Water ingress on Carthagos

[Steadycam]

May be a silly question but is it worth getting concerned about a small leak in the garage?

Yes it is. And yes it is

 

[wiljoy]

@wilko could you please confirm what year your carthago is just curious and how old it was when you 1st noticed the water leak

It is a 2013 model. The leak came to my attention when a strong waste tank smell developed in the garage . The carpets were very wet so I investigated further. The water was probably slowly coming in for many months or even longer.

 

[wiljoy]

I wonder which factory it was from? I've heard a few moans about the c tourers which afaik are built in Slovenia.

I don't know where it was built but IF Carthago are supposed to be as good as the manufacturer proclams it shouldn't really matter where they build them. It just proves paying out extortionate prices for so called quality is a mythe.

 

[jongood]

I don't know where it was built but IF Carthago are supposed to be as good as the manufacturer proclams it shouldn't really matter where they build them. It just proves paying out extortionate prices for so called quality is a mythe.

Or it might prove that it does matter where they are made.

 

[Lanerboy]

Or it might prove that it does matter where they are made.

I just hope your wrong as I take delivery of a new C line superior (2018 model) which I believe is built in Slovenia

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[Robert Clark]

I just hope your wrong as I take delivery of a new C line superior (2018 model) which I believe is built in Slovenia

Our C Line was fantastic build quanlity. Ignore the Nay Sayers

 

[Clarky]

Our C Line was fantastic build quanlity. Ignore the Nay Sayers

......and ours still is.

Richard.

 

[ceejayt]

I think this thread just underlines the luck of the draw sometimes - it is just a question of percentage because some vehicles are going the be bad and some manufacturers are going to have a much lower percentage of bad ones because of quality build.

We had an N and B Flair as our first motor home from Hymer UK in Blackpool as it was then. Took a year of me going back and forth because there was water literally swilling around in the underfloor of the vehicle. Turned out to be poorly fitted front side windows. You would not expect that from Na dn B but it happened.

 

[wiljoy]

Or it might prove that it does matter where they are made.

Wherever manufacturing takes place quality should be maintained by the company.
Most Hymer owners are quality conscious but they are now building vans in the UK. Does this make the quality worse as it isnt manufactured in Germany. Time will tell.

 

[jongood]

Don't get me wrong , I like carthagos but there do seem to be more moans about the smaller ones lately.

Every marque can have issues.

Jon

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[Clarky]

Don't get me wrong , I like carthagos but there do seem to be more moans about the smaller ones lately.

Every marque can have issues.

Jon

Do you think it’s like owners car satisfaction surveys?
Let me explain my theory.

I could never understand why some very basic and cheap cars seemed to get better survey scores than more upmarket marques. After a few seconds thought it is quite obvious that those drivers who buy a very basic car are usually only interested in getting from A-B as cheaply as possible and have no interest or enthusiasm for driving and the finer points of vehicles ie. they are very easily satisfied.
The owners of top end cars are often enthusiasts and, having spent a large amount of money, are fussy and demand quality.
What the owner of a budget car will put up with the owner of a prestige brand certainly won’t, hence lower satisfaction scores when the tiniest thing goes wrong.

The same applies to our motorhomes. Having paid a ‘kings ransome’ for a ‘quality’ van owners will moan like hell if it’s not 100%.

Richard.

 

[TinaLes]

Spot on Richard, so many other big issues in life that hit us, that we cannot always be prepared for, sums it up for me.
I am just happy that we now have a MH, and thats its a Carthago, the build quality is just as good as I expected, the technical service from Carthago Customer service is also good, in that they return answers to my e-mailed questions.
Its great having the confidence of knowing that the coachwork side of things is great, its just the Dometic/thetford/Truma side of things that can let go, just as they can in any other premium make even those priced at £250,000 and above.
Still feel sorry for @wiljoy, but I haven't read of one other leak problem, none on the COC forum either.
Think he has just been very unlucky, but should be happy when its all sorted hopefully.
Les

 

[canopus]

Don't get me wrong , I like carthagos but there do seem to be more moans about the smaller ones lately.

Every marque can have issues.

Jon

I'm always amazed at the number of second hand Carthago's for sale. Call me dubious, but just saying.

 

[ceejayt]

Spot on Richard, so many other big issues in life that hit us, that we cannot always ...
Its great having the confidence of knowing that the coachwork side of things is great, its just the Dometic/thetford/Truma side of things that can let go, just as they can in any other premium make even those priced at £250,000 and above.
Still feel sorry for @wiljoy, but I haven't read of one other leak problem, none on the COC forum either.
Think he has just been very unlucky, but should be happy when its all sorted hopefully.
Les

Yes

What we all have to remember is that our motorhome is made up of so many significant components from multiple manufacturers - Dometic, Alde, Truma etc etc. The poor old manufacturer has too put it all together and often with changing specifications so not all the problems we lay at the feet of our dealers can really be blamed on them.

