# Lunar Premier, problems and more problems



## jacasino (Aug 22, 2006)

Made the mistake of buying a Lunar Premier H622 from Brownhills, Newark in June, this is the Renault Master based model, the Renault part has been great so far but after using it for just 2 breaks of 7 days each we have encountered the following:
The battery charger does not charge on hook up, the Trumatic Water Heater is the subject of a recall, the so called Tec Power Tower is the subject of another recall by Dometic.
Brownhills in Newark have shown absolutely no interest, the earliest they can examine it is October (do the Brownhills, Newark staff attend a special college to learn, rudeness, indifference and disinterest?), Lunar have advised me to ring some other dealers who all tell me that Lunar never pay their warranty bills so they will not look at it either.
What a pity, this is a superb motorhome and some faults are inevitable but having to wait 2 months to have them looked at is simply untenable.
We repaired the first fault ourselves (when the water connector fell of the fresh water tank) when Brownhills told us that we would have to wait six weeks for the part (the motorhome was 7 days old at the time) and pay £26 as Brownhills did not get involved in the warranty process, so much for buying from the largest motorhome dealer in the country.


----------



## 94055 (May 1, 2005)

Hi Jacasino
I have a Lunar Champ A630 also bought from Brownhills and you have said enough about them and Lunar. I agree ours is a very good motorhome and good value for money. What year is yours? If new you are covered with the sales of goods act. If second hand you are also partly covered. Please provide us with more info as we may be able to help you further. Also see the thread for Lunar, I must also say it is not just Lunar or even just Brownhills.

Steve


----------



## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*Not just Swift*

Hi

I am sorry for your troubles.

If your van is new, I would simply return to their premises on a very busy Saturday.......you can work out the rest.

Rapide561


----------



## 100676 (Aug 23, 2006)

I purchased a new Lunar Champ A670R from Brownhills at Newark back in April this year. Many faults developed during first use and now it's un usable. It has been stood since 01/07/06. The dealer and the manufacturer have attempted to correct these problems on several occasions but unfortunately relationships have broken down. 

My solicitor is on board now and I will not rest until I get my money back so I can then buy a reliable brand from a dealer who's after sales performance is acceptable.

Lunar / Brownhills customers who are not happy with their product and service should come together some how and take them on big style!

H


----------



## 88945 (May 10, 2005)

I have been on about this for the past 3 yrs I have been waiting a court date for 3 yrs which i got for the 22/7/06 it was buggered up by Solicitors I now have to wait to find out who was at fault between the solicitors it is being decided by the court next month this whole experience has been a complete nightmare we are pensioners and has caused great stress both emotionally and financelly I think that everybody taken on by this company should arrange to meet at there place of business and stay there until everything is sorted properly Is anybody game We could phone the national newspapers and get them there as well to show how we are being ripped off


----------



## 100676 (Aug 23, 2006)

I'm up for it!


----------



## 96105 (Aug 23, 2005)

hi
blimey 8O another brownhills thread 8O 

ray


----------



## 100676 (Aug 23, 2006)

:evil: Well! I for one aint going to wait 3 years!!!!


----------



## 94055 (May 1, 2005)

Hi Barneee
Again sorry to her of your plight, believe me it is not just Lunar or Brownhills.
I had problems but only minor what was yours? Sounds bad if you can not use it.


Steve


----------



## mike800966 (May 1, 2005)

*Lunar Problems*

Sorry to hear of the woes, perhaps a little of our experiences might help.
We bought our Lunar Champ from Lazydays earlier this year, with 800 miles on the clock and only 6 months old. So far we have had only stupid minor problems all of which I have sorted myself. Its disapointing and unsettling to think that the support is not the best. In fact I was told at the NEC on the stand that the warranty only applied to the first owner and, since reading the small print, is limited to £2500 per van. Oh and the Fiat warranty is 2 yrs not the 3 I was promised ' cos its a european import.

We didnt plan to buy another van and I think now that I'd be too nervous anyway.

