Disappointed with New Motorhome Quality Standards (36 Viewers)

[Lenny HB]

Had 3 Hymers they were OK for a mid range van, nothing special but quality wise streaks ahead of Brit built vans.
Now have a small Carthago a few little niggles but build quality far better than Hymer.

If you are looking at £65k vans they are bottom end of budget range, Problem is they put loads of stuff in them to attract buyers but then have to cut back on quality to balance the books.
With German vans they spend the money on build quality then you have to pay on top for the extras.

 

[Saucer]

Slovenia is the world's biggest producer of leisure vehicles per capita. Cost of production apart, there is a large pool of skilled workers and a large forestry industry. Other than Adria, Carthago/Malibu has two factories. There are other Slovenian brands such as Robeta, MegaMobil and Tourne. All are renowned for the quality of their products. MegaMobil are launching in the UK at the NEC.

Really interesting information, thank you.

 

[raysalaugh]

Slovenia is the world's biggest producer of leisure vehicles per capita. Cost of production apart, there is a large pool of skilled workers and a large forestry industry.

Are they still using wood in the build of these motorhomes?.

 

[ianp]

renowned for the quality of their products.

'Quality' is a very subjective concept and rests in the eye of the beholder I tend to think and whether it is found in £30k, £60k, £120k or even £240k vehicles it's possible to argue.......! For me, stuck firmly in the £30k bracket, I philosophically gasp when I hear of people buying a vehicle at the equivalent of a nice semidetached house in middle England......but is it any different to buying a top spec Aston Martin....etc etc etc
I don't know what the design life expectancy of a motorhome / caravan/ static is but would suspect not much more than 15 - 20 years in reallity.......mmmm ?

 

[Lenny HB]

when I hear of people buying a vehicle at the equivalent of a nice semidetached house in middle England...

I suppose it's relative when you live in the South East and a very small starter home is over £300k it makes Motorhomes look reasonable.

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[Pausim]

Are they still using wood in the build of these motorhomes?.

Using wood for furniture is quite different from using wood for structural purposes. I have no problem with them using it in the furnishings.

 

[Northernraider]

'Quality' is a very subjective concept and rests in the eye of the beholder I tend to think and whether it is found in £30k, £60k, £120k or even £240k vehicles it's possible to argue.......! For me, stuck firmly in the £30k bracket, I philosophically gasp when I hear of people buying a vehicle at the equivalent of a nice semidetached house in middle England......but is it any different to buying a top spec Aston Martin....etc etc etc
I don't know what the design life expectancy of a motorhome / caravan/ static is but would suspect not much more than 15 - 20 years in reallity.......mmmm ?

Mine is 20 years old and in the £30 bracket . It cost more than my first flat but a 1/4 of my last house.

But it's quality built .

 

[plug]

Our 2023 has now done just shy of 12k miles. Creaks and rattles are starting to rear their heads. It was silent when we got it. The dealer did next to nothing to help apart from saying that "motorhomes do flex a bit." The front dashboard Cowell, the bit that bridges the Sprinter dashboard to the windscreen has developed a fair old creak. So, sitting on an aire with nothing to do, I got my tool kit out. All of the self-tapping screws beneath the windscreen blind had a good half-turn in them. The blind runners a good quarter on either side. So, having found this, I set about sorting the squeaking from the fifth seat. On the screw into the floor nearest to where the noise is coming from, the screw turned as many times as I wanted to do it for as it has obviously been over torqued when built and has stripped the hole.
Has anyone on here got suggestions for a product that will fill the existing hole and allow me to re-fit the screw please?
When we get back, I am going to check every single fixing possible.
Thanks in advance.
BnB

Use a drill and fit a wood dowel with glue leave it to dry then cut back the excess flush..

 

[ianp]

Mine is 20 years old and in the £30 bracket . It cost more than my first flat but a 1/4 of my last house.

But it's quality built .

What features and aspects of it make a 'quality' vehicle to you that other similar vehicles don't have ?

 

[ianp]

I suppose it's relative when you live in the South East and a very small starter home is over £300k it makes Motorhomes look reasonable.

Mmmm 'reasonable' is also a very subjective term.....in 20 years your 1/4 million pound Motorhome will be but a small 'bump' away from being converted in to dog food tins whereas your 'small ' starter home will last for another 50 to a 100 years and be ever increasing in value as will the land it stands on.......

