Habitation/ Damp/ Leak check ******************* HOW MUCH ??

[Minxy]

For Elddis as long as you use an NCC Approved workshop the warranty is valid , doesn’t have to be your original dealership or even an Elddis dealership.

I think you mean the Approved Workshop Scheme of which NCC is one of the 'enterprisers:

The Approved Workshop Scheme is a joint enterprise between the NCC (National Caravan Council), The Caravan and Motorhome Club and The Camping and Caravanning Club.

Anyone who intends to use a member of this scheme needs to check on their 'supporters' page for which manufacturers actually accept work done by them:

AWS scheme supporting manufacturers

AWS full list of all of the current scheme supporting tourer, motorhome, camper and trailer tent manufacturers

www.approvedworkshops.co.uk

 

[L' Hobo]

But will invalidate your warranty.

 

[Bobbydaisy]

I think you mean the Approved Workshop Scheme of which NCC is one of the 'enterprisers:

The Approved Workshop Scheme is a joint enterprise between the NCC (National Caravan Council), The Caravan and Motorhome Club and The Camping and Caravanning Club.

Anyone who intends to use a member of this scheme needs to check on their 'supporters' page for which manufacturers actually accept work done by them:

AWS scheme supporting manufacturers

AWS full list of all of the current scheme supporting tourer, motorhome, camper and trailer tent manufacturers

www.approvedworkshops.co.uk

Yep and Elddis is one of them , it was Brownhills who directed me to that scheme as I didn't want to travel from Glasgow to Newark just for a Hab check for warranty. More so when Brownhills will actually reimburse me for that work done 10 miles from my home, ( I have 2 years free servicing from them as part of the deal when I bought the van) once I send them the "Approved" workshop paperwork and they will update the records for warranty via Elddis.

 

[TonyEmm]

The thing that really pigged me of. Was when my dealer charged me £200+ for doing a habitation check on my PVC. It said on the checklist, ' cannot do damp test on a panel van because of the construction'. I asked why it cost so much then. They told me because it has to have it's gas test and it takes a few hours to check for leakage. So they fill the van with gas , leave it for a few hours, then check the speed the gas had leaked out? Even if they did that, they will not have been working on it, so the hours left standing should not be charged for. I never had the subsequent checks, just kept the money in the bank to put towards a new part should I need anything.

That‘s bull! It takes minutes to do a gas test. You can see visually, using a manometer.

 

[VXman]

A habitation service is not the same as a habitation check.
A check is a visual inspection, nothing more.
A service should include servicing appliances.

Fair enough...I meant check. I was quoted £290 for hab check and damp. Not sure if that included vat or not.

Not sure what a hab check includes but my brand new motorhome was delivered with a number of habitation faults. I begrudge paying them to check it after a year when they clearly didn't check it properly first time!!!

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[Plumb]

That‘s bull! It takes minutes to do a gas test. You can see visually, using a manometer.

Yes it doesn't take that long at all but you need to carry out a let by test first then a temperature stabilisation period and then onto the soundness test so 20/30 mins should suffice.

 

[gpat]

That‘s bull! It takes minutes to do a gas test. You can see visually, using a manometer.

I think they mean an air tightness test for the body of the van. Which is nonsense as vans are not airtight as they have vents.

 

[colyboy]

Hi to all of you and thanks for your replies which were very mixed! A couple of questions i was asked.

We bought a Carthago T 430 LE coach built. Not a PVC.

We have had three new vans over the last ten years and have never had any checks carried out. On our exchange for the Carthago the dealer did not ask if we had any hab checks!!

We will as we have in the pass use our local mobile man Devon Leisure (covering the the South and South West of the UK) who i recommended several months ago on this forum. They are excellent people to deal with and come to your home.

The Carthago Malibu 430 is a super mh which we are pleased with.

I have just had another thought. If i paid to have the checks done and a fault is found who pays to put it right? The way i see these robbing **** they would expect me to pay!
Colyboy

 

[Dai37]

Be warned, transferred my Warranty at some cost on purchase of 1owner 17 reg Elddis van with 5000 miles on the clock at end of 2019. Van virtually unused all year and dealers mostly shut. Friend spotted some damp over the wheel arch, battery box seal had come adrift and water got in.
No hab check done in 2020 although the dealers was mostly closed, claimed on warranty (lol, I know ) apparently a dealer was open for about a fortnight who could have done a hab check. Based on that surprisingly? warranty refused, to the outcome, cost £2500 to put right. Not that the hab check would have made any difference, other than found it two months earlier. I am sure they would have come up with something else to avoid paying, should it have been done on time. Still you live and learn.

