Do you have your caravan serviced
Foilowing on from the MOT thread and not to hijack it ,but do tou have your caravan serviced by a dealer or mobile fitter??
i will admit that i dont ,but do it my self ,after 30 years in the motor trade i would like to think i know what i am doing, i allways replace the hub nuts with new and a guy lives up the road is a gas fitter, and he comes round to check the gas ,for the
price of a drink.
I'm sure there must be some who dont do anything from one year to the next
Comments
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Even though ours is stored in France, we still have it serviced by a qualified engineer, who visits various storage sites in France and Spain, but we do this every other year. In between times my OH checks everything over - bit by bit over the course of a holiday, rather than as a 'job'.
Before it was stored in France we had it serviced locally every year.
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I had my caravan serviced every year to comply with the warranty conditions. Its out of warranty this year but I will continue to have it serviced annually.
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Always had it serviced by our local dealer where we have a good relationship and have always looked after us in terms of carrying a quick repair if needed without waiting too long
Admiral
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I adopt a similar regime to Valda. I do the same with the cars which do less than 5000 a year and spend a fair bit of time either in the garage or on the drive.
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Servicing - what's that - I was ona site in France and was helping a German family push their van into place, upon doing so I pulled the hand brake up and it just flicked to the top with no effort - the overrun did not work either,,when
I pointed this out to him he said he does not bother with it and relies on the car to do the braking because it has disc brakes !!! -
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We have ours serviced every year by the dealer we bought the vans from and have been happy with the standard. Currently we have a service plan which makes it a fair bit cheaper. Must admit didn't have the electrical check until 5 years on the first van.
However, having this one done at the recommended 3 years as there seems so much more to go wrong.0 -
Because its still in warranty its been serviced by the dealer whose ****, this will be the last time before handing it over to a local mobile engineer. I was an Engineering manager and quite capable but I can't be bothered, I took early retirement to get away from work so I just want to use it.
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Servicing - what's that - I was ona site in France and was helping a German family push their van into place, upon doing so I pulled the hand brake up and it just flicked to the top with no effort - the overrun did not work either,,when
I pointed this out to him he said he does not bother with it and relies on the car to do the braking because it has disc brakes !!! -I wonder how he gets on at his bi-annual TUV test?
David
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In the 3+ years I never had mine serviced once. I was not interested in maintaining the warranty or the stress that follows when the usual battle ensues between all partys re faults during service time.
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Have my motorhome habitation service every year, the Base vehicle I do myself, oil change, Filter's oil,fuel,air,cabin.and check brake pads. Otherwise it's 2 trips, one to the habitation and another to the Fiat dealer.For the first three years, whilst under warranty, got the Fiat dealer to do the servicing, but when I stayed and watched at just how little they actually did,I decided I could do better myself,and for less money. They couldn't do it's first MOT either (because of it's height) so that was the end of them. The Habitation service, as with a Caravan requires multiple skills and qualifications, gas fitter (very important safety-wise), electrician, thorough Damp check (also important) and check for continuation of 10 year water ingress warranty. Miss an annual check,and the ingress warranty is void, very bad at selling time. This is done by the Brand recommended Dealer,NCC approved.
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We have ours serviced every year by an NCC Approved workshop.
Its cheaper than a dealership and the service is better as they dont have to support a sales section.
I get a full damp report which includes inside every cupboard from floor to ceiling.
As we tour all year round for us its a must.
In depth gas and electric checks are done 2 yearly unless a problem is identified earlier.
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I also do my own service,repairs and modifications..I am a spark by trade and spent over thirty years on the tools in both installation and engineering and on the transport maint aspect.Caravan serviceing is not rocket science and well within the capability of a good spanner man.The only time i have used a dealer was for warranty purposes and then someone pinched one of my waterpumps
peter.
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I also do my own service,repairs and modifications..I am a spark by trade and spent over thirty years on the tools in both installation and engineering and on the transport maint aspect.Caravan serviceing is not rocket science and well within the capability
of a good spanner man.The only time i have used a dealer was for warranty purposes and then someone pinched one of my waterpumpspeter.
I'm with you, Peter. What's to service really? Dealers don't usually check appliances and you wouldn't do anything to car brakes or wheel bearings if the vehicle only did a very few thousand miles per year so there's little need to do so with a caravan.
The warranty often isn't worth the paper it's written on, or is more hassle than value to invoke. Our vans have always been self serviced with no problems. On the solitary occasion we did have a van dealer serviced, they removed the wheel bearings contrary
to the manufacturers instructions, washed it down and used a stiff broom on the windows, and lost the locking wheel nut key. Never again!0 -
It's obviously a chance you take by not getting that rubber stamp in the book while in warranty. Knowing that, I still wouldn't bother as servicing can cause problems of its own when undertaken by our wonderful dealerships and getting work done under warranty
is traumatic. If the van was beyond hope I'd send to auction and replace it. That's my view.0 -
Servicing - what's that - I was ona site in France and was helping a German family push their van into place, upon doing so I pulled the hand brake up and it just flicked to the top with no effort - the overrun did not work either,,when I pointed this out to him he said he does not bother with it and relies on the car to do the braking because it has disc brakes !!! -
that does suprise me as in Germany caravans have to Tuv tested.
