# Fiat Based panel van conversions are not motorhomes



## 105109 (Jun 11, 2007)

To draw attention to the topic below in another section. - about no Fiat Camper Assistance for panel van conversions ??

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopic-60463.html


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## maddie (Jan 4, 2006)

Hi,so what is the difference on Fiat camper assist and it's normal commercial warranty please???? Neither concern me just curious :lol: Do you get something extra?
Lots of manufacturers buy PV's and don't bother to register them as motor caravans
terry


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## 119352 (Jan 9, 2009)

*Fiat Camper Assistance - Panel-van conversion motorhomes*

A follow-up on this issue...

Do you own a motorhome based on a current model Fiat Ducato panel-van, please?

Examples of such motorhomes presently marketed in the UK are

Adria - 4Twin, Twin, Maxi Van
Burstner - City Car C-600
Chausson - Twist 2
Eura Mobil - Quixta Q-580
Hymer - Car 312/322
IH Motor Campers - Tio and Oregon models 
Laika - Sport 100
Murvi - Mallard, Meteor, Morello, Piccolo
Swift - Mondial
Timberland - All models
Trigano - Tribute

Comments on the other motorhome forum suggest that some current-model Fiat Ducato-based panel-van conversions are shown in Fiat records as 'commercial' vehicles and, as a result, do not qualify for Fiat Camper Assistance services. This is despite the vehicle being recognised by the DVLA as a "Motor Caravan". A couple of MURVI-built motorhomes have been mentioned specifically as being sold without Fiat Camper Assistance.

I would be grateful if MHF forum members who own a motorhome professionally converted from a current model Fiat Ducato panel-van, and purchased new in the UK, would say whether their vehicle was, or was not, sold with Fiat Camper Assistance. (Presumably this will be evident from the Fiat documentation provided with the motorhome.)

This is a simple information-gathering exercise and I am hoping for responses on the lines of:

"I own a 2007 Trigano Tribute and this has Fiat Camper Assistance", or "I own a 2008 Murvi Morello and this does NOT have Fiat Camper Assistance".

I am not looking for comments/observations on Fiat, Fiat Ducatos, the Fiat Camper Assistance scheme, educated guesses as to why this should happen, etc. - just straightforward Yes-it-has, or No-it-hasn't replies.

On the other hand, if you have first-hand experience of being sold a current-model Fiat Ducato-based motorhome that came without Fiat Camper Assistance and you have been able to establish exactly why this happened and (even better) have subsequently managed to get Fiat Camper Assistance added to your motorhome by Fiat, then I would be very keen to learn about it.

Thanks.


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## hiker (Jun 22, 2008)

"This is a simple information-gathering exercise"

I'd prefer to know some background to this - the "Who is ruth999?" and "For what purpose is this information being gathered?"


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## carol (May 9, 2005)

Good point - ruth999 perhaps you could enlighten us - as it appears you have only recently joined and we would like to understand from where you are coming, if you see what I mean.

Carol


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## 119352 (Jan 9, 2009)

My motive for posting here was primarily to try to satisfy my curiosity, with (I would like to believe) a dash of altruism thrown into the mix.

Having read a thread about this on another forum, it was evident that the premise initially offered on that forum - that all X/250 Ducato panel-van-based motorhomes were being marketed without Fiat Camper assistance - was flawed. It was also apparent that the discussion there had run out of steam due to a dearth of reliable information.

The Motorhome Facts forum has a section dedicated to Panel Van Conversions and a large vociferous membership. It seemed the ideal place to seek feedback. If a representative sample of owners of X/250 Ducato panel-van motorhomes were prepared to say whether or not their vehicles were in the Fiat Camper Assistance scheme, useful conclusions might be drawn from the data collected. For example, whether the lack of Fiat Camper Assistance applied to motorhomes produced by a number of manufacturers, to motorhomes from a single manufacturer, or just to the odd random vehicle. Such conclusions, I believed, might prove valuable to present or potential owners of this species of motorhome, particularly as there was the related possibility that the non-presence of Fiat Camper Assistance might also indicate a less comprehensive Fiat warranty.