 

[Wools]

Best damp check was the Missus outside with a pressure washer. I was inside the garage with a torch. Soon found the leak.

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[backender1]

Habitation check pay around £150 - £160 any more and you are being done i have mine done by a motorhome / caravan service agent no problem i have been doing motorhomeing for 15 years do not go to a main deler they rip you off.

 

[Plumb]

Habitation check pay around £150 - £160 any more and you are being done i have mine done by a motorhome / caravan service agent no problem i have been doing motorhomeing for 15 years do not go to a main deler they rip you off.

Yes not sure how a main dealer can be avoided as it’s a requirement with some manufacturers in order to keep the damp ingress valid ! The habitation check isn’t required by the main dealer but the damp test is, not sure if it’s a fixed price or if main dealers are able to charge what they like but it’s definitely a monopoly created by the manufacturer.

 

[Loftyjeff]

Just had invitation from my suppling dealer to have my first Hab/Damp/Leak check. They tell me unless these checks are done my warranty be invalid! How can this be? I
If I bought a brand new washing machine and it went wrong in the first year I would be covered by the Sale of Goods Act and the supplier would have it put right or replace it.


HOW MUCH ? ************************************* £599

Colyboy

We pay £130.00 used them for many years based in Leicestershire come to where we live highly recommend them.

 

[MacroMad]

necessary to maintain warranty.

And what warrenty is that...........
We hear so many people saying that when they have a problem, the "Dealer" has some reason why it's not covered.
Waste of time, waste of money, just look after your product yourself and you may not get problems.

 

[VXman]

And what warrenty is that...........
We hear so many people saying that when they have a problem, the "Dealer" has some reason why it's not covered.
Waste of time, waste of money, just look after your product yourself and you may not get problems.

If you have a new motorhome you will have a water ingress warranty. My Burstner one is 10 years. I have heard cases of damp issues and they can be VERY expensive to fix. You cannot 'look after' issues of damp. More often than not they will be a manufacturing fault.

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[Plumb]

And what warrenty is that...........
We hear so many people saying that when they have a problem, the "Dealer" has some reason why it's not covered.
Waste of time, waste of money, just look after your product yourself and you may not get problems.

Hiya yes I think that's over simplifying it a bit ,I had my motorhome new but didn't have a damp test until it's due date at 12 months old where it was found to have damp in the rear both sides of 90% ! So by then it was all to late for me the rot already had set in.
The dealer did repair it but 12 months later the damp was still evident in the same place ,not good so I can sort of agree about a waste of money because we were handing over money annually just for the dealer to inform us of damp ingress that was probably there since day one of the build .well the warranty in my case was for 7years , but my problem was what after 7years was up and the damp issue was never cleared up particularly if it was an inherent fault where do you stand then .The dealers technician said also kindly told us that they were all like it . So unfortunately it had to go although we loved the motorhome !

 

[JaG]

£150, and that is a full Hab Check, gas, electric, damp check, coming to the house.

 

[Plumb]

£150, and that is a full Hab Check, gas, electric, damp check, coming to the house.

I know it doesn’t make sense, the problem is that the manufacturer makes it a precondition to use an authorised dealer to maintain the warranty whatever that’s worth? I suppose when the deal is done when purchasing the vehicle you agree to that condition or lose the so called damp warranty.

 

[Robert Clark]

Personally I wouldn’t use anyone but the dealer for damp checks during the guarantee period as future buyers may be put off if the damp warranty is no longer valid.

 

[Minxy]

I know it doesn’t make sense, the problem is that the manufacturer makes it a precondition to use an authorised dealer to maintain the warranty whatever that’s worth? I suppose when the deal is done when purchasing the vehicle you agree to that condition or lose the so called damp warranty.

The other thing you have to remember is that some manufacturers have a much more intensive checking regime than others and the hab check includes lubricating and adjusting stuff too, not just checking it. I'm not condoning the practice of this 'monopoly' but there's not a lot we can do about it except be mindful when buying, hence why we ensured we had the first one included as part of our purchase.

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[Minxy]

Personally I wouldn’t use anyone but the dealer for damp checks during the guarantee period as future buyers may be put off if the damp warranty is no longer valid.

Yes, for those who are new to MHing or not as au fait as others with what/how to check it can be a concern especially if buying privately.

