Keith Gooden
In today’s episode of the Motorhome Matt podcast…
Matt Sims
There’s a common Ford issue that’s causing flat batteries and we report how a member of my team fixed it.
Keith Gooden
In the news, we revisit insurance premium rises in light of new research.
Matt Sims
And we answer your questions on a motorhome not reaching highest gear, tracker categories for insurance and whether you should up plate your motorhome.
Keith Gooden
Welcome to the Motorhome Matt podcast. I’m Keith Gooden.
Matt Sims
And I’m Motorhome Matt.
Keith Gooden
Industry insights and expert advice for the world of motorhomes, caravans and campervans – all brought to you by www.thatleisureshop.com.
Matt Sims
Now remember, please do follow on your favourite podcast app. And make sure you subscribe if you watch on YouTube. Our YouTube channel is brought to you by www.arobasecreative.co.uk.
In the news: A correlation between higher premiums and uninsured drivers
Keith Gooden
Let’s delve into the news, shall we? A few episodes ago we discussed motorhome premiums rising and there’s been research showing possible correlation between motor premiums and uninsured drivers.
Let me just give you a bit of background here. Now, the number of young motorists punished for uninsured driving has more than doubled in two years amid a spike in premiums. The figures – 3,000 were done for not being insured in 2021. In 2023, that had risen to 6,000. Now, this comes this research from the IAM Roadsmart.
Matt Sims
Yeah, that’s the Institute of Advanced Motorists as they were known. This is frightening, isn’t it? I mean, I’m sure motorhome owners are getting their vehicles insured because of their value. But the risk is if one of these 6,000 people drive into you, they are uninsured.
And that suddenly gets very complicated. And there is a fund which you can claim from to get your motorhome repaired. But it’s a headache. I’ve been there many years ago. I got hit by an uninsured driver and it was a nightmare.
Keith Gooden
IAM are concentrating on younger drivers. But obviously there are a lot of uninsured drivers of all ages on our roads. Some of the figures given out in the last couple of decades have actually been quite shocking, which is why it’s important that you’re properly and fully comprehensively insured.
Matt Sims
And I guess their premiums are rocketing. I mean, you know, my daughter’s is, that’s for sure.
Keith Gooden
My son passed a driving test three months ago. The cheapest we could find with app tracking on his phone, which he’s not happy about, but I think is a great idea… when you finish your journey, it gives you a percentage.
What it does is it looks at the map, looks at the route and then tells you how well you’ve driven and it gets 85% or 90%, which is good. Well done. The cheapest we could get for a Ford Ka was £1,400.
Matt Sims
My daughter Neve’s was half that. It still went up. But she lives in Plymouth, maybe that’s why.
Keith Gooden
Yeah, that’s probably the difference. Anybody driving around Bristol knows exactly what we mean. So there you go. My insurance company wrote to me just a few weeks ago telling me that my insurance is due for renewal and would be subject to a 30% increase.
They did explain it is due to the higher costs of repairs due to inflation. We forget that the economy has been inflationary up to this point. It’s still running about 2.3%, 2.4%. But that’s the increase.
And of course, you take your insurance out, it lasts a whole year, inflation takes a bite. And they’re also saying the cost of repair has gone up. Everybody’s put their prices up – the suppliers of the materials, the mechanics, and so you can see where these increases are coming from.
Matt Sims
Yes, and of course, the asset itself has gone up in value. So in the event of theft or total loss, you know, that £50,000 motor home is now £70,000. And the insurance company are in the chair for it, aren’t they?
I had a really interesting chat with a guy from Howdens at a show. They had a stand. And he said the reason wasn’t about the supply chain. It was that during the pandemic, everyone’s at home, nobody was driving around, so the claims rate plummeted.
And insurance companies sat pretty and didn’t have any claim to pay out. Then everyone got back in the car having forgotten how to drive and crashed into each other. He didn’t quite put it like this, I’ll be honest, but you get the point.
