Warwick XL cupboards

I have sent an e mail to AS re this problem. I have a Warwick xl collected in March the problem I have is that 1 row of the ceiling cupboards have started to come away as one of the screws attaching them to whatever they are attached to was not screwed into anything and fell out therefore all the weight was being carried by the one remaining screw, I have booked into my dealer to hopefully fix the problem.
I am surprised and a bit concerned that the whole row of 3 cupboards is held up by only 2 screws I have sent a mail to AS asking if more screws can be fitted and if so where I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem and or does anyone know if more screws can be fitted and where. Thanks for any help you can give. eddie1

Hi Eddie, whilst we have had lots of issues with our XL that we have had for sixteen months our cupboards at the back are all perfectly secure, they do have at least four screws though as I can see two at the end of each run of cupboards and suspect from the solid feel of them that there are some I cannot see.Hopefully your issue was just a minor oversight and easily fixed. We have used our van a great deal and love it.AS and our dealer have always been very good in sorting issues out as they have occurred. Good luck getting it sorted out.

Many thanks for the reply. I've had another look and can only see 2 screws 1 at each end on both sides. One of the screws on the side that's dropped has fallen out and appears to be in the wrong place anyway as the corresponding screw on the other run of cupboards is in a different cupboard. Perhaps I got the Friday lunchtime version.

We,ve had ours a year now and the cupboards seem ok, there does,nt seem to be any visible screws .There are three along the top and four along the bottom and one in the end all under caps. Mind you nearly everything else has come loose , the bed the microwave and the fridge. All four screws fell out of the fridge twice so i have bolted it through the cupboards now with female allen cups and thread. We love the van otherwise, suits us but not impressed with the build considering how much they are.

many thanks for that flaggy its beginning to look like they are all different. I agree about the build quality I know a couple who have had AS for many years replacing their van every 4 years for another new one but they are so fed up with all the problems they have had with their latest one they swear it's their last AS van As you say for the money they charge there should be no problems I've has Swifts in the past a lot cheaper than this and no problems.

Hi Eddie, just been reading about your cupboard problem. You were the lucky one! We must have got the xl made at 4pm on a Friday afternoon! Bought it new in March 2014 from Marquis, who I have to say have been brilliant. Too many faults to list here but the final straw was in September this year. We were travelling on a dual carriageway towards Kendal when the overhead cupboards on the drivers side came crashing down. Marquis were great had to turn around & drive to Preston & they sorted it out, they had never seen anything like it before. Still waiting for answers from AS. Had acknowledgement of my letter but thats all. Love the van more than the Warwick Duo which we traded in. Starting to think it was a mistake though. Every time we have been away in it we end up at AS or Marquis.

Why keep all the problems you've had to yourself. You joined the forum back in March 2014 presumably at the same time you got the XL, yet this is your first post. You say you've had too many faults to list. Why not tell us? These are the things us members need to know, so that we can be aware of such things when changing our vans.
Having the whole side of cupboards collapsing sounds horrendous. Glad to hear that Marquis are looking after you (not something we hear too often) but disappointing to hear that you have not heard from AS.

The other problems were just teething problems with a new van, when speaking to others everyone seemed to have some problems with new vehicles. AS & Marquis couldn't have been more helpful when sorting them. Going from memory, first week low battery alarm activated middle of night when not on hook up, returned to marquis, battery fine everything checked, still continued to go off middle of night. Returned to AS, control panel reset, still continued, New unit fit. Fumes from heater in van,concertina pipe extended to avoid build up of fumes. Microwave door flying open constantly when travelling, retainer clip fitted. Passenger seat belt soaking wet after heavy rain when pulled out to use. Again Mark @ AS sorted. Waste water tank showing full at any time sometimes even when empty, alarm going off, New sensors fitted as showing corrosion after 6 months. Rain coming in on to cooker when sliding door opened, drip strip fitted to awning light. One drawer not fitting, marquis tried to improve it but ended up at AS to solve it. We like going to the cotswolds or at least the van does! Towel ring in bathroom keeps falling off door, hubby fixed three times ended up with touch of superglue on screw. Three of overhead locker catches needed adjustments at different times (on hindsight the cupboards were probably moving prior to falling down.) Water pump running constantly & toilet cistern sounding like it was filling. Hubby discovered pipe leaking on toilet cistern, toilet emptying cupboard flooded, sorted it himself. When the cupboards fell down one end landed on the seat by the back door, other end balanced on top of tv. Luckily within 30 secs there was a parking area so pulled in. The cupboards were attached with 2 screws into roof which had pulled out, and 4 screws into side wall. 3 of the screws on the side were too short to attach to anything only 1 was long enough to get a grip. So the cupboards (full of clothes luckily and not crockery) were being held up with 2 screws to the roof and 1 to the side wall! Marquis discovered that the cupboards on the other side were coming loose too. As I said both Marquis & AS have sorted all problems efficiently and courteouously,but there should have been no need if more attention had been taken on the build. It is Showtime at NEC so give them time. We only got home end of September. Would be early October when I wrote to them, did get acknowledgement saying Alan Curry was on holiday til 12th. Expected letter this week but as Showtime it's Ok, time yet.

