Mel B Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 I have mentioned on previous threads that we were having problems with our Eberspacher heater and also our kitchen tap: In our van we've started to have a problem with the cold water for the kitchen sink tap. When on the hot part of the mixer tap it comes gushing out as normal (as it does for both hot and cold mixer tap in the washroom) but when on the cold water setting in the kitchen sink it pulses weakly ... the pump throbs and squirts out a dismal flow of water, to get enough for a cuppa would take about 60 seconds! I've tried filling and getting the water through to the taps in varoius combinations but nothing seems to solve it. Amongst other things, it was suggested that it was the 'actuator' that was the problem, an air lock, squished pipe etc and I was a unsure if we had either a pressurised system or a microswitch system ... however, having spoken to Chris at RDH today it appears we have BOTH!!! No wonder I was confused! 8-) He has just had a similar problem on another Chausson to sort out and it turned out to be the microswitch - it was doing exactly the same as ours. We also need some repair work carrying out to small stress fractures on a body moulding, the base of the caravan door which has started to bubble, the washroom sink which needs levelling and the mirror above it resticking. As our Chausson is due it's 2nd year habitation service shortly (it has a 2 year base/conversion warranty + extended water ingress warranty), I've booked it into RDH Services Ltd to do it along with the damp check and a free gas check as they are a Chausson certified service centre and warranty repairers (along with other makes too). www.rdhservicesltd.co.uk Before this though, I'd been in touch with Highbridge in Somerset, who we bought our camper from, to ask them to see if Chausson would approve the warranty work to be carried out locally by a well respected firm (who've done work on behalf of Highbridge before) to save us having to go to Highbridge/a Chausson dealer. Unfortunately, even though we were prepared for the warranty work not to then be 'guaranteed' by Chausson (the warranty runs out on 18 April anyway) they won't allow it - Highbridge are willing to submit the 'claim' to Chausson to get approval and to do the work for us, but we don't fancy a round trip of 500 miles, hence our going back to RDH Services instead which is a 140 miles round trip (we used them last year for the habitation and damp check). Obviously we'll have to leave the van with RDH Services so we'll take the car too and then have to do a return trip in a couple of weeks to collect the camper. Before any smart Alec out there says "Well, you should have bought from a local dealer" save your 'finger tapping'! :D This was a consideration when we bought the camper but the deal was so good that even if we had to return to Highbridge 20 times or even pay for the above repairs ourselves we would still be very much quids in on the whole deal so we're not complaining. :-D However, for 'newbies' to motorhoming it is something that needs to be carefully thought about though, especially with the reduced number of dealers overall. I have in the past contacted other more local Chausson dealers but they were extremely reluctant to do a habitation service and/or made it very difficult to get it sorted out, and would not undertake any warranty work at all. *-) We are fortunate that RDH Services isn't a million miles away and are certified to undertake the work on our make of motorhome, but others may not be so lucky so you do have to do your homework before you purchase a camper. :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 why do you think these jobs would take two weeks..two days more like. I would just stay there in the van at night or local B&B when looking at new panel vans I was talked out of one particular model with these diesel heaters by a German dealer who sells hundreds of vans..He said as they are exposed to the elements, when they break down which they often did in his experience, manufacturer would not honour warranty as the owner had allowed unit to get dirty! (lack of maintenance) how you avoid this when its partially slung underneath. That was enough for me, and I will to stick with the tried and tested Truma Combi... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolandrat Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Regarding the Eberspacher heater, being involved with road transport and commercial vehicles fitted with it I can only pass on my experience with using them. They are the most reliable efficient heater in use and have been for years. I know of heaters that have been run for 10 years and more without any maintainance being needed at all. It doesn't mean that they are trouble free because most motorhome heaters are only used occasionally and maybe the system could be covered in cobwebs through lack of use. As far as Webasto, which is a similar system, I wouldn't touch one with a barge pole, there again through experience, It was one of the most troublesome heaters that I have ever used. It ended