And the the rate of collisions and claims went up. The premiums didn’t. So the insurance companies suddenly had this massive overhead to pay out. So basically, it’s a cash flow issue. So I asked him the question.
I said, “Does that mean then that premiums will come back down?” He said categorically, absolutely yes. So is this a blip? We’ll see. But hopefully premiums will come down because 30% is a big rise, isn’t it?
Keith Gooden
It’s a huge rise, and it’s okay if you’re my age and your insurance is £300. 30% adds 100 pounds, but it’s not the end of the world. But if you are my son and they’re going up by 30%, his £1,400 even with one year’s no claim is still going to be around that, if not a couple of hundred pounds more expensive next year, isn’t it?
Matt Sims
It’s going to be nearly two grand, isn’t it? So yeah, hopefully that guy from Howdens was right and it is a temporary blip and we see premiums start coming down again… maybe. And of course, it’s always a competitive market, isn’t it, insurance premiums, and we shop around for the best price. So insurance companies will respond to this. I’m sure if they can bring premiums down, they will.
Keith Gooden
Yeah, they always want to attract new customers. And they do give heavy discounts. You’ve really got to make it your business to go around looking. And remember, not all insurance companies are on the comparison sites. So you need to spend half a day doing it to get the answers that suit you.
And don’t be afraid to ring them up. Because what I found with the big insurance companies was they’re more than happy to speak to you and they’re more than happy to say no as well. No, we’re not going to insure you. And that’s great.
There’s none of this if-ing and a but-ing that’s going around, and things seem to be a lot clearer. But remember, you have to be insured. Driving is expensive – it has always been expensive, but you have to by law be insured.
Matt Sims
Yeah, absolutely. My advice is not to use comparison sites for a motorhome policy because they’re not motorhome specific. We’ve unpacked this a lot in the past. There are real benefits to a motorhome or campervan specific policy.
And it’s really important that that’s what you’re buying, not something off the shelf, a car policy that’s just covering a van with windows. It has to be a motorhome policy to give you peace of mind and proper cover.
Keith Gooden
And that’s why we do this podcast – information like that, expertise like that from Motorhome Matt.
Product of the week
Keith Gooden
Let’s talk about your nuts then, Matt.
Matt Sims
My bigger nuts?
Keith Gooden
So you say!
Matt Sims
I’m holding up a little product here which I love. And I’ve gone on record as loving this product. This is a GasStop. This is a gas safety valve that protects you from a gas leak. And this is a new batch that’s come through to us from the Netherlands.
It’s just arrived and they’ve got bigger nuts! So there was always a complaint that the nut that you screwed into your gas bottle was smaller than the one you screw into the valve on your end of your pigtail. The nut is now 30mm to match the size of the nut on your pigtail, so our nuts are matching in size, Keith.
Keith Gooden
I never thought I’d see the day.
Matt Sims
So now you only need one spanner to fit one of these. Brilliant – love them.
Keith Gooden
So how do you get this?
Matt Sims
How do you buy one? Go on www.thatleisureshop.com and search for GasStop. Use the code MOTORHOMEMATT and get 10% off as well. They are a must have – these should be fitted by the manufacturer. I use one on the barbecue at home.
I use it on the barbecue in the back of the van and I use one in the van on the gas bottle. They really should have one of these fitted. Go and look at the listing of at That Leisure Shop, and there’s loads of reasons why.
They even have a gauge on the top as well, which gives you an idea of how much gas you’ve got left. But there are some other really useful benefits too. They protect you from a gas leak – that’s the fundamental one. £45 retail, and 10% off that with the code MOTORHOMEMATT. You must buy one.
Keith Gooden
If you’ve already got one, if you already bought one from www.thatleisureshop.com and you’ve got the old design, do you have to upgrade to the new one? Are you okay carrying on the way you are?
Matt Sims
No, no, no, you just carry on the way you are. But you wouldn’t be using the smallest spanner, which is not the end of the world – it’s just an inconvenience.