On a positive note, we had a problem with the C200 casseete not aligning properly and Thetford have been really helpful. It seems that it might not have been installed correctly by about 5mm and that means Lunar under warranty,,,, oh dear, we shan't go along that route will we?

The thing is not to let it ruin the enjoyment, we all get cheesed off when we cant get everything perfect. So far this year weve been to Wales, Cornwall and we're planing the Winter sun trip at present. We call the van Majic, 'cos we think it is!!!

Happy Days (most of the time)

Mike & Ann


----------



## rickwiggans (May 10, 2006)

Bear in mind with all these issues, your warranty is in addition to your statutory rights. You claim is against the dealer, since it is with them your contract exists. You have protection (both for new and used 'vans) under sale of goods legislation. The item, whatever it is must be fit for purpose and of merchantable quality, and must remain so for a reasonable length of time. What is reasonable depends on what the item is. If it is a loaf of bread, clearly a short period of time is reasonable, but for major items the legislation gives protection up to six years. The dealer cannot (although they may try) abdicate responsibility. Not relating to 'vans, but in the past I've found getting the help of Trading Standards to be valuable, although I am aware that this service can be patchy depending where you live.


----------



## 94055 (May 1, 2005)

As you have mentioned the point of warranty and only first person.
When I was completing the part exchange deal with Brownhills I raised the point of warranty. I was told remainder of 3yrs. When I arrived to collect vehicle I was given an Gold star warranty booklet for one year. I pointed the problem out and the one year was increased to three.
I have not and I hope never have to use it. Frightening

Steve


----------



## jacasino (Aug 22, 2006)

Sorry everybody, I have been a very long time to replying or updating the original topic. The van is now fixed, Brownhills had me drive it to Newark, third week of October after I advised them that I was about to formally reject van under the terms of The Sale of Goods Act.
Al of my letters to Lunar were ignored by both the After Sales Service (a misnomer if ever I heard one) Manager and the Managing Director.
My letter and my e-mail to the CEO at Brownhills who is pictured (and e-mail address listed) on the Brownhills website was also ignored.
I adopted a procedure of telephoning and leaving messages for the Lunar After Sales Manager (he never answers the phone himself) every two hours. He never rang back but the faulty battery charger suddenly materialised at Brownhills in Newark who wrote and asked me to bring it in.
I assume that the combination acting like a nutter ( yes I did write and suggest that I would get the vehicle signwritten and dump it on the Newark forecourt), continual phone calls, letters and e-mails followed by a threat of court action finally got through to them.
Incidentally, at Newark I was treated well by the staff who were not assigned to me but the surly young woman who was supposed to look after me took 40 minutes to get to me and book the vehicle in (9.10am) and then forgot to tell me when the vehicle had been finished (adding an extra 1.5 hours to my stay).
Dometic came out and fixed the Tec Tower a week later and we have been away on 3 really enjoyable trips since.
Whilst working in Vienna this year we came across a superb Karmann Motor Home and decided to investigate the possibility of making this our next purchase, imagine our horror to discover that the importers for the UK have been taken over......by Brownhills. John


----------



## tresrikay (Nov 21, 2006)

These problems seem to be of a general nature ( I have a premier 592 ) and the truma bit was sorted before I purchased ( july 06 ) and the dometic has been a thorn in the side, 3 recalls so far, but my dealer NORTH WEST MOTORHOMES has been excellent, they are always happy to sort out your problems and so far I am Happy to recommend them. So often a brand is tarnished by its rubbish dealer. My Premier has been a joy to own and the RENAULT is a master vehicle.


----------



## rayc (Jun 3, 2008)

Tresrikay, I have a 2006 592 and think it's very good. The Renault part is excellent. I have had no problem with the tower unit fridge /freezer but read on a German site that there could be a gas leakage problem with the grill/oven. Do you know if this was resolved?
Ray


----------



## carol (May 9, 2005)

*Old threads reappear - why?*

I was reading the first post, and at the end, I noticed the date, nearly two years old.............. how do these old threads reappear.

I also think sometimes it is unfair to blame a company - even Brownhills - when recalls are made by manufacturers of heaters etc.

