# Major Ripoff



## BEEGEE (Aug 8, 2007)

I've had problems with the habitation door on my 05 Mohican since new, having to slam the door to close it properly. Recently it has gotten worse, so I took the door to bits to try and find the problem.
Having removed the cable from the inner release handle, I tried the door only to find that it worked perfectly. I then checked the cable only to find that when it was made, there was only 8 bits of wire secured in the end hook, all the rest were catching in the outer cable, which was holding the handle partially open. Problem was the 8 wires had rusted and 6 had broken.
I then phoned Autotrail and was told that I cannot buy a cable but must buy a new door at £750+, having lost my rag they then offered me a second hand cable and handle for £75. I got stuck in & made a new hook & the door works perfectly. 
Will I buy another Autotrail, will I F***


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## cater_racer (May 1, 2005)

Come on BeeGee, don't hold back. 8)


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## CliffyP (Dec 19, 2008)

Thats it son, spit it out


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## DTPCHEMICALS (Jul 24, 2006)

I had similar with gas locker. The door sometimes would not open.
After knocking out the hinge pins and fixing a cable tie I have had no further problems.
These are obviously manufactured problems and should not happen


Whatever happened to quality control

dave p


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## steco1958 (Mar 5, 2009)

Can't see why its a "Major Ripoff", it may be a commercial decision, as Auto-Trail do not have or want a dealer type repair outlet, this is a function of the dealer network or independent workshops.

If you had a problem with your Ford Focus door handle, you would not phone Ford would you ?

Steve


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## GEMMY (Jun 19, 2006)

Similar to us, last day of our Easter hols. the arm fell off the captains chair. Spoke to Hymer uk and asked for reference no. of the bolt that had sheared Service,spares no idea, asked them to speak to Hymer.Response 3 days later, I cannot have a bolt, just a new arm for the chair. :roll: 10 mins with a drill to extract the broken bolt,10 mins in my garage to find a suitable bolt, an awful hour trying to insert new bolt because of the padding and upholstery that was in the way.

Simple things are never available from dealers.

tony


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## Carl_n_Flo (May 10, 2005)

Sorry you had a bad response from Autotrail... Totally contrary to what I have had:

With one eye to the future, I emailed them asking if they would be able to let me have copies of their construction drawings for the 05 Cheyenne 696G, as I want to see how it is put together to be able to take it a apart properly to repair it should I need to...

No problem say they - and lo, drawings arrived by email a few days later....

Now, I can use and read AutoCAD (part of my job), so was no problem to me. Now I have them as a record for the future....

Cheers Autotrail - yuo have just 'future-proofed' our van!!!
Carl & Flo


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## JohnsCrossMotorHomes (Jul 21, 2007)

Well done Dave and Beegee, you have investigated, solved the problems and now informed us all of how to fix them.

In the process have found out how some more bits work and no doubt sit back in pride looking at your handywork (I know I do when I solve a problem!)

Peter


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

Sounds like a rip off to me, I'd vote with my wallet next time, the door price might be a bit steep but a short production run will be expensive, but to have to buy one of the components, sorry but someone is having a Giraffe.

As for the cable, until a few years ago you could buy inners and outers, and ferule for each end and many thickness's of cable and end barrels, there will still be a few specialist cable makers out there if you Google for one, you have a template, maybe they could knock up a clutch cable or front brake cable for you at very little money, which will last longer than the van if kept lubed, if you do find one, but it has a nylon liner, do not lubricate it as it will bu66er it up


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

steco1958 said:


> Can't see why its a "Major Ripoff", it may be a commercial decision, as Auto-Trail do not have or want a dealer type repair outlet, this is a function of the dealer network or independent workshops.
> 
> If you had a problem with your Ford Focus door handle, you would not phone Ford would you ?
> 
> Steve


Steve, it is dangerous to comment on something you do not know about. Autotrail do repairs for customers at their factory and so have "a dealer type repair outlet".

Having owned five Autotrails I would describe that behavior as typical. Major rip off sounds right to me and a less capable owner may well have paid it, Alan.