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[Northernraider]

What features and aspects of it make a 'quality' vehicle to you that other similar vehicles don't have ?

The general build quality is far superior to any van I've owned before.

It's not something you'd understand from me describing it to you. You'd have to look in and around the vehicle to actually appreciate it.

I've had frankia , hymer, burstner, mobilvetta , eura Mobil brands prior to this Niesmann bischoff, my parents had eldiss, swift, autotrail, autosleeper, Ci, Bailey. My sisters had liaka and now autocruise.


So a good selection

This one is far superior quality of build . The construction alone is completely different

 

[Brains]

A friend of mine worked on Teesport and we got loads of packing wood used for coco beans (cacao) my god it was good stuff. The amount of terrace houses in thornaby that myself and my dad used in the refurbishment really shouldn't be mentioned.

The timber used to support the cargo in the ships holds is called 'Dunnage'.

It's not used nearly as much today as it was from the 1930's to the 1990's, as ships now have squarer holds and most non bulk or bagged cargo arrives in containers.

There used to be a big business in the UK ports selling Dunnage, my father used to run a ship repair yard in what today is the London Docklands.
They would retain all dunnage, sometimes they got tons of the stuff, and then auction it off every month or so, with employees getting first dibs, and the money going into the works canteen.

I bought a mid terrace house a few years back with a spring in the floor, so I knew the floor joists had gone.
When we pulled up the boards, we found every single floor joist, from front door to back door, was unique.
Obviously all originally made from Dunnage.

 

[Scotsblood]

I think we forget sometimes that buyer expectations and 'demands' are one reason we see issues and I see a direct relationship to overall weight and the 3.5t barrier.

Every item we 'expect to see' in a van above and beyond the actual shell eats into the useable payload. If you read reviews you see the 'you would expect to see in a van costing £XX' quite often when features are absent.

A strong shell and internal structures that give the impression of solidity inevitably weighs more. The expectation of lots of 'features' gives either a van incapable of remaining under the 3.5t or an impossibly low payload. The alternative, a van above 3.5t takes it out of many buyers possibilities as not everyone can get C1 entitlement even if wanted.

Without a reduction in weight in the basic structures the race to have vans with the most features is bound to fail, and that is pounced upon by reviewers and buyers when 'missing' items and features are identified.

At least some manufacturers are starting to give weight estimates of the factory 'options' available, but how many of us would know a 4m Thule Omnistor 5200 takes 28kg out of the payload as a dealer fit option?

 

[herald_400rl]

I think we forget sometimes that buyer expectations and 'demands' are one reason we see issues and I see a direct relationship to overall weight and the 3.5t barrier.

Every item we 'expect to see' in a van above and beyond the actual shell eats into the useable payload. If you read reviews you see the 'you would expect to see in a van costing £XX' quite often when features are absent.

A strong shell and internal structures that give the impression of solidity inevitably weighs more. The expectation of lots of 'features' gives either a van incapable of remaining under the 3.5t or an impossibly low payload. The alternative, a van above 3.5t takes it out of many buyers possibilities as not everyone can get C1 entitlement even if wanted.

Without a reduction in weight in the basic structures the race to have vans with the most features is bound to fail, and that is pounced upon by reviewers and buyers when 'missing' items and features are identified.

At least some manufacturers are starting to give weight estimates of the factory 'options' available, but how many of us would know a 4m Thule Omnistor 5200 takes 28kg out of the payload as a dealer fit option?

We sometimes travel with a full water tank - that's 100kg extra on its own.

 

[Scotsblood]

We sometimes travel with a full water tank - that's 100kg extra on its own.

And if you've got a full fuel tank not 90%, have leveling ramps, grip mats, chairs, more than a single full gas bottle (total weight 14kg), the driver and passenger weigh more than the MiRO allowance and the payload is already below 300kg you can understand how many 3.5t vans are significantly overweight even with manufacturers 'lightening' building techniques!

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[bobnick]

If i have learnt one thing about buying MHs, never buy cheap, cause they are not.
Having said that my cheap one was the only one i could find with a layout we wanted.

 

[HugoBNB]

Use a drill and fit a wood dowel with glue leave it to dry then cut back the excess flush..

Thanks. It appears to be a composite floor. I was thinking a out filling the existing hole with resin and then refitting the screw.