[bilbaoman]

Yes he will change the door and frame it will come as a unit it is possible to make a mould using the parts on the opposite side if they are identical and just handed but its a lot of time and expensive

 

[JanHank]

Yes he will change the door and frame it will come as a unit it is possible to make a mould using the parts on the opposite side if they are identical and just handed but its a lot of time and expensive

It`s the habitation door not the cab door Bill. No good talking about what could have been done anyway. I just have to wait and hope it doesńt take too much longer.

 

[GMJ]

Jan

Have you tried emailing someone senior at Auto-trail?

You might get the CEO's email address from here...

Dave Thomas email address & phone number | Auto-trail VR Ltd M.D. contact information - RocketReach

Get Dave Thomas's email address (d******@auto-trail.co.uk) and phone number () at RocketReach. Get 5 free searches.

rocketreach.co

or perhaps do some internet sleuthing to see if you can track it down.

 

[JanHank]

Thank you Graham, that name rings a bell, he may be the person who told us where to find our Navajo. i will email him today.

 

[JanHank]

Jan
Have you tried emailing someone senior at Auto-trail?

Dione that, just sent an email to Dave Thomas so that's 2 emails they have had from me within 24 hours.

And while typing that I had an answer, probably from his secretary, but an answer it is.

Morning Janet,
Thanks for your mail.
I will forward it to our Dealer Support Manager, who looks after all dealer / customer activities to pursue on your behalf.
Regards,

		Dave Thomas Managing Director T: 01472 571 000 | | www.auto-trail.co.uk Trigano House, Genesis Way, Europarc, Grimsby, DN37 9TU

 

[Glandwr]

Hi Jan, hope you hear good news on your parts/van soon, was it RHD? If you don't and you need to buy local why not do your research on mobile.de? Just looked there are at the moment over 46K motorhome/campers on it. It’s got lots of filters to refine the search, you should at least be able to identify what makes/models available in Germany that would suit your needs. There is a toggle to have the site in English.

https://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/search.html?isSearchRequest=true&s=Motorhome&vc=Motorhome&ref=srpHead&refId=9f4cd3d8-44fa-e09e-f828-5b7fddfffa87

 

[JanHank]

Hi Jan, hope you hear good news on your parts/van soon, was it RHD? If you don't and you need to buy local why not do your research on mobile.de? Just looked there are at the moment over 46K motorhome/campers on it. It’s got lots of filters to refine the search, you should at least be able to identify what makes/models available in Germany that would suit your needs. There is a toggle to have the site in English.

https://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/search.html?isSearchRequest=true&s=Motorhome&vc=Motorhome&ref=srpHead&refId=9f4cd3d8-44fa-e09e-f828-5b7fddfffa87

Thanks Dick, I had another email from them a short time ago.
I think it was written by a junior, what a daft thing to. say, who wouldn't be keen to get anything repaired let alone a motorhome.

It is a RHD, when we bought it Hans didn´t want to wait a year for a LHD to be completed, he said he was not a young man (75) and wanted to enjoy it for as long as he could, so we had a RHD. Now I say the same thing, I don´t have too many years left and I want to enjoy it as much as I can before it´s too late. I will have a look at what you have given me though.

Thank you for your email.
I have taken a look into your order and we are waiting for parts to come in from our suppliers as we do not have the stock here at factory to be able to send out.
I will chase this with our supplier to see if I can provide more accurate ETA for you as I understand you are keen to complete the repairs on your vehicle.

 

[GMJ]

If they don't give you answers quickly, or that you want, keep persevering with the CEO Jan. Copy him in on any emails. The message will soon get through.

 

[JanHank]

I`ll give them a few days into next week then give another prod.

 

[JanHank]

I emailed Wednesday, had a reply from him/her
Good afternoon Mrs Köhne,
I have looked into this for you and have not yet had any correspondence from our suppliers to advise an ETA for your parts as of yet.
I will chase this again for you today.

So just to let you know what's going on.
I went to look at my Navajo yesterday, no sign of Matthias and the van was outside another on had taken its place inside.
I rang him this morning and among other things he didn´t have time to talk this morning, but will ring me Monday to make a time for us to have a chat about how to carry on because at this rate I still won´t have it back for summer. He said he has had the batteries on charge until he swapped the vans over.
Barry, Roger and Jürgen have all said just to get it tidied up and the gas going again and use it as it is, I think that's what Matthias is going to suggest as well and if he doesn´t I will.

 

[jiwawa]

Barry, Roger and Jürgen have all said just to get it tidied up and the gas going again and use it as it is, I think that's what Matthias is going to suggest as well and if he doesn´t I will.

I'd be inclined to go down that route too Jan. It would certainly be easier than trying to source another, intermediate, MH. At this stage it seems there's very little chance of getting it 'properly' sorted for travel this year and as you've noted before, none of us is getting any younger. A year counts!

Besides, having a van that's obviously been in the wars (I assume it will still show some scars) certainly gives you an entrée to conversation as I found when a solo lass pulled in beside me with her whole side (of a large MH) having taken a huge, scraping hit, even removing the cassette door.

 

[raynipper]

People might also give you a wide birth Jan. I would.

Ray.

 

[barryd]

That sounds like the best Idea. Suggest this to your insurance company. Get them to agree to the temporary repairs and also to agree to pay for the van to be properly repaired at a later stage perhaps later in the year when the parts eventually turn up.

 

[JanHank]

That sounds like the best Idea. Suggest this to your insurance company. Get them to agree to the temporary repairs and also to agree to pay for the van to be properly repaired at a later stage perhaps later in the year when the parts eventually turn up.

I have no trouble with the insurance Barry, it´s still insured, not been taken off the road although if I had known it would take this long I would have done.

 

[barryd]

I have no trouble with the insurance Barry, it´s still insured, not been taken off the road although if I had known it would take this long I would have done.

I was just meaning that you need to make it clear to the insurance company that you have now been without a van for a year or whatever it is now so as they have been unable to carry out a repair would they be willing to authorise temporary repairs which presumably will be an additional cost to the final repairs once the parts arrived. You just need to make sure everyone is in agreement and knows what is happening.

 

[erneboy]

They will take the view that they were not the ones dealing with the repair and cannot be held responsible for any delays.

Best just ask nicely, or better still hand the whole thing over to them because you aren't even started yet and I'm afraid my bet is that Autotrail will send parts that are a bad fit or aren't right.

 

[JanHank]

6 months not a year, don’t make my time go any faster than it is.😕
I did speak to Lutz my insurance man a few weeks back and he understood about the delay. No doubt Matthias will be speaking to Lutz after we have spoken and I also intend going to see him this week.

 

[eurajohn]

If I remember correctly the majority of the actual (rather than cosmetic) damage was the habitation door and the fridge along with the vents.
Fridge and vents will be an off the shelf item and complete door assemblies with frame are normally available from one of the many companies in UK so would have thought would be available in Germany, perhaps not a direct copy of the one fitted but they come complete with the frame so as long as the size is the same no problem replacing it.
Click the link to get an idea of what is possible.
O'leary Link
eBay search results Link

 

[JanHank]

Thanks John, the vents we have, ex stock from Hans 😁. I will contact Auto Trail again next week, I have already paid for these items.
Roger and I looked for doors in this country, but I do believe as my door id on the opposite side being r.h.d we couldn’t find one here.
I will pass the links on to Roger he is the knowledgeable one for these things.

 

[jiwawa]

I sense a bit of momentum here Jan - you'll be on the road in no time! 🤞