[00:00:00] Keith Gooden: In today’s episode of the Motorhome Matt podcast…
[00:00:02] Matt Sims: We’ve talked a lot here about UK motorhome industry challenges, but what’s happening on the world stage?
[00:00:08] Keith Gooden: In the news. We’re off to Manchester this week for the Caravan, Motorhome and Holiday Show 2026.
[00:00:14] Matt Sims: And we answer your questions on fitting a lithium setup, the build quality of motorhomes and how to keep your water and waste tanks from freezing.
[00:00:31] Keith Gooden: Welcome to the Motorhome Matt podcast. I’m Keith Gooden.
[00:00:34] Matt Sims: And I’m Motorhome Matt.
[00:00:36] Keith Gooden: Industry insights and expert advice for the world of motorhomes, caravans and campervans. It’s brought to you by www.thatleisureshop.com and sponsored by Ripe.
[00:00:45] Matt Sims: Now remember, please follow on your favourite podcast app, or if you’re watching on YouTube, click subscribe and that little bell.
[00:00:53] Keith Gooden: This week, the caravan, motorhome and holiday show is in Manchester from the 15th to the 18th of January. What’s that, Thursday through Sunday – Manchester Central. Tell us about it.
[00:01:05] Matt Sims: It’s a fantastic first event of the year for us. It’s only a small event and targeted really at local people, I suppose, but it gives a great insight into what might be coming for the year ahead. New product launches. There are vehicles there for sale. Campervans, motorhomes, trailer tents, tents. There’s lots of canvas there, as we call it, plus loads of accessories. So it’s a great show. An easy one to visit in a day, and it’s co-located with the destination show, so you can actually go and explore tourist boards from all around the world. If you don’t know, you think, why am I suddenly in Jamaica? It’s because the Jamaica Tourist Board are there! Whether they’re there this year or not, I’m not sure, but it’s a great show. It’s a great day out. Very, very low cost to get into. In fact, we have a deal for you on the tickets.
[00:01:47] Keith Gooden: So it’s the place to go, then, if you want to feel tense. And you’re giving some talks, won’t you, Matt?
[00:01:54] Matt Sims: I am, yeah. I’m giving a talk on preparing to travel into Europe and all the impacts and changes that are going to come for us British tourists as we travel from the UK into Europe. I’m giving that talk on Friday at 11:45 a.m at the Meet the Experts Theatre and then again on Sunday at 12:45 p.m. on the Food and Travel stage. And then on Saturday, I’m giving a talk on bringing your motorhome into action, ready for the season ahead. Everything you need to know about getting your motorhome ready. So if you’re there Friday, we’re talking about the EU. Saturday, we’re talking about getting your motorhome ready. And on Sunday, again we’re talking about changes to EU travel, whether you’re in a motorhome or even if you’re flying – there are things you need to know.
[00:02:35] Keith Gooden: Fantastic. And they’re all 11:45, 12:45ish.
[00:02:39] Matt Sims: They’re all on the website as well. So get there for 11. You’ll make it.
[00:02:42] Keith Gooden: Yeah. Fantastic. Now, you can save on tickets as well, can’t you?
[00:02:46] Matt Sims: Yeah, we have an offer. Free tickets to the show – mhmp.info/cmhshow.
[00:02:53] Keith Gooden: Our product of the week, Spend and Save. It’s still occurring. How do you save, then?
[00:03:04] Matt Sims: So on www.thatleisureshop.com, there’s a fantastic sale still on this month. Spend and Save! So the more you spend, the more you save. Simple as that. You can buy what you actually need – so not just stuff that’s pointless! The spend and save offer is valid across all of our products. And we have added a lot of products over the end of last year onto the website. So go and check out www.thatleisureshop.com and spend and save!
[00:03:29] Keith Gooden: So if you spend £50, you save £5. You use the code SAVE5. If you spend £145, you save £15 and you put the code SAVE15.And finally, if you spend £240, you can save £30. But use the code SAVE30 – it’s all at www.thatleisureshop.com. Now, into the real meat of the podcast for this week. Or as they say in the United States, meat. That’s my American accent.
[00:04:10] Matt Sims: What do they say in the United States?
[00:04:12] Keith Gooden: Meat. Do you like it? Or as the roadrunner says, meat-meat. Matt has been studying the global market and the challenges consumers face worldwide. Why have you been doing this?
