Hi again Funsters, I wrote this somewhere else but it must not have highlighted as no responses, unlike you happy lot!
Refresh, I am/was in the throes of making an offer for a 2008 Burstner i821 G with comfortmatic, only mid 30k mileage, but as private sale, and the horror stories from those who have problems, I am sure a minority but...no warranty, so I thought I had better do some research on the potential costs to repair. What I found sort of blew me away, Chelston Motorhomes is a mile down the road, they nearly laughed at me, said we do not work on anything we have not sold, ok said I where would I go? no answer was the reply! so got in touch with Vospers in Exeter, just 20 miles down the road, fiat professional service agents, whoooo, they said, we have one of those in at the moment (Comfortmatic that is) we have had the box out twice trying to sort a clutch issue, still not fixed...and we could not 'do' your tag axle as it is too long for our lift, pits, it seems are only for trucks these day! Ranf Huttons in Weston Super Mare, also fiat professional workshop, same thing, too long for our lift, try Motus in Gloucester, so I did, they said yes we can repair it, gearbox has to come out down obviously we would work off the floor, but, but but, again much sucking of teeth, saying if you ask our advice walk away! new box £8k, just the solenoid system £2k, they are quoting a clutch as 12 hours labour, so with the VAT about £1,500 plus parts, some £750 including the dmf at a guess.
So Funsters, there are of course a relatively low proportion of tag axles out there, but still a significant number, it appears that a man in a van is unlikely to have the specialist knowledge and tools to work on these things, yet most of the problems once properly diagnosed appear to be relatively simple, the issue is proper diagnosis how do you all manage, those of you with Comfortmatics and or Tag's? Am I wrong in my thinking?
Refresh, I am/was in the throes of making an offer for a 2008 Burstner i821 G with comfortmatic, only mid 30k mileage, but as private sale, and the horror stories from those who have problems, I am sure a minority but...no warranty, so I thought I had better do some research on the potential costs to repair. What I found sort of blew me away, Chelston Motorhomes is a mile down the road, they nearly laughed at me, said we do not work on anything we have not sold, ok said I where would I go? no answer was the reply! so got in touch with Vospers in Exeter, just 20 miles down the road, fiat professional service agents, whoooo, they said, we have one of those in at the moment (Comfortmatic that is) we have had the box out twice trying to sort a clutch issue, still not fixed...and we could not 'do' your tag axle as it is too long for our lift, pits, it seems are only for trucks these day! Ranf Huttons in Weston Super Mare, also fiat professional workshop, same thing, too long for our lift, try Motus in Gloucester, so I did, they said yes we can repair it, gearbox has to come out down obviously we would work off the floor, but, but but, again much sucking of teeth, saying if you ask our advice walk away! new box £8k, just the solenoid system £2k, they are quoting a clutch as 12 hours labour, so with the VAT about £1,500 plus parts, some £750 including the dmf at a guess.
So Funsters, there are of course a relatively low proportion of tag axles out there, but still a significant number, it appears that a man in a van is unlikely to have the specialist knowledge and tools to work on these things, yet most of the problems once properly diagnosed appear to be relatively simple, the issue is proper diagnosis how do you all manage, those of you with Comfortmatics and or Tag's? Am I wrong in my thinking?
. Plenty of commercial vehicle garages around with far more reasonable hourly rates.
