# Motorhome Misery – Our Pride Of Joy Is A Disaster!



## Senator

This is a long story of frustration, annoyance and despair!

It started February when I noticed a damp smell in our Autocruise Stardream. Found that there was water coming through the roof and dripping into the wardrobe!  

Some history here – when we purchased the van last May from STJ Motors in Woking I noticed a chequer plate on the roof and questioned it’s presence with the dealer (whilst paying for the van in their upstairs office I was able to look down directly onto the top of the vans on the forecourt). After claiming not to have been aware of it they contacted the previously owner (phone call) and informed me it was covering up holes left from a satellite installation and also that the previous owners liked to sit up there during race meetings. :wink: All seemed reasonable at the time and the plates appeared well fitted on inspection from a ladder. We were presented with a copy of the damp report which stated that ‘no damp was found’. So we went ahead with the purchase.

There is a hole in the ceiling within the wardrobe where it would appear a satellite mast came through, and this is where the water dripped into the van.

Rang STJ Motors to be told they were no longer in business as they went into administration last December, but not to worry as I had a Gold Warranty with MB&G insurance!

Took the van to Southdowns Motorhomes in Portsmouth who removed the plates and found a large section of the roof skin had been cut away and a fibreglass repair (or bodge) carried out. There is no gel coat to the repair and once the water got under the plate through failed sealant it was able to pass through the porous fibreglass. Nett result, the whole roof is damp! :evil: 

More damp was found around the joint between the side walls and the floor possible a result of the seal breaking down where the side skirts are fitted to the van during manufacture.

Southdowns submitted quotes to MB&G accordingly. They refused to cover the roof, but agreed to cover most of the lower damp.

As Southdowns felt the correct action was to remove the whole roof and replace it, they suggested we took the van to Chelston’so in Somerset who are geared up to handle a large repair like this.

Collected the van from Southdowns who made no charge to us for all their works, suggesting that the repairs were going to cost us enough! What great service from Southdowns!

Once Chelston’s had inspected it themselves they found the lower damp to be worse than previously expected with fungus growing under the floor! MB&G refused to increase the cover as they had already agreed to a quote for just under £3k, some £2k short of the revised estimate! So, we are now up to a total of £9K to repair the damage!

Chelston’s then removed the fibreglass patch and found the wood beneath rotten and soaked. Clearly the roof had been damp long before we purchased the van. :twisted: It is estimated that the van has been damp for some years, so not sure how the dealer we purchased it from didn’t find it! :wink: 

To cut the story short we decided to trade the van with Chelston’s who managed to find a buyer through the trade prepared to take the van on, although the roof needed a new plate. Our Stardream was not something that Chelston would be prepared to offer on their forecourt as the repair could not be ‘invisible’, so this was our best option.

We secured a deal to purchase our now new Motorhome but ended up losing £15k on our Stardream, after one year’s use! :evil: 

One thing I didn’t want to do was to sell the motorhome to anyone without them being aware of the problem. I wouldn’t ever want to put someone else through what we had to endure, so whoever has the van now has been informed of the issues and they are going to sell it at a price that reflects that, so if you come across a 2006(56) Autocruise Stardream for sale in the West Country (somewhere) be careful!

Finally, this is almost behind us. I have one more issue I am going to follow but don’t want to mention it on here, just yet.

But thanks must go to Southdown’s Motorhomes in Portsmouth (particularly to Andy Bottle in Service) and of course to Chelston’s for looking after us so well and getting us through this nightmare.

I have added some pictures for your interest.

Picture 1 shows the fibreglass ‘patch’ found under the chequer plate.

Picture 2 shows the state of the plywood under the repair!

This whole saga has lasted from February to July and what I haven’t mentioned is the cancelled holidays, the upset from the continuing ‘bad news’ and the anger at what we have had to suffer!

If I can offer some advise to others it is to be careful who you buy from, if something doesn’t seem quite right then it probably isn’t and don’t accept a damp report that just states ‘no damp found’. 

Finally be careful of warranties from MB&G!

Such a shame as it was a lovely van otherwise!

Mark


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## Bobmarley3

Ye gods - despair wouldn't even start to describe that if it had been mine.

However, what's this about STJ saying they are out of business - clearly stating on stjmotors website 


> Buy your used Motorhome with confidence.
> 
> All used vehicles sold by ourselves will go through our workshops, we will carry out any maintainence or repairs to the habitation and of course we will carry out gas and electrical saftey checks. We check the operation of all the on board systems so that you are assured of hassle free motorhoming.