up being removed and replaced with an Eberspacher. As regards Main agents for warranty work, there again, my preferrence is the manufacturer themselves, I'm not bothered about how far I have to travel for warranty or Habitation work because I have piece of mind knowing it is safe hands and whatever needs doing will be done to a high stanard. One of my main considerations when buying my motorhomes was that the manufacturer had a good aftersales customer back up and AutoTrail are just that. They have an after sales workshop run by a very efficient team of experinced fitters. Even if you need spares to fit yourself you can ring them direct and the parts will be sent by overnight courier, you dont need to order through an agent like you do with other manufacturers. There's a lot to be said for buying piece of mind. Only recently I went to a motorhome dealer for some camping bits and pieces and out of curiosity went to look at one of the manufacturers latest offerings, my immediate thought was thank goodness I have an Autotrail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tugga Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Mel, have you tried contacting Chausson yourself to ask whether RDH can carry out the warranty work? If they are a recognised Chausson workshop, then I don't see the problem. It could just be the dealer trying to get a big fee from Chausson to help with his yearly figures. Surely is has to be worth a try - if you don't ask, you don't get :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 So, am I right in thinking RDH will be doing all the warranty items, including fixing the Eberspacher? If so, good for them. Your point is a good one: and seems not to be that widely understood. With cars, and with motorhome base vehicles, the warranties are pretty much as the manufacturer says they are, and you can generally take a defective vehicle to any service centre, in any European country, and they will fix it. It obviously helps to have proof of the date of registration, so that the dealership can satisfy themselves that the warranty is still valid, and they are under no obligation to fix the problem on demand so, depending on the seriousness of the problem, one may have to wait for a workshop slot. However, apart from a little language difficulty, and possibly coming across a member of the awkward squad, that is about as complicated as it gets. When it comes to the conversion, however, the situation is far from satisfactory. The manufacturers' warranties tend to speak in rather glowing terms about their Europe wide warranty, but when the chips are down, folk tend to find that the only dealer who will carry out warranty work is the one who supplied the motorhome new. This is not supposed to be the case, and seems it is the fault of the manufacturers for not tying the dealers down to a proper agreement to take on warranty repairs on any vehicle, whether they supplied it or not, on pain of losing their dealer appointment. The dealer's perennial excuse seems to be that the manufacturer will not pay realistic labour rates on warranty work, so that unless they can subsidise the cost of warranty work from the profit on the original sale, the work is uneconomic for them. This is rather tosh, because what goes round comes round so, over time, if all dealers played by the rules, it would seem all would do some warranty work on vans supplied by others, and some on vans they had supplied, and it would all cancel out. However, it seems this is not how most dealers think, which is illustrative in itself. The manufacturers defend their below market warranty rates on grounds that the dealers are greedy, and want to take advantage of the benefit of selling their brand, but don't want to accept the need to keep warranty costs down, in order to keep overall manufacturing costs - and hence sales prices - down, as good team players should. Meanwhile, the customer pays the price of a disorganised industry selling very expensive products. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted March 20, 2012 Author Share Posted March 20, 2012 tugga - 2012-03-20 9:42 AM Mel, have you tried contacting Chausson yourself to ask whether RDH can carry out the warranty work? If they are a recognised Chausson workshop, then I don't see the problem. It could just be the dealer trying to get a big fee from Chausson to help with his yearly figures. Surely is has to be worth a try - if you don't ask, you don't get :D Hi Cheryl The 'non-Chausson' local workshop is F&M Caravans, who did some very, very good work on our previous van when it was 'bricked' in Holland - the repairs were so good even Highbridge didn't know until we told them! :-D Unfortunately as F&M are not certified Chausson wouldn't authorise them to do the work, hence our going to RDH who are certified by Chausson to do habitation servicing and warranty repairers - they actually pay a fee to Chausson to continue to be able to do this since they set up on their own as they don't sell Chaussons now. One of the reasons they did this is due to the dearth of places to take Chaussons, and some other makes of