New Autotrail Recall - Fresh water tank may detach

[bobnick]

Bought (brought??) a new BSA C15 in June 1966, HBA 106D, it never leaked oil. The other 55 bikes i had in the 60s did
So A Bentley is iffy????? interesting.

 

[Blue Knight]

Some of you make me sick........

You would feel far bloody sicker Bernie if your new Autotrail Apache 634, Delaware or Imala had to be rejected in the first 30-days or ownership or; if it failed its first year hab service with a 90-100% damp readings.

There's nothing 'occasional' about the frequency of these events either; they are quite common outcomes these days!

 

[TCG]

Not another sense of humour bypass victim!

No John. But everyone is quick to jump on the let’s knock the British van.... when Hymer or another euro delvelop faults there is no up rising by the masses....
British vans are not perfect by any means... but should we not be supporting British manufacturing at this time how many cars have a recall ... the choice is yours

 

[busbuddy]

The trouble is.....nobody ever posts that their new van is fantastic and the dealer was amazing (well very few people) it's the same with any product, you can find condemning reviews anywhere but finding positive stuff is almost impossible



Oh and I have a 2003 swift, in the very years they built the sponges that rotted on the forecourt

 

[John Barrett]

No John. But everyone is quick to jump on the let’s knock the British van.... when Hymer or another euro delvelop faults there is no up rising by the masses....
British vans are not perfect by any means... but should we not be supporting British manufacturing at this time how many cars have a recall ... the choice is yours

Fair point about support, but I have been around manufacturing for much of my life, and I am quite familiar with quality assurance systems and procedures. It's clear to me from many conversations with owners of British made caravans and motorhomes that the makers haven't quite made the jump to the quality levels achieved by some European manufacturers.
Yes, I know I would say this as I own an ageing Hymer and a newish Merc E350!
John

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[Geo]

Wouldn't happen on a 22 year old Hymer E510!

Did they have water tanks back then

 

[John Barrett]

Did they have water tanks back then

Yes, and they had more than adequate payloads too...

 

[Geo]

They will have cos the woodworms ate most of the boxwood in em

 

[frogijock]

I used have a Burstner and it spent more time in dealers than on the road, one main problem was bathroom door locks, 9 changed in 12 months, plus swimming pool in top locker in lounge trice, raised floor in lounge loose, fancy light and false ceiling in lounge bubbled, side panels on single beds needed reinforcing as boards to thin thus warping, lights above beds wrongly wired (switch for n/s bed illuminated o/s bed light), Camper UK were brilliant in dealing with complaints, they were considering giving me a frequent users ticket

 

[peterc10]

Did they have water tanks back then

Yep, and ones that were designed so that they did not freeze when the motorhome was being used in winter. Some British ones still have not managed to achieved that feat.

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[Twincam Escort]

Dont swallow the line about British made always = poor quality.
When it really matters like aerospace and military and medical the world often looks to Britain for quality.
We are usually hamstrung by under investment and short term-ism by companies but also successive tokenistic governments.

 

[Blue Knight]

Dont swallow the line about British made always = poor quality.
When it really matters like aerospace and military and medical the world often looks to Britain for quality.
We are usually hamstrung by under investment and short term-ism by companies but also successive tokenistic governments.

Yep, totally agree but this is not a bash British thread. It's all about Autotrail having problems in designing a water tank that'll stay on the van.

We are world leaders on the disciplines which you mentioned in your post but I think it's a different matter for other things.

Nicky and I are looking at boats at the moment (widebeam canal types) and you should read about the snag lists that come with some of them. We've inspected a few recently and sadly for us a number of boats are like the Autotrails of the water; i.e. poor workmanship.

The only positive is that the boats seem to have better watertight principles.

 

[Jim]

Some British ones still have not managed to achieved that feat.

Truth is, there are far more continental vans not fully winterised than are.

 

[Robert Clark]

Bought (brought??) a new BSA C15 in June 1966, HBA 106D, it never leaked oil. The other 55 bikes i had in the 60s did
So A Bentley is iffy????? interesting.

The way I remember is
Bring = brought
Buy = bought

 

[ambulancekidd]

Yep, and ones that were designed so that they did not freeze when the motorhome was being used in winter. Some British ones still have not managed to achieved that feat.

My 1995 Kon-Tiki has a large inboard water tank, it's built in under the rear belted seats.
The van is bone dry & is far better built than the brand new ones we've had in the past, but the FIAT/Peugeot running gear leaves an awful lot to be desired.

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[John Barrett]

Truth is, there are far more continental vans not fully winterised than are.

The need for same could depend on where the MH lives and goes in Europe?

 

[ambulancekidd]

Try Aston Martins, leak more oil than a british bike!

Leaks like this are a safety feature, look underneath before driving, if its not leaking it'll need oil.

That's not leaking its automated lubrication

Automatic rustproofing, a very nice automatic system.

I'd still have a nice DB9 Vanquish, who cares about driving it, I'd push it out of the garage, polish it, admire it then push it back into the garage.

 

[Basildog]

At least it’s not the underslung LPG tank Unbelievably there’s a certain manufacturer that pop rivets them on !
Yes they do fall off

 

[PeteH]

Auto trail, have been having a hard time for a few years now, I have family who work in the industry (this being the virtual centre of the overall caravan etc building uk ) one issue pre Chinese virus was getting and retaining good employees. A big turnover does not make for good quality control. Only a few year back, Swift where the whipping boys.