The Ford Transit flat battery issue plaguing owners
Keith Gooden
It’s the Motorhome Matt podcast. I’m Keith Gooden.
Matt Sims
And I’m Motorhome Matt.
Keith Gooden
And it’s brought to you with www.thatleisureshop.com. Let’s talk about our main subject on this podcast, then, Matt – a common issue seen on the Ford chassis. Matt, can you explain what’s happening?
Why are Ford Transit batteries going flat?
Matt Sims
Yeah, so we discovered this in our hire fleet, many of which are featuring the new Ford Transit chassis simply because the Fiat chassis have not been available. So motorhome manufacturers have been using the Ford chassis, and we have quite a few Chausson branded motorhomes on our hire fleet all on the ford chassis.
They go away on holiday and the starter battery goes flat, and it means the customer is stranded. Literally dead flat. And I know this is affecting hundreds if not thousands of Ford Transit drivers.
Keith Gooden
What do Ford say about it, then?
Matt Sims
We spoke to the our local Ford dealership and they said, “Oh it’s not our fault. It’s because it’s a motorhome. You need to go to the motorhome converter.”
Keith Gooden
Yeah, because people are converting them onto the chassis.
Matt Sims
They said it was a motorhome manufacturer issue. So we went to the dealer that supplied the Chausson motorhome and they said, “No, it’s a Ford problem. It’s the Ford starter battery going flat. You need to go to Ford.”
Keith Gooden
Oh, hang on a second. So Ford say, “No, you’re converting it so it’s different. Go to the person who converted it.” The person who converted it says, “No, we converted it in good faith. It’s a Ford issue.” Oh dear, Matt.
Matt Sims
It’s round and around. Chicken and egg.
Keith Gooden
It’s one of those, isn’t it? I’m sorry I was closing my eyes. But you know, it’s the virtuous circle again.
Matt Sims
So we had an issue where nobody would take responsibility for the problem. We decided that we would have to because this was affecting our customers going on holiday. So we’ve found out that the fault is caused by condensation forming on the windscreen because it’s a motorhome, and this where Ford say, “Well that’s not our fault. We built a van.”
Keith Gooden
So it’s forming on the inside or the outside?
Matt Sims
On the inside of the windscreen, and then running down the windscreen behind the dashboard and shorting out the electrics causing a fault in the ECU, which actually causes the main beam to come on.
Keith Gooden
Electronic control unit?
Matt Sims
Electronic control unit, yeah. So it shorts out a big connector inside the dashboard, and it makes the main beam come on. And in fact, we had reports from a hirer that it was two in the morning, and suddenly they were illuminating a whole field of sheep. And the poor sheep must have been scared witless.
Suddenly it was like daylight where the main beam had come on. And it stays on for several hours. We even witnessed this happen in our yard in the daytime, where suddenly the main beam would come on. We think it’s happening now.
We recreated the problem, put the heating on, created all the condensation on the windscreen, and witnessed it happen. And sure enough, of course, the battery… the ignition is off, it’s shorted out and the battery just goes flat.
So we thought, right, we need to get to the bottom of this. And so we liaised with a number of other companies around the country who are also having the same problem. And Jordan, who is our hire fleet ops manager, who looks after the hire fleet day to day, explained to me how he got to the root of this problem and found the ECU connector that shorts out and showed me how to fix it.
Keith Gooden
He fixed it?
Matt Sims
He fixed it. Jordan is a superstar. And he managed to take the whole dashboard out – most of the dashboard out – and I said, “Look, we want to film you and record you doing this because I’m sure there are thousands of people with this problem. And they will want to know how they can just go ahead and fix it.”
How to fix this issue on your Ford Transit
Jordan Miles
I’m going to start with a cup holder. If you gently push your palm in on with your left hand, pull the cup holder up, it pops out. Inside, there’s two T 25 torque screws. You just undo them. Pop them in the cup holder so you don’t lose them.
