Warranty and Habitation Checks

[Geoffla9]

Hi , can any of you comment on my current dilemma . I have a Hymer A class bought new just over a year ago . The dealer i bought it from has been in touch saying i must get a habitation check every year to maintain the Hymer warranty .
They quoted me just over £500.00 for the check ! . Given i love my motor home and intend to keep it for many years , am i now a cash cow for the dealer? I have had cheaper quotes from other dealers who are not Hymer agents , To me it look's they all do the same checks and issue the same certificate ( from an approved and accredited workshop) Do you think my warranty will be good if i get the check from someone else and not the dealer i bought it from .

thanks

 

[Basildog]

I have just bought my second Hymer from Travelworld, love the product but have to say the damp / habitation check after just one year is a real rip-off. When buying a Hymer you are told you are buying a quality product so why are they so concerned that you have a damp check so early in the motorhomes life? If it is so important, then a damp check takes just minutes, certainly not even half an hour so why the big expense in the U.K. and not the more reasonable cost as in Belgium. The truth is that with a limited dealership network you are being held to ransom and thus I agree a ‘cash cow’ for the dealers. Disgusting really.

Our 2018 thing leaked like a sieve and I know of others

 

[Basildog]

Any AWS should be able to do it.

AWS is the nasty little scheme dreamt up by the NCC in collaboration with the 2 clubs and the manufacturers and dealers
Having seen the work carried out by their so called engineers I wouldn’t trust any of them

 

[Coolcats]

I fully understand the details of the warranty, however, don’t you think Hymer GmbH & Co KG should ensure that their authorised dealers shouldn’t take advantage of their end customers and so advertise a fixed price or better a purchase package for this warranty when the vehicle is purchased. At the end of the day the excessive cost from dealers in my mind reflects badly on them

But it’s not a dealer network, many dealers will tell you to take the MoHo back to where you purchased it. Apparently it is due in part to the labour rates the manufactures pay the dealers.

if a dealer can charge £500 for a Simpsons ‘light on... light off, draw open. Draw closed’ type of habitation check then why would they wish to undertake warranty work.

 

[Simon Select]

AWS is the nasty little scheme dreamt up by the NCC in collaboration with the 2 clubs and the manufacturers and dealers ⚠
Having seen the work carried out by their so called engineers I wouldn’t trust any of them ⚠☹

Lol a very sweeping statement.

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[Minxy]

There's a 'page' for the AWS scheme that you can't easily spot as the link for it is located right at the bottom of the webpages called 'Scheme Supporting Manufacturers' which gives details of which manufacturers support the scheme ... this clearly shows that Hymer supports it therefore it would seem that using an AWS member should be allowed so why not ask as this will make it a heck of a lot cheaper:

AWS scheme supporting manufacturers

AWS full list of all of the current scheme supporting tourer, motorhome, camper and trailer tent manufacturers

www.approvedworkshops.co.uk

 

[Basildog]

There's a 'page' for the AWS scheme that you can't easily spot as the link for it is located right at the bottom of the webpages called 'Scheme Supporting Manufacturers' which gives details of which manufacturers support the scheme ... this clearly shows that Hymer supports it therefore it would seem that using an AWS member should be allowed so why not ask as this will make it a heck of a lot cheaper:

AWS scheme supporting manufacturers

AWS full list of all of the current scheme supporting tourer, motorhome, camper and trailer tent manufacturers

www.approvedworkshops.co.uk

HYMER definitely aren’t part of the scheme it’s only the British part of the group which is probably historical as no doubt they were involved in the creation of the nasty little scheme

 

[peterc10]

There's a 'page' for the AWS scheme that you can't easily find which gives details of which manufacturers support the scheme ... this clearly shows that Hymer supports it therefore it would seem that using an AWS member should be allowed so why not ask as this will make it a heck of a lot cheaper:

AWS scheme supporting manufacturers

AWS full list of all of the current scheme supporting tourer, motorhome, camper and trailer tent manufacturers

www.approvedworkshops.co.uk

Mel, it has to be a Hymer dealer who has access to Hymer's computer system and can log the work as being carried out on it. AWS mechanics do not have that access. But that is only for the damp check and spray. There is no need to have a habitation check at all to keep up Hymer's warranties.

