Service intervals.

[Hutch]

I am sure this thread will get a fair bit of different answers.
I take care of all items on my caravan, a 10 year. Old Coachman. ( I am a retired helicopter engineer with three spanners and two hammers)
But over the last few years our trips away have decreased. So less than 1500 miles a year being towed. Compared to when we had her new more like 5000 mile a year. .
My service periods are now getting to be 14 month between each. Everything works well.electrical trips all work. And all gas appliances work well and light very well. . I check the van for damp, maybe every 3 month and all is good.
So my very small thoughts are, shall I extend my AWS service inspections to every two years. Every time out on a clear road I give the car and van a good emergency stop to ensure all is working well, which it does.

 

[Martin_E]

I would say gas, electric, damp and brakes would be the main priority, this would be a lot cheaper than a full service so could possibly be done annually, or if not worried about some elements mentioned don’t have them checked….again bringing the cost down

 

[otherclive]

I think with your experience and knowledge and checks carried out on your caravan you have answered your own question.

 

[Lutz]

I've had my caravan for 13 years and apart from having a general roadworthiness check and the gas seen to every other year it's never been for a service. Any repairs not directly related to those checks I do myself.

 

[Hutch]

I think with your experience and knowledge and checks carried out on your caravan you have answered your own question.

I have for myself, two years ago when my AWS tech had the brake drums off, the shoes and drums were hardly worn. . But off course, on the Cand MC , insurance it asks when was the last service done. It doesn't state it has to be done in the last 12 months.

 

[otherclive]

I have for myself, two years ago when my AWS tech had the brake drums off, the shoes and drums were hardly worn. . But off course, on the Cand MC , insurance it asks when was the last service done. It doesn't state it has to be done in the last 12 months.

Does it stipulate who does the service?

 

[Martin_E]

I have for myself, two years ago when my AWS tech had the brake drums off, the shoes and drums were hardly worn. . But off course, on the Cand MC , insurance it asks when was the last service done. It doesn't state it has to be done in the last 12 months.

The problem with brakes is that unless the drums come off you don’t know what is going on inside, this also applies to old tyres, you can’t know what is going on within without taken them off

 

[Hutch]

The problem with brakes is that unless the drums come off you don’t know what is going on inside, this also applies to old tyres, you can’t know what is going on within without taken them off

I thought I read somewhere that AlKo brake drum should be removed at 6000 mile intervals for brake shoe inspections.

 

[otherclive]

The problem with brakes is that unless the drums come off you don’t know what is going on inside, this also applies to old tyres, you can’t know what is going on within without taken them off

I’ve never had tyres taken off just to look inside. I would check them before each trip and of course at each annual service. If they looked satisfactory then they would be changed at 5 year from DOM.

 

[Martin_E]

I thought I read somewhere that AlKo brake drum should be removed at 6000 mile intervals for brake shoe inspections.

The drums are looked at annually, just as an instance as to why……2017 ( or there abouts and early 2018) AlKo change shoe manufacturers, this lead to brake squealing, shoe linings breaking up and damage to the brake hubs..

The linings breaking up and damage you wouldn’t have a clue about unless the drums were removed, squealing obviously cold have been heard, point being if drums are not taken off in a service you are servicing blind

 

[Martin_E]

I’ve never had tyres taken off just to look inside. I would check them before each trip and of course at each annual service. If they looked satisfactory then they would be changed at 5 year from DOM.

Tyres are more an age thing, some will run tyres to three years and change, some will run to 5 years and change, others will till seven + years but as they get older we don’t know what is doing on inside, friend didn’t know what to do but decided to change the tyres, she said that when the tyre came off there were signs of the tyre (internally) delaminating.

 

[Buckman]

After year 3 we only have the running gear serviced plus a damp check which is good enough to maintain any warranty. Why pay extra for someone to tell you that cupboard doors open and shut okay? On a normal full expensive service, the only thing that is serviced is the running gear, the rest are all checks.

 

[otherclive]

Tyres are more an age thing, some will run tyres to three years and change, some will run to 5 years and change, others will till seven + years but as they get older we don’t know what is doing on inside, friend didn’t know what to do but decided to change the tyres, she said that when the tyre came off there were signs of the tyre (internally) delaminating.

So at what periodicity do you have your tyres removed and checked? Were your friends tyres budget or quality make and what age?

 

[Buckman]

So at what periodicity do you have your tyres removed and checked? Were your friends tyres budget or quality make and what age?

Good question as generally caravans are fitted with the cheapest budget tyres which is probably why they need to be changed at 5 years?

 

[Sam Vimes]

A timely discussion.

We're just in the process of organising our 3rd service to comply with the terms of the warranty - we bought it in 2020. After this we'll still have the remainder of the 10 year Water Ingress warranty, so we've been wondering what we need to do to keep compliant with that.

Servicing is expensive - not just the cost of the service but the additional cost of actually getting to the workshop since we live a long way from the original dealer. This more than doubles the cost of the actual service. We went into this with eyes wide open but it still hurts the wallet.

This year we're going to try a dealer that's considerably nearer but still not on our doorstep. Of course anything they flag up as a problem covered by warranty will mean going back to the dealer we got it from. But even if the original dealer flagged a problem during a service its unlikely they'd be able to fix it at the same time so we'd be faced with another trip to them anyway. This had already happened in year 1.

