Servicing in Hull area

[Hettie's Crew]

Just had my MH serviced locally as opposed to the dealer in Nottingham where I got it from. They want £630 a year to do it on their 'service plan' which doesn't actually cover any service work that may be required following their checks, any service work would be extra.
Had the vehicle service done yesterday at North East Truck and Van (Iveco and Fiat Professional/Fiat Camper dealer) on Hedon Road near the docks.
Very helpful and they are even getting me a service book as the the main dealer 'misplaced it'
£129.90
Habitation service today at FM Caravans Ltd 169 Fountain Road, Hull HU2 0LH where I had my previous MH serviced last year. My previous MH always had difficulty lighting the fridge on gas until Steve at FM serviced it. Turned out it had a gas leak, not picked up by the in the previous three services by main dealers (different dealers) Fridge worked perfectly following his service.
I also had problem with the step operation and water level indicator on my other MH (Swift) and when I rang FM he said straight away it would be the Sargent electric box and all he would do is remove it and send it to Sargent for repair as it is a known fault. He told me exactly what to do over the phone so I could remove it myself and send it in. Only cost me £75 at Sargent for the rebuild/repair. Couldn't see any of the main dealers I've dealt with doing that.
The point is, I trust FM Caravans, really nice people to deal with and I have no problem recommending them.
£145 for the Hab service today. Approved Workshop Scheme.
The fly in the ointment is that I still have to have a water/damp check done by a Hymer dealer in order to maintain the 6 year warranty. A different price at each dealer, from £90 to £200 and typical that the £90 one is the furthest away, also some won't do it unless you bought from them. I'll have to go to Lowdhams and pay £150 even though it was done today at FM. I thought this kind of practice had been outlawed but Hymer are adamant they they won't honour the warranty unless it's been done by one of their dealers and the little sticker is in place in the manual.
Anyway £424.90 including the Hymer con damp check (that I can ditch once the warranty has expired) is a site better than £630. (£274.90 for same work, as opposed to £630)
Really good service can be had by local small dealers and you don't have to pay the inflated main dealer prices. They don't pay for all those staff and huge showrooms, you do.

 

[Hettie's Crew]

Anyone found a way around this Hymer water ingress test? I've had a thorough damp check done by an AWS service centre but they won't accept it.

 

[scotzsue]

We also use FM caravans for habitation, very pleased wit their work, even found a solution for placing a second leisure battery, our existing one is outside and gives us problems in really cold weather. Insurance also approved them for accident repair work on our previous van. So far we have used Fiat dealer for van service will have look at North East truck and van next time

 

[Hettie's Crew]

Local Fiat dealer is not set up for large vehicles when it comes to MOT as their car lift has retricted height so they farm this bit out to Hull Van Centre and charge you for it.

 

[RichardB]

FM seem quite knowledgable and I will be using them in the future.

My personal experience of the other motorhome place at the top of Clough Road is poor - they missed a major water leak during a hab check, missed the beginnings of a damp patch and then when I went back to get it repaired they had a look and didn't didn't bother getting back to me with a price! Wouldn't go there again if it was the last place in Hull

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[Hettie's Crew]

I wouldn't go to the Clough Rd/Stoneferry Rd place for servicing as they don't appear to be an NCC Approved Workshop. Never been impressed with them or their stock when I have visited.

 

[weekenders]

FM seem quite knowledgable and I will be using them in the future.

My personal experience of the other motorhome place at the top of Clough Road is poor - they missed a major water leak during a hab check, missed the beginnings of a damp patch and then when I went back to get it repaired they had a look and didn't didn't bother getting back to me with a price! Wouldn't go there again if it was the last place in Hull

@RichardB your have a private message from me

 

[scotzsue]

Local Fiat dealer is not set up for large vehicles when it comes to MOT as their car lift has retricted height so they farm this bit out to Hull Van Centre and charge you for it.

We take it for MOT nor fiat.

 

[Minxy]

We've used FM Caravans for our MHs a few times. The most major occasions was after our Rimor was 'bricked' by local youths in Holland all along one side, we got approval from our insurers for them to do the work (probably because they were £1000 cheaper than the dealer!) and did a fantastic job,we really could NOT tell where the damage was afterwards and believe me I looked closely! Steve said he thought the bumper paint was a slightly different shade - it was a speckle finish - but we couldn't see any difference! We had a couple of more recent habitation checks done there too on our previous Autocruise Accent PVC, with the blessing of Swift, and would have gone again if we hadn't been going to Peterborough Show so got our Globecar's done there instead.

 

[Minxy]

I wouldn't go to the Clough Rd/Stoneferry Rd place for servicing as they don't appear to be an NCC Approved Workshop. Never been impressed with them or their stock when I have visited.

Not sure what's going on with them now ... they used to be really, really good but now I'd be wary too. There's a couple of 'car boot acquaintances' who have a regular stall at car boot sales and they waited a long time for a MH then put a deposit down on one last year, paying in chunks until they'd paid if off about 3 months or so ago ... MH Ltd hadn't fixed stuff they were supposed to and appear not to have tested equipment etc worked as it should despite it supposedly having had full hab and mechanical services before it was handed over (yes I know that doesn't mean a lot sometimes!), lots of stuff was wrong that simply should NOT have got past the dealer if they'd bothered to check it properly ... the latest, and biggest problem, the new owners found was that the whole of the rear end underneath was rotten so it's been 'living' back at Stoneferry more than with the new owners!

I hasten to add that I had told the prospective MHers to check out this site and do research BEFORE buying so they knew what to look for, I had spent time advising them, given them info on this, that and the other, for weeks and weeks before they even bought one - every time I saw them they had more questions - and once they'd seen one they liked I even offered to go and have a look myself to give it the once over, but to no avail ... next thing I knew they'd bought it! Whilst I feel sorry for them they really didn't do themselves any favours by NOT carrying out 'due diligence' themselves ... they simply would NOT take on board any advice ... you can lead a horse to water but can't make it drink

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[Hettie's Crew]

We take it for MOT nor fiat.

It can make a lot of sense to have the MOT and vehicle service done at the same place/time as the inspections required are very similar and can save you labour costs.