My supplying dealer was honest with me. Before I bought it they told me that I needed to keep up the yearly damp check and spray to maintain the damp penetration warranty, but did not need to have a habitation check. They also told me how much they would charge for it. So I knew before I bought was I was in for. Last year when I got it done they made a point of saying that the one this year would be the last one that is needed for the warranty.

 

[Basildog]

Mel, it has to be a Hymer dealer who has access to Hymer's computer system and can log the work as being carried out on it. AWS mechanics do not have that access. But that is only for the damp check and spray. There is no need to have a habitation check at all to keep up Hymer's warranties.

My supplying dealer was honest with me. Before I bought it they told me that I needed to keep up the yearly damp check and spray to maintain the damp penetration warranty, but did not need to have a habitation check. They also told me how much they would charge for it. So I knew before I bought was I was in for. Last year when I got it done they made a point of saying that the one this year would be the last one that is needed for the warranty.

They have apparently now scrapped the spray
Mine was applied by the resident 3 year old they obviously employed in their workshops as the way it was applied was a complete joke.
I rang around for prices for a bit of a small survey and the price variation got the moisture check & spray varied from £135 to £240 , I refused to pay for ours anyway as I was pretty much ready to drive the thing through the dealers showroom at this point

 

[Lenny HB]

There's a 'page' for the AWS scheme that you can't easily spot as the link for it is located right at the bottom of the webpages called 'Scheme Supporting Manufacturers' which gives details of which manufacturers support the scheme ... this clearly shows that Hymer supports it therefore it would seem that using an AWS member should be allowed so why not ask as this will make it a heck of a lot cheaper:

AWS scheme supporting manufacturers

AWS full list of all of the current scheme supporting tourer, motorhome, camper and trailer tent manufacturers

www.approvedworkshops.co.uk

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[Minxy]

HYMER definitely aren’t part of the scheme it’s only the British part of the group which is probably historical as no doubt they were involved in the creation of the nasty little scheme ⚠☹

View attachment 417313

Hence why I said to ASK ... surely it's worth doing that????

Mel, it has to be a Hymer dealer who has access to Hymer's computer system and can log the work as being carried out on it. AWS mechanics do not have that access. But that is only for the damp check and spray. There is no need to have a habitation check at all to keep up Hymer's warranties.

That may not necessarily be the case so worth asking ... when we had our first Globecar the hab was done by an AWS member at one of the MH shows which SMC (supplying dealer) put into the system. Dethleffs which Globecar is part of are no longer supporters of the scheme now though.

 

[Basildog]

Hence why I said to ASK ... surely it's worth doing that????


That may not necessarily be the case so worth asking ... when we had our first Globecar the hab was done by an AWS member at one of the MH shows which SMC (supplying dealer) put into the system. Dethleffs which Globecar is part of are no longer supporters of the scheme now though.

No one with any sense would support the scheme

 

[peterc10]

Hence why I said to ASK ... surely it's worth doing that????


That may not necessarily be the case so worth asking ... when we had our first Globecar the hab was done by an AWS member at one of the MH shows which SMC (supplying dealer) put into the system. Dethleffs which Globecar is part of are no longer supporters of the scheme now though.

Asking who? The Engineer may well say yes, we can issue you a certificate, which they can. But that is not good enough for Hymer as far as their warranty is concerned. They have to have it entered on their computer system using their form, which the dealer gives the customer a print out of when the check has been completed. If not the damp penetration warranty will not be effective.

 

[Basildog]

Asking who? The Engineer may well say yes, we can issue you a certificate, which they can. But that is not good enough for Hymer as far as their warranty is concerned. They have to have it entered on their computer system using their form, which the dealer gives the customer a print out of when the check has been completed. If not the damp penetration warranty will not be effective.

