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2kias

Bought the above at the beginning of November and have only had three faults up to now which have been or will be put right by me.
1) Habitation door rattled and difficult to shut - altered hinges and locks and now shuts without slamming.
2) Water leak in front above cab which drips onto drivers arm - looks like it comes from front above the windscreen below the Autotrail name as sealant is poor. Will rectify when it stops raining.
3) Insufficient airflow around boiler under bed due to poor position of air vent in floor. Gets covered by items stored - to be rectified by making vent hole bigger.

Otherwise we are extremely pleased with our Miami. The dealers, Elite of Banbury, did a good job on the PDI and everything was explained in great detail to us. They are happy to do any warranty work if required but I prefer to do it myself if possible as it means a round trip of 100 miles.

geraldandannie · Moderator

Good one, John.

I think I'm a bit like you, and if anything minor needs fixing, it's not worth the hassle of driving loads of miles, waiting around or staying overnight, etc etc.

Gerald

2kias

Hi Gerald
I do sometimes wonder about some people who have long lists of complaints, most of them minor, and seem to make a big issue out of it. Motorhomes are complicated machines and there is always something that will not be quite right and won't be found until the vehicle has been used.
If it is major then I will take it back but up to now nothing! Might be speaking to soon though.
Met a guy this week who bought a Lunar thinking it was made in the UK but when something went wrong he found out it was made in Belgium. Had a load of trouble with it and can't get the spares. Just goes to prove, not all foreign ones are better!

trevorf

Totally agree with you John. Most of the Autotrail faults listed recently on this site have been minor ones that I would have put right myself.

We have had our Autotrail Apache for over a year now with only one minor fault which took me a couple of mins to fix. The hose to the water filler was not quite fitted correctly causing a small leak when tank was full. This would not have been spotted by a PDI as they would not have filled the tank to the top.

Regards

Trevor

2kias

Hi Trevor
Thanks for those comments.
Have realised one snag I didn't mention. The waste tank indicator doesn't work. Think the cable has probably come off. We have our own indicator though. If it is full the waste doesn't empty. Works a treat!!!!!!

exmusso

[quote="2kias"]Hi Gerald
I do sometimes wonder about some people who have long lists of complaints, most of them minor, and seem to make a big issue out of it. quote]

Hi John,

I think in quite a lot of cases, people are wary of doing repairs, however small to a new motorhome in case the minor fault escalates and they end up losing their warranty because they were not qualified to carry out repair.

Having paid quite a considerable some of money for their pride and joy, in some respects, possibly their biggest purchase as their family home may have been bought years ago, they would expect it to be fit for purpose and dealer would have carried out PDI properly.

If it transpired that there were numerous faults, they could possibly reject it under the Sale of Goods act etc. and to carry out small repairs themselves may jeopardize their chances.

In my particular case, there were quite a few niggly little faults like screws loose, screw caps missing, broken window catch, loose door hinge, poor sink drainage, water in rear fog warning light lens etc.
I'm still waiting for the dealer to send me up some screw caps and window catch - bought in June and still waiting despite a few phone calls.

I also went to Truma at Derby for combi heater recall. Still waiting for the letter from my dealer to say there's a problem.

Cheers,
Alan

2kias

Hi Alan
I don't disagree with you if the faults are not easily remedied but over the years we have had quite a few caravans with faults all which I have rectified as they have been reasonably minor. I am afraid that I don't have a lot of faith in the dealers. They cannot be experts at everything and it is a pain having to send the vehicle back to the manufacturers.

We have a water leak and I am sure I can fix it equally as well as they can and make a better job of it.

One caravan we had went back twice to the dealers due to a water leak under the bed. I kept telling them it was the shower leaking but they said they could find nothing. I got fed up and completely resealed the shower. No more leak!

Daughter has a twin axle Swift caravan which went back to Swift as there was water ingress in the side. They said it was due to the windows not being fitted correctly so they changed both sides and the roof. Must have cost thousands. When we got it back the same water leak occurred and we found that the cold water pipe was leaking at a junction. Replaced by me at the cost of £1.20. No more leaks!

Perhaps you can now see why I have no faith in either the dealers or manufacturers and will carry on rectifying unless it is a major equipment fault that I cannot remedy. I am not knocking our current dealers as they have been helpful but it is easier to do the job myself.

I know there are others who feel just the same as me. The industry needs to go through a bad period for a while. That might change attitudes at the top of some of these companies.

wendick

John

I am one of thoes that have posted on an earlier thread with my dissatisfaction of attention to detail is some of the finnished products on my Autotrail and having paid £42K i am quite entitled to winge and have the dealer rectify no matter how small i think the fault to be.

You say that you have water coming through the roof into the cab........... and this is minor on a new vehicle?

Dick

2kias

Hi Dick
Don't disagree with you but doing the job myself (if poss) is far less hassle. Life is too short and I am already bald!!!!