Are all new Swift Kontiki blinds faulty/creased? (6 Viewers)

[Zoshee]

Hi all,

Can I ask if anyone with a Swift Kontiki 2023 onwards has noticed their front window blind is excessively creased.

Long story short, the dealer reported the creased blind to me as part of the "pre inspection check" a day before we collected our new Kontiki. One of the numerous faults that would be fixed under warranty I was told. This is another long drawn out story for another time.

We waited the long lead time (with any warranty parts it appears from Swift it appears) and I took it in to be fitted.

Waiting for 4 hours for the privilege only for it to be fitted with a blind that was more creased than the one that was replaced. Someone didn't have the sense to question this and just fitted a brand new creased blind "because it was on the jobsheet".

I've now been told by the dealer they are all like this and it's Swifts bad parts so there is nothing they can do.

So anyone out there with good front blinds?

We've had a Swift van before and it was fine so this isn't a Swift bashing exercise I just want to know if this is true or if we're being fobbed off.

Edit: for clarity here is the response from the dealer

Following your visit to us last weekend our parts team have been looking into the issue with the cab windscreen blind.

Having looked at several other vehicles we have on site and swift parts, we have found that all of these blinds are creased the same as the replacement on your vehicle. This is due to the way they are manufactured from Swift and is unavoidable. Therefore another replacement blind would be exactly the same as the one you currently have.

I am sorry we could not provide you with a different response on this

Thanks

 

[martin2603]

Perhaps a Butler / Chauffeur would be a solution?

 

[our poppy lll]

Perhaps a Butler / Chauffeur would be a solution?

I have a pretty flamingo, she makes cups of toast and slices of tea for my breakfast in bed every day.. that’s after she says get your lazy fat arse out of bed you “gorgeous hunk”! ( ok I made the last bit up)

 

[jdk62]

I truly sympathise….

I have other posts on here cataloging my problems with a new Kontiki…

Personally I would never purchase a Swift.

I do hope you sort out your issues.

 

[Northernraider]

Why did you not buy a Morello if money was no object ?

Not really the point though . If it's brand new it should be perfect regardless of the brand

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[Zoshee]

The plot thickens. I've just rang Swift (based on your advice thanks) and they tell me there's no warranty claim on the system for the blinds. Other stuff yes, but not the blinds. They also tell me the blinds shouldn't be creased.

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

The plot thickens. I've just rang Swift (based on your advice thanks) and they tell me there's no warranty claim on the system for the blinds. Other stuff yes, but not the blinds. They also tell me the blinds shouldn't be creased.

You should ask them to inform the dealer who refitted them to the van.
Just note that it's not a warranty claim . The creases were there when you bought it.
I would suspect the dealer would have just swapped the blinds over from another van. Just keep pushing the blinds are not cheap to replace.

 

[Zoshee]

Hmm, with that argument anything identified after collection wouldn't be a warranty issue. Worth noting is they outlined the creases as part of the pre-collection inspection report that needed addressing up so it should be a warranty issue or so I was led to believe. You'd think with a firm the size of Brownhills this wouldn't be such an issue. At the time the engineer, who was trying to help, did actually suggest taking the part off another van but the girl on the service desk flatly refused to even entertain the idea. And then the same girl emails me to tell me all Swift blinds on this range are rubbish so like it or lump it or words to that effect (see original post).

I'm more bothered about the kitchen drawers bodge job they made to be completely honest with you.

Must be a pretty confident business model if they can afford to do this to customers who would otherwise be coming back for years for engineering work and habchecks etc.

I was also talking to a nice couple while I was waiting (the many hours) who told me about the service intervals. You have to get the annual service within a time frame to maintain warranty and they couldn't get their van in during this time with them. One of the 'benefits' of buying from Brownhills is the 2 years free servicing but if you can't get it in whats the point. This is anecdotal but it leads me to think they are have too much work on and not enough resources/workshop space.

