Dealer standards

POI Admin said:
Thanks for the observations/explanations about why the vehicles may not have obvious defects rectified.

However, for this prospective purchaser, it is very off-putting. That said, perhaps there is a positive ... It points to this particular vehicle having had a multi-owner and lacking-in-care background. This in itself is enough to discourage me from any serious interest.
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Partly the reason I said in my post dealers aren't guilding the lily. In some respects thats why it makes sense refurbing bits and bats at the point of sale.

The time and motion men would also tell you that if from receiving a px/ stock to being presented for sale and say it takes two days, ordering parts etc before its sat on the pitch. with say a stock of 60 vehicles a total of 120 days money tied up with the stock not on display. The figure is actually worse a dealer may turn his stock say 6 times a year. let you do the maths !

As I mentioned I am not condoning one method or the other, A lot of what garages do and operate arent communicated and frankly a lot of customers possibly not interested I offer a glimpse from the garage perspective

Channa
 
I`ve only experience of 2 motorhome dealers and i bought new off both of them. The earlier motorhomes were bought privately secondhand.

1st ......... Glossop Caravans, Glossop. Excellent first class service and would have highly recommended them.

Bought a brand new Adria Coral 680SL in 2005.

It had a few little niggles which were sorted out the following week following a phone call to them

They fed and watered us for the 4 hours it took them to sort it and they gave us a free first service and money for the fuel to get there and back.

We needed more storage space and that`s the reason we traded it in for the following vehicle, Oh how i wish i`d never traded that van in :sad:

2nd ........ Campbells Motorhomes, Kirkham. Absolutely shyte and wouldn`t touch them with a barge pole again :mad2:

Bought a brand new Compass Castaway 500LL in 2007.

They had one in stock ( last one Compass built ) and that`s the one we agreed to buy having first inspected it and made a snagging list.

There was a 6 week wait before picking it up so they could sort the faults and register it etc. etc. etc.

My trade in ( 18 months old & 12,000 miles ) was cleaner and better prepared then the one we were due to pick up.

It was filthy and it hadn`t even been registered :mad2:

They washed and polished it whilst we was looking round but at least that would find any leaks ( or so i thought ).

The handover was a bloody joke and i knew more than he did and in the end i told him to bugger off as he was annoying me.

I still have it today and I`VE sorted out the rest of the problems and got everything working how it should.
 
Weston said:
We bought ours from Don Amott (Leisure Kingdom) near to Derby. We spotted a few issues many they had already detailed on their inspection when taking it in. Everything on their and our list was sorted, including a new awning (the old one looked fine to us.)

I also added tyres (got 4 new ones) a window that was delaminating (they had spotted another and in the end we had new windows all around, we had a lot of hassle with the set but when the window manufacturer got involved it resulted in a full manufacturer recall for McLouis in the UK.) Full service on the motorhome and engine including a new timing belt, a clunky gear change and knock on turning resulted in an overhauled gearbox and new steering rack. We found a crack in the shower tray later they fitted a new one.

They were very good and any issues we mentioned afterwards were sorted without issue, I would buy another from them and I did also haggle them down a few grand, the benefits of turning up on a snowy day in February I guess.

And whilst you would think they would sort things before displaying the motorhome the salesman said they did not as some items might get damaged by people looking around so it would have to return to the workshop and the benefit was that they had a list, the customer added to it and also the salesman was expected to inspect the van as well. Several pairs of eyes helped cover everything.
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I bought. A new van from Don Amotts they were ok about fixing. Faults. But there workshops were very busy so I had to wait weeks to get work done ,I also had the opportunity to talk to workshop staff and found them compitant. And knowledgeable. I think it is important to buy a van as close to home as per possible as you will probably have to make many visits and have to leave your van.You can't be a pain if you have to travel many Miles.phoning can be a waste of time as the person you need to speak to is always on holiday . And they don't return calls.Don Amotts did return calls
 
Would agree with buying as close to home as poss. Bought mine 2 hours drive away and ended up sorting things the dealer should have been doing.
 
2nd ........ Campbells Motorhomes, Kirkham. Absolutely shyte and wouldn`t touch them with a barge pole again :mad2:

Bought a brand new Compass Castaway 500LL in 2007.

They had one in stock ( last one Compass built ) and that`s the one we agreed to buy having first inspected it and made a snagging list.

There was a 6 week wait before picking it up so they could sort the faults and register it etc. etc. etc.

My trade in ( 18 months old & 12,000 miles ) was cleaner and better prepared then the one we were due to pick up.

It was filthy and it hadn`t even been registered :mad2:

They washed and polished it whilst we was looking round but at least that would find any leaks ( or so i thought ).

The handover was a bloody joke and i knew more than he did and in the end i told him to bugger off as he was annoying me.

I still have it today and I`VE sorted out the rest of the problems and got everything working how it should.[/QUOTE]


1n 2006,after walking away from Brownhills and desperate to get rid of our 10 yr old ,clapped out Transit, we went up the road to Cambells.
A Homecar ticked the right boxes and we agreed to buy it. The salesman was a complete idiot and offered us a deal we could not refuse on the new van. it was there with 2 others.

We still had to wait for 4 weeks for them to complete pdi and paperwork. When we got there on the due date, the van was filthy, doorknobs missing and the table damaged... It had obviously had been used as a demo and open for folk to walk through.
They robbed the other vans to get us going, having to come back next day for a full valet . We found that the fridge flue was giving off noxious flues ,,, found to be due to paint or adhesive blocking the flue and noticed the upholstery was stained with God knows what . We were back every week for the next month snagging. the service foreman "Big Dave " was a nasty surly chap and his boss, Les was, useless, defeated.
They had to get bits that would have to come from Belgium... Belgium? As if it was somewhere between Nepal and Tashkent ! It turns out that the Italian group that owned Homecar was going into administration.