Upon collecting my Rapido, I was told they had carried out the update that was due on the Dometic refrigerator...but when we got home discovered the Fiat ones weren't done.... I was cross at that, but do think that perhaps Germany's system is different to ours, and these were done...

I don't really count any of these as problems, yes Fiats... well enough said on it, but software updates are NOT a problem as such, just an inconvenience in getting them done....

Carol


----------



## tony50 (Oct 16, 2007)

AS said Above when it comes to warranty always go the company(dealer) that sold you the vehicle (it' their problem) Never the Manufactuer if you do then the Dealer can probaly wriggle out of responsibility, also if say the fridge breaks down don't phone the manufactuer of the fridge or one of his /her dealers,get the Motorhome dealer to do it ,even if repairer will come to your home and fix it, unfortunately the Motorhome business is not run like the car business where manufactuers make their dealers repair other dealers sold vehicles that are under warranty obviously they have to be agents for the product,i must say without undue pressure my Rapido dealer has always fixed our vehicle,also we should remember we wouldn't accept cars sold to us in same state/build quality that i have seen some new Motorhomes at shows.


----------



## tresrikay (Nov 21, 2006)

rayc said:


> Tresrikay, I have a 2006 592 and think it's very good. The Renault part is excellent. I have had no problem with the tower unit fridge /freezer but read on a German site that there could be a gas leakage problem with the grill/oven. Do you know if this was resolved?
> Ray


 You are correct Ray there was a problem with the oven and it did need a recall (1) the control was subject to leaking. This was put right by Dometic outside my door, as they come to you. It may have been done before you took delivery, but to be on the safe side contact your dealer. You should have a document stating this has been done. The other defects were the oven going off and this took 2 visits to sort. The last was and this is very important is, the bracket holding the whole (BIG) unit in place could have been fitted with faulty screws so they put an extra bracket on. These problems are atributable to all motorhomes witha tec tower so you should have been notified by post. If you have any doubts get the serial number of your unit and ring Dometic and they should tell you from their database if your unit is now compatible


----------



## jacasino (Aug 22, 2006)

*H622 update*

Lots of interesting replies on here, the Premier is now 2 years old and has covered 16000 miles, only Renault problem has been a rattling heatshield on the exhaust which is a common Master fault.
The original problem with the battery charger was almost certainly the fault of a poor alarm installation, Dometic came to us and dealt with the Tech Tower problem.
Brownhills fixed the Truma problem when Lunar managed to supply a battery charger.
Last August the Truma heater unit failed altogether, I contacted Truma who fixed it free of charge, the unit had been wrongly installed and the wiring had melted.
The Truma regulator gave up the ghost and we had that replaced.

With regard to the comments re these being general problems, the charger problem was anything but a general problem and to be frank, if you are prepared to dismiss faults in this way you may as well tell the manufacturers that it is alright to carry on turning out shoddy products.

Similarly the advice about only contacting the dealer and not the manufacturer may be technically correct but when the dealer fails to respond the best course of action is open fire in all directions and be as big a pain in the backside as you can, the next thing is to tell as many people as you can about your problems.

Incidentally, during the process of trying to get other Lunar dealers to fix the problem, their answer was always the same, it went along the lines of, you must be joking, we have enough trouble getting Lunar to pay up for the vehicles that we supplied let alone something bought from Brownhills.

Many of you will know that Lunar split with Home Car, (management buyout) , Home Car went pop, Lunar promised to continue to support Home Car built products (continue?), Home Car were rescued, Brownhills booted out Lunar, Brownhills went into administration and then Brownhills came back with lots of money apparently.

This was our first motorhome, despite both Lunar and Brownhills we love it but we will not be buying from Brownhills again and we will not buy another Lunar.

Heartily recommend the Renault though, a proven vehicle (we also run a 3 year old LWB Master van which has now covered 130k from new without fault), joy to drive and the horror stories about the new Fiat/Peugeot/Citroen offerings make me glad we chose Renault.

Thank you for all of your responses.


----------

