Which of you have never had a 'Habitation Check'?

[Basildog]

My Hymer was not going to get one after I found that they were charging for an inspection where it would be sprayed with timber preservative spray on the glass fibre underfloor for £xxx. I have an inspection sheet that I refer to for the rest of it. Warranty wasn't worth the paper it was not written on and now most of the dealers are gone, it will never see one of those at all.

The Hymer underseal aerosol spray applied by the dealers resident 3 year old fitter

 

[Ian Bosman]

I carry out most of the maintenance myself, gas left to a qualified gas man so on a vehicle 12 years old the warranty is not in the question.
All is still watertight and everything, touch wood is still working OK.

 

[Keep Right On]

Never, just the water ingress check to maintain warranty.

Whats the difference between a hab check and a water ingress check? I thought the hab check was damp ingress required by warranty?

 

[Sapper520]

I’m waiting for warranty work to be done. By the looks of it I won’t get it done any time soon, therefore I’ll have to have a Hab Check done to keep the warranty alive so the dealer doesn’t have a reason to reject the warranty work.

 

[Flying Fifer]

We always have habitation check done by gassafe engineer that has the correct & valid qualifications to work on lv's & lpg.
Some engineers don't have the necessary qualifications, so watch who you use. It costs the engineer lots of money to keep his qualifications up to date, so we don't grudge the money. Plus it all keeps insurance cover valid, who would pay out if anything happened.
I know all these things coz it is our son we use who has the correct qualifications, plus we get family discount!
Habitation checks are for internal parts of your vehicle, inc carbon monoxide test and engine & MOT type stuff is done by a garage or those of you who are confident mechanics.
End of the day, it's each to their own.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[JaG]

Had one last year as we are new to motorhoming, though caravanned for 45 years. We obviously got ripped off for £150 because the fridge broke down this weekend. When I took it apart I found a huge lump of soot and jet almost blocked. Obviously happened over years so obviously not checked on habitation check only 6 months ago. Won't have another.

 

[gus-lopez]

I've never had one.
my mate who is on his 6th van over the last 18 years never has anything, has never had a problem selling on, never asks about anything like that when buying & if he wants anything done he arrives here with it or stores them up for when I stay at his place.

or if a burner isn’t working correctly the fumes won’t kill you without your knowledge.

They won't if you have a working carbon monoxide alarm either.

I’m waiting for warranty work to be done. By the looks of it I won’t get it done any time soon, therefore I’ll have to have a Hab Check done to keep the warranty alive so the dealer doesn’t have a reason to reject the warranty work.

They can't reject it is the fault occurred within the warranty period even if the work cannot be done any time soon. It is there problem & any deterioration in said faults that occurs due to the wait is there problem also.

 

[Sapper520]

I've never had one.
my mate who is on his 6th van over the last 18 years never has anything, has never had a problem selling on, never asks about anything like that when buying & if he wants anything done he arrives here with it or stores them up for when I stay at his place.


They won't if you have a working carbon monoxide alarm either.

They can't reject it is the fault occurred within the warranty period even if the work cannot be done any time soon. It is there problem & any deterioration in said faults that occurs due to the wait is there problem also.

I’m having enough problems with communication with them. Once these jobs are done I won’t be bothering with any further claims…….unless they are very expensive. Dealer is 3 hours away, so have to leave early and will hope they get the list of jobs done in a day……..whenever they get back to me.

 

[Lenny HB]

My Hymer A class is due it’s 2nd damp check , not sure about bothering with it . Dealer says I need it to keep the warranty, if I have it done every year for the next 10 years as recommended it will have cost over £2k . Is it really worth it?

It's only a 6 year warranty so only need 5 checks have ours done as its only 60 quid. As I said eairler I don't bother with hab checks just the damp one.

 

[Lenny HB]

Whats the difference between a hab check and a water ingress check? I thought the hab check was damp ingress required by warranty?

Damp check is for the water ingress warranty. Hab check is for the fittings & appliances not required on German vans but UK manufacturers stitch you and make it a condition of warranty.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Encantado]

How come your hab services are so cheap . I pay over £450 per year [had 2 now] thought this was was normal. they say its required to maintain the 6 yr warranty. I do get a detailed report but think I'm being done ! {Dethleffs 19 plate }
This will be well in excess of £2700 for 6 yearly checks

 

[Lenny HB]

How come your hab services are so cheap . I pay over £450 per year [had 2 now] thought this was was normal. they say its required to maintain the 6 yr warranty. I do get a detailed report but think I'm being done ! {Dethleffs 19 plate }
This will be well in excess of £2700 for 6 yearly checks

Don't think you need a hab check on a Dethleffs for the warranty and the warranty is only 2 years.
The water ingress warranty is 6 years you only need the damp check for that. In the UK it will cost £120 to £250 we get our Hymer done by our Belgium dealer for €70.