Next, this little lever, pull out and it pops out. Inside are three torque screws. Next – glovebox, open it up. With your left hand, pop it in where you’ve just taken the three torque screws out, and you’ll see on the back right of the glove box is a little rubber lever you push in towards the glove box.
And it will then pull down on the glove box and pop out. Inside you’ve got two screws at the bottom. Next, left hand in the cup holder, right hand in the bit where the three torque screws were.
Gently pull it and it comes off. At the very bottom here it gets a little bit stuck because it’s still clipped. So just be careful. Gently pull it and it comes off. Next, two screws at the top here. Now what you do is right hand in this pocket, left hand in the glove box at the back of the plastic and gently pull with your right hand and this pops off. Don’t be afraid – it will bend.
And then pull this off in the middle. And you do have a screw at the top right also in the middle as well. Pull this off and it comes out. Up here is a black block. I’ve already removed this. When you look up in it will be on the passenger wing. Pull it off, lift the grey lever up and back on itself and pull it apart.
Now you can see inside the plug and you will see a load of green corrosion. Clean it with electrical cleaner. Let it dry, plug it back in. Lift the grey lever back over and lock it in. When you’ve done that, I then lifted it up higher above the wiring loom.
So then when condensation happens from the windscreen that drips down the wing into this block, it now won’t happen. It will now drip down not along the wire into the block. It will drip down into the footwell so it protects the block from getting corroded again and making your headlights flash.
How can you prevent this flat battery issue with Ford Transits?
Keith Gooden
So that’s Jordan Miles, the hire fleet manager at Motorhome Holiday Company. It’s a great fix, Matt. What does this mean for the customer?
Matt Sims
Well, it means you can take responsibility for this problem and rectify it. If you’re away on holiday listening to this and you’ve had this problem or you are worried you’re going to have this problem and you haven’t got tools with you, you can start to avoid the problem.
The first thing I would suggest – and even once you’ve done this I would still suggest it – if you’ve got a Ford Transit based motorhome, so 2022 onwards, I would definitely be fitting external screen covers, thermal blinds, to the outside of the windscreen. They massively reduce the amount and almost eliminate the condensation forming.
Keith Gooden
Is that expensive?
Matt Sims
No, not at all. They’re under £100. You can spend lots on them. Depends who made them. But there are brands like Maypole and Quest that make lower budget universal ones or you can go to ProTech and get a cover made. There are lots of manufacturers out there.
Keith Gooden
And these go on the outside of the van?
Matt Sims
They go on the outside the van around the windscreen and help stop the condensation forming. My advice is also to get some towels and just place them along the bottom of the windscreen inside the van along the dashboard.
So if any condensation does form, the towel will soak it up and stop it running down into the dashboard. And if you do find you’ve got condensation, remove it straightaway. Leave a window open too.
If you’ve got the heating on, that makes the van hot inside and condensates on the windscreen with the outside, which is colder. That’s why we get condensation. So crack a roof light and let some air move around inside – that will help reduce it as well.
Keith Gooden
What about using a bit of bathroom sealant along the inside?
Matt Sims
No, you can’t be doing that. The ventilation is necessary. It would also look disgusting, and you’re not grouting my tiles ever again.
Keith Gooden
You put your finger along…
Matt Sims
It’s not happening. Don’t do that. Don’t do that!
Keith Gooden
So you’ve come up with a solution. There’s some good DIY tips there – they’re pretty cheap as well – in order to prevent this. And of course, you can watch it on YouTube as many times as you like in order to do the work yourself. But if you take it back to your dealer, will they do the work for you at all, Matt?
Matt Sims
They may do. I know people who have gone to Ford and that business, that individual dealership, has taken responsibility for it. And it’s a fairly simple thing to do. But it does take a bit of time.
There’s a little bit of brute force required. There is a risk you could break parts of the dashboard when you do it. So if you’re not sure, any mechanic will be able to do it. An auto electrician will be happy to do it as well.