Not to mention


> Whether a mechanical failure, a habitation problem or an accident repair brings you to us, you can be assured of outstanding service.


  

Mrs Bob


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## MrsW

Oh Mark, what a terrible tale! I do hope you find a way of getting over the last year and that you get a van which gives you years of happy motorhoming.


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## Senator

Bobmarley3 said:


> Ye gods - despair wouldn't even start to describe that if it had been mine.
> 
> However, what's this about STJ saying they are out of business - clearly stating on stjmotors website
> 
> 
> 
> Buy your used Motorhome with confidence.
> 
> All used vehicles sold by ourselves will go through our workshops, we will carry out any maintainence or repairs to the habitation and of course we will carry out gas and electrical saftey checks. We check the operation of all the on board systems so that you are assured of hassle free motorhoming.
> 
> 
> 
> Not to mention
> 
> 
> 
> Whether a mechanical failure, a habitation problem or an accident repair brings you to us, you can be assured of outstanding service.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> 
> Mrs Bob
Click to expand...

They are in Administration :wink: Checked it with Companies House.

The workshop facilities in Woking went with the demise of the business. :?:

Mark


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## tyreman1

Wowee,puts me off ever buying a coachbuilt ever again,hope you can enjoy your new van now and move on.......hopefully your old van will be repaired properly before being sold on.....just a thought though,it might always be worth speaking to the previous owner of a van yourself before purchase,they might be more forthcoming with the truth rather than go through the dealer (and if the dealer wont let you see the log book for details then walk away)


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## Penquin

Just a thought, and I know virtually nothing about businesses in administration.....  

It appears that you have a justifiable claim against the business that sold you the lemon and were economical with the truth to say the least.......

I think I am correct in saying that you therefore have a claim against them for the cost of the repairs at least (hopefully a legal expert will be along to give suitable advice about whether I am talking through the wrong part of my anatomy!  )

Can you lodge a claim against the business and the administrators?

I realise that it will not be the highest priority claim c/w HMRC and the Banks...... but having your name on the bill MIGHT be of some benefit as the administrators have to take account of all creditors (which I think you would count as).

I hope that an expert in such things can give some advice, but it is just a thought that occurred to me.....

Dave


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## bognormike

that's horrendous - the dealers must have known about the roof :evil:


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## Snunkie

Oh my goodness, I feel so frustrated for you, what a terrible thing to go through. I would be heartbroken


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## Imbiber

There is an STJ Motors selling on ebay at the moment, they have a few for sale too.....are these a different company?

Example Link: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Frankia-L...=875114929500820644&pid=100015&prg=1006&rk=1&


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## Vennwood

I got a real tremble when reading through this post. I really do feel for you as it reminded me of the problems we had with our warranty insurance when we bought our van from Brownhills. While nowhere near as bad as yours we discovered that the "third party insurance" arranged by Brownhills was useless. We got no help from Brownhills who maintained that they were Brownhills new company and nothing to do with Brownhills old company.

Moral here is don't pay for warranty from 3rd party and don't buy depreciation insurance in event of accidents - as these are in my opinion a waste of money


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## GROUNDHOG

A business in Administration is not 'out of business' it is a business being run by a an Administrator because it cannot run itself. Really important you find out who the Administrator is and MAKE A CLAIM against the company. That way, you will become a Creditor and entitled to some recompense from any assets if they go into receivership or potentially a claim against the new owner if there is one!

I have PM'd you!


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## Senator

bognormike said:


> that's horrendous - the dealers must have known about the roof :evil:


When I noticed it (at point of paying) I was in their upstairs reception/office where you look down on the roofs of all the vans.

When I asked the quetion the reply was "I haven't noticed that before". It is fair to say that the plates were not really visible from the ground.

With hindsight I should have asked for the plates to be lifted first, then I would have run so fast you wouldn't have seen me for dust.

You live and learn.

Used the van a total of 6 times which cost me £15k!

Mark


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## Senator

Snunkie said:


> Oh my goodness, I feel so frustrated for you, what a terrible thing to go through. I would be heartbroken


Thank you. I cannot begin to describe the turmoil and upset this has caused me/us. Given me many sleepless nights!

The loss of money is one thing but we cancelled holidays, weekends away, and the despair this caused is awful.

Both Southdowns and Chelston's found it difficult almost embarrassing to portray the findings as they were so bad. What they effectively said was that the van was bordering un saleable.

