Which Dealers Impress & Why?

Petroleumblownapart

Petroleumblownapart

Joined
May 4, 2023
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Just looking
Following the thread about annoying dealers I realised the question is loaded so here's an alternative loaded the other way.
I'll start the ball rolling with Camper UK in Lincoln.
The only dealer we have found who have always do everything we've asked for, phoned back when promised, completed work on time and never tried to give us any flannel.
Worth tho travelling IMO including their own EXCELLENT site nearby.
Sales, spares and service work together. Not cheap but excellent value.
 
Petroleumblownapart said:
The only dealer we have found who have always do everything we've asked for, phoned back when promised, completed work on time and never tried to give us any flannel.
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The parts dept are great there, alas the service dept lets it down big time, sales dept? Dunno I’ve never bought from them.
I’ve bought my last two vans UNSEEN from Simon Select who now runs Select motorhomes, one was from Howard’s t’other from AK and can’t comment on aftersales because I never needed it, both vans flawless!
That said my alde stopped working in a snowy Germany December (operator error) and Simon publicly reached out on here whilst I was in Germany reminding me if it was broken I had his warranty and they would fix it!
 
As I said in the opposite thread, Becks in Norfolk and Johns Cross in East Sussex were both very good and recommended by many funsters. Unfortunately both are no longer trading. Our present motorhome bought 8 years ago from Becks is our keeper so I have no experiences of buying from dealers after that. But I do have a couple of recommendations of businesses used for repairs and services.

For the motor and chassis side Tomsetts outside of Sittingbourne in Kent are very good and not expensive. I have used them for the last few years for both services and MOTs. The owner is a motorhomer.

For the habitation areas Reliance near Chichester are very good. And their parts man, Chris, is an ace at tracking down hard to find parts. Last summer he found me the correct floor hatch for my particular Hymer model in about 10 minutes! Got the price from Hymer the next day and I ordered it there and then and it was delivered within a month. I am still waiting for Southdowns to phone me back with the part number and cost!
 
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Another vote for CamperUk
They were very good and replied to everyone of my questions and were honest and very helpful

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Chelston Motorhomes, Wellington, Somerset. When ordering they went through all the options carefully deducting the weight of the chosen ones from the payload. After sales services have been excellent, including getting a prompt refund from Carthago for a Fiat Professional bill when the fault tuned out to be a construction mistake. A rare occurrence but dealt with quickly and efficiently.

So far I am also impressed with Southwest Motorhomes, Illminster, Somerset. Again they went carefully through the options with me and provided a detailed summary of the payload implications. I have yet to find out about their after sales services but had a good conversation with their workshop manager which I found reassuring. Nearer to home we have the excellent Reliance near Chichester (already mentioned by peterc10) who have confirmed they can do Carthago/Malibu warranty work.
 
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I predict that the list of UK dealers that impress will be relatively brief compared against the (mostly un-named) sorry bunch of couldn't-care-less cowboys mentioned by disappointed Funsters in Jim's other thread regarding what annoys you most about Motorhome Dealers.

Let's give our hard-earned dosh to the more conscientious, customer-focussed dealers who prioritise good after-sales service, and give the cowboys a swerve. They don't deserve our valuable custom.
 
SpeedyDux said:
I predict that the list of UK dealers that impress will be relatively brief compared against the (mostly un-named) sorry bunch of couldn't-care-less cowboys mentioned by disappointed Funsters in Jim's other thread regarding what annoys you most about Motorhome Dealers.

Let's give our hard-earned dosh to the more conscientious, customer-focussed dealers who prioritise good after-sales service, and give the cowboys a swerve. They don't deserve our valuable custom.
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That depends, a few on here rate Camper U.K. some don’t🤷‍♂️
I have never had dealings with Oaktree motorhomes BUT Ive Never heard a bad word about them🤷‍♂️

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Camper UK - never bought from them but good experience with their service - Burstner and Carthago - neither bought from them. ES Hartley - bought current van from them - sales staff usual indifference - but the Manager and Service staff have been very good with after sales. Would purchase from either of them.
 
I would be surprised if any dealer got 100% good reviews, we all make the odd mistake. They are also very dependant on the back up they get from manufacturers. As I said on the other thread you need to pick a brand with a good reputation as well as a good dealer if you want good service. I spoke to one dealer recently who said she would not sell certain brands because she knew she could damage her own reputation by doing so.
 
With the exception of the distance from here, we have been very impressed with Geoff Cox Motorhomes in Denby. Gavin in sales is straightforward and easy to deal with. No pushiness at all. Only used the service department for the first annual service, again no problems at all. The few problems we had they have been happy to get the parts and send them out to be fitted locally.
 
Whilst I never mentioned the dealer concerned in Jim’s post, I’m happy to do so here. It is Camper UK of Lincoln.

Apart from speaking with the guys at Marquis in Ipswich and Pulingers near Halstead, when we were first considering the swap from Caravan to Motorhome I’ve had no other dealings with any other MH dealers, so my comments on Camper UK are purely from my experience rather than weighing them up against any other dealer.

Sorry. Just remembered we used Geoff Cox at Derby for service and fitting a WiFi on our previous Adria. I wasn’t happy with the positioning of the external aerial, however this apparently was down to Adria’s instructions to their dealers so as not to void body warranty. Other than that found them easy to deal with and very friendly.
 
