AL-KO Air top suspension on Warwick duo.

Said this before on this site, checking the gauges are part of my "pre flight checks " on each trip. Also carry a bike pump, just in case !!!

Harryo when you write to these MDs you might want to point out that since you bought from a dealer you are covered by the Consumer Rights Act 2015. This puts the responsibility for repair on the dealer for up to six months from date of purchase. During that time you are entitled to repair, replacement or refund.
Hope this helps

Yes thanks for that as I said my motorhome will be repaired by Monday the dealer said he could not even look at it until the 28th February and couldn’t get the parts for another month I have down it in a week I understand AL-KO and AS but it is not my problem after 3months and 700 miles but rest assured I will not let it drop until it is resolved thanks for your advice

Hi Harryo.

You need to now speak to citizens advice/ trading standards for free advice if you are serious about escalating this. As I said before if the manufacturers fitting guidelines are wrong then it's down to them or their agent to put it right . Looks like A/S just followed the fitting guidelines as laid down by Alko. I know it's bloody frustrating trying to get a resolution when you are fighting against two giants like this, but someone is at fault and it's not you, is it. If the fact that the bolts/ nuts are fitted the wrong way round and this causes you to have an accident, who would be to blame - not you. I am very sorry for you and I know of others, no many others, who have had legit cases of negligence just brushed aside by A/S and they are getting nowhere with their cases either. The age of your vehicle should not matter one jot if the part was not fitted incorrectly in the first place. Good luck with your case.

Thank you , for your reply, as I have said before my motor home will be up and back on the road by Monday afternoon, so Inwill happy with that, to be honest it has gone past the stage of money , it is now just principal, I am fortunate enough to be able to pay the £801, but if I couldn’t I would have a vehicle that I could not use, because someone somewhere won’t admit they were wrong , pride before a fall I have always been told, the dealer from whom I have bought this from is legally responsible, I know it he knows it , but you would think that after having had 3motorhomes from him over 8 years spending an awful lot of money he would just settle this , but it is his choice , I will not go away , I will get the result I think is fair . We wait we see.

Your battle for fair treatment is commendable. Perhaps you should also mention the term latent defect.This can be applied up to twelve years from installation. Were the product is not fit for purpose. Agreeing with Mindhyg your contract is with the supplying dealer. Good luck and wish you success with it.

Paul O

Hi All,
Well my motorhome is now up and running with the new air top suspension fitted, I must thank the company Towtal in Stoke who fitted the new system yesterday and reduced the cost.
I didn’t get the time yesterday to get down to Nottingham to the dealer who by the way promised to phone me before I had the repair done I suppose he thinks I will let it go , wrong, I will be phoning him this morning to see what he would like to do now, personally he should just pay up and learn his lesson from that but I don’t think he will, which is a great shame, I have bought my last 3 motorhomes from him.
I would like to thank everyone on the forum for their replies and advice I was surprised by the response, I will keep you all updated on the outcome as a last resort I will go to the courts it is now about principle not money .

Here is the final outcome of the sorry saga of my al-ok air top air suspension units, I have had everything done now new units fitted by Towtal up in Stoke , in the end I was only charged £100 which was really great value , and service from them, I waited to hear from the dealership, but they never got back to me, so today I went to Oaktree in Nottinghamshire where I bought my A/S from I had exhausted all avenues to get this resolved by AL-KO, and Auto Sleeper, even the warranty from the RAC was worthless.
I took the old parts with me and the receipts for what I had spent, I presented these to Oaktree and they were disappointed that I had been fobbed off by others, at the end of it all I presented my case to him saying I had done everything I could to resolve this matter but I am now talking to him because I have no were else to go and I want to be reimbursed for my out lay. Scot at Oaktree agreed that is was not my fault and that being as I was a loyal customer, he would pay for the parts which were £651 that I had got from A/S but not the labour to fit them, I agreed to this solution and shook his hand quite pleased with myself, I think it was more than fair , as much as I am happy to have my motor home up and running again I am still not happy with AL-KO or A/S , one company designed it and admitted it was wrong , one company fitted it knowing it was wrong as the had repaired many units before but didn’t bother to recall it, as for my warranty by the RAC they say that the air suspension is not standard even though it states it in A/S brochure. My advice to everyone who has the units fitted to their motor home to check them for damage and avoid the hassle.
I am now looking forward to using my motor home hopefully without any further problems.
Just one more thing does any member has an email address for the M.D. at Auto Sleeper and Al-KO, I would just like to drop them a line .