Like many people with Motorhomes I have put a lot of money into the van and it was my pride and joy. To see the value wiped off like this is a bitter pill to swallow.

But we now have a new (to us) van and we are chomping at the bit to get back out there with our new van.

Mark


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## Senator

Imbiber said:


> There is an STJ Motors selling on ebay at the moment, they have a few for sale too.....are these a different company?
> 
> Example Link: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Frankia-L...=875114929500820644&pid=100015&prg=1006&rk=1&


When I rang STJ Motors I was informed that they had gone into administration the previous Nov/Dec and now the sales guy was trading as STJ Motorhomes.

My understanding therfore is that STJ Motors are no longer in business but STJ Motorhomes are now trading.

Mark


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## Penquin

But you still have a claim against the company for loss of value as well as hassle, lodging a claim with the amdinistrator seems even more sensible now, but of course it will prolong thhe angst time that you face.

You are £15k ourt if pocket from what you said plus stress etc - so all of that is potentially a claim against the assets of the original company - unless of course any of those assets were transferred to the new company.... in which case would you not still have a claim against them (I think the phrase is as a lien against those assets but am not an expert in any way.....)

Dave


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## peribro

Did you by any chance pay any part of the purchase price by credit card - or even a deposit by credit card? If so and if the amount paid was over £100 then you have a claim against the credit card company. You may also have a claim if you paid by Visa debit card but you would need to research that more fully.


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## Senator

peribro said:


> Did you by any chance pay any part of the purchase price by credit card - or even a deposit by credit card? If so and if the amount paid was over £100 then you have a claim against the credit card company. You may also have a claim if you paid by Visa debit card but you would need to research that more fully.


Hi Peribro

I know I paid the balance by Visa Debit card (at the time I recall being surprised that you could pay such a large sum this way), but I need to check when I get home how I paid the deposit.

Thanks for your advice.

Mark


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## GROUNDHOG

Penquin is quite right about the claim, must be worth a try.

I stand to be corrected but you cannot take out a Lien against the Company because the Administrator now controls it and the assets are therefore under his/her protection. In America it is called going in to Chapter 11.

Great advice from Peribro too, payment by Debit card, you may well have a comeback or at least their support in fighting your corner.

The power of MHF eh!


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## Penquin

I think the situation with DEBIT cards is nothing like as good as CREDIT cards sadly, AFAIK the use of a debit card has no protection attached to it, whereas the credit card company hold the contract if it is over £100 (I think there are other clauses too but am sure expert advice will be offered.)

Thanks too to Groundhog for the info about lien - as I said it was a term I had come across but that was all, so it is excellent to have our knowledge augmented.

Dave


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## Gary1944

OMG, what a horrible horror tale, puts our more normal problems into perspective! I just hope the suggestions by others on this forum will be of some help. I cannot help any further, but can certainly sympathise with your plight.

I hope all your problems are now behind you and you can look forward to lots of great times in your new motorhome. 

All the best, Gary


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## peribro

There is a useful article in the Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/jan/20/section-75-chargeback about your rights if you paid by credit or debit card. Visa debit cards do provide you with the same protection and recourse as credit cards but you need to claim within 120 days of becoming aware of the problem. It is probably open to debate about what that means but maybe it could be argued that it is when you became aware that the supplying dealer had gone into administration if that helps.


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## Senator

peribro said:


> There is a useful article in the Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/jan/20/section-75-chargeback about your rights if you paid by credit or debit card. Visa debit cards do provide you with the same protection and recourse as credit cards but you need to claim within 120 days of becoming aware of the problem. It is probably open to debate about what that means but maybe it could be argued that it is when you became aware that the supplying dealer had gone into administration if that helps.


That's an interesting article in the Guardian - thank you for the link!

I have checked my statements and we paid the deposit with a cheque and the final balance with a debit card, both from the same account.

Thanks again.

Mark


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## Tucano

Senator, puts my problems into perspective  
Good luck with your new van, have fun.
Norman.


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## haggisbasher

We bought brand new motorhome in 2008 from STJ Motors and their after sales service was terrible so not surprised they went into liquidation. Funnily enough we now have a damp problem which could have been the result of their badly fitting the awning but can't prove this and wondering if it was found when they did habitation check during Warranty years and get quiet about it !

Hope you are now enjoying lovely holidays in your motorhome.


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## Penquin

It would be good to hear how things have panned out with the OP and whether his enquiries made any progress towards some sort of reimbursement for the £15k he was out of pocket.....

I suspect many of us could add a "there but for the grace of God" addition.....

Dave


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