Habitation door 2013 Bailey Approach 620se

[quack]

Hi,

I am considering buying a Bailey Approach 620se but have doubts as to its year. It is for sale as a 2013 model but has a solid habitation door (no window). Looking on line I cannot find another bailey with out a window in the habitation door. Has the door been replaced?

[Derek Uzzell]

Welcome to the Out&AboutLive forums, Brian.

 

All Bailey Approach 620SE models (irrespective of their year) appear to have had a habitation door with a window in it, so the one you are considering buying probably has had a replacement door.

 

(Later Approach Advance models had a ‘windowless’ door.)

 

 

[Keithl]

Brian,

 

You can get an approximate idea of the true age of a MH be one or more of several ways.

 

First try entering the VIN in to one of the free 'VIN checker' websites, sorry but I only have links to Mercedes checkers but they are out there.

 

Second, pull out the ashtray, cupholder, lift the glovebox lid and look on the reverse of any plastic parts for a 'manufactured' date. This will often be a clock style with 1 to 12 around the face and a two digit number within. It shouldn't be hard to decipher once you find one.

 

Third, look on seatbelts for the manufacturers tags, they will also carry the manufactured date.

 

Often MH's will sit as a chassis at the body builders or unsold and unregistered on a dealers forecourt for many months so date of registration is not a true indication of the actual date of manufacture.

 

PS If the door has been changed I would question why? Was this due to a break in? Or due to a failure of something within (ie lock or blind possibly) and the then owner took the cheap route of replacing with a door without a window. Look carefully at the bodywork around the door and check the door key matches the key for the lockers.

 

Keith.

[quack]

Thanks to you both for your responses and particularly Keith. I agree with your conclusion that the door has probably been replaced and will certainly check very carefully if this is the case. Thanks also for your tips on how to prove age of vehicle which again I will check carefully.

Brian

[Derek Uzzell]

This (old) advert was for a 2012 Approach 620SE and the upper image atttached below shows the entrance door.

 

https://motorhomesltd.com/product/bailey-approach-se-620-2012/

 

The advert’s photos provided the motorhomes UK registration number (NX12EFE) and using this on-line gov.uk application

 

https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history

 

indicates that the vehicle was UK-registered on 16 May 2012. The MOT history shows that the motorhome was last tested on 16 July 2020 when its odometer had a reading of 28620 miles and that - since 2015 - it has twice failed the test (information that can often be revealing).

 

Prima Leisure Accessories specialises in parts for Bailey products and this advert is for an "Approach SE Hartal Exterior Door Stay"

 

https://www.primaleisure.com/product/1120197/approach-se-hartal-exterior-door-stay

 

The advert describes the stay as

 

Metal door stay for exterior hartal doors. This keeps your habitation door in an open position and keeps it from swinging back shut if pushed by the wind. This stay can take up to 60kg of weight.

This is an official OEM part to upgrade or replace factory-fitted exterior door stay in Bailey Approach SE Motorhomes made between 2011-2013.

 

and the Bailey models that the stay fits are shown on the lower image attached below.

 

I did wonder initially whether the ‘2013’ 620SE you wrote about might be a prototype. But as the 620SE model became available in 2011 the chances approach zero that - whether ‘your’ 620SE is a 2013 model-year vehicle or a 2012 model-year vehicle and UK-registered in 2013 - it won’t be a hypothetical 2011 prototype constructed with a non-window door.

 

There’s a 2013 advert for a then-new Approach 620SE here that might be of interest

 

https://www.southdownsmotorhomecentre.co.uk/new-2013-bailey-approach-se-620-motorhome-n2748.html

 

and a December 2011 reviewis here

 

http://tinyurl.com/3zufu8do

 

http://tinyurl.com/3nn6mlhd

 

This proves that, even in 2011, the 620SE’s door had a window in it.

 

The Hartal door fitted to Bailey motorhomes was known for central-locking problems, but (as Keith has said) the likelihood is that replacement with a non-window door would have been as a result of the original door having been badly damaged. There are on-line reports of replacement of the original Hartal windowed door and frame costing up to £3000 and, if a new door had been needed quickly, it might not have been possible to obtain an exact like-for-like replacement.

 

You need to check this very carefully with the vendor as there’s clearly something unusual about this motorhome.

[Keithl]

Brian,

 

Do you have the MH's unique Bailey build number? It should be a bit like a VIN but issued by Bailey and not Peugeot. If you do then contact Bailey and ask them exactly which door this Approach was built with.

 

Then, is this for sale privately or by a dealer? If by a dealer show them the evidence it has the incorrect door (if that is the fact) and make a condition of sale that the door be replaced with the correct door with a window. Again only if you are seriously interested in purchasing it and feel the lack of the window is a deal breaker.

 

Keith.

[quack]

Keith,

This motorhome is for sale privately and I am quickly changing my mind about the purchase. There is definitely something wrong here although the vendor states catagorically that he bought it new and nothing has been altered re the door. I am afraid that I don't trust his word.

Thanks,

Brian

[Derek Uzzell]

There’s little doubt that the habitation door of a 2012/2013 Bailey Approach 620SE should be expected to have a window in it.

 

This link is to a 2013 Bailey “Approach” brochure

 

http://www.southdownsmotorcaravans.co.uk/pdf/southdowns-2013-bailey-approach-se-motorhome-brochure.pdf

 

and the Exrerior Features section in the Product Specification on Page 14 refers to a “Hartal habitation door with window, blind and bin”.

 

These doors are normally provided to a motorhome converter as a kit comprising a matched door and surrounding frame, but (as will be apparent from this 2015 MHFacts discussion)

 

https://forums.motorhomefacts.com/20-motorhome-chitchat/133337-bailey-approach-door-problems.html

 

producing a tidy ‘fit’ in the motorhome’s bodywork often seems to be pot luck. (I remember seeing a batch of new Rapidos at a French dealership with appallingly badly fitted habitation doors and Auto-Trail was notorious for wonky entrance doors at one stage).

 

As I touched on above, after 8 years it may no longer be possible to obtain the Hartal door that Bailey was fitting in 2012/2013 and trying to fit a different door, or a secondhand Hartal ‘windowed’ door, would be fraught with risk.

 

Even though the vendor has stated that the no-window door was present from when the motorhome was brand-new, I’d still walk away from this 620SE as the solid door will devalue the vehicle as far as subsequent buyers familiar with the model are concerned. Brian has noticed that the motorhome has the ‘wrong’ door and other people will do too.

 

If Brian wants to progress this further, his best bet is probably through the Bailey Motorhome Owners Group on Facebook

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/616587152142591/

 

If Bailey built a few Approach models with a solid habitation door, somebody in the Facebook Group is likely to know.