 

[MrTVR]

New Burstner purchased March last year but don’t plan to start on the hab check bandwagon. Never have in the past.

 

[TonyEmm]

Had one last year as we are new to motorhoming, though caravanned for 45 years. We obviously got ripped off for £150 because the fridge broke down this weekend. When I took it apart I found a huge lump of soot and jet almost blocked. Obviously happened over years so obviously not checked on habitation check only 6 months ago. Won't have another.

Did you pay for a ‘habitation check’ or a ’habitation service’? On a check, they will merely ensure that it is working on all energy sources. On a service, they will need to dismantle and maybe even remove!
Same applies to the Truma heater, or whatever is fitted...

 

[Flying Fifer]

Did you pay for a ‘habitation check’ or a ’habitation service’? On a check, they will merely ensure that it is working on all energy sources. On a service, they will need to dismantle and maybe even remove!
Same applies to the Truma heater, or whatever is fitted...

TonyEmm is correct, to get fridge 'serviced', many places charge extra for this, plus you would need to specify you'd like fridge serviced. Otherwise it is only checked that it is working correctly on the day of service. Think of it thus way.... it's like a light bulb - works one day & not the next.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Flying Fifer]

Don't think you need a hab check on a Dethleffs for the warranty and the warranty is only 2 years.
The water ingress warranty is 6 years you only need the damp check for that. In the UK it will cost £120 to £250 we get our Hymer done by our Belgium dealer for €70.

Check your warranty for what is required rather than what dealer says.

 

[RubyOptics]

So come on who has habitation checks?

Is it just 'Newbies', new owners who are told that without it the warranty is invalidated?

Do more experienced owners ignore the concept?

Do owners of better quality MHs have the checks

If you take a MH back to a dealer is the gas system checked by a gas engineer specifically qualified on butane/propane systems and does one get a certificate accordingly?

I bought my first/only MH 12 years ago and have never had a habitation check. I had one small window seal leak 3 years ago but it might not have shown on day of check, like MOT.

Your thoughts please, together with:-

What Motorhome(s) you have owned?

Whether you have had habitation checks and why?

What they have found?

Would you always have a habitation check on any MH in the future?

Geoff

We bought our 20 year old Burstner from a dealer and so it had had a full habitation check and service when we bought it.

The van had been sourced from Germany (as you know we live in Poland and so this is fairly common) and so we had the German gas safety certificate in writing which was still valid at the time of sale. We would have requested one if we had not had this though due to the age of the van)

Our van is a Burstner 576-2 first registered in 2001.

We had a full habitiation check at time of sale. We are currently looking at a newer van and so recently took our van to a dealer we are interested in dealing with for a valuation. As part of this they conducted a thorough damp check and reported that there were zero problems with the highest reading being 11% around the skylight which was repaired recently under warranty for a small leak due to old sealent. The skylight was removed, the area cleaned and then the skylight was replaced with new sealant. They also did the same for the bathroom window as I expressed some concern over the appearance of the sealant in that location as well.

Yes, I would get a hab check done before our next purchase. I do realise that they are a bit like an MOT in that they are only valid for that moment of time and that anything could happen tomorrow, but I guess that still means enough to me to get it done. I would expect the dealer to take the cost of this off if I go ahead and purchase the vehicle though.

Joe

 

[Emmit]

How about the annual check we had at "probably the largest dealer in the South West" (not my words) who stated that 'In Writing' "We couldn't check the spare tyre as there wasn't one" and also passed the van as being completely free from damp because they gave me a pretty diagram of the van showing their scores.

So, how come they didn't notice the 15" steel rimmed wheel and tyre under the bed?

