First time out EVER

Well, we decided to do a two day shakedown in our 2020 Nuevo only 30 mins from home in the Hertfordshire countryside near Royston on a  Caravan and Motorhome site. We did loads of reading before we went and had had time to at least work out (we thought) how things work. First of we soon realized our main cpu screen was a newer version than the one in the handbook and it confused the hell out of us that it also seemed to control the hot water and heating as well as the separate truma controls (we didnt need either as the shower block was open), so still have not figured that out in terms if you can just use the main control panel both or the truma on its own. Second, we booked a standard pitch thinking that would not have an electric hook up , but it did - hooray!! but hold on a mo , the mains socket at the motorhome end did not stick out like in the pictures and the plug would not go in with the plug cap up , after a few mins of thinking we had been given the wrong cable type we realized that the spring loaded cap has be held at 90 degrees while you plug it in (that would have been helpful to know!!!) . Thirdly the main control screen came loose , BECAUSE whoever fitted it had left the screen protector film on and the sticky retaining foam on the inside of the fitment was sticking to the removable film and not the glass of the screen. So thats going to be needed to be fixed... i think i will try by removing the film and using the mobile phone holder suction cap to suck onto the screen so i can then pull it back against the sticky foam edging on the inside of the fitment and if that does not work it's back to a dealership. Other than that everything seems all good, even cooked a meal on the hobb!! (don't laugh) . As for the sleeping set up , well we tried the double across and single configuration. Double across OK until the driver side person needs a wee!!. SO we just rotated 90 degrees, this way you get a 6 foot across (king size) and used the seat bases for extra length and can still get out for a wee, dont know why they dont show that configuration? Next learning curve was getting the fitted satellite system to work. It automatically locks onto the satellite selected , --- great, but then finding out how to download the channels to the supplied tv took a lot of random button hitting , first one Astra one, 99% German speaking channles.... Astra 2 ... yippy , many English speaking channels .... so that's now sorted. Little dog Freyja was a dream , we thought she might be a pain and we would have to bring the crate, but she slept on a vetbed mat by the door and didn't stir once despite the frequent loo trips in the night..... too much wine you see. The electric bikes we bought fitted on the bike rack and we had a dog trolly that hooks up to them and we were off out in the wildes of Hertfordshire  both days, it was great,, stopping at little villages and churches , no-one about it was fantastic, even found a couple of open pub gardens. The electric bikes made hauling the doggy trailer about easy even up and down the rolling Herts country side. So we are  off to Norfolk next weekend!! all the wiser.... oh just figured out how to drain the grey water!! driver over drain , lift drain cover and turn grey tap.... one more thing learnt!

Ah yes! Brings it all back. Well done: you've achieved a great deal in one trip. 
I kid you not, but more often than not I discover something during every trip - be it a better way of doing something, or a simple modification, or merely experience. And I've owned Autosleepers since 1988.

You'll find this Forum to be invaluable. Someone will certainly have the answer, and will be happy to share it. I've benefited so much from the Forum over the years.

Thanks for sharing with us how you got on. We'll await the next chapter!

On another Forum (not motorhome) which I follow, there's an ever expanding thread entitled "Bet you didn't know that the [car] does this!".  Perhaps we ought to have similar?

Cymro

Well done! As Cymro says, we've all been there and done things that in retrospect seem a bit silly - such as folding the cover of the EHU plug all the way back and not being to plug it in...

I bought an A/S van a few years back from the family of an owner who had passed away, so I got no handover, and no handbook, which led to a lot of "what does this button do?" moments. As long as you take your time and try not to get stressed (or embarrassed) you get there in the end!

Well done folks! We had ours for about 18 months before we discovered the blind on the toilet skylight Lots to learn but lots of fun doing it

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Not to happy about this though. The overhead lockers are made in two parts the lower part being mdf and the top wood. Very bad design and glue line is a week point. This is a brand new vehicle. Not over filled either.

Glad you had a nice time finding out all about your new toy. Things get easier as you go on, but part of the fun is trying things out.

Suejj, wow a new van with disintegrating locker doors? I think you will find the upper part is MDF covered in wood foil effect too. The foil seems to like to shrink and peel around 3 years old onwards , as many others , been there done that. I  remember when locker doors were solid wood framed as the Explorer group designer said at the time  for durability , strength and lightness. It shouldn't happen of course but doesnt surprise me . Dont let it put you off......just seems to be the norm nowadays.  Of course at the retail price they command  it is inexcusable.

It's a steep learning curve but worth it in the end. Our Nuevo is now a year old & I'm still learning how to do some things. My manual is also for a different model, I phoned AS & they sent me a booklet for the correct control panel.

