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Habitation Checks in Italy Anyone ?

913 views 9 replies 5 participants last post by  jhelm 
#1 ·
Hello everyone, I have a question on Habitation (Infiltration) checks in Italy please.

We’ve been looking for our first MH (with the layout we want) for around 5 months now and have spotted a LHD 2006 year old used MH with an Italian dealer and so far, looks (on-the-face-of-it) sound ie; one owner, low mileage, pics seem good too etc.

As newbies, we’ve been asking as much as possible about the vehicle over the last two weeks and have now obtained an Italian version of a Habitation check-sheet done in May this year.

Although the sheet has all the right ticks in all the right boxes and after translating most of the content, I can’t help feeling something’s not quite right with it.

Firstly, all the ticks have been inserted digitally but the header details of the vehicle have been hand written, so this means that after the test, either the sheet was filled out digitally then printed out, then the vehicle details were inserted in by hand, or, the sheet was printed out blank (but with all the ticks digitally in place) and hand written with the vehicle details afterwards, meaning a fake report !

Secondly, there is no individual report number associated with it making traceability very weak.

Thirdly, on closer inspection there appears to be faint grey makings under some of the hand written text of vehicle giving me the impression that Tipp-Ex has been used at some point.

So as I can’t establish whether this is just common practice in Italy, and the fact that there seems to be no association over there to compare what a standard Italian check-sheet should look like, I’m just wondering if anybody has had the same experience, or am I just being over cautious ?

Many thanks guys ! :smile2:
 
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#5 ·
@jhelm in case you can assist in this thread.

Terry
 
#6 ·
Yes it is me, not sure what to say. Habitation checks are not that common in Italy, so if the dealer had to improvise to make up a form I would not be surprised. You do have a two year warranty in Italy I believe in buying a used vehicle from a dealer. Every car truck etc, has to have a bi annual safety inspection and that will be noted on the registration form, but that does not involve the habitation area at all.

Since you are a foreign buyer, I think I would only buy from a large dealer one that sells and services the big brands like Hymer, etc. Ask for a copy of the registration form, it will show previous owners, be weary of any unit previously located in Germany. Ask for pictures of the underside of the frame, and running gear to check for rust and corrosion. Ask if it was a rental unit. Finally don´t exchange any funds until you come to make a personal inspection when doing that make sure everything works, look for signs of water intrusion, bring a moisture meter, don´t buy a used camper with a wooden structure, Hymer for example is all metal I believe, that is why they last so long. Crawl underneath to check for rust. If you buy it plan on a nice long trip around Italy so you can test and use everything and go back to the dealer for warranty repairs if needed before leaving the country. Most Italian dealers and mechanics are honest in Italy, but you need to do your own due diligence.
 
#7 ·
Thanks Guys and to Jhelm for his response.

I did make the trek over to Florence to see the MH (Mobilvetta Huari 1002) and had a good look around it and went out in it too. Overhall, the underside and engine did look in surprisingly good condition, although the ride was just a tab hard for an air suspension vehicle.

I've now seen the underside of three Mobilvetta models and in fact, they all appear to have a sound underbody, perhaps due to their double floor protection? However, the inside did show some small signs of previous dampness around one of the overhead cab windows and what looked like a water stain running down inside a large cupboard. The dealer said it could be down to condensation when a vehicle is parked next to a wall etc for long periods. Although it was a 2006 version, most of the upholstery was quite badly faded (which couldn't be detected in the pics) so it definitely needed replacing, and a few window blinds didn't close properly, the rear bathroom window didn't close at all and there was no gas to check the cooker fridge etc.

They had a large workshop there and said they can fix any of the minor issues I found and offered a long warranty but I knew the MH had been in the yard for over four months and I could see they hadn't bothered to clean it up inside, especially considering I came from the UK so I just got the feeling that they didn't seem too concerned about it's appearance.

On the other hand, the company was a relatively small family run concern and standards can vary considerably in different countries so I had to bear this in mind too.

So on reflection, weighing up all that I saw plus the fact that they've never sold a MH to a foreigner, and coupled with the GBP/EUR dropping like a lead balloon, perhaps it's time to wait until the autumn and wait for the right one to turn up in the UK.

Although it was a disappointing trip, the experience was invaluably and have learnt a lot from it.
 
#9 ·
If you are looking to buy from another (than UK) country, why not look at Germany.
There are many businesses ready to do business with English speakers, you'll find a massive amount of available vans and there is a well established system for the export of new or secondhand vehicles.
Have a look at this site for possibilities. https://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/search.html?vc=Motorhome&lang=en
 
#10 ·
Yeah it seems a good decision unless the price was very low. A sound body and engine are most important, next the presence or absence of leaks. The rest of the stuff can be easily fixed. The faded upholstery is interesting it must have been parked in the sun for long periods. Obviously a long warranty is useless if you are so far away. But it is also a law here to provide a two year warranty so it is not like they were offering anything special. It is odd that the dealer did not try to make it look good and did not fix those little things ahead of time. But then many Italian businesses just don´t understand the concept of marketing.
 
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