 

[BobtheBass]

We swapped our 2 year old Carthago last June for a new Hymer, purely because of the internal design. Whilst the Hymer is very well built and we are delighted with it, in certain areas it can't hold a candle to the Carthago. If Carthago did a low twin singles/rear bathroom design we would never have changed marque, although I have to say that in all honesty I found the snooty Owners Club got up my nose a few times and refused to accept that just occasionally even Carthago did make mistakes. I suspect that my C Tourer being the entry model meant I was only just a member of their club. For example, from a very senior member, "Truma heating? I think you'll find that all Carthagos have Alde heating my dear chap"......

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[jongood]

Do you think it’s like owners car satisfaction surveys?
Let me explain my theory.

I could never understand why some very basic and cheap cars seemed to get better survey scores than more upmarket marques. After a few seconds thought it is quite obvious that those drivers who buy a very basic car are usually only interested in getting from A-B as cheaply as possible and have no interest or enthusiasm for driving and the finer points of vehicles ie. they are very easily satisfied.
The owners of top end cars are often enthusiasts and, having spent a large amount of money, are fussy and demand quality.
What the owner of a budget car will put up with the owner of a prestige brand certainly won’t, hence lower satisfaction scores when the tiniest thing goes wrong.

The same applies to our motorhomes. Having paid a ‘kings ransome’ for a ‘quality’ van owners will moan like hell if it’s not 100%.

Richard.

Yes I think that is a very good point Richard, Ive been listening to a German moaning about his flair today most of which seemed fairly trivial to me however mattered a lot to him. The point I was making is that you never used to get moans about carthagos before they moved some of the production away from Aulendorf.

 

[Lanerboy]

I'm always amazed at the number of second hand Carthago's for sale. Call be dubious, but just saying.

Are you saying there are a lot for sale as I have been looking and struggled hence purchased a new one there are 34 used carthagos on eBay and 154 burstner so I'm not sure I agree totally in what your saying

 

[canopus]

Look on Mobile.de, look on Carthago owners, look on Go European, look on Southdowns, Autotrader, C & MC to name but a few - lots for sale, I always wonder why ???

 

[Lanerboy]

Southdowns have 2 used carthagos for sale I don't think there are any more used carthagos for sale than other brands too be honest I personally think there are less used carthagos for sale than other brands like I say 32 on auto trader but 154 burstners

There will always be used mh of all makes for sale but I have been looking for months and couldn't find what I wanted so bought a new carthago

 

[Wagoneer]

I'm always amazed at the number of second hand Carthago's for sale. Call me dubious, but just saying.

My theory is:

1) There seem to be quite a few well-off retirees who want to "live the dream" but have no previous camping experience. They spend their retirement lump sum on an expensive MH. After a year or so, they find the "dream" is not for them.

2) They purchase a Carthago, based on a 3500kg chassis, and find they don't have sufficient payload to carry all their clobber in the garage.

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[Clarky]

Carthago sales have gone a bit bonkers in the last four years or so, therefore there are many more being traded in, often for a new version.

When we ordered our Carthago 4 1/2 years ago it was very unusual to see another in the UK. Carthago Owners UK had well under 100 members from what I remember ( nearer 50 I think), now there are nearly 500 and not every owner ever joins an owners club.
As more and more come onto the second hand market they become more affordable to a wider range of people who discover the joys of owning one.

Richard.

 

[Pausim]

Look on Mobile.de, look on Carthago owners, look on Go European, look on Southdowns, Autotrader, C & MC to name but a few - lots for sale, I always wonder why ???

I know almost all the ones at Southdowns are new 2018 stock. I wanted to look at a 2019 Compactline model but was told they had not ordered any because they had a large stock of 2018 models. More a matter of overstocking in 2018 than people deserting the brand I think.

 

[jongood]

Carthago sales have gone a bit bonkers in the last four years or so, therefore there are many more being traded in, often for a new version.

When we ordered our Carthago 4 1/2 years ago it was very unusual to see another in the UK. Carthago Owners UK had well under 100 members from what I remember ( nearer 50 I think), now there are nearly 500 and not every owner ever joins an owners club.
As more and more come onto the second hand market they become more affordable to a wider range of people who discover the joys of owning one.

Richard.

Is this possibly a result of introducing the C-tourers as an entry level?

 

[Clarky]

Is this possibly a result of introducing the C-tourers as an entry level?

I guess that is the case for many sales, plus there is now the Malibu range as well with new dealers springing up around the country.

Richard.