Arghhhh, I am so frustrated at the amount of vans I have enquired about that have no service history. Personally I cannot see why you would have new/ nearly new (under 6 yrs old) van and not pay for an annual service. Sellers asking top money but then cant understand why we arent interested when we hear its not been serviced.
Am I in the minority or am I worrying too much about service history? I am more concerned with the water ingress warranty than the general 3 yr. Have been looking at 08/09 vans and have had just had to walk away from a lovely 2009 with everything we want as its got no service history.
------------- Thistledown Easter
Nantcol June
Domaine du Verdon Castellane and Etoile d'Argens Frejus Aug
Absolute madness not to service your van especially if it is required to maintain the Water Ingress Warranty. Very short sighted of people saving say £200 a year then squealing when they find damp in a 3 year old van and then have to pay to get it repaired. No brainer in my book !!!!
Not getting the 'van serviced is such a stupid way to "save" money. Not only does a service cover the running gear, which could help to prevent failure and a nasty accident, it also ensures that gas and electric installations are safe, at least at the time of the service. By saving a hundred and so quid, they risk CO poisoning, mechanical failure, or as has been mentioned,expensive water ingress.
Maybe it's the same thinking of not getting blood pressure checked in case it warns of an impending stroke!
Apart from compromising a warranty the insurance could also be void if you could not prove that the caravan had been serviced. If an accident could be blamed on a mechanical failure that should have been picked up at a service I'm sure the insurance company would find a way of avoiding paying out.
Definitely a false economy. Wewould be looking for service history on any vehicle be it car, caravan or even folding camper. Can't be too careful with gas electric etc.
In my opinion if you are looking at vans that young with no service history dont touch them with a barge pole. You will find that they will have a void warranty with the manufacturer (unless you can get the dealer to offer you the same warranty themselves, which I doubt). I can't understand why anybody would not keep a van serviced of any age, let alone vans that young?
It makes you wonder if the previous owners bother to keep their cars serviced and in a roadworthy condition?
Beware,even if the caravan was serviced, if the service was not done within the time scale based on its purchase date anniversary, then the warranty would be void.
most manufacturers require the annual service to be carried out within a 6 week window of the vans purchase anniversary
date
I can certainly see the point with vans under warranty but with older vans, many of which don't do many miles at all, I cannot see the point in an annual service.
Who gets their gas & electric at home serviced annually? so why is a caravan different.
On the subject of servicing, I was recently looking at used cars. The number of people that claim to have a full service history up until...
Once a service has been missed, goodness knows what damage could have been done since.
They may as well say they have a full service history until a year ago, then they started running the car with no oil in to see how long it takes to break down.
Once a service has been missed, the remaining service history is worthless.
We bought an old van (92) and took it to get serviced as we thought we should...reputable caravan firm phoned us after we dropped it off to ask if we wanted to bother - all the basics looked fine and they thought we were wasting our money!
We have ours serviced to maintain the warranty. Prior to having new vans I did the service myself-its not difficult, peace of mind.
We do have our gas central heating serviced annually as we have the British Gas service contract.
Yeras ago I used to service my car myself too! (Had old cars could,nt afford garages)-plus I was an aircraft tech so have the training and had mates to help.
------------- DS-There's more to life than football!!!
We brought a brand new Caravan in 2008 and it been service every year and it is now 4 years old and the service book is stamped up . The gas gets a checked because we do not want a leak and in years time we might change it for a newer model but and End washroom ..............
Guilty as charged I have serviced my own van from new. Each year I have put £150 into my caravan account it is now just over £900 which I will use to pay for anything that needs replacing so far I've only had to fix the door lock £20 I didn't bother about the warranty and now it's over 6 years old the ingress warranty has expired it doesn't worry me that I haven't got a service history because a caravan isn't like a car where you want to know if oil changes etc are done at specific milage/ time intervals nothing on a caravan is time specific except for maybe the gas pigtail brake shoes and tyres everything else if done correctly should return the van to " as new " or close to it condition I have been shown how to check the gas system by a gas safe LPG trained engineer so I am quite confident doing the tests now but I do have the flue gases analized just to be on the safe side and make sure things are burning as they should I don't service my own vatn because I am penny pinching I do it because To me it's part of caravanning and I enjoy it
The whole caravan warranty thing in this country does seem to be a rip off which probably explains why some owners don't bother. An annual service for a caravan is not really required & the cost is excessive. In Germany for example caravanners service their 'vans every 2yrs including mot test which is also required every 2yrs.
Anybody owning an older 'van only really needs to have a chassis service for about £70 every 2yrs or 3yrs if mileage is low & they can check interior themselves on an ongoing basis.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Servicing- who bothers?
(Had old cars could,nt afford garages)-plus I was an aircraft tech so have the training and had mates to help.