The AWS fitters do seem particularly good at this type of thing
I had a victim of one recently Oops I mean customer
They took the ladies gas supply from an underslung tank apart then said we aren’t qualified to work on underslung !
( apparently AWS have told all their members not to touch underslung installations )
Disconnected the ladies gas and charged her .
The idiots that had installed the underslung tank had piped it up all wrong effectively running the low pressure supply through 2 regulators and fitted the incorrect Pressure bulkhead regulator on an old system to make matters even worse

 

[Minxy]

The AWS fitters do seem particularly good at this type of thing ⚠
I had a victim of one recently Oops I mean customer
They took the ladies gas supply from an underslung tank apart then said we aren’t qualified to work on underslung !
( apparently AWS have told all their members not to touch underslung installations ⚠)
Disconnected the ladies gas and charged her .
The idiots that had installed the underslung tank had piped it up all wrong effectively running the low pressure supply through 2 regulators and fitted the incorrect Pressure bulkhead regulator on an old system to make matters even worse ⚠

I disagree about the alleged 'victim' of AWS ... surely if the gas installation was unsafe the AWS person disconnecting it so it could no longer be used was a good thing instead of leaving it as it was? This is a totally different scenario from having an AWS member actually install an underslung tank or work on an existing one to rectify issues.

How would you feel if the AWS person hadn't made it safe and the owner used it and had a major issue such as a leak, explosion etc? The AWS person to me did the right thing to ensure that a possibly dangerous situation couldn't arise and thus made it safe until it could be rectified by someone who is able to work on and correct it. What is wrong with that?

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[Minxy]

Asking who? The Engineer may well say yes, we can issue you a certificate, which they can. But that is not good enough for Hymer as far as their warranty is concerned. They have to have it entered on their computer system using their form, which the dealer gives the customer a print out of when the check has been completed. If not the damp penetration warranty will not be effective.

Hymer directly rather than the dealer.

 

[Basildog]

I disagree about the alleged 'victim' of AWS ... surely if the gas installation was unsafe the AWS person disconnecting it so it could no longer be used was a good thing instead of leaving it as it was? This is a totally different scenario from having an AWS member actually install an underslung tank or work on an existing one to rectify issues.

How would you feel if the AWS person hadn't made it safe and the owner used it and had a major issue such as a leak, explosion etc? The AWS person to me did the right thing to ensure that a possibly dangerous situation couldn't arise and thus made it safe until it could be rectified by someone who is able to work on and correct it. What is wrong with that?

Because they told their victims they could and charged the lady for doing absolutely nothing , complete rip off .
It wasn’t dangerous I would have been ashamed to take a single penny let alone the £80 they charged,
Con artists

 

[Minxy]

Because they told their victims they could and charged the lady for doing absolutely nothing , complete rip off .
It wasn’t dangerous I would have been ashamed to take a single penny let alone the £80 they charged,
Con artists

Ah, you left that bit out from your earlier rant ...

 

[Sixty-nine Chevy]

For anyone interested, it turns out that the Hymer damp warranty does not require damp tests for the PVCs of their Hymercar range. Found this out when we took our Yosemite to Travelworld earlier this week for a booked habitation and damp check, only to be given the above news.

 

[pandas]

And just to make you feel worse all the modern Hymers are a double skin aluminium construction so they can only do a visual inspection.

And whilst the changes are being mentioned the under spray is also now not required for Hymers that have a grp floor.

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[gus-lopez]

makes me wonder what the foreign tourist with a problem does when in the UK & faced with " You didn't by it here" ??

 

[Basildog]

makes me wonder what the foreign tourist with a problem does when in the UK & faced with " You didn't by it here" ??

It’s another con from a manufacturer that implies that they have a European service network
Having spoken with many other victims Ooops owners it’s certainly not easy to get the piles of junk looked at by other dealers

 

[Coolcats]

For anyone interested, it turns out that the Hymer damp warranty does not require damp tests for the PVCs of their Hymercar range. Found this out when we took our Yosemite to Travelworld earlier this week for a booked habitation and damp check, only to be given the above news.

That was my thought in that it is a VAN although, roof lights and windows have the potential to leak even if it is unlikely

 

[Wee Bold Davy]

We had our second annual habitation check done 3 weeks ago (from new) and it cost £216 (same as last year) we got them to take it to the Peugeot garage to have its 20,000 miles or two years base vehicle service while we were there and it came to a grand total of £342.
I believe that the annual hab check is required to validate the 10 years water ingress warranty.

