Another motorhomer bites the dust

[Otter Spotter]

Our new Hymer 2017 spent more time at the dealers (Lowdhams) than with us after 3 years we had enough and got rid.

Do you think it was a ploy to get 2nd hand stock in for sale?

 

[Steve and Denise]

Do you think it was a ploy to get 2nd hand stock in for sale?

Certainly did not feel like it

 

[Wonders]

Bought our Pilote from Hayes Leisure in West Mids. 40 miles away but the last 8 miles can take for ever M6 spaghetti junction and all that.
Every journey for hab service worth it.
Great dealer. I feel they always have your back. Willing and able to help over the phone if necessary when needed. Ie when the satellite got stuck in open position when in Germany .
Van been reliable and well built
Have a love hate relationship with electric drop down bed never have got to grips with noisy mechanism one day when operating up or down then smooth and quiet another.

 

[Molly A]

Why? Have

Brought my AT second hand in 2012 and it’s been an absolute dream to own. I’ll always grumble at the build quality and AT should be disgusted with themselves over it, especially the amount of poor publicity they get as a result, but mines over the niggly craftsmenship on the interior.

But it’s dry, damp free, been really enjoyable to own and I love it.

Oh and a big no thanks ever to a Hymer…..

You ever had a Hymer?

 

[PP Bear]

You ever had a Hymer?

Nope, but after living in Germany for 20 years and many friends owning them, they don’t do nuffing for me.

We used to be able to get them tax free living there, so quite a discount over the UK prices, but just never floated my boat and I’m not a fan of A classes either. They all look exactly the same when you step inside them.

Aint life great that we all have choices and don’t like the same things.

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[tonyysue]

Brought my AT second hand in 2012 and it’s been an absolute dream to own. I’ll always grumble at the build quality and AT should be disgusted with themselves over it, especially the amount of poor publicity they get as a result, but mines over the niggly craftsmenship on the interior.

But it’s dry, damp free, been really enjoyable to own and I love it.

Oh and a big no thanks ever to a Hymer…..

Then you really haven’t lived - I’ve had a 1995 Hymer B544 since I imported it from Germany in 2000. It’s now done 300,000 and apart from tyres, belts and brake shoes and pads

Brought my AT second hand in 2012 and it’s been an absolute dream to own. I’ll always grumble at the build quality and AT should be disgusted with themselves over it, especially the amount of poor publicity they get as a result, but mines over the niggly craftsmenship on the interior.

But it’s dry, damp free, been really enjoyable to own and I love it.

Oh and a big no thanks ever to a Hymer…..

has only had 2 windscreens, 2 wheel bearings. a water pump, both front McPherson struts and replacement discs. It’s always been bone dry, no rust and i’ve done most of the maintenance. It’s got the SOFIM 2.5 TD engine which is ungoverned and bombproof. It still has the original injectors and when tested on a rolling road still met the ‘as new’ spec. It’s made being a motorhomer an absolute dream!

 

[Cookieboy68]

Our 20+year old Hymer is brilliant all the usual running costs, nothing drastic!

Same with our 20 year old Hymer

 

[frenchie 79]

Couple of co-incidences here.
Our Bailey is called Billy.
Billy is going in to A&E today to have 9 warrananty jobs sorted. It's about 6 months old and done 6,500 miles.

As for AT. Had a AT Imala last year. In my view apart from the damp issues ( a certain dealer who gave a p.x valuation lied about the extent of the damp therefore tried to reduce the price) i think the AT is slightly better built than the Bailey.

Slightly more expensive too

 

[MrsC]

We bought a new Carthago CTourer in 2015 and never had any problems. Wonderful vehicle - Fiat base dreamy. Now going back to tugging due to hubby’s health problem. Been motorhoming 20 years - Hymer, Hobby. Never a problem with any. Hope caravans are as reliable

 

[Hymerboy]

Sadly, with pre-loved, you have to buy the right van at the right price, regardless of where it is situated. We do however, have it serviced locally, both the Fiat and habitation side, different places like.

It strikes me that owning a motorhome is one down from a boat, which in turn, is one down from a plane. You need to spend the money to keep the motorhome working as intended. I have been surprised at the expense of ownership.

I hope your neighbour BusyBuilder isn't too sore with his experience.

There's a saying that you've found happiness when you buy a boat, and you find happiness again when you sell it, I sometimes wonder if the same applies to motorhomes ?

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[Molly A]

Weve got a Hymer Exsis 414 I ...
Cracking little van!

 

[Monty777]

Weve got a Hymer Exsis 414 I ...
Cracking little van!

Wow-someone else with a 414, love ours but now looking to change it for something where we don’t have to use ladders to get into bed. I broke my hip last year and am finding the ladders less than optimal now sadly……

 

[Tony50]

I find it hard to imagine that nobody has ever had a fault of some sort with a Motorhome, example this guy said never had a problem with my Hymer , his wife came around back of van and said what about the leak from the roof vent frame?

 

[tigerblue]

There will always be some problematic cars, trucks, MHs, etc. Luck might have something to do with it. Our 3 year old East Neuk Fifer on a Citroen Relay, bought new 500 miles from home, has been problem free.

 

[stevewagner]

Sadly, with pre-loved, you have to buy the right van at the right price, regardless of where it is situated. We do however, have it serviced locally, both the Fiat and habitation side, different places like.