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## BEEGEE (Aug 8, 2007)

Just to put you in the picture Steve, the cable is the same as the one that works the gas locker catch, which lasted just over a year. Brownhills could not replace it as it's a consumable and not part of the warranty, so would necessitate new lever and catch at big money, again self repair. If I had gone to dealer with the door problem they would say same as Autotrail as they have to get the part from them. As it is brownhills had the MH in twice because of the door, I realise now that they would not repair the fault under warranty because of cost, new door etc.
Bill


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

i have a pal who is the (proud?) owner of a new A class Burstner.

He has had problems with the Habitation door from new, it is now going to be replaced (under warranty) the retail price of a new door (non window type) is in the region of £1500 !!! (quote from Burstner when he enquired ) So the quote from Autotrail doesnt seem too bad (its still a HUGE sum for a door, you can buy a new UPVC double glazed exterior house door AND frame for about £750 !!) 

I have had a couple of dealings with Autotrail over spare parts etc and have always found them to be very helpful. It probably depends who you get to speak to!!!


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## lookback (Dec 4, 2005)

DTPCHEMICALS said:


> I had similar with gas locker. The door sometimes would not open.
> After knocking out the hinge pins and fixing a cable tie I have had no further problems.
> These are obviously manufactured problems and should not happen
> 
> ...


I saw a man doing a conversion on his gas locker door after the wire had seized. He obtained 2 locks (the ones with the inch + extrusion from Autotrail and drilled to holes either side of his gas locker door and fitted the locks. It looked a very neat job and I will do that conversion once my gas locker catch starts playing up again.

Ian


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## emmbeedee (Oct 31, 2008)

If you need a new inner cable you should try your local cycle shop. When I had my shop I used to sell a lot of cables for non-cycle uses. Car throttle cables were quite common, not surprising when typical OE prices were circa £65 for a complete cable which is all they would supply. In contrast, my price was £2, for an inner brake cable with either a barrel or a pear nipple, which could be adapted to suit.
OK, so a little adaptation was needed, but the saving made this worthwhile. 
Other common uses were garage door cables & window winding cables from electric windows. In the latter case, the dealer would fit a complete new movement at £200-£300 so again a considerable saving could be made.
If you require a longer cable than a standard bicycle one then a tandem cable is of course much longer & may well suffice.


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

Mrplodd said:


> i have a pal who is the (proud?) owner of a new A class Burstner.
> 
> He has had problems with the Habitation door from new, it is now going to be replaced (under warranty) the retail price of a new door (non window type) is in the region of £1500 !!! (quote from Burstner when he enquired ) So the quote from Autotrail doesnt seem too bad (its still a HUGE sum for a door, you can buy a new UPVC double glazed exterior house door AND frame for about £750 !!)
> 
> I have had a couple of dealings with Autotrail over spare parts etc and have always found them to be very helpful. It probably depends who you get to speak to!!!


I didn't think the OP was concerned about the price of the door so much, as he would have had to buy one just to get a new cable, which IMO was asking too much, and shows how crap some parts departments are in the MH industry.


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## jettdt (Aug 21, 2009)

This seems typical in all industries now. Very few parts are repaired anymore, its easier and cheaper for an employer to utilise lesser trained fitters than real tradespeople.

Hence if something does not work order up an entire new bit and fit that rather than try and investigate whats wrong and repair it, which takes more time and of course there is less markup in a cable than an entire new door.


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

jettdt said:


> This seems typical in all industries now. Very few parts are repaired anymore, its easier and cheaper for an employer to utilise lesser trained fitters ..........


I think that covers it perfectly. Fitters are the norm now, there are very few mechanics who fix things these days. It is best to be handy and thoughtful yourself, or failing that to know someone who is, Alan.


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

jettdt said:


> This seems typical in all industries now. Very few parts are repaired anymore, its easier and cheaper for an employer to utilise lesser trained fitters than real tradespeople.
> 
> Hence if something does not work order up an entire new bit and fit that rather than try and investigate whats wrong and repair it, which takes more time and of course there is less markup in a cable than an entire new door.


I suppose we only have ourselves to blame as we continue to put up with this way of ripping us off.