Trading Standards? Regardless of "who done wot" the dealer is the one you bought the van from. Sale of Goods Act covers it. IMHO.

"The Sale of Goods Act amendment in March 2012 states that if a fault occurs with a product within the first 6 months of purchase, the consumer is entitled to assume that it was sold to them with the defect present.  This means that the goods were not of a reasonable standard at the time of purchase and the vendor is in breach of their statutory and contractual obligations, whereby the Act protecting customers through their statutory consumer rights."

Thanks

bertb wrote:Trading Standards? Regardless of "who done wot" the dealer is the one you bought the van from. Sale of Goods Act covers it. IMHO.

"The Sale of Goods Act amendment in March 2012 states that if a fault occurs with a product within the first 6 months of purchase, the consumer is entitled to assume that it was sold to them with the defect present.  This means that the goods were not of a reasonable standard at the time of purchase and the vendor is in breach of their statutory and contractual obligations, whereby the Act protecting customers through their statutory consumer rights."

Out of date. Replaced by the Consumer Rights act 2015.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Even better.

HarryO wrote:Here is the final outcome of the sorry saga of my al-ok air top air suspension units, I have had everything done now new units fitted by Towtal up in Stoke , in the end I was only charged  £100 which was really great value , and service from them, I waited to hear from the dealership, but they never got back to me, so today I went to Oaktree in Nottinghamshire where I bought my A/S from I had exhausted all avenues to get this resolved by AL-KO, and Auto Sleeper, even the warranty from the RAC was worthless.
I took the old parts with me and the receipts for what I had spent, I presented these to Oaktree and they were disappointed that I had been fobbed off by others, at the end of it all I presented my case to him saying I had done everything I could to resolve this matter but I am now talking to him because I have no were else to go and I want to be reimbursed for my out lay. Scot at Oaktree agreed that is was not my fault and that being as I was a loyal customer, he would pay for the parts which were £651 that I had got from A/S but not the labour to fit them, I agreed to this solution and shook his hand quite pleased with myself, I think it was more than fair , as much as I am happy to have my motor home up and running again I am still not happy with AL-KO or A/S , one company designed it and admitted it was wrong , one company fitted it knowing it was wrong as the had repaired many units before but didn’t bother to recall it, as for my warranty by the RAC they say that the air suspension is not standard even though it states it in A/S brochure. My advice to everyone who has the units fitted to their motor home to check them for damage and avoid the hassle.
I am now looking forward to using my motor home hopefully without any further problems.
Just one more thing does any member has an email address for the M.D. at Auto Sleeper and Al-KO, I would just like to drop them a line .

Hi H. Well done glad to see you got a result that was acceptable to you. Hope you still have some hair left after all that and hopefully this will help others who will suffer the same fate. First rule of buying a second hand A/S van is as you say ' check the suspension air bags ' and reject the van if they look flat or punctured.

Hi All ,
Well after getting the problem sorted out with my air suspension all money refunded, I decided to go away the other week , guess what my pump failed. I managed to by pass the pressure switch that allowed me to get water but not ideal, I am afraid that was the last straw, my better half just didn’t want the a/s anymore , so it is with regret I have to say I have got rid of it, and bought an auto trail Navajo, but it didn’t end there my a/s had the last laugh I wanted to change my personalised plate to my new motorhome but couldn’t do it on line as normal, the dvla said there was a break in the licensing of the a/s nothing to do with me , but the computer has picked it up so I had to get all the relevant forms and fill them out send my £80 to cover the cost and wait for the dvla to sort it out
This a/s really didn’t like me I tried so hard to get on with it I actually liked it even for its faults.
So thank you for all your help during my brief but interesting ownership 3months in total, I appreciate it . Just one other thing I bought a full cover for this vehicle which can be punched for £40 I never got the chance to use it and it is a shame for it to just sit there. Thanks again

What a tragic tale Harry. I feel you, and your wifes, anger and frustration. There are times when you just have to walk away. I hope the Navajo makes up for all the things that A/S lacked.

I am sure it will and thanks for your thoughts I am sorry to but will still enjoy my motorhome

Hi H

Soul destroying and you do need to have trust in the van. I would have done the same.

Hopefully the Indian wont shoot any arrows at you that hurt. On second thoughts it's the cowboys who are more likely to get you!! 

ps Would have had the cover but have a solar panel, so not practical for me.