Mickydripin Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 Hi do you have a Sharky L2 motorhome if so get in touch *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Tuckley Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 Hiya, I have the L1 if that is any help. What is the problem/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickydripin Posted August 6, 2009 Author Share Posted August 6, 2009 Hi geoff I was looking for someone with an L2 but can you please tell me what it says on the vin plate for the weights ( axels train and gross) on your vehicle as I want to compare it with mine as I think they have put the L2 body on a L1 chassis. Just out of intrest have you tried to uprate your vehicle also do you know what the payload is for your vehicle thanks. Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 Mickydripin I was under the impression there was no argument that your motorhome (confirmed by Fiat as having being built on a 3300kg Ducato chassis) should have been built on a 3500kg chassis instead. Is there now doubt that this is true? I remember you saying that the Sharky L2 had also been sold in the UK as a Newlife 37 ICE. One of these is advertised for sale on http://www.caravanselecta.co.uk/Advert/Display-Motorhome-For-Sale.aspx?id=55360 The photo is very definitely of a Sharky L2 (possibly scanned from the Sharky brochure) and I note that the chassis weight is quoted as 3500kg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickydripin Posted August 7, 2009 Author Share Posted August 7, 2009 Hi Derek. no as far as I am concerned and Fiat UK are concerned the vehicle is wrong but I am having so much trouble trying to get this accross to people involved it is unbeleavable so I am getting as much evedence togeather myself for when it goes to court. I have already had one case managment before a judge in June and he gave the other side another three months to get there case togeather even tho they have had almost seventeen months to do that so it is hard to sit back and do nothing. I have heard that SEA the people that imported the vehicle have had a managment buy out and it is now Autosleepers again so I have wrote to them a chap called Geoff Scott and I hope that he can help me if I can get them to admit that the vehicle is wrong on the evedence of Fiat UK then it will end this debacle hopefully I will keep my fingers crossed. Mike. *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 MickFrom what you say, you may have the wrong end of the stick. The SEA (Societa Europea Autocaravan) group until recently owned Autosleepers and Marquis. SEA is an Italian company that currently owns Mobilvetta, Miller, Elnagh, Joint, Sharky and CPT (aimed at wheelchair users) motorhomes. SEA UK was set up using Autosleepers works address.It is Marquis/Autosleepers who have bought themselves out from within the SEA group. (though, oddly, the Italian SEA Group website still claims Autosleepers as part of the group!) It therefore seems unlikely they will be able to help you with Sharky, which is still a part of the SEA group, but no longer connected in any way with Marquis/Autosleepers.The Newlife vans were a Marquis "special", based on Sharky vans. I cannot say if Marquis continue to offer them (though doubtless Marquis can), but there must be some doubt as to whether the chassis would have been identical to that used by Sharky for corresponding vans sold under their own name. Assuming that is correct, I don't see how establishing whatever chassis Newlife vans had, could help your case in respect of a Sharky.Don't lose sight of the fact that it is the dealer who sold you the van, so it is the dealer who sold you the wrong van. All you should have to do is prove that the dealer supplied a van built on the wrong chassis, consequently giving an unworkably small payload, and be clear that you would not have bought the van if the payload had been made clear to you by the dealer at the time.I don't think it will help to draw into the argument other vans, even of the same make and type as yours. Indeed, I think doing so will only serve to confuse the issue, and may work against your interests. The central issue is your van, what you were led to expect it would provide through manufacturer's brochures etc and your order with the dealer, and what you discovered it to be after it was delivered to you.Instead of motorhomes, lets try trucks as an analogy. You bought what you were led to believe would be a 10 tonne truck, and you subsequently discovered it to be a 7.5 tonne truck. All you should really have to prove is why you thought it would be a 10 tonner, that what you actually ordered was a 10 tonner, but what was delivered was a 7.5 tonner. It is the dealer who has to do all the explaining, not you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickydripin Posted August 7, 2009 Author Share Posted August 7, 2009 Brian. You are right in most of what you say but one big problem that I have is that the dealer that advertised in MMM was the dealer that I rang and went to vist at there premisis that sold me the vehicle have denied that they have sold me the motorhome they said that it was another dealer that operated from there site sold it to me but they failed to tell me that at the time. On the front of there premisis it said it was ------- if it has there name spread over a two page add in MMM would you think that you were buying from them. The other part you mentioned I have said enough because of the court case sorry but sometimes I feel like blurting the whole sorry mess out as I feel so frustrated but that could cause problems at the moment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Tuckley Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 Hiya, You are in luck because I am just preparing mine to tow a motorbike on a trailer and have been looking at the weights table for the first time. Can you tell me, is it true that if your van is a few Kilos over you can transfer some of your unused trailer weight to compensate? Anyway, I digress: MAM = 3300 kgs Front Axle= 1750 kgs Rear Axle = 1900 kgs Train Weight = 5300kgs This is on the plate that SeA put in after conversion. The van is packed and ready to go for the weekend and is parked so I cannot open the passenger door to open the bonnet. If you would like the figures on the steel plate that FIAT put under the bonnet let me know and i will get them for you on Monday. Best of luck Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickydripin Posted August 7, 2009 Author Share Posted August 7, 2009 Hi geoff Sorry but I can not advise you on trailer weights as for the vin plate readings Iwould appreciate it very much if you could let me know what they are. Incidently where is the plate that SEA put on your conversion as I can not find one. Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 Mickydripin - 2009-08-07 7:06 PM Brian. You are right in most of what you say but one big problem that I have is that the dealer that advertised in MMM was the dealer that I rang and went to vist at there premisis that sold me the vehicle have denied that they have sold me the motorhome they said that it was another dealer that operated from there site sold it to me but they failed to tell me that at the time. ............... MickI assume you must have signed an order. What company name is on the order? I assume when you paid you got a receipt of some sort. What company name is on the receipt? Finally, I assume there must be some record of who took the payment. Do you have credit card receipt, bank statement, or finance Co records of who had the money?Even if you binned them shortly after the purchase (never a good idea), your credit card issuer, bank, or finance company - assuming one was involved - should still have records of your past transactions and should be able to dig them out, albeit they may charge a fee.If there is more than one company trading from the same premises, see if you can get the director's names from Companies House. You can do some company searches free on the net and I believe it is still possible to get at least the MD's name, and I believe address, for registered firms. Might be interesting to see whether the same name/s crop up?If it does, get Multimap (or similar) up on screen, enter their address, and then switch into satellite view. That should get you to Google Earth, and for most of the UK you should be able to look right into his back garden. You can then get some idea of what sort of person you may have to deal with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syd Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 Hope this helps you a little http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/27333ed8b8d20a8f1619cc51f84f4927/wcframe?name=accessCompanyInfo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 Geoff Tuckley I have a 2007 Sharky 'glossy' brochure. Unfortunately I don't have the separate data sheet that describes each model's technical specification. The brochure contains model layouts and it's evident that your L1 design is a good deal shorter than an L2 - 5.86m as against 6.43m. Because of this, there's a fair likelihood that Sharky will have chosen for an L2 a chassis with a longer wheelbase than that used for an L1 and, even if the MAM of the different wheel-base chassis were the same, there's every chance that maximum axle and train weights would differ. For example, Auto-Trail offered two versions of their Tracker model - both were on 3300kg MAM Ducato chassis, but (according to Auto-Trail's brochure) one had a 3.0m wheel-base and maximum axle/train weights of 1600kg/1650kg/5800kg, while the other, on a 3.45m wheel-base chassis, had maximum axle/train weights of 1750kg/2000kg/6000kg. This should indicate how important it is to compare like with like, and Sharky L1 and L2 motorhomes are very definitely unlike designs. Based on the photo and specification in the advert for a Newlife 37 ICE that I mentioned earlier, I think that motorhome was indeed a 'clone' of a Sharky L2, but, as Brian Kirby suggests, comparing different specification motorhome models, or even the same model differently named, will only further confuse what is already a complex situation. If I remember correctly, the basic difficulty here is that a Sharky L2 motorhome should (according to Sharky advertising literature) be constructed on a 3500kg MAM chassis, but Mickydripin's L2's chassis has a 3300kg MAM. The L2 is a 6-seat/6-berth design and 'losing' 200kg of payload means that Mickydripin cannot exploit the design's anticipated passenger-carrying potential. Fiat has confirmed that the chassis is indeed a 3300kg MAM one (ie. it's not just a wrong VIN-plate) and will not authorise uprating to 3500kg. I can see some possible merit in trying to establish whether Mickydripin's L2 is unique in having a 3300kg MAM chassis by comparing its VIN-plate data with those of other L2s. However, this should only be necessary if the motorhome's manufacturer refused to admit that an L2 should not have been built on a 3300kg chassis. Presumably SEA has, so far, not admitted that such an error has been made. (You asked "Is it true that if your van is a few Kilos over you can transfer some of your unused trailer weight to compensate?" - the answer is No.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Tuckley Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Hiya, Mickydrippin, The plate that Sea put in the van is just inside the side door to the domestic area. I have just had a look at the plate that FIAT have put under the bonnet and the figures are identical. Hope this helps. I am today starting a new thread cos I have long ago paid for parts for my L2 and now I may not be able to get them. Best of luck Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickydripin Posted August 10, 2009 Author Share Posted August 10, 2009 Hi Derek Sorry but I did not want to hijack Geoffs post you asked if the dealer is in shropshire you are close (very) I hope when my problem is sorted then he may get his just deserts >:-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 I've sent you a PM about this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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