It strikes me that owning a motorhome is one down from a boat, which in turn, is one down from a plane. You need to spend the money to keep the motorhome working as intended. I have been surprised at the expense of ownership.

I hope your neighbour BusyBuilder isn't too sore with his experience.

I used to have a very nice fishing/fun boat moored in the local harbour and loved it. he mechanic I used for the servicing said boat stands for ‘Bring Out Another Thousand’ - he wasn’t far wrong!

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[Molly A]

We can still cope, fortunately. Love that it is relatively agile and cheaper on the ferries from Italy to greece. Great payload and decent garage space for all the stuff we take to our boat.

 

[tufty]

Weve got a Hymer Exsis 414 I ...
Cracking little van!

Wow-someone else with a 414, love ours but now looking to change it for something where we don’t have to use ladders to get into bed. I broke my hip last year and am finding the ladders less than optimal now sadly……

We had a Hymer Exsis 414 too but the ‘t’ not the ’i’ version we loved it. It met all our needs & never a problem with it. Sadly it got written off last Oct when 2 cars piled into the back of it. We would have bought another one if we could have found one but no joy. Now got a ‘new to us’ Cathargo compactline 138I which is also a great van, we now love it too It‘s just a tad longer & higher at 6.4m x 3m though.

 

[Victor And Margaret]

We bought a new Bessacarr E435 in 2009 that turned out to be an absolute pile of junk. Never ending electrical problems that meant it spent more time at the dealers than with us and ruined more than a few holidays. It didn't help that the dealer was useless and ended up going into administration as well. We gave it up as a bad job after 3 years and went back to tugging (another brand new van and whole heap of trouble from day 1). We've now come to the conclusion that it's just not worth the hassle and expense buying a new unit and have gone down the second hand route. We're now the happy owners of a 2006 Autocruise Starspirit that was riddled with damp and had a few other issues that 5 weeks of DIY have sorted out. It's comfier than any other van we've had, everything works (at the moment), and if something does go wrong you're not afraid of invalidating a warranty by fixing it yourself.

 

[Tony50]

There will always be some problematic cars, trucks, MHs, etc. Luck might have something to do with it. Our 3 year old East Neuk Fifer on a Citroen Relay, bought new 500 miles from home, has been problem free.

When we looked at this conversion we thought the build quality and design was the best we had seen ,but, in the end we need a bit move room and ordered a coach built, I already have a damp Meter!!

 

[Wack]

I must admit I'm seriously thinking of changing to a caravan, I think I'm 6 years too early for a motorhome as I'm only semi retired

Had it 2 years , the longest we've been away is a week , my wife still works , the most she can get off is 2 weeks so no month touring europe

The smart toad died last night , ecu problem by the look of it so something else to fix , I'm thinking instead of 25k in a motorhome and 3k in a toad plus another real car I could buy a 20k car and a 15k caravan

Only one lot of tax , insurance and running costs plus a nicer car

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[Tony50]

I must admit I'm seriously thinking of changing to a caravan, I think I'm 6 years too early for a motorhome as I'm only semi retired

Had it 2 years , the longest we've been away is a week , my wife still works , the most she can get off is 2 weeks so no month touring europe

The smart toad died last night , ecu problem by the look of it so something else to fix , I'm thinking instead of 25k in a motorhome and 3k in a toad plus another real car I could buy a 20k car and a 15k caravan

Only one lot of tax , insurance and running costs plus a nicer car

Ideal in lots of ways, but, not if you go abroad, we use Aires where we can.

 

[richws]

Weve got a Hymer Exsis 414 I ...
Cracking little van!

Hi I don’t suppose you are looking to sell your exsis 414 i as we just missed out on one. Many thanks

 

[Toady]

I love my Hymer. That said, every van has problems. I never leave home without my tool kit

 

[Bramidan]

I wonder if it is possible to establish what faults are down to the base vehicle, as far as I can see mine is simply a Fiat Ducatto and what faults are down to the converter?
Pretty naive of me but I always think the front is Fiat and the bit on the back is Adria.

 

[Molly A]

Hi I don’t suppose you are looking to sell your exsis 414 i as we just missed out on one. Many thanks

No thanks, it suits our needs really well and we love it, but thank you for asking !

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[busbuddy]

I think I'm 6 years too early for a motorhome as I'm only semi retired

Never heard that before
I have had motorhomes since I was in my early 20s

 

[Tonks]

Don’t forget Gaffa tape.
Phil

Always got a roll of it in mine!

 

[dally]

Autotrail and Brownhills. Two words to raise my blood pressure. I accept that some have had good experiences with these two but ours was so bad we decided never to buy a British built van again. We have since, owned three continental vans and have had no trouble with any of them thankfully.

 

[WallaceandGromit]

Coming up to the first year 2009 Autocruise Gleneagle problems I've had are 3rd party suppliers' skylight seal Thetford fridge (hate Thetford with a passion) habitation control board and clutch disintegrating all warranty claims and the locker door not sealing gentle tap with a Birmingham screwdriver tightened the lock was a bit worried as Swift took them over around that time but in all the habitation build quality has been excellent just thankful I bought a warranty for the first time in my life

 

[Gaston aires]

Always got a roll of it in mine!

I’ve always got clear gorilla tape as well pretty amazing as it can mend a hole in a bucket.
Phil

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