 

[PJGWiltshire]

That isn't the case now thankfully ... see bottom of post.


You actually don't ... see bottom of post.


But will invalidate your warranty.


No it's all done electronically.

The current requirement for Carthagos:

We had a full hab and damp check the 1st time as this was included as part of the purchase deal, it would have a cost of around £370 so least we didn't have to pay for it.

When it was coming up to our 2nd anniversary I double checked the requirements with Go European who said that although we could have a hab check done it was up to us if we wanted to as our warranty for that part would end then anyway (no 3rd year for Carthagos), this meant it would be an expensive box tick for the sake of it especially as we were more than capable of checking things were working ourselves just as they would do (we put in some claims which had been accepted to be sorted when we took it in).

They said however that the damp check was definitely needed to keep the water ingress warranty valid (6 years) but not having a hab check done wouldn't affect the validity of this but to be certain that there had been no change to the requirements they contacted Carthago and it was confirmed that ONLY a damp check was required ... for a Carthago it means dowsing them for a long time in water (ie a mock heavy rainstorm) and then checking for leaks all over, you can't use a damp meter on them as it won't work due to their allow sides etc. Due to us travelling through horrendous weather to get to them they didn't need to do the dousing just the checking!

There is also mention of an initial damp check at 3 months from new but this was definitely voluntary so we didn't bother with it and had no problem with warranty claims.

Did exactly the same with our chic c line. By the time it was coming unto 2 years old I had taken up with Reliance Motorhome service Chichester who had just become Carthago authorised agents. They carried out the water ingress test(and still do). I always have a gas safety certificate done every year. As they were inspecting the Fridge/Oven and heater these are parts under the gas service For £25 What was good of them that during the Ingress/Gas inspection he gave the MH a quick once over around the other main component parts of the habitation check (Free of charge). He found that the motor on the extractor fan was faulty and repaired it under warranty. So any labour charge for that was covered. Never looked back since then using Reliance. Anybody down on the South coast give them a go.

 

[Plumb]

The other thing you have to remember is that some manufacturers have a much more intensive checking regime than others and the hab check includes lubricating and adjusting stuff too, not just checking it. I'm not condoning the practice of this 'monopoly' but there's not a lot we can do about it except be mindful when buying, hence why we ensured we had the first one included as part of our purchase.

Yes just take it on the chin! Eh Eh

 

[Plumb]

Did exactly the same with our chic c line. By the time it was coming unto 2 years old I had taken up with Reliance Motorhome service Chichester who had just become Carthago authorised agents. They carried out the water ingress test(and still do). I always have a gas safety certificate done every year. As they were inspecting the Fridge/Oven and heater these are parts under the Cab service For £25 What was good of them that during the Ingress/Gas inspection he gave the MH a quick once over around the other main component parts of the habitation check (Free of charge). He found that the motor on the extractor fan was faulty and repaired it under warranty. So any labour charge for that was covered. Never looked back since then using Reliance. Anybody down on the South coast give them a go.

Wow Best all pile down to reliance then I’m impressed !

 

[bobnick]

How does NOT having the hab and or damp things done each year effect? the warranty say over 3 years from new??

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[peterc10]

How does NOT having the hab and or damp things done each year effect? the warranty say over 3 years from new??

Depends upon the wording of any relevant warranty.

 

[Minxy]

How does NOT having the hab and or damp things done each year effect? the warranty say over 3 years from new??

It depends on whether you have issues or not, if you don't have it done then after the first year you basically have no warranty at all on anything to do with the 'hab' part, only the base vehicle (assuming it's a Fiat as it's first service is 2 years), so you take the risk that any issues in the future would be up to you to pay for.

 

[Plumb]

My experience also with the damp issues I had was that after having the repairs completed I had little confidence in the habitation part anymore, and for me my conscience would not allow me to flog it on privately so it left me really with no option but to sell it back to the dealer! Obviously at a loss so which ever way you cut it if you choose to have checks carried out it costs and if you don’t it can also be costly! So basically your damned if you do and damned if you don’t.

 

[Speve]

Oki doki... So can anybody plant this magic electronic stamp or is it a case of rip off Hymer... You can only be serviced by us ????

You are dead right there I couldn’t get ours done due to covid got an extension still couldn’t get it done to covid again all Hymer could say was hard luck your warranty is invalid
And incidentally van is Four years old in June and no damp at all so have saved a few bob in damp checks

 

[bobnick]

Sorry i meant to say how does it effect the deprecation not having the tests done???

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