 

[martin2603]

With the new model Kontiki s I have to say tht to some extent they have lost the plot so to speak. Moving the waste tap to centre of the vehicle so it can easily get knocked off, fitting taps where you cannot acces them, why?, I have had a 669 from new for 7 years now, waste is situated behind the under the nearside rear locker with the tap insid ethe locker, outlet is over 1ft from the ground. If it anit broke why fix it, they have reduced the fridge size on many model to a slim line, why? I have Remis blinds, no problems. The only warranty issues I had were, a reseal of the hab door, carried out by dealer, new oil sensor, by Northern Commercials (engine out) squeeky handbrake on the alko tag axle, gave up with Fiat Proffessional, and did it myself. I have replaved two awning lights (led s ), and resecured the exhaust heat sheild myself. I have also added extra rubber mounting to the Waterpump to reduce what noise there is. It returns 26mpg and does exactly what I want it to do. Perhaps I have been lucky? I really like the new Le Voyagers but not on an Alko Chassis with a Fiat Ducato power unit. Same with the New Coachman. Rear wheel drive on a proper Chassis , Daily or MB please.

 

[our poppy lll]

Hmm, with that argument anything identified after collection wouldn't be a warranty issue. Worth noting is they outlined the creases as part of the pre-collection inspection report that needed addressing up so it should be a warranty issue or so I was led to believe. You'd think with a firm the size of Brownhills this wouldn't be such an issue. At the time the engineer, who was trying to help, did actually suggest taking the part off another van but the girl on the service desk flatly refused to even entertain the idea. And then the same girl emails me to tell me all Swift blinds on this range are rubbish so like it or lump it or words to that effect (see original post).

I'm more bothered about the kitchen drawers bodge job they made to be completely honest with you.

Must be a pretty confident business model if they can afford to do this to customers who would otherwise be coming back for years for engineering work and habchecks etc.

I was also talking to a nice couple while I was waiting (the many hours) who told me about the service intervals. You have to get the annual service within a time frame to maintain warranty and they couldn't get their van in during this time with them. One of the 'benefits' of buying from Brownhills is the 2 years free servicing but if you can't get it in whats the point. This is anecdotal but it leads me to think they are have too much work on and not enough resources/workshop space.

I think it is important for you to know, that to maintain the swift warranty you need to have a habitation check by a swift dealer, this is yearly. So any swift dealer will do, Spinney in Newcastle under Lyme have advised me they will do the habitation it is £100 less than Lowdhams fee.
Every 2 years you must have the Fiat vehicle service by a Fiat approved garage, I have contacted Sherwood’s at Etruria, Stoke on Trent who have said they are happy to service and undertake Fiat vehicle warranty work. The service cost was £65.00 less than Lowdhams.
Your biggest problem is finding a swift dealer who will do swift warranty work. You could ask Don Ammott.

It may help you to know, Sherwood’s have many Fiat dealerships in the UK. There must be one by you.
Hope this helps..

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[Fatboy]

2022 884 and the blind is wrinkled

 

[Zoshee]

I think it is important for you to know, that to maintain the swift warranty you need to have a habitation check by a swift dealer, this is yearly. So any swift dealer will do, Spinney in Newcastle under Lyme have advised me they will do the habitation it is £100 less than Lowdhams fee.
Every 2 years you must have the Fiat vehicle service by a Fiat approved garage, I have contacted Sherwood’s at Etruria, Stoke on Trent who have said they are happy to service and undertake Fiat vehicle warranty work. The service cost was £65.00 less than Lowdhams.
Your biggest problem is finding a swift dealer who will do swift warranty work. You could ask Don Ammott.

It may help you to know, Sherwood’s have many Fiat dealerships in the UK. There must be one by you.
Hope this helps..

That is very useful thanks. Swift gave me a list of local dealers who can do warranty work so I've organised a visit next week to one so hopefully they can help out.

 

[pelican]

Wots a morello?

A Type of Italian cherry.

 

[our poppy lll]

So another 5.00 am get up, shower, shave, slice of tea, cup of toast, yep still zzzzing, drive 2 hours to Gunthorpe, give Lowdhams my MoHo. Spend £10.80 tea and toast, then £5.40 two teas. I was not very nice, but I did say it is unfair the girls doing their best to book me in should not be subject to criticism, but they are the only ones we speak to, the top management hide in their towers.
Still the young lady did her best, they did not start it until 10,30 2 hours after they asked us to be there, at lunch time the young lady did call us and was totally honest and told us everything.
so, 1 they took off the fresh water pump, and pipes, replaced and sealed the pipes, replaced the pump and left the sealant to dry, 2 they replaced the passenger side blind with a new one, 3 they put the rubber cover on the skylight. The door glass is ordered but as it does not leak or is causing any issues, we can wait.
4 Finally on the way there this morning the Sat Nav was working fine, they had reset it last week.
I was there at 07.55, so had to wait 30 mins, while waiting I set up the sat nav to take up home, it was then I noticed there was no weight and sizes app coming on the nav, this was mentioned.
So they did this too.

