plus your dealer's similar experience), it seems probable that there will have been a number of similar incidents around Europe. As the design had already been changed from a glass to an acrylic outer skin, it seems at least feasible that the design was modified again to try to eliminate further examples of flying rooflights, and the introduction of that change is what lay behind the delay you experienced. Whatever, so far as I am aware, there is no manufacturer of acrylic motorhome rooflights in UK. Almost all are made by Seitz (Dometic, German), Heki (Dometic, German), Remis (German), or Polyplastic (Dutch). The problem with your rooflight is that it was made to Hobby's own design, and is not an off the shelf item. Such items have only a single source of supply, and when that source has problems, the supply fails.

 

I'm not defending this aspect of the industry, just stating how it is, and that it is pretty much the same whatever the country of origin of the motorhome. It would cost you a packet to change vans, and there can be no guarantee that by doing so you would escape from such problems. Hobby are not renowned for being the fastest supplier of spares, but they remain better than most, and they have (eventually :-)) come up with the part and, I assume, replaced it under warranty. My experience was that they dealt very fairly with warranty claims, and even my part detached rooflight was dealt with under warranty, despite it arising right at the end of the 6 years water ingress period, on the ground that a part detached rooflight is a source of ingress. From what I have read on this forum, that is not necessarily typical, so a manufacturer who operates their warranty system fairly, even if slowly, may be of greater value than one who raects with alacrity, but has a less generous attitude to warranty claims. Personally, I'd stick with what you have, at least for as long as the warranty remains current, and see how things work out in future.

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  • 2 years later...

I have just come across this old post, having had a similar recent experience with the overcab rooflight on my 2009 Hobby 750. I bought the van new in Germany and have had no previous problems.

 

My rooflight did not fly off but it became very noisy so I got my usual servicing dealer (not a Hobby agent)to remove and refit the window. Unfortunately the window soon became noisy again and this is probably due to the rubber edging seal lifting. So far there has been no water ingress.

 

I could do with finding a Hobby dealer who has experience with this particular repair. I am in Newark, Notts.

 

Thanks, richardl46

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