So, now we're just into the damp cover phase and I thought - like someone mentioned above - we could just get a damp test done. Most other maintenance I can do myself and we have a local gas approved engineer that could probably just check that for me.

Well that's not going to happen because the terms of the warranty, even for the damp phase, has the condition that an annual service has to be carried out. Plus the insurance cover, as New for Old, also includes the condition that an annual service is necessary.

Servicing of caravans has also been a bit of a con for me since there's little in the way of preventitive maintenance that's done. Some oil or grease maybe - but nothing they do is going to prevent damp occuring for instance. Might flag it up a bit earlier but then so would just an annual damp check.

FWIW: The cost of the service for a SIngle Axle caravan this year at the nearer dealer is £317. Not sure how this compares with what you folks pay but I think last year we paid around £260.

 

[Buckman]

Servicing on caravans as you say is mostly a con as they do not service the gas appliances, they do not service the water system and do not service the electrics. These items are only checked and if there is an issue with any of them, then you will pay a cost in addition to the service cost for the issue to be rectified.

 

[Sam Vimes]

Same with cars. You get a very long list of things they check - note check - but don't actually do anything with any problems. Most of which you could do yourself, like check the washer fluid was full or the lights came on.

I suppose if they did it would cost a lot more.

 

[otherclive]

Just had one of our cars serviced at a main dealer. It was service number 2 with 8800 mikes on the clock. Cost just under £200. Mainly checks apart from oil and filter change. . But it keeps it in warrranty. And it gets a wash down and vacuum.

 

[Sam Vimes]

It seems another caravan rip off that car services can be much cheaper than those for caravans.

Plus you can get warranty work usually done at any dealer and some independents.

 

[Martin_E]

So at what periodicity do you have your tyres removed and checked? Were your friends tyres budget or quality make and what age?

I think most caravan tyres from manufacturers are generally a budget tyre.

For me personally I check the outside wall, inside wall and between the treads each trip, if all is well they stay on until 7 years old (from date on tyre) if however they are showing signs of deterioration then they get changed.

 

[Raywood]

I have for myself, two years ago when my AWS tech had the brake drums off, the shoes and drums were hardly worn. . But off course, on the Cand MC , insurance it asks when was the last service done. It doesn't state it has to be done in the last 12 months.

This is for the replacement as new cover and states a competent person. That is a bit vague but must include any qualified caravan technician but beyond that it is difficult to say.
An annual service seems sensible to me as things can deteriorate over time so need checking and a year is useful as it can be diarised easily. The safe way is to do all the checks as it should make sure that nothing is missed.

 

[otherclive]

It seems another caravan rip off that car services can be much cheaper than those for caravans.

Plus you can get warranty work usually done at any dealer and some independents.

I've just checked my latest service invoice and it also include brake fluid change, plus our Kia Rio had its 6th main dealer annual service in June costing £141 including oil, filter and brake fluid, and a new screen wash pump was fitted under warranty. They my not be the worlds most exciting cars (EV6 excluded) but they are reliable and cheap to run. My Forester would have cost me more in petrol taking it to the dealership north of Swindon than this years services on two Kias. (TIC)

 

[Buckman]

I think most caravan tyres from manufacturers are generally a budget tyre.

For me personally I check the outside wall, inside wall and between the treads each trip, if all is well they stay on until 7 years old (from date on tyre) if however they are showing signs of deterioration then they get changed.

I don't think there is anything such as a "caravan" tyre and manufacturers have a choice of what tyre to put on a caravan. Perhaps it is time that mid range or even top of the range tyres were an optional extra allowing the consumer a choice?

 

[ProfJohnL]

A service should consist of a pre defined list of activities, Assuming nothing serious is found to complicate the described work the dealer will know how long it will take, and book space and time to complete it. That is what you contract them to do, no more no less.

If you want the dealer to undertake additional work beyond the schedule for the "service" then you need to make it clear before the service is booked so the delaller can schedule both workshop time parts and manpower to cover it, and that will incur additional charges.

If during the service some fault is found that needs extra time or parts to complete it, then the dealer needs to recover the costs of both the time and parts. so it is reasonable for them to charge for those extra's.

The other impact of discovering unforeseen problems that need remedial work, is the workshop time which would exceed the time allotted for the service, and that begin to affect other customers scheduled work. Even if the extra work is covered by warranty, it still needs workshop time and manpower which may not be available to complete it within the service visit.

If parts are needed but not instock (bear in mind we're discussing caravan parts) there can often be significant delays to obtain them, so its more than reasonable for remedial work that has not been scheduled to be rebooked at a later date.

I rarely stand up for dealers, but they don't have unlimited time or resources to take on unexpected extra work at the drop of a hat.

 

[otherclive]

I don't think there is anything such as a "caravan" tyre and manufacturers have a choice of what tyre to put on a caravan. Perhaps it is time that mid range or even top of the range tyres were an optional extra allowing the consumer a choice?

There are specific tyres made for trailers. GT Radial and Kenda make them. They are embossed on the side wall “FRT”and often have “Trailer use only”. Hopefully you can make out the wording screen not easy in sunlight as I’m at Game zFaire