It's a shame they don't tell us what's available as a spare when we buy their crap in the first place, it should be made illegal to waste the energy it cost to make a complete door, when all that is needed is a sodding cable, it makes my blood boil.

We all drive a vehicle of some kind, some of us drive more than one, would it be so difficult if all the injection system, turbos, wiper motors, alternators, etc were all the same, think of the saving not only in your pocket when these parts pack up, but on the cost of a new vehicle.

The parts which could be made interchangeable between makes, which do not get seen, so don't stop design differences are inestimable.

Take tyres for instance, do we really need so many different sizes, a couple for each size of car should be more than enough, IE ten types of car 4X4, hatch back, saloon, estate, MPV etc, two types of tyre, IE sport (expensive) normal (very cheap) would imho be plenty, same goes for wipers, there are about 15 different ones, so why are they so expensive, and why do they insist on selling us a complete one I've never needed to replace the arm or the wiper mechanics, only the rubber, about £5 in most car shops.

Rant over, but you get the point


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## Levi (Feb 1, 2009)

Hi! All
I had this problem recently. Was told I would have to buy a door to replace a broken release cable. Contacted Auto Trail and they said not so, but would have to buy a lock assembly £95.00 instead of £500 plus. However as a sign of good faith they sent me a cable they had left over from a previous repair, free of charge. Excellent service I think. Since then I have been on a factory tour at Grimsby, excellent day out!!!. While there I looked at the habitation door area. They do not build the doors, they are bought in complete and fitted on the line. There did not seem to be any separate parts for doors anywhere. I repaired the broken cable so now carry a spare, just in case.
Steve


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## Jean-Luc (Jul 21, 2005)

The door lock on the bathroom door of my Rapido went faulty, €230 for a replacement from main dealer, €20 +VAT for repair by local lock smith
SEE THIS THREAD
BTW I lost the lens of the repeater indicator on the rear view mirror (external), quoted over €70 for replacement (just for the lens only), I fashioned one from a broken bit clear bicycle reflector to a near perfect match for free.

The charge for spares for motorhomes seems to range to up to ten times what one would pay for similar items outside of the 'leisure' industry :evil: :evil:


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## sheringham (Mar 24, 2006)

*Ripped off with a "smile"*

The point about "badged" spares and consumables being expensive is not exclusive to the Mh industry. Those of you who run product/service related businesses must agree that this is the area where your profit can REALLY be made. 
Although retired from a service provider, for some years, I well recall that specialised equipment spares frequently carried 300>500% mark up on bought in cost. If you need it and want branded replacements you will have to pay through the nose.

I am not condoning the practice merely confirming that it occurs.


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## gaspode (May 9, 2005)

I suspect that the reason Auto-trail don't supply spares for these doors is that they simply buy the doors in (from Italy?) as a pre-finished item. They probably don't even carry any spare parts at the factory other than bits they've salvaged from damaged door assemblies.
I'm not saying it's right - just that it's the reason.

Any M/H technician worth his salt could improvise and get around the problem using cycle parts or similar, problem is that it wouldn't be a profitable activity for the dealer so it doesn't happen.
If you get this sort of problem either fix it yourself or take it to a local independent garage.


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## BEEGEE (Aug 8, 2007)

If anyone is interested I made the new part from a galvanised 2" nail. It is the same thickness as the hook, bent it to shape, carefully drilled down the end, and then crimped it on to the cable (making sure all of the wire was in). It works a treat, the door closes with just a gentle push.
Whilst i'm on, anyone out there with the circular shower compartment, check the trough where the door runs, mine was cut by the door and started to leak. This necessitated removing the door, repairing the split and then redrilling the door hangers to raise it slightly.
Bill


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## DJP (May 9, 2005)

> This seems typical in all industries now. Very few parts are repaired anymore, its easier and cheaper for an employer to utilise lesser trained fitters than real tradespeople.


If you are unfortunate enough to have a indicator bulb fail in a 2009 Honda Civic, the replacement cost is £160.00 fitted. The bulb is an led and the whole light unit has to be replaced. Cost of £80.00 plus £80.00 fitting!


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