You have really have had problems. Cupboards falling off, you couldn't make it up! We too have had a series of issues with our Broadway from new, not all of these have been mentioned on this forum. I am quite prepared to list them all if anyone thought it was going to have any effect on what comes out of the AS factory. Last time we were down at AS for a repair under the warranty, we were being looked after by Mark in his usual efficient way. Once again he did a fantastic job.

In this month's MMM there is separate "Essential Guide to 2016 Motorhomes". There is an article on the Auto-Sleepers' new Stanway and Fairford van conversions. In the text there is a quote from AS's Chief Executive Officer, Geoff Scott - "Auto-Sleepers has over 50 years' experience in meeting the needs of customers looking for the best in British-built Motorhomes. We still take great pride in our hand craftsmanship and design expertise. Great time, care and effort go into the making of an Auto-Sleeper... and it shows. That is why so many of our customers keep coming back to us." I for one felt quite sick when I read this. We parted with a large sum of money to purchase one of their new Broadways in March 2014. 

What will make them sit up and take notice of us customers, - a 50 plus strong protest of nearly new motorhomes outside the factory in Willersey causing a massive traffic jam, with the motorhome media involved?

Answers on a postcard!

Pete

Thanks for the replies I don't know wether it's comforting or not to know I'm not the only one with this problem as you say it shouldn't happen just bad workmanship regardless of what AS say. My dealer has fixed it and said they put an extra screw in to hold it firmer I'm keeping my fingers crossed and an eye on the cupboards to see if there's any movement if there is its onto AS, I sent AS an e mail re the problem before I took it to the dealer but they have never got back how on earth they have the cheek to say the things they did to MMM I don't know, I wonder if they ever read this forum if they do it would be nice to hear what they have to say about the problems and what they are going to do about them, but I don't suppose we will ever hear don't they think we speak to people who say they are thinking of buying one of their vans I have yet to meet anyone who has not had a problem with their vans. As I said it's the first time I've had any real problems with a new van.

hello Mhiom,

interested to see your post , I have had many of the same issues e.g microwave,water pump, leaks in cassette compartment and towel ring (ours is also now glued on! ).

I was at the NEC on Friday and had a long chat with Alan Curry and sent him my long list of issues experienced since I purchased the van    last year.

he seemed receptive to the feedback so hopefully we will see Autosleeper smartening up their quality control processes as there seem to be some common themes here.

Having said all of that we looked at lots of vans and only the IH vans looked a better bet but they are even more expensive!

Good luck getting everything sorted out.

We have just fallen prey to the cupboard-collapse gremlin in our 2016 Warwick XL. As others have noticed, the first sign is a misalignment of the doors due to the distortion of the carcase, it having dropped at the rear. Fortunately we caught it before it crashed down. It's not as if we pack much weight in there, so definitely a fault in the construction.

Rather than go to a dealer for even more hassle I decided to have a go at a repair myself. I didn't attempt to take the cupboards down, hoping rather to improve the fixings from the inside, so to speak. The first job was to push the rear of the cupboards up tight to the roof with a timber stay and wedges, which immediately corrected the door misalignment. 

I've been able to effect a repair (I hope!) just by exchanging the two puny upper screws with thicker ones in stainless, same length but 4.2mm thickness as against 3.5mm originally. I added another screw next to the one that had really loosened off, but the problem is that I have no idea what the cupboard is attached to. Is there a wooden spar running along the side of the interior?

Naturally, I've swapped the screws on the other side cupboards too and  hope the problem doesn't re-occur.

I had same problem on 2019 XL. Fixed by AS Service Centre under warranty. They told me that factory use screws that are too short and others have been told tbe same. Think that factory are still doing the same.

We had this problem on our 2016 fairford, went back to the dealer under warranty but they failed to fix it so did it myself Using the same method as Nick Woods. The dealer neglected to put the cubords back into place properly before screwing, so they bounced and pulled the screws back out.
Don’t want to tempt fate but they have been fine now for quite a few years.

Thank you all.  Will keep a wary eye on mine during travels.  🥸