 

[sparkyvanman]

We look upon the annual damp check in the same way that we would look upon an insurance premium.
Some people decide against maintaining the 6-year warranty others, like us, prefer to have the checks carried out, although we hope that there is a low risk of water ingress occurring.
If ingress does occur, we hope to avoid high repair costs, by having any work carried out at Hymer GmbH & Co KG's expense. (I don't know what Travelworld's hourly rates are, but I suspect they will be high .)
If we decide to sell the van during the first 6 years of it's life (unlikely), we feel that absence of a valid water ingress warranty could affect the sale.
This said, the size of the 'insurance premium' is an important factor. We are prepared to pay 5x70 Euros ie 350 Euros for a 6-year warranty, but we would not be prepared to pay 5x£500 for it. This is especially so, given that the habitation check has no bearing at all upon the validity of the water ingress warranty.
Geoffla9, it is the manufacturer of your vehicle, Hymer GmbH & Co KG, who has set the terms and conditions of the water ingress warranty. They state that 'The inspection must be conducted by the vendor or an authorised dealer or service partner of Hymer GmbH & Co KG and according to the Hymer GmbH & Co KG inspection guidelines.'
As I mentioned earlier, once the inspection has been carried out, the authorised dealer records the details on a centralised database. This means that you could have each inspection carried out by a different dealership, and Hymer GmbH & Co KG would have access to all of the information relating to the vehicle's inspection history.
As I understand it, the company from whom you purchased your vehicle is Erwin Hymer Centre (Tavelworld) Ltd. In spite of it's name, it is just one of many authorised Hymer dealers who may carry out the inspection in order for you to maintain your warranty.

Hi ,I am very much a newbie to this fabulous forum . I have a brand new Hymer A Class and it has a ten year damp warranty . I have contacted 3 Hymer main dealers about an appointment and the cost of getting the 1st damp check done to maintain my warranty . And surprise surprise only the dealer i bought the vehicle from has given me a quote of well over £200 for the damp check alone . THE OTHER 2 TOLD ME THEY COULDN'T HELP ME !! . This not just smells of a cartel it is one - (if you haven't sold this customer the MH don't give this customer a quote for the damp check so we keep the cost and our profit margins as high as possible in our cosy little club). So the cost for me to maintain my damp warranty is going to cost me at the very least £2,000.00 , thats without inflation . I guess in five or six years the cost will be at least half as much again. The dealer never mentioned this ongoing cost when i spent my hard earned £100k+ . I don't mind paying a fair price for a service , i have made a big investment in my new MH , I know the annual damp check gives the chance for the dealer to keep in contact with the customer ( and potentially up sell a new MH ) but this closed shop is very unfair ( and i suspect illegal ) . If only i had joined Motorhomefun before i bought my MH i would have been so much more prepared to face the pitfalls . Having owned three motorhomes before my new Hymer i thought i was buying into the top quality brand , i now feel as thought i have been conned by Hymer into being locked into there cartel . It's not the money it the principal that we are considered as a future long term income stream that really hurts . I would never buy a Hymer again as long as they allow this cartel to exist. !!

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[Minxy]

Hi ,I am very much a newbie to this fabulous forum . I have a brand new Hymer A Class and it has a ten year damp warranty . I have contacted 3 Hymer main dealers about an appointment and the cost of getting the 1st damp check done to maintain my warranty . And surprise surprise only the dealer i bought the vehicle from has given me a quote of well over £200 for the damp check alone . THE OTHER 2 TOLD ME THEY COULDN'T HELP ME !! . This not just smells of a cartel it is one - (if you haven't sold this customer the MH don't give this customer a quote for the damp check so we keep the cost and our profit margins as high as possible in our cosy little club). So the cost for me to maintain my damp warranty is going to cost me at the very least £2,000.00 , thats without inflation . I guess in five or six years the cost will be at least half as much again. The dealer never mentioned this ongoing cost when i spent my hard earned £100k+ . I don't mind paying a fair price for a service , i have made a big investment in my new MH , I know the annual damp check gives the chance for the dealer to keep in contact with the customer ( and potentially up sell a new MH ) but this closed shop is very unfair ( and i suspect illegal ) . If only i had joined Motorhomefun before i bought my MH i would have been so much more prepared to face the pitfalls . Having owned three motorhomes before my new Hymer i thought i was buying into the top quality brand , i now feel as thought i have been conned by Hymer into being locked into there cartel . It's not the money it the principal that we are considered as a future long term income stream that really hurts . I would never buy a Hymer again as long as they allow this cartel to exist. !!

