Leaking Carthago

[Minxy]

When a new Carthago arrives in the UK it should be drench tested before handover by the dealer. They should then be drench tested by the dealer to get their annual habitation sticker. Ours was also given a drench test at 3 months but I think this extra one may now have been dropped.

Yes, it's optional now, not mandatory, I asked the dealer when we bought it what the warranty terms were and it was mentioned then and we've had no issue with getting warranty work approved so this confirms that the manufacturer isn't demanding it otherwise they'd have told us to go forth and .... .

 

[Kilroy]

All makes of MH can have issues, if you buy new (ie direct off the production line) you won't have the issue of a previous owner not looking after it, nor it sitting on a dealer's forecourt for months on end, so don't let a 6 year old one with an unknown history put you off.

There have been many more tales of woe from other makes of MHs, some of them very expensive ones, but the vast majority don't have any problems at all.

We wanted an A-class and one thing that was extremely important to us and not up for discussion was the narrower width which is why we looked at the Carthago range. Having had MHs up to 2.3m wide and changing to PVCs at 2.05m wide, we did NOT want to go 'fat' again or anywhere near it as we appreciated just how much better it was for us to get to the places we want with a narrower vehicle and hubby found it much more relaxing to drive. Our Compactline is only 2.12m wide and although we looked at the the Hymer Exsis range which is 2.20m so not massively more, we didn't like them and felt the quality wasn't as good, there aren't many that are narrow, many are now 2.35m which is just plain daft IMV. This 'narrowness' requirement helped reduce our choice massively however regardless of this if the quality hadn't been there we wouldn't have bought it and more than likely kept our existing PVC.

Interesting points. Though I'm not sure when you say in paragraph 1 ".......so don't let a 6 year old one with an unknown history put you off......" . After what's gone before, are you being ironic or am I missing the point?

 

[Minxy]

Interesting points. Though I'm not sure when you say in paragraph 1 ".......so don't let a 6 year old one with an unknown history put you off......" . After what's gone before, are you being ironic or am I missing the point?

I'm not sure what you think I'm being ironic about as that's not my intention. Taking a 6 year old MH with an issue and a new one which hasn't had anyone else messing about with it isn't a fair comparison really and certainly wouldn't put me off a particular make of MH unless the issue affecting the older one was a well known problem with many people reporting the same.

If that's not what's confusing you please explain what is and I'll try to make clear what I'm saying.

 

[Kilroy]

Ah, yes, penny dropped now! Apologies for missing the point there initially....I had a bit of a brain freeze and I'm claiming a seasonal sugar overload in mitigation!
Thanks for clarifying for me!

 

[Tony50]

I have had New Rapidos now got a chausson had from new all have had faults, I like to think I do my Public duty and correct or have corrected all the faults before I sell it. Motorhome Manufactures know we will buy them whatever the quality build , that's why they say if you get any problems we will do them on first service

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[Terry Gill]

Hi all paid deposit on bank transfer wouldn’t let us do a card and rest on a transfer now I now why it’s 2014 had it 2 years 1 previous owner joined Carthago club today waiting for it to be authorised I’ll take some of your suggestions and try the if there open I’ll post if I get any success there members of motor ombudsman but when i phoned them they don’t cover Motorhomes only serving thanks for your suggestions

It’s possible the van was accidentally damaged by the previous owner and the repair wasn’t a good one. Leaks from roof rails on a Carthago are non existent.

 

[Clive Beeza]

Hi every oneI need help bought my cathargo s plus from premium Motorhomes Doncaster and it’s been leaking at the rear of side corner above the bed we’re the roof rails joins they have fixed it six times and it still leaks they won’t give me my money back and they haven’t responded to my email s or phone calls what can I do to resolve this 90k paid for the van still under 10 year warranty

Hi Andy,
Like everyone on here that has replied WE ALL really feel for you,
You must now show some British Bulldog spirit, and adopt the mindset that
" These Bast**ds are not getting away with treating me like this"
have you considered contacting the " Rouge Traders " TV programme ?
If they take on your case, they will film, name and shame this dealer,
and the last publicity any business wants, is "Bad Publicity"
WE ALL look forward to you getting a successful result

 

[desmond74/]

Hi every oneI need help bought my cathargo s plus from premium Motorhomes Doncaster and it’s been leaking at the rear of side corner above the bed we’re the roof rails joins they have fixed it six times and it still leaks they won’t give me my money back and they haven’t responded to my email s or phone calls what can I do to resolve this 90k paid for the van still under 10 year warranty

Hi,
I had a problem but with a satellite dish ,
I issued a CCJ (county court judgement )and the court made the supplier do a full repair .
Keep all you emails and copy’s of correspondence.
Good luck
Greg

 

[tonysuvla]

Try writing to the Guardian problem page to highlight Premiums lack of service. They usually get a good response.

 

[Ian Bosman]

I know, actually we also looked at a 5.99 metre Concorde A class but I was horrified when I saw it was FWD with the Fiat badge on the front.