 

[Geo]

You simply can not compare apples with oranges
A guy who make 2 MoHos a year has one bad one and rates at 50% failure
His mate who makes 100 a year has 10 bad ones, and his fail rate is only 10%,
despite making 5 times as many bad ones
The same applies to the big players, those who decry any manufacturer, no not of which they speak
same applies to cars, Ford make 50 times more bad vehicles than Lamborgini but sell many many thousand more

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[Twincam Escort]

When I left school (early 80's) I had 12 months in the motor trade working for a Volvo main dealer.
I could write a book about the daily goings on!
Point is we had many warranty issues with new Volvos. The boss used to argue that it was due to expectation on the customers part. ie you've bought an expensive (relatively) car and you expect a lot.
Of course a water tank potentially falling off is unacceptable at any price, but our modern vans are complex and subject to harsh environmental conditions. I'm surprised they arent worse.
Sometimes I look at the materials used in my van (Swift) and they dont compare to the lovely cabinetry in some of the continental vans - but then I remember how much EXTRA I would need to have paid and have another glass of red.
Incidentally our workshop manager left to work for a Mitsubishi main dealer. I saw him months later and asked how he was getting on. Fine he said, but the workshop is a lot quieter because there was NO warranty work on new Mitsubishis!
Do the Japanese build motorhomes?

 

[John Barrett]

When I left school (early 80's) I had 12 months in the motor trade working for a Volvo main dealer.
I could write a book about the daily goings on!
SNIP
Do the Japanese build motorhomes?

Their secret of success was to build standardised vehicles: no options or variants allowed!

 

[Basildog]

When I left school (early 80's) I had 12 months in the motor trade working for a Volvo main dealer.
I could write a book about the daily goings on!
Point is we had many warranty issues with new Volvos. The boss used to argue that it was due to expectation on the customers part. ie you've bought an expensive (relatively) car and you expect a lot.
Of course a water tank potentially falling off is unacceptable at any price, but our modern vans are complex and subject to harsh environmental conditions. I'm surprised they arent worse.
Sometimes I look at the materials used in my van (Swift) and they dont compare to the lovely cabinetry in some of the continental vans - but then I remember how much EXTRA I would need to have paid and have another glass of red.
Incidentally our workshop manager left to work for a Mitsubishi main dealer. I saw him months later and asked how he was getting on. Fine he said, but the workshop is a lot quieter because there was NO warranty work on new Mitsubishis!
Do the Japanese build motorhomes?

I think it’s actually quite an insult to call the units in modern vans cabinetry
At best cupboards

 

[John Barrett]

I think it’s actually quite an insult to call the units in modern vans cabinetry ⚠
At best cupboards

I rest my case...

 

[SpeedyDux]

No John. But everyone is quick to jump on the let’s knock the British van.... when Hymer or another euro delvelop faults there is no up rising by the masses....
British vans are not perfect by any means... but should we not be supporting British manufacturing at this time how many cars have a recall ... the choice is yours

Are there still any British-owned volume MH manufacturers left apart from Swift, and Bailey? (Manufacturing caravans still being their main business). If they sort out their quality control, they would deserve a buy British marketing slogan, and a bigger repeat business.

Turning the complaints argument round, if Funsters stopped buying British brand MHs the majority of dissatisfied customers posting their complaints would soon be predominently Funsters who have bought foreign MH makes.

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[Kannon Fodda]

So this thread chastises Auototrail for finding a fault and doing a recall. Yes it’s potentially severe. In the scheme of things AT make how many MHs a year, of that model type? 200? 500? I dunno. But while there is repetition it’s not mass manufacture in the same way as say Fiat who recalled the 1000s of Ducati’s for some brake clip which must have had safety issues. But Fiat haven’t received an equivalent level of hostility yet it affects many more people.
Meanwhile if you really want examples of shoddy quality look at Hotpoint tumble dryers that’s gone on for years, the standards of many new build homes ...
Yes MHs cost a serious amount but they are also effectively hand assembled. It’s no excuse when things aren’t right but the internet is full of many who have had problems with many different brands.

 

[bobnick]

The way I remember is
Bring = brought
Buy = bought

Yes i am aware the bought and brought meanings. I was referring to a poster that used brought for buying an item, not bought.

 

[GMLS]

Auto trail, have been having a hard time for a few years now, I have family who work in the industry (this being the virtual centre of the overall caravan etc building uk ) one issue pre Chinese virus was getting and retaining good employees. A big turnover does not make for good quality control. Only a few year back, Swift where the whipping boys.

Retaining good employees is a challenge for any industry. The answer is to pay them a decent wage and look after them with a career path, employee benefits and job satisfaction. If that costs you more then over time you should be able to differential yourself in the market place with a better quality product.

We have similar quality challenges in the industry I work in (Construction). The thing that annoys me most with quality issues is that if often would little or no more to just get it right the first time by training and mentoring, using the right about of sealant or a longer or bigger gauge screw or just double check it's been done.

 

[Blue Knight]

I'll bring this to the top of the pile again as it appears that a number of Autotrail owners have not yet received their water tank recall notice.

I was just reading an article on the Autotrail Unhappy Owners Club and it appears that the water tank brackets fell off a new Autotrail yesterday while the owners were touring Italy. They have no water so now find themselves in a bit of a pickle.

Check your vans if you haven't already. It covers V-Lines, Tributes and C-Class models.