Hi Sparky, welcome to the fun house.

Unfortunately you'll find that it isn't just Hymer who does this, most are the same, however at least with Hymer you can get it done abroad much cheaper as you can see from previous posts and I don't think they insist on a full hab either so at least that's not quite as bad as some other manufacturers who insist on the lot.

When we buy I always ask what the cost of the hab service will be but obviously as we've had MHs since 1996 in one form or another its something I'm aware of, I did use it as a haggling tool though when we bought our Carthago and got the first hab check included as part of the deal saving us £380.

 

[Coolcats]

Hi ,I am very much a newbie to this fabulous forum . I have a brand new Hymer A Class and it has a ten year damp warranty . I have contacted 3 Hymer main dealers about an appointment and the cost of getting the 1st damp check done to maintain my warranty . And surprise surprise only the dealer i bought the vehicle from has given me a quote of well over £200 for the damp check alone . THE OTHER 2 TOLD ME THEY COULDN'T HELP ME !! . This not just smells of a cartel it is one - (if you haven't sold this customer the MH don't give this customer a quote for the damp check so we keep the cost and our profit margins as high as possible in our cosy little club). So the cost for me to maintain my damp warranty is going to cost me at the very least £2,000.00 , thats without inflation . I guess in five or six years the cost will be at least half as much again. The dealer never mentioned this ongoing cost when i spent my hard earned £100k+ . I don't mind paying a fair price for a service , i have made a big investment in my new MH , I know the annual damp check gives the chance for the dealer to keep in contact with the customer ( and potentially up sell a new MH ) but this closed shop is very unfair ( and i suspect illegal ) . If only i had joined Motorhomefun before i bought my MH i would have been so much more prepared to face the pitfalls . Having owned three motorhomes before my new Hymer i thought i was buying into the top quality brand , i now feel as thought i have been conned by Hymer into being locked into there cartel . It's not the money it the principal that we are considered as a future long term income stream that really hurts . I would never buy a Hymer again as long as they allow this cartel to exist. !!

It certainly appears to be a Cartel, and its not only Hymer, but there is another way if you happen to be in Europe get it done by a dealer there

 

[Larrynwin]

We bought a new a class a Hymer in 2016 and it was not a condition of the warranty to have a habitation check it was however a condition of the warranty to have an annual damp check and underbody spray for the first five years , other Hymer owners on here will be aware of that.

 

[sparkyvanman]

We bought a new a class a Hymer in 2016 and it was not a condition of the warranty to have a habitation check it was however a condition of the warranty to have an annual damp check and underbody spray for the first five years , other Hymer owners on here will be aware of that.

do you think this is fair ? did the dealer tell you about this before you bough ? I have not heard about the underbody spray !! . is this a condition of the warranty that i have not been told about ?

 

[Minxy]

do you think this is fair ? did the dealer tell you about this before you bough ? I have not heard about the underbody spray !! . is this a condition of the warranty that i have not been told about ?

AFAIK the underbody spray is no longer required due to the way the underside is now constructed as per Basildog's post earlier and others have also mentioned it on other threads:

They have apparently now scrapped the spray
Mine was applied by the resident 3 year old they obviously employed in their workshops as the way it was applied was a complete joke.
I rang around for prices for a bit of a small survey and the price variation got the moisture check & spray varied from £135 to £240 , I refused to pay for ours anyway as I was pretty much ready to drive the thing through the dealers showroom at this point ⚠

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[Larrynwin]

do you think this is fair ? did the dealer tell you about this before you bough ? I have not heard about the underbody spray !! . is this a condition of the warranty that i have not been told about ?

To be honest I’m not sure I was made aware prior to purchase but I would still have bought it , the cost over five years is less than £1k and bearing in mind the cost of the motorhome in the first place it’s small fry.
You don’t have to have it done but to ensure I am warranted against moisture ingress I am happy to pay up.
The damp check and underbody spray work is logged on Hymer records by the dealer and you are given a printed document as verification and has to be so to satisfy the warranty conditions.
This may be different now so needs checking.
Mine has so far been an excellent mhome and would readily buy another .