We are now back to the point of everything working (except the hab door glass), we can go on holiday in two week, whoo hooo.

I have had a good look at the front windscreen blind, there are no creases but I have noticed that the blind is quite tight against the reversing camera, I don’t know but it looks like over time this may cause creases on the blind, maybe I should ask if the camera should be closer to the glass away from touching the blind, this is only obvious when you look in from the outside of the Moho at the front..

 

[Zoshee]

That's good news, glad you got most of it sorted in the end. I've had a couple of breakfasts at Brownhills under similar circumstances. Might have a few more yet...

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[our poppy lll]

That's good news, glad you got most of it sorted in the end. I've had a couple of breakfasts at Brownhills under similar circumstances. Might have a few more yet...

Yeah but as soon as we can after our booked holidays we are getting rid of it, I have no faith in Lowdhams or Swift anymore. Once the door glass is repaired. I’ll go through it with a fine tooth comb making sure it’s in tip top condition, then sell it for what ever I can get, I expect £80k.. that’s a £16,400 loss since purchase plus £5250.00 loss for the hydraulics. I’ve probably spent £1500.00 going back and forth to from Lowdhams. That’s like £23,150 loss in 15 months.., ok I’ve had 36 weeks in holidays in Europe, and 4/5 weeks in Scotland, Cornwall and Whitby. If you say 40 weeks, then it’s what £578.50 a week. I suppose it’s not the end of the world. That’s not including vehicle tax, Insurance, Fuel, ferry, Campsite fees, Tolls etc..

Swift a bag of Rubbish, Lowdhams a lot of very nice people, working on a very poorly designed system with a lack of any professional training. ..

 

[Zoshee]

I get where you're coming from and I do similar things, once I've decided I don't like something that is it. What I would say is it sounds like you've got most of the snagging sorted out now so to sell it immediately and somebody will be getting a bargain. Better to enjoy the sorted van for a bit I'd say then sell it after a couple of years and get something else. You wouldn't buy a new house, fix a the snagging and then just move.

There's lots of good stuff about the Swift Kontiki as well. We looked at loads of vans before getting this one. Unless you are prepared to spend an extra £30k (which we can't afford) it's much of a muchness. Layouts good, drive is good, it's comfortable, garage is great. The only thing I don't like is the fixed table.

 

[gus-lopez]

You wouldn't buy a new house, fix a the snagging and then just move.

We did & in the 2 years we lived there we also had all windows and doors changed for upvc, all fascias,soffits& dormer cladding changed as well.plus a mountain of other work.

 

[Nanniemate]

We did & in the 2 years we lived there we also had all windows and doors changed for upvc, all fascias,soffits& dormer cladding changed as well.plus a mountain of other work.

Many do . 8 years for Charles Church to finish mine (they thought I'd give up like the neighbours did) so wrong

 

[our poppy lll]

I get where you're coming from and I do similar things, once I've decided I don't like something that is it. What I would say is it sounds like you've got most of the snagging sorted out now so to sell it immediately and somebody will be getting a bargain. Better to enjoy the sorted van for a bit I'd say then sell it after a couple of years and get something else. You wouldn't buy a new house, fix a the snagging and then just move.

There's lots of good stuff about the Swift Kontiki as well. We looked at loads of vans before getting this one. Unless you are prepared to spend an extra £30k (which we can't afford) it's much of a muchness. Layouts good, drive is good, it's comfortable, garage is great. The only thing I don't like is the fixed table.

I sold my business back in January, so money isn’t a problem, we were thinking of £190,000 on a hymer but have decided just to get rid of the swift and not buy anything. Yes someone will get a £105,000 Moho for £80,000 but that’s life. I just don’t want the hassle of motorhome repairs. It’s just a waste of precious time.

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[JoshnPen]

Buy a used one so someone else has dealt with snagging?

 

[JoshnPen]

Seems a shame to give up on the lifestyle.