They’re used to taking dashboards out all the time. So it’s about going to the dealership and saying, “I know what the problem is, it is about taking this ECU connector off the sidewall inside and placing it at a higher level so that the lowest point is the cable and if condensation forms, it drips down the cable and drips onto the footwell of the van.”
Keith Gooden
Good tip. And thanks to Jordan for coming up with that one. And of course, if the dealer does agree to do it or a mechanic, you can always point them in the direction of the YouTube video.
Matt Sims
Say, “I want you to do this for me.” And they will. It takes a couple of hours. So I’m sure any mechanic will do it for you. But I want to give a shout out as well to the other companies that we work with to come up with this solution – to Elite Motorhomes. They’ve been really, really helpful.
To River Motorhomes, who are a big Chausson dealer selling, hiring and servicing hundreds of these Chausson Ford Transit based vehicles and Luna Motorhome Hire as well who we spoke to recently about that motorhome that blew off a cliff in Scotland.
Pete and his team have also been busy trying to rectify this. It’s been a real collaboration sharing information between all these businesses. And it’s been great we’ve been able to get to the bottom of this. So there you are, now you know how to do it.
Audience Q&A
Keith Gooden
It’s the Motorhome Matt podcast. I’m Keith Gooden.
Matt Sims
And I’m Motorhome Matt.
Keith Gooden
And it’s brought to you with www.thatleisureshop.com. It’s our questions and answers section. Alan Rooney has been in touch.
Alan Rooney
Hi, Matt. Do you know if anyone has a problem with the Burstner Elegance 910/920 Mercedes engine and gearbox? They will not achieve top gear. Mine has been in the workshop for 16 weeks. They agree there is a problem with all of them. But as you know if they declare it is a fault, you’ve got to recall them all. Have you heard anything?
Keith Gooden
Thanks very much for that, Alan. It sounds to me like a gearbox issue and one really that’s happening to more than one motorhome. They really should be on top of it.
Matt Sims
Yeah, absolutely. What’s interesting, Alan, is this is a Mercedes issue, not a Burstner issue. So the Mercedes Sprinter that your Burstner motorhome is built on is where the problem lies. So it’s not unique to Burstner.
I actually rang a friend of mine, Wayne at Charleston Motorhomes this morning, and asked him the question. Now, they sell Burstner. They sell Adria, so they sell the Adria Supersonic, and a whole range of Cathargo motorhomes, all of which are on this Mercedes Sprinter chassis, and he has never ever come across this issue.
So you say that this is all of them. That has not been this particular dealer’s experience. And I asked Wayne for comment. He said, “I’m not aware of this.” He said, given the amount of money involved in buying one of these, if someone had bought one from him and gone away in it and had a problem, he would know about it.
So it might be that there’s a batch which are faulty, but I have not heard anything about this, Alan, I’m afraid. We’ll keep a close eye on it and see if I do. But I’m not aware of loads of people having this issue.
Keith Gooden
Yeah, and another thing is, Alan, as well is if you do have a gearbox problem, maybe something is floating around the inside stopping you from selecting the gear, it could just be the linkage into the gear. But do get it checked out. You don’t want to be driving around on this and not being able to get into your highest gear.
Matt Sims
Yeah, of course. These components these days are all electronic, so it’s all ones and noughts. So it’s a swap out for another one. So I hope Mercedes can get to the bottom of it for you quickly, Alan.
Keith Gooden
And let us know how you get on as well for other listeners and viewers of the podcast. Now, we’ve been talking a lot about Ripe recently and you’ve been sending us your feedback, the majority of which has been incredibly positive.
Lee Mogano sent us this. “We watched your YouTube channel yesterday and you mentioned Ripe insurance. I gave them a call today as our insurance runs out at the end of the month. We own a 2022 Swift Kon-tiki 764.”