What is the FWD issue? I can understand the Fiat issue to some extent but have not had an issue with the engine as such in mine (130 Multijet)

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[WESTY66]

What is the FWD issue? I can understand the Fiat issue to some extent but have not had an issue with the engine as such in mine (130 Multijet)

Some people just don’t like FWD (Front Wheel Drive) and much prefer RWD (Rear Wheel Drive) as found on the more expensive motorhomes.

 

[funflair]

What is the FWD issue? I can understand the Fiat issue to some extent but have not had an issue with the engine as such in mine (130 Multijet)

There is a school of thought that FWD is not good for traction, not just muddy fields but any damp or loose surface will do, the bigger and heavier the van the bigger the problem and the more suitable a RWD set up becomes.

 

[CazPaul]

What is the FWD issue? I can understand the Fiat issue to some extent but have not had an issue with the engine as such in mine (130 Multijet)

Better traction in mud, snow etc twin rear wheel means 4 wheels are working, better payload, rear axle is 3100kg when last at weighbridge over 800kg spare on rear axle. Wonderful for such a small van.

 

[Clive Beeza]

Hi Andy,
Like everyone on here that has replied WE ALL really feel for you,
You must now show some British Bulldog spirit, and adopt the mindset that
" These Bast**ds are not getting away with treating me like this"
have you considered contacting the " Rogue Traders " TV programme ?
If they take on your case, they will film, name and shame this dealer,
and the last publicity any business wants, is "Bad Publicity"
WE ALL look forward to you getting a successful result

 

[Clive Beeza]

see posting 74

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[MobyDick57]

Good afternoon everyone
I find that keeping a detailed diary of the dealership verbal replies. Then when I find I am hitting a brick wall, I send the MD a detailed dated story of the journey so far, listing who said what and when, agreements made, disappointments, etc. I then offer a compromise solution as a way forward. In all my problems of 8 years of Motorhoming, compromised solutions have been best.
In this particular case, (of which I feel the pain) The problem of a leaking Carthago roof to me would be highly unusual (having owned one in the past). It should be covered by its warranty, however if you are not familiar with it’s history, it could be due to a soft bump near the top of the roof which has caused the roof structure to stress. If so, warranty will not cover it.
My suggestion would be to take to Reliance and get it independently assessed. Then move from there.

 

[TinaLes]

As most Carthago owners we have not had any leaks from anywhere on our van in the 3 years of ownership. It was our first MH we ordered a new Swift Bolero 714SB, but there was so many delays in manufacturing, along with so many regularly reoccurring silly build issues on the Swift Talk Forum at the time we cancelled our order directly to Swift & via our dealership.
Apart from the price tag upgrade, along with no toys as standard, we went back to our dealership and picked out our preferred model of C tourer from the new range in stock.
Best decision we could have made with hindsight, no problems with van apart from a broken grey waste valve which after a long hard attempt by dealers cannot be fixed without dropping tank out, so we need to take the van back and leave it with them for a few days, but the workshop manager did say, the drain lever was not installed properly and was out of line from day 1, and that Carthago will pay them for the time it takes to repair or even modification if necessary.
Observations:
The entire rear section bumper. side uprights and rear roof finial on Carthago's is eggshell thin plastic to save weight, it offers no impact resistance, so even a small knock will probably end up causing a split or maybe even a slight misalignment.
The rear is made up of 4 sections, I am told the rear roof section is fitted last, with a special clip system, I would suggest that a small rear shunt as taken place to cause the roof seal to fail maybe. Only removing it will tell the true extent of the damage if any causing a leak.
Out of the hundreds of Carthago's sold in the UK, I have only read about 2 leak instances ,the other was a funster with a leak on one of his rear garage doors.
I agree with others take it to Reliance, they have a great reputation for repairs, and are Carthago approved repairers.
Good luck, hope you get the issue sorted before spring when hopefully we can all get out to play again.
LES

 

[Gents]

A local lady had a big Hymer with a similar roof leak. The cloth was stained a lot worse than your van.
I sprayed the stain with a clean £1 gardening spray bottle with some lemon coloured diluted with water auto glym 'clean all' solution. Simply spray the stain and wipe off with a clean damp cloth.
It's used at big dealerships to clean all types of things.
The rail at the back of your van has been cosmetically bodge repaired and still looks to be leaking.
Generally speaking the rail should be removed, leak investigated, cleaned up, degreased and re-sealed.
I was asked to repair a leaking Burstner skylight above a shower last week.
It was repaired twice by someone but still leaked { badly }.
I removed the skylight and investigated the leak. There was 6 holes in the roof that shouldn't have been there.
The skylight frame was barely covering the 6 holes so I made a 2.5MM thick larger area plastic frame to cover the 6 holes and sandwich tightened everything back down with mastic bedding tape, stix-all sealant and then over coated the circumference of the skylight { belt and braces repair }.
**Just over coating something leaking and crossing your fingers is not an effective repair.**

Campervan man. Spot on my sentiments exactly, find the root of the problem & sort that, the rest is just cosmetic. Which i hasten to add, is v important, but of no real consequence if problem not sorted.

 

[Zepp]

Our latest problem on our 3 year old C Line Carthago , the floor is starting to delaminate around the storage lockers in the floor another well documented Carthago fault it’s booked in for repair at our cost