Marquis Preston

I know it's not an AS but - Marquis are AS suppliers, and we used to have one, so I think this may be of use...

After visiting the show at the NEC and looking at lots of PVC variations, we decided on a Benimar Benivan. Fantastic specification, clean and simple inside, option for auto gearbox. We then discovered that the only outlet was Marquis, and our nearest branch was Preston. Marquis had / have a very mixed reputation and we were nervous about buying from them, to the point that we considered buying a Rollerteam Toleno instead. Similar, but just quite not what we wanted.


Anyway, we contacted Marquis Preston, spoke to Dave, swapped lots of emails (Marquis were very prompt and professional in all their responses) and arranged a visit and test drive. A different member of the team met us (Tom) and was every bit as professional.

1st impressions were very good. Polite, knowledgeable, professional. Had a good test drive, negotiated a decent deal, both of us happy. We then had a long chat about our expectations and the poor reputation that Marquis have.

They were quick to agree that the company are not held in the highest regard, explained in detail the company organisational changes, and what they hoped would happen as a result. Fine words doth butter no parsnips I hear you say. But it did seem quite genuine.

Anyway, placed an order, signed on the dotted line and agreed a delivery date. Sorted. Or so we thought. We then decided to go on holiday for 5 weeks so called to delay delivery. Chat with the sales director and the response: No problem. See you in January. Have a nice time.

Researching the forums highlighted a couple of issues with the Ducato - Fiat block a heater outlet for example. Rear side window can be opened when you try to open the whizz-bang door. Called Marquis. Not aware of these but… we’ll sort them. No problem. And they did. Including supplying a couple of window locks to prevent the window from ever being opened (as we requested).

PDI completed. They sent me a copy of the checklist. Very, very thorough. A few problems listed, Most very minor, and cosmetic (plastic cap missing off screws). A couple more complicated (Truma errors). Gas tests completed. Damp checks and readings. The good thing is they spotted the problems and fixed them. It wasn’t just a cursory glance over the camper. It was thorough and complete and honest.

We went up to check the camper out before we paid the balance. Met the service guy who’d completed the PDI. Professional, honest, thorough. Knew his stuff and took pride in what he did. Confidence inspiring.

Hand-over was thorough, detailed and comprehensive. Les. Excellent. Knew his stuff and made sure we understood everything. Complicated bits explained simply. ‘Van was beautifully presented and is an absolute pleasure to drive. Found a problem with the heating system. Marquis invited us to lunch while we waited for it to get sorted. And gave us 1st year's hat check for free due to the inconvenience!

So far so good. We have no complaints. Quite the contrary. We are very, very impressed. I know it’s early days, and it’s good to be aware of potential problems but so far Marquis have exceeded my expectations.

Hopefully Marquis will maintain this level of service and professionalism!

Brilliant!

Marquis Devon could learn a thing or two there.

Enjoy your van.

Wheelbarrow, your experience mirrors ours. We are very pleased with the service from Marquis Preston 

And mine, nearly a year ago. Some disappointing quality issues with the new van after using it at the beginning (not directly Marquis's fault) but they readily fixed them. Personnel were excellent. We dealt mainly with Steve.

AutoSleepy_Don wrote:
I get quite a strong feeling that Marquis and AS are NOT happy bedfellows.
At the NEC, the 2 stands are on the same plot but they built a wall between them.

Yes I agree. I have never really understood how it works. Doubtless they will say the non AS vans
"compliment" the range offering size/layout or whatever not provided by AS...filling gaps in the range, but I see lots of crossover at very competitive prices. I think they rely on AS owners being a loyal bunch.

Marquis may be part of the AS group but of course that ultimately means it's part of Trigano. All the brands Marquis sell are produced by the Trigano group, so how much pressure is put to sell those non-AS brands.?
I remember when Brownhills had a dozen branches and their after sales service filled every forum with horror stories, now they only have one branch and even though they may have improved , I still wouldn't contemplate buying from them. Marquis have had their fair share of bad reviews and despite this improvement by Preston branch ,I won't consider buying from any branch even if the only perfect van for me was only available from them.

It’s all down to individual experience. What this forum is great for is the amount of information and knowledge of issues such as described. That way you can make in informed choice. For every bad review there might be 3 great ones.

It’s reassuring you have had a good experience. Hope it continues for you. We have had a good experience from the Durham branch. Our biggest problem was actually a Peugeot one and we dealt with that locally rather than travelling down to Durham for that.

Happy travels!

Tinwheeler wrote:Brilliant!

Marquis Devon could learn a thing or two there.

Enjoy your van.

Just goes to show how each of our experiences are different, I have found Marquis Devon outstanding!

Carried out repairs for free outside of warranty and once kept the workshop open after hours as we had a fault on the way to the ferry.

Three vans from them now and would not hesitate to use them again.

groundhog wrote:

Tinwheeler wrote:Brilliant!

Marquis Devon could learn a thing or two there.

Enjoy your van.

Just goes to show how each of our experiences are different, I have found Marquis Devon outstanding!

Carried out repairs for free outside of warranty and once kept the workshop open after hours as we had a fault on the way to the ferry.

Three vans from them now and would not hesitate to use them again.

Good for you, GH. I admit they’re not the worst but, in our experience, there’s room for improvement. 

We bought a caravan from them when they were Martin’s and 3 MHs since which proves they’re not too dire. However, each experience left something to be desired - poor PDIs for one thing - but it’s my belief they’re probably no worse than others. They have almost a monopoly in terms of location and they serve much better tea than Westcountry Motorhomes. 

We had excellent service from Richard, the branch manager at Chieveley when we bought our van. I couldn't fault him for doing his best to sort out our teething problems, many of which should have been found by the PDI. However, I would endorse not using them for service. The worst thing they did was to install a new Believe and not seal it properly. Luckily that problem surfaced a couple of days before I was going to Willersey anyway for another issue which needed to be resolved by Marks men.

Richard Morse was manager at least from 2011 to 2015. I don't know what has happened since.

According to the latest info I can find Richard Morse is now manager at Marquis Hampshire

https://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/motorhomes/news/new-management-team-at-marquis-motorhome-dealer-in-hampshire

I bought my first pre owned motorhome from Marquis at Preston and the service I had both sales and service I had was professional and first class

The sales guy I dealt with was Steve is a credit to the company 

Yes I would recommend Marquis at Preston

Terry

I am in the middle of having an appalling experience of Marquis Devon.  Their service department that is.  
Ruby

ruby wrote:I am in the middle of having an appalling experience of Marquis Devon.  Their service department that is.  
Ruby

My commiserations, Ruby. I'll PM you.

Can only speak for Marquis Sussex, again relatively high staff turnover but always helpful. However we had a problem concerning a sale and part exchange which led to head office becoming involved.  Suffice to say when the matter was resolved and we returned to the Sussex showroom the local staff could not look us in the eye and were obviously embarrassed.
The lesson being if it's a minor problem within the will/budget of the local staff they will do what they can but Marquis didn't get to be the biggest by not being ruthless.  I always get a friendly welcome when I visit but. I will never ever do business with Marquis again.

I had a horrendous experience with Marquis Tewksbury the year that they won dealer of the year lol
Pete