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I commented on the other thread about Hymer UK, Preston selling to another customer a MH on which I had left a deposit.

Other than that the only UK dealer I have had contact with has been Choose Leisure at Canterbury. We dropped in unannounced to buy a Fiamma external locking bar. We drove out 1/2 hour later with it fitted - excellent service. I have also bought parts from them with satisfaction, and also from Niesmann Caravans, who also did a repair for us very efficiently.

As we bought privately and have base vehicle serviced by a commercial garage, we have had no other contact with MH dealers, but we have had very good service from N&B Service Dept., including fitting us in ahead of our appointment.

That is the total of my 14 years experience.

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We always had fantastic service from IH, builders and dealers for their own campervan. Aftersales always friendly and efficient.
 
Pullingers in Halstead get my nomination. Excellent to deal with when buying, no pressure, good advice, great discount. Excellent parts, repair and service team, have gone the extra mile for us on a couple of occasions and saved us about £750 in doing so.
 
Not MH related, but I had a problem with a Bristan sink tap I hade bought about six months ago. Bristan insisted on sending an engineer to the house to replace the tap.
So it is possible to offer excellent service, the engineer visit would have cost more than I paid for the tap.
:xThumb::xThumb::xThumb:

Geoff
 
Purchased our second van from tha big dealer in Newark
we had done homework so knew what spec wanted and ford chassis no good due to towing weight wanted, and the dealer had a van that fitted the bill in stock.
Deal agreed with other bits to be fitted and handover date.
Requirements were followed up by them including being booked in for overnight stay.
P/ex checked no comment on damp the servicing dealer said was in the garage doors a few weeks earlier, no quibble on price offered.
Handover was thorough.
Morning after, after sales team came to check all was okay - we identified two problems. He went to see if they could do the work that day - they could. As it would take several hours offered us lunch vouchers. After sales and the mechanic kept us upto date, and both handed the van over explaining what had been done.
After sales then rang as promised the following week to make sure no other issues, and after 30 days checked no other issues before they handed us over to the service department.
I know this company “B” gets lots of negative posts, but so far more impressed by this attitude than from several Merc dealers over the years including one regularly used where we bought two new Mercs on the same day.


I hope I don’t have to eat my words at a later date!

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WESTY66 said:
The parts dept are great there, alas the service dept lets it down big time, sales dept? Dunno I’ve never bought from them.
I’ve bought my last two vans UNSEEN from Simon Select who now runs Select motorhomes, one was from Howard’s t’other from AK and can’t comment on aftersales because I never needed it, both vans flawless!
That said my alde stopped working in a snowy Germany December (operator error) and Simon publicly reached out on here whilst I was in Germany reminding me if it was broken I had his warranty and they would fix it!
Click to expand...

Screenshot_20240101-162142.png
 
SteveandSue said:
Camper UK - never bought from them but good experience with their service - Burstner and Carthago - neither bought from them. ES Hartley - bought current van from them - sales staff usual indifference - but the Manager and Service staff have been very good with after sales. Would purchase from either of them.
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Screenshot_20240101-162142.png
 
Guffy60 said:
Purchased our second van from tha big dealer in Newark
we had done homework so knew what spec wanted and ford chassis no good due to towing weight wanted, and the dealer had a van that fitted the bill in stock.
Deal agreed with other bits to be fitted and handover date.
Requirements were followed up by them including being booked in for overnight stay.
P/ex checked no comment on damp the servicing dealer said was in the garage doors a few weeks earlier, no quibble on price offered.
Handover was thorough.
Morning after, after sales team came to check all was okay - we identified two problems. He went to see if they could do the work that day - they could. As it would take several hours offered us lunch vouchers. After sales and the mechanic kept us upto date, and both handed the van over explaining what had been done.
After sales then rang as promised the following week to make sure no other issues, and after 30 days checked no other issues before they handed us over to the service department.
I know this company “B” gets lots of negative posts, but so far more impressed by this attitude than from several Merc dealers over the years including one regularly used where we bought two new Mercs on the same day.


I hope I don’t have to eat my words at a later date!
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Brownhills

so far we’re 21mths in from purchasing our brand new Rapido from them, i’m not afraid to say the Rapido has not been without its issues and lots of them but up to now Brownhills have been brilliant

I’ve an ongoing list of issues, one of them a BIG one but i’m hopefully going to be happy when it’s sorted in April

Wish me luck 👍
 
Al n Val said:
Brownhills

so far we’re 21mths in from purchasing our brand new Rapido from them, i’m not afraid to say the Rapido has not been without its issues and lots of them but up to now Brownhills have been brilliant

I’ve an ongoing list of issues, one of them a BIG one but i’m hopefully going to be happy when it’s sorted in April

Wish me luck 👍
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Good luck!
 
meanders said:
With the exception of the distance from here, we have been very impressed with Geoff Cox Motorhomes in Denby. Gavin in sales is straightforward and easy to deal with. No pushiness at all. Only used the service department for the first annual service, again no problems at all. The few problems we had they have been happy to get the parts and send them out to be fitted locally.
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Another vote for Geoff Cox.
We have bought 3 vans from Gavin. Excellent service and back up.
Just changed to our 4th van through another dealer. Only because we wanted a specific layout and size. Jury is out so far on these but so far prefer Geoff Cox

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