Thinking of buying a new motorhome? Caveat Emptor

We purchased our motorhome on the 3rd May. A Bailey 740 from MJ Caravans in Gomshall, a major dealer in the south east.

On collection, there was one small problem that couldn't be sorted out on the day. It was a problem with the Thatcham alarm. I was promised they would sort it out by contacting the alarm installer. By the end of the following week I had to chase up the dealer and it was eventually sorted out by myself contacting the self employed installer.......not too much of a problem, but I did feel that I was less of a priority to MJ Caravans than prior to handing over £43,000.

Two weeks later though the relationship with the dealer was about to be given a sterner test......

Driving home from Norfolk down the M11 and with just 500 miles on the clock I heard a ping from the dashboard and the error displayed "ABS sensor failure" . I wasn't overly concerned as I felt that it was purely a sensor error - I mean, what could be seriously wrong with a brand new van? 

When I arrived home I emailed the salesman at MJ Caravans asking for some advice on where to take it to get the "sensor" sorted. No reply 3 days later, I simply rang the local Paugeot main dealer and explained what had happened. I told them it was under warranty, and it was booked in for a Thursday at 2pm with Crawley Down Garage (CDG) Copthorne.

45 minutes after driving away I received a phone call from the CDG service dept...."your van is not under warranty, you need to go back to your converter"..I will cut short the rest of the conversation...I spoke on the phone to the Motor Home manager at MJ Caravans and explained what was happening...."he's talking rubbish," he said..... But there was no offer of him "getting involved". At 5pm I was pleading with CDG to speak to the dealer......

Drove away that evening, van not fixed. Unfortunately I didn't find the two lage scratches they had put into my kitchen window until I reached home (they have since denied all knowledge). So bad experince all round.

Following afternoon (following my request for CDG to speak to dealer directly) I received a phone call from CDG to say the van was under a warranty so they would order a replacement sensor....but they still warned that if it wasn't a genuine part (on the van) then the repair could take days and I'd be expected to pay. I asked that they should then leave the repair until after our trip to Lancashire the following weekend - no problem say CDG.

Decided to have a short trip out in the van when disaster struck, the back wheel suddendly locked up whilst driving down the A22...a frightening experience

The following morning I am on the phone to MJ Caravans......I am not impressed. After explaining the events to the motorhome manager he said, "what do you want me to do about it?" I took this as "what am I able to do"....as he had pointed out that they have no engineers.

I said I wanted him to take my lethal van back, get it sorted and in the meantime supply me with a courtesy van. He told me that would not be possible..the motorhome trade is a "cottage industry". Whilst my request for support was a bit "tongue in cheek" I was completely frustrated at their total lack of guidance or empathy. His comment was tackless and quite stupid (IMO).

CDG did say they would book it in for the next Thursday as the sensor should have arrived....in the hope the van would be ready for our important trip north. 

However the fault was not the ABS sensor in itself but there were bolts missing from the AL-KO chassis. AL-KO fortunately acted quickly and sent the parts overnight and the van was fixed by Friday evening. 

Bit concerning having bolts missing? The ABS sensor reported the fault as it was loose. AL-KO are investigating the issue and have been excellent over the phone since I spoke to them..they have also offered to have the van checked over. They say that this is the first issue of this type after putting together thousands of vans. So maybe I was simply unlucky in that my van chassis wasn't put together right. I also think AL-KO have spoken to Bailey.