Suejj - I echo everything that has been said.  It's a bit of a trial to start with and you don't stop learning.  This forum has been and continues to be invaluable for me.  Unfortunately things will go wrong which will require you to return to your dealer and maybe the AS Service Centre if they can't fix it.  It seems that Flash had a similar experience to me.  I wasn't given the Harmony Handbook and didn't know it existed for the first couple of months.  Eventually I received a copy from AS after I protested to them about their poor documentation.  Obviously I don't have the 2020 model but after my 2019 model had its EC700 software updated, the apparent ability to control the Combi from the EC700 Control Panel (CP) was thankfully removed.  Once the EC700 CP has been turned on - top LH button - the Combi should only be controlled from the Truma CP.  I hope that helps.

Presumably, you purchased your new Nuevo from a dealer ??  Surely they gave you a full hand over when you collected the van ?     If not that is pretty disgraceful considering how much you would have spent.

Taurian wrote:Presumably, you purchased your new Nuevo from a dealer ??  Surely they gave you a full hand over when you collected the van ?     If not that is pretty disgraceful considering how much you would have spent.

Not sure whether this was for me or Suejj.  Mine came from Marquis.  My handover was the last of 5 on a busy Fri afternoon when they had staff on leave.  It was a chaotic affair and the lad who was supposed to explain everything to me was not that knowledgable or good at explaining anything.  I got the general gist but expected to be able learn it all from reading the handbooks when I got home which is when the problems started.  I wasted a huge amount of time trying to make sense of the out of date 2018 AS User Handbook which doesn't cover the EC700.  In fact at that stage I didn't even know I had an EC700 having never hear of it before!  After a couple of days I e-mailed the dealer who were not close to me and they sent me a link to an Autotrail document that gave me start.  But the Autotrail version of the EC700 is different to the AS version so it wasn't right.  The dealer had no knowledge of the Harmony Handbook which describes the AS version which the AS Sales Manager at Willersey eventually sent to me.  My problems in understanding the EC700 were compounded by software errors and other electrical problems which were eventually sorted by the AS Service Centre at Willersey.  I avoid going to Marquis now if I can even though they are closer to me than Willersey.

Caraman - My post was aimed at Suejj

I fortunately video'd our excellent handover at Oaktree and am so glad I did as I sometimes stilll have to refer to it 3 years on.

Taurian wrote:Caraman - My post was aimed at Suejj

Sorry.  I should add that we all know there us an awful lot to take on board at a handover no matter how well it is delivered.

Marko wrote:I fortunately video'd our excellent handover at Oaktree and am so glad I did as I sometimes stilll have to refer to it 3 years on.

What a good idea.  I never thought of that.

Taurian wrote:Presumably, you purchased your new Nuevo from a dealer ??  Surely they gave you a full hand over when you collected the van ?     If not that is pretty disgraceful considering how much you would have spent.

Mine was from Marquis, the Handover Guy knew nothing at all about the EC700 all the rest he left me with the Salesman. He was very inexperienced on Motorhomes, told me about the Engine, I told him the front Seats must rotate, so I found how and showed him, showed him how to convert the Settees to a Bed.
He pulled the Roof Blind back released the Fly Screen and it shot back and out of the track. I told him you never do that, then showed him how to relocate it without creasing it up.

I then decided I had had enough of the Hand Over, he was a nice enough guy, he learned an awful lot during the sales process too, I wasn't expecting to train the Sales Staff, but then again it was Marquis.

Thanks for all your input. First it was bought new from a dealer in Scotland and we are near London so there was no physical hand over , only a very VERY basic video, also was during lock-down so minimal communication. It was a new vehicle, but deff some issues, most of which i have fixed myself although I could have got done under warranty but did not want to wait weeks for a booking in . List of issues

1) Paid for a ready to go pack  - no tv or bracket when it arrived. So it was sent after and I had to fit the tv bracket myself and hook up. (not a big issue but received no discount for it). Working out all the satellite stuff was fun, but after lots of googling worked it all out and well over engineered the bracket fitting so no coming loose for that sucker. 

2) One rear speaker not working, so sent me another (hope it's not the internal wiring somewhere)

3) One of the overhead lockers split in two along the glue joint... Will fix this at work as have all the clamps there.... bad design , should be made out of a single bit of ply or mdf.

4) EC700 screen came loose as protective film had been left on and that what was stuck to the internal stick foam housing not the glass of the screen as it should have been .. Fixed that issue myself.

5)First time went to empty the grey water the complete drain pipe just came off the tank, highly embarrassing on the campsite with grey water * Inappropriate Word * everywhere!! Turned out just was not pushed in properly but you try to do that when over a drain and dirty water is gushing out in the wrong place. !!

6) Handbook far too technical and not enough basic info for beginners . simple things like plugging the electric in you need to have the spring cap at 90 degrees to the socket  etc etc.

Anyway  hope to have all that fix by Saturday as we are off again to Norfolk

You seem to be on top of it Suejj.  The broken locker door is very alarming.  At the very least I would get them to send a replacement should your repair not hold.  You are obviously new to Electrical Hook Ups (EHUs).  Some plug straight into the bollard but some you have to rotate clockwise to get a connection.  This caught me out when I started caravanning.  As for the warranty, you should be able to go to any AS dealer for support including the AS Service Centre at Willersey which is a lot closer to you than Scotland but it’s still a time consuming business.