Advise needed???

[dickyc2]

>:-( good evening to all in the motorhome world. Im writing in to gain advise about my motorhome, which i purchased from brownhill newark last august. My problem is, it's had a vibration on the front end since we took purchase of the vehicle,(weve had it 4 1/2 months and only done 1500 miles) i've had an independant inspection and have been told it's a drive line fault, which i agree with(possible drive shaft), this was reported to brownhills almost imediatly, i've taken it back several times to be told it's not doing it, when it happens, it wants to throw the van off the road(literally). The warranty people have been to inspect the van(which brownhills have had since before newyear)and said it's wear and tear and won't pay,brownhills have ordered all new front suspension and drive shafts to try and cure the problem, now my problem is why should i pay for a motorhome thats in my opinion is unroad worthy and should have been fixed before i took delivery. Any help would be appreciated. ;-)

[Guest peter]

If you have not already done so formalise your concerns by writing to them, detailing all the defects that you think they are liable for and ask them what they propose to do to rectify these problems. With a timescale if possible.

If they do the repairs and the problem is rectified. You are stuck with it, as they have fulfilled their obligations under the sale of goods act 1975(as amended). If however it is still the same, then I think you may have a good case to reject the vehicle. Depending on when you brought it to their notice and their response. Give them the oportunity to put it right and you will have a drivetrain that is new, no bad thing. 

[Brian Kirby]

Give us a bit more detail, Richard.  Make, model, base vehicle, age and mileage of the vehicle, and what kind of warranty did Brownhills give you? 

Also, did you get your vehicle report in writing, and did you pay for it?  Did you get this because Brownhills refused to repair at their cost, or before you took the van back to Brownhills?

It is quite possible the fault is wear and tear, if the van has covered a highish mileage, so the insurance may not cover that.  However, if it was sold by Brownhills as being in good condition, and if it has a warranty, then they should carry out the repair at their own expense.

However, do as Peter suggests and write to Brownhills, if you have not already done this, enclosing a copy of your vehicle report if possible. 

If you are unsure quite how to proceed, go to your local Trading Standards office, and show them your sales invoice, the vehicle report and any warranty documents you have.  They should be able to tell you exactly what you should do next, and what you can reasonably expect Brownhills to do by way of repairs.  If you had to get the report because Brownhills rejected liability, and Trading Standards say they were liable, then you should be able to recover the cost of the report.  Ask Trading Standards about this as well, when you see them.

On the face of it, I can seen no reason why you should be expected to pay for these repairs.  However, they will be expensive, and they'll knock quite a hole in Brownhills profit on your van, so they must be expected to put up a bit of a struggle before they cave in! 

However, provided you have a warranty, and the vibration isn't something like a buckled wheel, or some accidental damage that could have happened on your watch, I'd expect them to undertake the repairs and accept liability after a bit of posturing.

[david lloyd]

Small detail Richard but very important - keep copies of all letters/documents and use registered post to send them. I also have a habit now of making notes of all telephone calls, time, date and the content.

 

Good luck, David

[Mel E]

Dicky,

 

One further thing: when you write to Brownhills, if you haven't written to them before, include in your letter a detailed diary of all your conversations/ visits, etc., with dates, people involved and summary of contents. End the diary with a statement such as 'If you do not agree that this is a true log of our contacts so far, please correct me where you think I am wrong.'

 

I know this is a bind, but it will do two things:

 

- make them realise you are taking this seriously and may consider legal action, so they are more likely to take it seriously, and

 

- it will be invaluable if legal action does become necessary.

 

Mel E

====

 

[Guest peter]

Hi Dicky, I have just re-read your original post and think that if it's as you say "trying to throw the van off the road" then that points to a steering problem, which could also cause vibration if there is play in the track rod ends, as the wheels will oscillate. You really need to find out EXACTLY what is causing this and if it's anything to do with the steering STOP USING IT and get it fixed a.s.a.p.

At the end of the day you must decide whether you want to keep it or reject it. If the former, give the dealer the opportunity to fix it. If they refuse get it fixed yourself and set about getting restitution from them. I can't understand why you drove it out of the dealers premises in that condition, you must have been happy with it in that state. If you say to the dealer that this fault was present when you bought it, they could argue that you knew of the problem and accepted the vehicle on that basis. So be very careful what you say both to the dealer and on here.

[dickyc2]

Thanks peter, but the problem didn't show up until i was about 6 miles from home, it takes about 15 miles for the problem to show up, so the initial road test showed nothing up, plus it passed it's mot(supposidly), the vehicle is a left hand drive fiat ducato 2.8 td on a 2001 y reg, conversion is a swift kon-tiki 640 sweden, brownhills are now going to pay for the repair and chase the warranty people for payment, but with me being a fully paid up member of the grease monkey club, im not confidant that the repair is going to cure the problem, but you never know. Cheers Richard.

[Brian Kirby]

Well, all you can do is let Brownhills do the repair.  If it fixes it, well and good.  If not, since they've accepted responsibility for putting the fault right, they'll just have to have another go!

I assume this vehicle was previously registered in Sweden?

I'd be just a bit inclined to suspect a CV joint, probably outboard.  However, if that's what they replace, and it doesn't work, at least you'll have a nice new one!

Good luck.

[dickyc2]

Thanks Brian, the van never made it to sweden, the company that ordered them went bust before the order was finished, so they all got sold in this country, better insulation and full wet central heating, plus it means i can still get in the caravan door with the van parked on my drive. :-D

[Mel B]

dickyC2

You might like to consider changing your 'signature' of:

 

"Drive it like you stole it!!!!!"

 

As I don't think it helps your case!

 

We had a similar problem with an ambulance which we converted, when we originally bought it it didn't drive too well and jumped all over the place, we found that the tracking way way-out of alignment.

 

From what you say, however, as a non-mechanic, seeing as it takes a good dozen miles before you get the problem, it sounds like something is getting warm and loosening up, I assume you have you checked out the wheel bearings, and any other joints etc that lurk under the front end? I know Brownhills have supposedly had a look and not found anything but you can't beat getting your head under there and making sure everything it tightened up as it should be.

[Guest peter]

Dicky. I just had a thought. :-D Check that the front brakes are not binding. Because if they are,they will tighten up after a few miles once the friction heats them up and they expand. Also if the disks are distorted it will cause severe vibration. Must be worth checking out.

[dickyc2]

:-D thanks peter, had a similar problem on a ford sierra i used to have, but when that did it it did it all the time, i can drive through this fault and"play" it with the throttle when it happens, as for my signature, that doesn't relate to the motorhome, that relates to my first love, AUTOGRASS RACING >:-) >:-)

[Guest peter]

dickyc2 - 2007-01-22 7:43 PM

 

:-D thanks peter, had a similar problem on a ford sierra i used to have, but when that did it it did it all the time, i can drive through this fault and"play" it with the throttle when it happens, as for my signature, that doesn't relate to the motorhome, that relates to my first love, AUTOGRASS RACING >:-) >:-)

Ah, that sounds to me very much like out of balance wheels or tyres. It shows up at a certains speed and once you speed up it goes away. Have a look at your front tyres and see if they are deformed or have flat spots. Also check all your wheel nuts are tight. Does the steering wheel oscillate when this is happening. I don't know how old the vehicle is, but it could also point to track rod ends being worn.

[dickyc2]

Well what more can i say, Brownhills are supposed to have checked all of this to start with, the steering wheel didn't ossilate, the whole van did, to me it looks like i bought a lemon, and no, still no reply from Brownhills of how the job is doing, had a call last week to say the parts are all on back order, so who knows when i'll get it back *-)