 

[Skyway]

Becauce there arse holes

 

[TheBig1]

got sucked in once for a check on a near new van and they missed faults that I knew were there and was expecting them to fix under warranty. Never again, ever. I am more qualified than the idiots that the dealers employ. Most get in the van, lights on, lights off....Tick Damp meter poked in by the windows, Tick and then lock van up and complete all the other tick boxes

The above confirmed by a chap that used to do just that for a well known dealer, as that is what they were told to do. If anything breaks, the owner will report it and they can raise a warranty ticket. People don't want telling their pride and joy has faults

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Michael Rennison]

A good one is worth paying for. I used Lodge Farm Leisure in Gunthorpe, Nottinghamshire. Very good service and a proper check sheet with the vital stats. That was 2 years ago and we've had a lockdown in between, so this year I'll have it done again.

 

[A S R]

You need to find a good qualified independent caravan / motorhome service engineer and not a big company. The small independents livelihood depends on top quality work and repeat customers. No job too small or big for the superb chap that does my Burstner. He also looks after my sons caravan too.

 

[sparkyvanman]

You need to find a good qualified independent caravan / motorhome service engineer and not a big company. The small independents livelihood depends on top quality work and repeat customers. No job too small or big for the superb chap that does my Burstner. He also looks after my sons caravan too.

I can’t agree more , the big companies are only interested in profit. I bought mine from one of the biggest companies , having taken it back for warranty work , very disappointed with the service , now it’s getting to the end of the warranty period I have no intention of taking it to them again , love the van but I wish I had bought it from small independent

 

[A S R]

I had my local chap do a hab check on the van I have now when I went to buy it. I cleared it with the sellers ( private ) first obviously. They had no problem with it. It certainly put my mind at rest before handing over nearly £50k. I also did the enhanced finance check too to make sure there were no loans / finance secured to it. You do hear of some horror stories with people not doing these things.

 

[Northernraider]

Only ever had one done on my frankia and that was a joke. Had a service done at the same time and he managed to break my diesel filter and claim it waa leaking beforehand. I tend to let as few people as possible tamper with my van ...i live in it i know it better than some random. I fix what i can myself and if i cant then i ask someone i trust.



That said ive my current hymer advertised for sale and the one enquiry ive had so far their first question was when was it last hab checked ...they didnt like my answer of not in a long time. It seems newbies have had this drummed in to them like high mileage is bad etc .

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Flying Fifer]

You need to find a good qualified independent caravan / motorhome service engineer and not a big company. The small independents livelihood depends on top quality work and repeat customers. No job too small or big for the superb chap that does my Burstner. He also looks after my sons caravan too.

Totally agree. Ours gets done by a sole trader (our son), with a fully itemised service schedule showing all details of the fridge, eg make, model, same with oven. Well worth the money his customers say. All impressed what he does, both in motorhome & caravan. His motto - treat people how you would like to be treated yourself. His customers are mostly repeats or word of mouth. As he say, make hay while he can as the winter is normally very quiet. This year could be the exception!

 

[bexleyjohn]

I bought a new Dethleffs 5 years ago. Have had habitation and engine service every year. Underside sealant spray each time. I have two cars - serviced and MoT every year! What’s so clever about not doing so? I wouldn’t buy a second hand vehicle that has no evidence of maintenance by specialists.
I am not a newbie - 73 years old and caravanning/Motorhome for almost 40 years!

 

[Peskyrabbitt]

Our new to us Laika which we picked up from a seemingly reputable dealer recently was supposed to come with hab and damp check, which it did on paper at least, but me being the trusting type ( Not ) have gone over the mh and checked everything, Findings so far are we found small area of damp on shower wall near the floor, which we have now repaired, fridge / freezer is erratic and seems only to work properly on gas, but that could be due to outside temperature? few other little niggles which we have found but given its older to be expected, but the biggest issue for us is regardless of age or cost is honesty to which on this occasion the dealer has not shown.
We have negotiated a decent discount after our findings but faith in this dealer is totally lost. I would happily name and shame them but don,t think it is appropriate given that we accepted a reduced payment.
Just to note in case someone says take it back,the dealer is 600 miles away from us, and all findings were found by ourselves at home.

 

[bobnick]

Excuse if daft question.
If damp was found awhile ago, say 40% would that figure go down now we have had some really hot days (by UK standards)?

 

[Lenny HB]

Excuse if daft question.
If damp was found awhile ago, say 40% would that figure go down now we have had some really hot days (by UK standards)?

Yes the readings would probably reduce as the surface of the wall board would dry out a bit. You would probably still get higher than normal readings as the vinyl covering would prevent it fully drying out.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}