motorhomes, in their area (they were part of the servicing section of the original RDH who sold new Chausson motorhomes). Highbridge are happy for us to have the work done somewhere else, they don't have a problem with it at all, and all I can say is that they are a very good firm to deal with and despite the distance, if/when we come to change the MH in the future, I would still seriously consider going to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted March 20, 2012 Author Share Posted March 20, 2012 Brian Kirby - 2012-03-20 6:26 PM So, am I right in thinking RDH will be doing all the warranty items, including fixing the Eberspacher? If so, good for them. Yes they will be Brian, including the Eberspacher. :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted March 20, 2012 Author Share Posted March 20, 2012 JudgeMental - 2012-03-20 7:07 AM why do you think these jobs would take two weeks..two days more like. I would just stay there in the van at night or local B&B The jobs themselves shouldn't take that long, but if they have to wait for parts to come from Chausson, it could take a while for them to arrive, so they'll do the habitation service and ensure that there's nothing else needed, fix what they can and do anything outstanding when they get the bits, hopefully by the time we need it. B-) Seeing as we're popping down to the Newark Spring Fair show this weekend, it makes sense to drop the van off now and leave it with them, rather than have to hang around for it - we'll take the car too so we can get back home! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Dave Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 MelCan you remember back in November i was asking for a supplier of the living hinge on the shower screen. Well Chausson confirmed they would supply it under warranty and we are still waiting so don't expect anything soon. But i do hope yours is quicker.Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
william1 Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Just had a first hab service and some warranty work carried out on our Autotrail Tracker by Dewentside Leisure Vehicles in Consett - very good . They are an indepent approved workshop and authorised by Autotrail to carry out warranty work. Excellent work and price ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted March 24, 2012 Author Share Posted March 24, 2012 Dr Dave - 2012-03-20 9:29 PM MelCan you remember back in November i was asking for a supplier of the living hinge on the shower screen. Well Chausson confirmed they would supply it under warranty and we are still waiting so don't expect anything soon. But i do hope yours is quicker.Dave Hi Dave - Sorry, no I don't remember, but if you get in touch with Chris at RDH I'm sure he'll be able to get it for you under warranty. :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted March 24, 2012 Author Share Posted March 24, 2012 We've just got back home - we dropped the MH off at RDH Services as planned first thing this morning (staying overnight in their car park with hook up) and then after going over what needed doing, we went off to Newark show with the intention of then coming home. However whilst at the show this afternoon we got a call from Chris as RDHS to say he'd done all that he could for now and did we want to take it back home, so we had a chunter between ourselves and rang him back to say we'd go and get 'our baby' and bring him home. Chris has fixed the washroom sink that was wonky, re-stuck the mirror above it, resealed round the kitchen sink and also had a look at the kitchen tap - he had the exact one in stock already so he started to remove the old one and took off the push fit connections to find that the inline cold pipe filter had 'metal filings' in it! 8-) It appears that when the pipework/tap etc was installed orignally at the factory, they failed to flush the pipes out for any rubbish before 'sealing' it all up and the filings have been gradually getting caught on the filter and blocking it, which explains why the tap worked fine for a while and gradually stopped flowing properly it stopped altogether. Once he'd cleaned the filter out it worked perfectly, so that's good news. He's ordered a new front nearside 'fairing' to replace the one with the stress fractures (which covers the join between the 'caravan' bit and the cab), a completely new habitation door and decals (rather than have the existing one 'touched up'), and he's also ordered a new controller/dial for the heater as the remote sensor is working okay (he's tested it's resistance - the squished wiring we saw was just the outer cover which had been twisted as the wiring was fine). We've arranged that we'll either go and have the jobs done just before we go on holiday in mid-April on our way down to Eurotunnel, or alternatively when we get back off holiday in mid-May as we come back home - the changing of the door, the 'faring' and the controller won't take long and we'll have the time to spare so might as well. :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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