Should you be able to take your caravan repairs to any dealer?
- Wednesday, 11 March 2009
- 0 Comments
A pile of paperwork may put car dealers in Europe off doing certain jobs.
YES SAYS: Maria Castle
Long ago I realised that being forced to get your car serviced by the main dealer in order to maintain an excellent service record was a sure-fire way to get ripped off. Main dealers charge three times as much as a local garage. I fear the same principle applies to caravan franchise dealerships.
Unfortunately we all prize the warranty that you get with a new caravan, and that puts us exactly where the dealers want us. Most warranties insist that we get regular servicing and repairs done by a particular dealer for that make of caravan. Disobeying this rule renders your warranty null and void.
This backfires on manufacturers and caravanners alike. It means that even if I buy a caravan at a show, I’ll choose a local dealer. However good a dealer’s after-sales service is, it’s a pain if they’re 200 miles away!
As soon as the warranty period is over I shop around for a competitive quote for each job. This is how it should be from the start. I can’t afford to pay top rates needlessly or to replace things on a whim, so my aim is only to keep things working. Warranty rules just hold us all to ransom!
NO SAYS: Pete Smith
When it comes to repairing a caravan it’s a case of ‘horses for courses’. Every make of caravan is different, just as cars are, so the best people to carry out any servicing or repairs will be working for the dealer holding the franchise for that particular make of caravan. Unlike the modern car that has been mass-produced, caravan manufacture is still very much a cottage industry, so diagnosing and fixing problems is still a manual task.
Only the franchise dealer really knows the ins and outs of the caravans he sells. So when a caravan needs repairing or servicing, his workshop is likely to know how to do the job in the most economical way. He’s more likely to have the spares to hand – or to be able to source them more quickly than a non-franchised dealer.
Most caravan workshops are only large enough to house a few caravans at a time, which means they can handle only a few jobs a week. I don’t think anyone would blame the dealer for putting caravanners who buy from him in front of those who have bought elsewhere. I certainly expect my dealer to give me preferential treatment in return for my business, don’t you?
Have your say
Shopaholics win
‘Yes! Shopping around is what every modern consumer should do when buying everything, especially when times are as hard as they seem to be now. An unofficial repair may hasten the depreciation of my caravan on paper, but since I’m not in any hurry to change it, I’d rather save money right now, not later!’
Samantha Robinson, Melksham, Wiltshire
False economy
‘When will people realise that you get what you pay for? If you ask any old handyman to have a go at fixing your caravan, he won’t know the first thing about the van, so he won’t know where to look for trouble or how to fix it. Do you really want to pay someone to learn the hard way, possibly risking damaging your van in the process?’
Gerald Diamond, Cardiff
Not that hard
‘How hard can it be to service or repair a caravan? Any caravan? My local caravan dealer is brilliant, so even if I bought a van elsewhere, I’d take it to him to be fixed. Getting spare parts is hardly a problem in these internet-savvy days. I reckon anyone could source the parts! I’d rather not fit them myself, though, that’s a sure route to disaster.’
Marcus Banks, Poole
Weigh up risk
‘I would never buy a new caravan without a warranty, because I don’t want to risk my investment. Insurance companies handling the warranties have assessed the risks very carefully. That’s why when they insist that you have any work carried out by an authorised dealer for that make of van, they know what they are talking about!’
Rick 0’Donnell, Preston
What’s your view?
Here’s a list of future debates in Caravan - what’s your opinion? Send your views to our normal address or email us at caravan@ipcmedia.com.
Please put THE BIG ISSUE on your correspondence.
* June – Modern caravans; are we getting obsessed with specification?
* July - Paying for pitches or people: should there be clearer pricing systems for campsites?
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