 

[Tony50]

Blinds from new should be in good order, Is it not possible for some Dealer Repair Workshops to correct faults first time , I was in Despair with my dealer I sold our Auto-sleeper. I even offered to go into Their Workshop for 2 weeks to sort them out. There are of course some good Dealers that have a good reputation, but same supposedly bad dealer names keep coming up on here, I think some, and I say some Dealer's might well get a message if they joined this Forum.

 

[Tony50]

Buy a used one so someone else has dealt with snagging?

Or a load of Damp !!

 

[Tim P]

Hi
"Every 2 years you must have the Fiat vehicle service by a Fiat approved garage"
Not quite true, most main dealers wish, and they will try to tell (read sell) you this, however the law was changed some years back, to stop the monopolies, so ANY, yes ANY, vat registered garage can do routine services and maintenance work and maintain the manufacturers guarantee/warrantee provided they use genuine OEM parts / oil etc, with a receipt noting all the genuine parts!

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[Minnie]

Current issues
1, missing bolt cover on front skylight, skylight not opening beyond 10cms. Then would not close, repaired awaiting cover
2, warped habitation Perspex glass, common fault!, awaiting glass
3, broken blind on passenger door! Waiting blind
4, fresh water pump positioned wrong, it got ripped off going over speed hump! £210 repair cost refunded by swift. Back in next Friday as the pump is now leaking.

Other issues:
1: sat nav not working still testing..
2: panel above door with Aldi and control panel fell off (Panel replaced) email last week saying parts have arrived, but it’s been repaired??
3: after replacing panel Aldi heating did not work. Repaired. As 2
4: Second Pig tail not fitted, now fitted.
5: habitation fly screen came off runners, put back on.
6: carpets disintegrated, replaced, second set disintegrating. Low quality product.
7: revering camera not working, replaced.

Been back to Lowdhams 7 times..
but the front blind is not creased.. beachyhead, beachyhead, beachyhead…



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Crikey !! That’s a lot of faults

 

[Minnie]

Here's photos of the creased blinds. When I got the van it was only creased on the left hand side, now they've kindly provided creases on both left and right. It's not the end of the world but they are clearly damaged and they pointed it out in the first place. You buy something of this value and expect everything to be as it should be when new. I wouldn't buy a new car and accept marks on the seats.

Heres the string/bolt combo holding the whole thing together as well. It comes off 9 times out of 10 when closing the blind.

During my heated conversation with the service desk I asked if I could get warranty work elsewhere. They said yes as long as it wasn't already logged with them. I've not had any experience with this though.



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No creases in my blinds like that

 

[our poppy lll]

Hi
"Every 2 years you must have the Fiat vehicle service by a Fiat approved garage"
Not quite true, most main dealers wish, and they will try to tell (read sell) you this, however the law was changed some years back, to stop the monopolies, so ANY, yes ANY, vat registered garage can do routine services and maintenance work and maintain the manufacturers guarantee/warrantee provided they use genuine OEM parts / oil etc, with a receipt noting all the genuine parts!

 

[our poppy lll]

Wow, this is what Swift told me that the Fiat warranty is only valid if the unit is services at a Fiat dealership. Using Fiat genuine parts. It’s amazing how we are all told things that turn out untrue, thanks your post as it is in my case, the Fiat garage closest to me Sherwood’s, have given me the lowest service price. Saying that I’m getting rid of this swift anyway.

 

[Tony50]

Hi
"Every 2 years you must have the Fiat vehicle service by a Fiat approved garage"
Not quite true, most main dealers wish, and they will try to tell (read sell) you this, however the law was changed some years back, to stop the monopolies, so ANY, yes ANY, vat registered garage can do routine services and maintenance work and maintain the manufacturers guarantee/warrantee provided they use genuine OEM parts / oil etc, with a receipt noting all the genuine parts!

How do you prove it's done as per Fiat rules ,has the non Fiat garage got the right diagnostic equipment, I'd be a bit wary especially if your warranty is at stake.

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[Nanniemate]

How do you prove it's done as per Fiat rules ,has the non Fiat garage got the right diagnostic equipment, I'd be a bit wary especially if your warranty is at stake.

They must have all the original parts that have been removed/replaced and have recorded the service correctly any reputable garage is competent at doing this and is happy to discuss with you all the procedures they follow.
You should always be able to see any parts that are removed and replaced, but if its a brand new vehicle often ther are servicing packages available which can make it easier

I wonder if leasing motorhomes will ever become the norm?