Advice with my rust problem please.
I own a IH Motorhome on a Mercedes Sprinter 2010, bought directly from IH motorhomes in February 2013. About three months ago, I noticed very small rust bubbles to the bottom forward section of the window in the sliding door about 4 inches long. Also, small amounts of water would end up inside when raining. I spoke to IH who seemed not really interested, but would price to carry out the repairs if I took it to them. Bearing in mind I am 140 miles from them and only 4 miles from Autosleepers, I took it to Autosleepers a week ago. I am collecting the vehicle today, but have been told that three more rust areas are at aperture openings, i.e the two fridge vents and the mains entry point. At this stage, I do not know how much this will all cost to repair. I have uploaded 3 photos, 1 showing small rust bubbles (sorry upside down) 1 showing below this on removal of the window and 1 showing quality of IH work incutting out the aperture. No bare metal protection was found. Am I asking too much for IH to contribute towards this work, or should I just take it on the chin and accept it? I have kept IH informed by email, but totally no response to date. Depending on cost, I may ask Autosleepers to remove all windows and examine the apertures as I do like this vehicle. Any advice please?

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That's very poor workmanship on IH part if that's the case, bearing in mind that they sell themselves as being very high quality converters and very expensive to boot.

Providing the the vehicle has had all it's relevant warranty checks carried out on a regular basis I would have thought that IH would be prepared to go some way towards reimbursing you for any remedial works needed, maybe you should ask them why they feel that it is not necessary to apply any rust protection after cutting a big hole in the side of a piece of metal ?

Good luck with your problems and hopefully get them resolved with out to much loss of money from yourself.

M

What terrible workmanship, very badly cut, they should have applied at least red lead or something better, I'd try for compensation but don't hold your breath.

It looks like it'll need some welding doing to restore the panel, which might mean some paintwork needed, depends on how good they are when welding it

The principals below apply to help avoid warping the panel, sorry I didn't find a better videos.

That's not brilliant workmanship BUT as the vehicle is now 5 years old so it's a bit of long shot expecting them to pick up the bill.

I accept that most manufacturers offer extended corrosion warranty but this is ALWAYS for full panel perforation (all the way through) not surface corrosion

Good luck but don't hold your breath!!!

Andy

I too am thinking that you are expecting too much. But there is nothing to stop you making a claim in the small claims court if you think that the fault was due to manufacture.

cabby

Many thanks to all the comments. You can always rely on Motorhomefacts for constructive advice and comment. Now for the update. In brief, collected repaired motorhome from Autosleepers who pointed out three further areas of rust around aperture cut outs. They were around both fridge vents and the 240 volt plug in box. By now, I had received a response from Ian Hartley, owner of IH Motorhomes that in truth did not give me much hope for compensation or help. I did respond that three further areas had been found and I was asked to take the motorhome to IH Motorhomes for further investigation and inspection. I did this, and found Ian to be very courteous and polite, but above all very passionate about the motorhomes that he produces and has produced. He has agreed to carry out these repairs at IH Motorhomes in a few weeks when he can source a different 240 volt input box. No doubt this will cost me, but with the care that he showed for his products, I am satisfied that it will be carried out correctly. I will update after the works have been carried out.

Anyone can be passionate about anything when it's YOU putting your hand in your pocket all the time.

M

A partially good result then, it remains to be seen what they actually do once they see the bad workmanship involved, I wouldn't expect too pay much if they want it back in, they have a rep to protect, a link to this page on your phone might convince him a good report back from you might be worth a good will gesture if he presents you with a bill for work which should not have been needed had the cut outs been done and treated properly in the first place.

Just an update now that all of the work has been completed. I could not source a different type of 240 volt input box and despite emailing Ian Hartley he did not come back to me. One part of my conversation with Ian Hartley that did flag up alarm bells with me, was that he would use a "chips away type company" to blow in the rust repair that he did not consider too bad around the fridge vents. This did worry me. I decided to return the vehicle back to Autosleepers, bite the bullet, and get the job done properly. So now another £901.50 out of pocket, I am happy that the job has been carried out correctly. I have attached pictures of the works carried out by Autosleepers around the fridge vents and 240 volt input box. I am so glad that I did not return the vehicle back to IH Motorhomes to have paintwork "blown in" around the vents. I suppose the moral of the story is that just because we see a "nice" expensive motorhome by a company such as IH Motorhomes, the underlying workmanship that we do not see can be rubbish, they do not have a good quality control system for work that we cannot see. However, I do like the motorhome, and am now satisfied that it will continue for a few more years with the rust problem now behind me. Also, if any member sees a small amount of rust below an opening cut out by the convertor, beware, because like the ice berg, it is only the tip of what is there. Many thanks to all for your comments.

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So, what did Autosleepers do to remedy the paintwork? Paint the whole side of the van?
If they did then £900 is cheap. Are you sure they didn't use a 'Chips away' man?