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I have never in my life had anything 'serviced' ... house/car/boat or now caravan. If I did I wouldn't be happy unless I checked everything again anyway. It is only very recently that I have conceeded that I can't be bothered to do jobs like changing brake
pads on the car, but even then it is because I have determined that the work needs doing.At 68 I still hope to be maintaining a caravan myself for a good few years. (Warranty not an issue as 10 years old).
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I also do my own service,repairs and modifications..I am a spark by trade and spent over thirty years on the tools in both installation and engineering and on the transport maint aspect.Caravan serviceing is not rocket science and well within the capability
of a good spanner man.The only time i have used a dealer was for warranty purposes and then someone pinched one of my waterpumpspeter.
I'm with you, Peter. What's to service really? Dealers don't usually check appliances and you wouldn't do anything to car brakes or wheel bearings if the vehicle only did a very few thousand miles per year so there's little need to do so with a caravan.
The warranty often isn't worth the paper it's written on, or is more hassle than value to invoke. Our vans have always been self serviced with no problems. On the solitary occasion we did have a van dealer serviced, they removed the wheel bearings contrary
to the manufacturers instructions, washed it down and used a stiff broom on the windows, and lost the locking wheel nut key. Never again!Being the owner of a "Leaky Lunar" who has had warranty work done every year for the 4 years I think its very brave of any owner of a new van to invalidate it. Even on my last van a rock solid German Fendt, the Dometic fridge broke up and the servicing
dealer arranged for a new £750 fridge to be supplied and fitted at my home on warranty that would not have happened without a service.Have to agree, we've had our Bailey for 3 years now so some of the warrenty has finished but there are still elements that are covered for the next 3 years. We have had 6 warrently issues and its in at the moment for its 7th, none of these have we had any
problems getting done, we take a digital photo send it and an email to our dealer who will then call us to discuss and book it in, no issues or problems, hate to think how much it would have cost us to have these warrently jobs done if we hadn't have complied.0 -
Yes I do have a habitation and a chassis service done. I could do the chassis service myself but I cannot be bothered and it is only a short trip to the local agent. I had a NCC approved mobile engineer come and do the habitation service this year rather than take it back to the factory because I wanted an independant view and of course it was much cheaper. He did an excellent job and I will use him again.
Now I know in some cases your breakdown insurance can be invalid if you cannot prove you have had the van serviced properly but a recent incident where a motorhome caught fire damaging two adjacent vans and a building got me thinking. Presumably in this instance the van insurance should cover third party damage but would your insurance be invalidated if you have not had a recent habitation check, especially of the gas system and appliances?
peedee
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I have never had anything serviced by anyone let alone a caravan - It does not matter a ding who does your servicing since if it causes an accident through a fault it is THE DRIVER who is responsible, so make sure if you don't do it yourself you know exactlly what they have done and know how to check it - I never cease to be amazed that a Hand car wash near us has cars queing up for a wash - what sort of society are we stooping into. How do you know what torque the bearing nut or wheel nuts are set at and did you know YOU are supposed to check them after 20 or so miles afted refitting wheel nuts and though the bearing nuts are once only and pinched they do come lose - get hold of the wheel and rock it occasionally for heavns sake (when jacked up)
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Hi again Just a point here all your so called servicing is a once evry now and the event - what happens in between eh. Your gas applience - get down to your local hardware and by a gas detector or some soapy liquid - a few £s run it along the pipes and around every joint and fitting to check for leaks If it all works and the flame is two blue colours - it's ok - if it shows a lot of orange in the flame get it seen to. That's all a check is - read your handbook for more checks. If you feel you can't do these things maybe you should be hanging up your wheeel brace. Oh yes teh German Family post - Remember the Test is once a year who knows what has gone wrong in between.
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When I had new vans, I only had them serviced to preserve the warranty. My latest van is out of warranty, but had a new habitation test done before I took possession of it. I looked at the check list and thought, who would actually pay good money to have
this done? If you use the van, you know what works and what doesn't. A damp meter is a one off cost, and if you think it needs it, you can usually get a gas fitter to give your van the once over for a small fee.Just sounds like a money making scheme.
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Our caravan is 18 years old and we have it serviced every year by an approved mobile workshop that operates out of our storage. Helps keep those old appliances in tip top running order and lets us know of any damp issues (none so far...). Any parts needed
are sourced for us from a breakers yard and lots of good advice has been given to Mr MJH who carries out any jobs that need doing on the old dear. And I just like doing everything by the book, it makes me feel better.0 -
It's obviously a chance you take by not getting that rubber stamp in the book while in warranty. Knowing that, I still wouldn't bother as servicing can cause problems of its own when undertaken by our wonderful dealerships and getting work done under warranty
is traumatic. If the van was beyond hope I'd send to auction and replace it. That's my view.Dealers must love you, my Lunar would'nt be worth fourpence if I had left it to rot for 4 years and there was nothing traumatic about getting it rectified just took it in and told them they did the rest.
No, they don't love me because they don't get my money each year for, so called, servicing.
What bad luck having such a rotten van, David.
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