However, as I do not own a Ducato panel-van myself and probably never shall, researching this is way down on my priority list, and being unable to resolve the mystery of the missing Fiat Camper Assistance will not cause me to lose any sleep. As it is now plain to me that continuing to pursue this issue here will be unproductive, let's just forget that I bothered to bring the matter up.


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## MrsW (Feb 8, 2009)

Hmmm, so you tell us why you want to do this, but nothing about who you are. Altruism seems a strange motive to join a forum IMHO.

As forgetting a straight answer to ma straight question on this forum - dream on!! :lol: :lol:


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## maddie (Jan 4, 2006)

maddie said:


> Hi,so what is the difference on Fiat camper assist and it's normal commercial warranty please???? Neither concern me just curious :lol: Do you get something extra?
> Lots of manufacturers buy PV's and don't bother to register them as motor caravans
> terry


Hi ruth999 I am a long time member on here and I asked the above question,with no replys :lol: Yours is a valid one also :lol: 
May I say welcome to the forum even tough you have aroused suspicions :lol: 
terry


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## 119352 (Jan 9, 2009)

Terry

Not having easy access to the documentation that comes with current-model Fiat Ducatos I can't answer your question accurately, but the scope of Fiat Camper Services is detailed on

http://www.fiatcamper.com/fca.php

The thread on the OutandAboutLive forum that originally piqued my interest was

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=14866&start=1

It would appear from this that a Fiat Ducato panel-van marketed in the UK as a 'commercial' vehicle (ie. a delivery van) has, as part of the warranty package, 12-months breakdown/recovery insurance-cover with the option to extend that period to 36 months for an additional fee.

However, when a Fiat Ducato panel-van is marketed in the UK as a 'motorhome' (or, in Fiat parlance, as a 'camper') it seems that the buyer gets a full 36 months of free breakdown/recovery cover from the onset, plus free access to the benefits of the Fiat Camper Services scheme.

You will appreciate from the OutandAboutLive thread that, although there has been plenty of tail-biting chattering about this, no 100% firm conclusions have been reached.

Logically, if a Ducato panel-van-based, 'foreign-made' Trigano Tribute motorhome is marketed in the UK with Fiat Camper Assistance (FCA) as part of the deal (and that is definitely the case), then it would be reasonable to assume that all other Ducato panel-van-based motorhomes would be marketed similarly in this country. That was what I was hoping to explore in my (with hindsight, doomed to fail) inquiry on this forum.

To date, a couple of Murvi Morello owners have complained that their motorhomes were sold to them without FCA and suggested that this is because Fiat discriminate against panel-van-based motorhomes, treating them as 'commercial' vehicles not 'campers'. This is clearly wrong as a general rule.

One of the Morello owners, with whom I have had off-forum discussion, has contacted Fiat Customer Services but - after been passed round-the-houses telephonically - has still not received a satisfactory answer as to why his Murvi motorcaravan is shown in Fiat records as a 'commercial vehicle' and consequently does not qualify for Fiat's 'camper' services.

Fiat representatives and Murvi are apparently singing from a variety of hymn books and, inevitably, this has resulted in confusion over what is correct and what isn't. And, of course it has also provoked the usual motorhome-forum speculation and guesswork (educated or otherwise) that just muddies the waters even more. There is undoubtedly a straightforward explanation as to why some Ducato-based motorhomes aren't entering the Fiat Camper Services scheme and my best guess is that it lies within a specific motorhome converter's vehicle-acquisition process. I don't know if this assumption is right, but at least it makes some sort of sense, particularly as only Murvi owners have, so far, complained of being short-changed FCA-wise.

Anyway, I've spent enough time on this and shall not pursue it further on this forum.


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