Beware limitations of a VW new Motorhome warranty
We have a VW Grand California 600 which let us down in late August while touring on the wild & beautiful Beara Peninsula in West Cork, Ireland. The domestic water failed, leaving us without circulating water, water & domestic heating, & toilet flush. VW Roadside rescue service told us that the fault lay beyond their brief, even though it rendered the Campervan unfit for purpose. We had to abandon our holiday, & returned home to book a VW dealer appointment.
The earliest available appointment in Ireland (confirmed by VW Ireland Customer support) was 6 weeks later. In mid October the dealer confirmed that the domestic water pump had failed, ordered the replacement part & rebooked us on 18th November. Yesterday (November 22nd) they told us that a further replacement part (heating system shut-off valve) must be ordered.
Our Campervan has not been usable for 3 months now, & though we have a full VW warranty & have covered only 6000Km, the end to our difficulties is not in sight. We had thought that by buying a new motorhome manufactured entirely by a major company such s VW would ensure an increased level of security when touring: how wrong we were !
Has anyone else experienced similar issues ?
Comments
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It is highly regrettable but also no different to the failure of a standard car part where the replacement part is not immediately available.
One thing you can take take comfort in is that under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 if you are out of pocket or inconvenience as a result of the problem and failure of the seller to to put things right in a timely manner you can claim your losses and compensation. However, I suspect your travel insurance will pick up much of your loss.
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I assume this is the version that is actually made by VW, rather than a third party converter? I suppose I am not surprised that the recovery/breakdown service could not fix it as they are probably geared up towards the vehicle side. Perhaps not an idea solution but probably a local caravan/motorhome dealer could have fixed it for you but of course you would have had to foot the bill? Shame that your ownership has been soured by this.
David
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I do sympathise with your plight @AGD - two weeks ago, I took our van in for service which involved a 300 mile round trip. Two days after I got back the heating failed (nothing to do with the service) and - my decision - the boiler is about to be replaced (at my expense) having had so many things go wrong with it in the past. So another 300 mile trip this week. I know just how frustrating it can be.
However can I suggest that you learn from your experience - and regardless of warranty or not - a) carry a spare pump and b) find out how to replace it. A van of any sort is going to be absolutely useless if the water pump fails and you can guarantee it's always going to happen at the most inconvenient of times. I actually carry three. I can work around it if the external pump fails but all the water in the van (including toilet flush) is delivered by a pump in the internal tank and if that goes, we are stuffed.
We are fortunate that the van has enough space and payload for me not to worry but I also carry all sorts of 'bits and pieces' on a 'just in case' basis.
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If this is one of VW's own models sold through a VW van dealer I suspect the part might have been available and fitted by a regular motorhome or caravan dealer far quicker as they should have the part in stock or know how to get it. Possibly the dealer has very little experience with motorhomes if he is a van dealer, so missed the extra part being needed.
We have had several pumps fail over the years and have always found one at the nearest caravan dealer as a standard part. One dealer at Blackpool did say pumps were one of his best sellers so they kept them in stock. They have always been a simple and DIY cheap fix. Usually on sites you will find the details of a local mobile engineer who can deal with these things. From experience they will normally fit you in at the end of the day as they will want the work and if they are not quick you will have gone.
I understand what you are saying on the warranty, but this is limited to the vehicle needing work to make it roadworthy and the pump would not fit this criteria. I would be surprised if they would attend a call out for other things but if the pump was not on their van they would not have fixed it.
Nott sure why the valve would need replacing as there seems to be no logic there and both failing at the same time seems odd.
Not sure what the consumer law on this is in Ireland or how long you have had the van, so cannot say if you have a claim.
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Anything's more reliable than Dometic😀
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Thank you everyone for your advice. It was the failure of a domestic water pump (apologies, I'd left out the word Pump) which caused our problems. This was a VW pump, not a Dometic product When we first approached the VW GrandCalifornia authorised dealer to arrange an initial assessment appointment we were told that there'd be a 6 week wait, & that parts could only be ordered following the assessment. The Service Manager also told us we'd risk invalidating our VW warranty if we asked an independent AutoElectrician to replace the pump. As our Van has 3 further years of Warranty cover we didn't go down that route
Thank you LLM for your suggestion regarding Consumer Rights Legislation
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