“And on the other end of the phone they were very polite saying I’d get 25% off the quote using the Motorhome Matt code. Great news – when we started the quote, they asked the category of the tracker I had. I answered category S7, and there was a pause and then they said, ‘Sorry, but we need to category S5 as a minimum.’ That stopped us dead in our tracks.”
Matt Sims
“So we had to abandon the call. I rang Sargeant, the tracker supplier, straight afterwards and asked them. They confirmed with me that it indeed was an S7. He said nearly all trackers supplied by Sargeant are S7. So it looks like there are an awful lot of us who will be unable to use Ripe for their insurance. So it’s back to the drawing board.”
Keith Gooden
Now, Lee’s experience unfortunately wasn’t seamless as Matt’s, but we passed on his feedback the Ripe to ask for their comment and they said…
Matt Sims
“We currently require a category S5 tracker for only the most expensive vehicles that we cover. But following feedback from our customers, we’re in the process of reviewing our tracker requirements and plan to make updates soon so we can also accept category S7 trackers. Customers who have a category S5 tracker will still receive the biggest discounts we have available to reflect the higher level of security offered by these.”
Keith Gooden
They went on to say, “We’re always looking for ways to grow and improve our products and the overall customer experience so we find feedback like this essential.” Ripe went on to say they’re sorry that they experienced this issue on this occasion and apologised that his call didn’t go as planned. Ripe says they really appreciate feedback and hope that you will consider us the next time you’re buying insurance.
Matt Sims
I think that’s brilliant. I love it when a business engages with customers like this and then develops its offering based on the feedback they’ve received. It really gives me confidence in the brand. I think it’s great.
So Lee, Ripe are acting upon the feedback from you, their customer, and hope you will consider them again in the future. So if you need insurance and yours is due for renewal, click the link in the episode description to start your quote with Ripe and enjoy an automatic 25% discount off your premium. Or give them a call and say, “Motorhome Matt,” to get your 25% discount over the phone.
Keith Gooden
Thanks, Lee, for that question. Now, Carol’s in Tynygongl. “Hi,” she says. “Just been listening to your podcast on weights on motorhomes. We bought ours from a well known dealer back in 2013.
The registration document has a weight of 3,500 kilogrammes. Several years ago while cleaning under the bonnet, we noticed another oval plate with 3,850 kilogrammes. It has never been amended at the DVLA. My husband has fortunately got his C1 entitlement. What should we do? There was no paperwork with the motorhome regarding this.” There you go, Matt.
Matt Sims
No panic, though. Check the V5 – what does the V5 say? If it says 3,500, that’s what it’s been registered as. Often there are two plates on the slam panel. This is under the front of the bonnet when you lift it. The original chassis manufacturer, so Fiat, for example, will have the original plate that the van itself was built to be.
And then the motorhome converter, for example Adria, will add their plate and often they make it 3,500 so they can sell it to anybody with a regular car licence. It does of course decrease the payload, but it has become a 3,500 motorhome gross weight.
And then check the V5 and see what that says. If the V5 says 3,850, then yes, you have been overpaying your road tax, but it’s the V5 that the DVLA care about. So I think you’re going to find it says 3,500 on there.
Ask Matt
Keith Gooden
There you go, Carol – hope that helps you. So, Matt, if somebody wants to ask a question, what should they do?
Matt Sims
We’d love it if you did. Just head to mhmp.info/askmatt, hit the orange button and record your question. Or fill out the form and we’ll read it out for you.
Keith Gooden
And do say where you’re from, even if it is Tynygongl. And you can subscribe as well, can’t you, Matt?
Matt Sims
We would love if you did that! If you’re watching on YouTube, please hit the subscribe button and click the little bell and then YouTube will tell you when a new episode is released. And our YouTube is brought to buy the lovely guys at www.arobasecreative.co.uk.
Keith Gooden
And I only think it would be fair to share.
Matt Sims
We would love it if you did. If you have a friend who you think would find this podcast useful or even entertaining, please send them a link to it. The more the merrier.