In the end, I got in touch with Lunar, the importers and dealt direct with them. Over the coming months, TNT vans were coming up our Portuguese lane, bringing replacement parts and an uprated set of upholstery... More often than not, the wrong ones.

Eventually Lunar asked Camper UK to sort the van out. We spent 2 nights at their factory with the undivided attention of a smashing fitter.

Moral : Never buy a motorhome within 20 miles of Blackpool
 
Also involved in this sausage machine I like the style of the hymer 544 though not specific on the brand have seen a good van on a dealers site bit pricey though they'll give me £29,000 trade in on a 2007 bessacar e560, Classic putit on the top we can give you a good trade in ,
Had a word with Bundesbank at Peterborough they said particularly attractive at the time due to exchange rate & I love LHD save 15 grand on a english dealer van but they don't do trade in , contacted one of the advertisers in MMM who say we will give best price £21,400 so now only saving £8,000 is it still worth the hassle , if you go through a commission seller they want a 3 month contract or you pay their fees if you withdraw,
Got a couple of bits of bodywork booked in mid May after Hereford and a Welsh tour will look seriously after that, thought about calling in at The big show in Düsseldorf on our way to Greece in September will give us a few ideas but the exchange rate could have reversed by then, and I would like to christen the new van with a good tour,
 
Glad you got sorted :dance:

Campbells now have a big new Super Site that sells Motorhomes and New Caravans with a big accessory shop

It`s where the old Hymer UK / Brownhills site was on the main road just after the Freckleton / Lytham turn off.

They still have the Lostock Hall sites but the Kirkham one stopped trading and has been all sorts since
 
I have today concluded a deal to purchase a 2007 Auto-Trail Dakota SE with 3 litre engine :D

The purchase is from Spinney Motorhomes in Holmes Chapel. So far I am very impressed with them, and the vehicle is one that they supplied new to its only owner thus far.

It has been very well looked after and is virtually immaculate inside and out. Much to my delight, the previous owner has kept ALL the handbooks, invoices, guarantees etc from new. Invaluable.

I will be advertising my 1999 Elddis Autostratus EK SE Climate on this site very soon. If anyone is wanting information now, please send me a PM or post a note on this thread ...
 
ATL South West Limited Cucckoo lane Bristol

if anyone thinks of buying a van from ATL's owner Arthur ( just off the M32 outside Bristol) .. don't.... he is an utter rogue....

he has used a variety of different business names in recent years... he won't take credit cards (even if you offer to pay the fee mmm now why would that be ?? ) he is a l i a r and is in cahoots with Kingswood Caravan and Camping Centre. The latter produced a habitation check not even worth wiping your bottom on ... not dated, not signed, utterly worthless and full of false information.

Arthur is known in the trader by other dealers as a winker.... so that says something about him

He imports Japanese vans from auctions, registers them here, charges top dollar for them, and is a thoroughly unscrupulous bloke... but talking to him,... butter would not melt.

my van needed : new gas piping throughout, new wiring, new water heater, legal gas regulator and bottles, new batteries all round, new roof hatches, fridge not working, new timing belt, new diesel glow plugs, new window, cleaning,

he didn't even empty the toilet cassette ... you work out the only way in which I could have known that.......
 
delicagirl said:
if anyone thinks of buying a van from ATL's owner Arthur ( just off the M32 outside Bristol) .. don't.... he is an utter rogue....

SNIP
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Sounds awful. What did the dealer do about all of these faults?
John
 
by the time I had found out that there were so many different things wrong with it it was well past the 3 month warranty he gave on engine and gear box only...... he gave no guarantees on the hab part at all... buyer beware and all that ....

by that time I had no faith whatsoever in him, having met a few people who knew him/had dealt with him ...

to be honest.. I just could not be bothered to argue with the to**er - I just got my van sorted - His place of work was over an hour from me.. and the guy he employed who "knows all about your van" who "showed me how it worked" before leaving his premises.. knew diddly squat - so there was no way I was going to let him work on it....

I put it down to experience... life =- someone cons you now and again... but I am a great believer in what goes around comes around....

I love my little van now
 
The exchange rate is doing us some real favours now if your in the market for a LHD van been quoted £55,000 for a new hymer + vat of course but that's against a £73000 van here brand new hymer b544 a nine month old one 45,000 with solar fitted etc still looking got to sell my old van first before I have realistic figures,
 
Buying second hand Motorhome from a dealer

I bought my second hand Motorhome from a well known dealer, had a splendid handover, but found several faults within a few weeks. The lady at the end of the phone in the service department was the most obstructive person I have ever dealt with.

On my first visit to them to correct things (3 hours drive away), I was approached by the service director who asked if I was happy. I told him I couldn't believe he would let a van leave the premises in such a state, I also mentioned the telephone manner of his front line staff. He assured me he would take my comments seriously.

Another fault required another visit. 2 days before I had a phone call from the lady advising the appointment would have to be rescheduled and could I come on the 20th. I turned up bright and early on the 20th and was met with what was just short of abuse for getting the wrong day. In her diary it was the 20th of next month. After waiting about an hour for the manager to turn up, during which time I was peered at by most of the staff as a curiosity, a resolution was suggested, I leave my van with them for a week, they lend me a car with a full tank. A good solution, but another round trip of 6 hours the next week.

Not the best experience, but probably not unusual, if I ever do it again I know what to expect and will shop a bit closer to home.
 
swiftcamper said:
Having bought approximately 50 brand new vehicles in my time
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In how many years?, when we registered vehicles twice a year I had two new ones every year but it never got to 50, I spent a long time in the trade and I bought hundreds of second hand vehicles but never kept one
 
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