[00:04:25] Matt Sims: Matt, it’s something that intrigues me because I’m a nerd. That’s probably the best way to put it. We’ve talked a lot about service levels here in the UK. We are a UK podcast. Slow parts supply – people waiting months for spare parts. Warranty claim issues with manufacturer warranties and third-party warranty providers often driven by poor build quality. Sadly, these things are all a reality of owning a motorhome or campervan. And of course, there are some heroes in our market.
[00:04:56] Keith Gooden: Absolutely, 100%. Most people are heroes, aren’t they? You know, it’s the old rule of PR, isn’t it? If something bad happens, 120 people will find out about it. Something good happens, five people find out.
[00:05:06] Matt Sims: There you go. Yeah, but it’s often said that what’s happening in the USA now is what will be happening five years into the future here. And the USA faced some major issues with after-sales service, and I wanted to find out exactly what was happening over there to see if I could discern what might be happening here in the future.
[00:05:29] Keith Gooden: So who are you going to talk to, then?
[00:05:30] Matt Sims: So there’s a wonderful YouTube channel called Liz Amazing, run by Liz.
[00:05:34] Keith Gooden: What’s her name?
[00:05:35] Matt Sims: Liz. Her YouTube is Liz Amazing.
[00:05:37] Keith Gooden: Liz Amazing.
[00:05:39] Matt Sims: Yeah. I don’t think Amazing is her last name. Might be! I don’t actually know. Anyway, she has a huge following and she is a consumer champion. She’s built quite a massive following and a huge respect and fear, probably, from manufacturers, because she is working on behalf of consumers to try and get some of their challenges remedied. But I wanted to get her to explain what she’s all about, and I started by asking her to tell us a bit about herself.
[00:06:08] Liz Amazing: I’m coming to you from Arizona and I’m grateful to be here. Thank you so much.
[00:06:14] Matt Sims: But what’s interesting is that I can see what we call a patio door – a sliding door.
[00:06:18] Liz Amazing: Yeah. So this is an unusual RV. This is not one that you’re going to take with you and travel from campground to campground. This is what’s called a destination RV, and it’s something that you typically would have delivered to you if you have a lot with a beautiful view, say on a lake, you would just take it there and park it. And the reason why you wouldn’t want to travel with it is it’s 40ft long, it’s very long, and the hitch end is not rounded, it’s not aerodynamic. The hitch and the front end of it is straight up and down. It’s all windows, and it’s lovely for a destination, but not something you would weekend with, for sure.
[00:06:55] Matt Sims: Is it towed when it’s delivered to the destination?
[00:06:59] Liz Amazing: Yes.
[00:06:59] Matt Sims: Wow. But you wouldn’t want to do that yourself.
[00:07:01] Liz Amazing: No, no, I paid a transporter to tow it to the campground, and here it sits.
[00:07:05] Matt Sims: Now, Liz, for the sake of our listeners who may not be familiar with you and what it is you do, just tell us a little bit about your YouTube channel and your mission as Liz Amazing.
[00:07:18] Liz Amazing: I’m an RV consumer advocate. I help RV owners who are stuck with a defective new RV. I help them by getting repairs done at the factory, cash compensation, or even their money back. In fact, through the power of my channel, I have helped refund over $2 million. And it’s really the power of social media. I think that’s the only power we have these days, pushing back on these big companies and saying, you know, this is not right. This is a defective RV and you need to do something about it.
[00:07:56] Matt Sims: And why is it, though, that consumers in your market need you? Why can’t they achieve this end themselves?
[00:08:04] Liz Amazing: Because these big companies made a shift. Many of these companies are trading on their legacy. They’ve been in business, you know, 50, 60, 70 years. And somewhere around 2018, this is the year before Covid, they decided that they were going to go for profits instead of people. Let’s do glue and staples instead of nails and screws. Let’s cheapen it down and serve our stockholders, not the customers. So because they have done that, they are no longer consumer focussed, they’re profit focussed. And so if you were here in America and you bought a brand-new RV, let’s say you spent $150,000 on it. Brand new from the factory. You take it on your first trip and it rains. The water is pouring out of, let’s say, all the vents and the air conditioning. The company most likely will say sorry, you know, you’re stuck with it. And you know the warranty. They’ll try and patch it, but actually making it right, saying, well, you know, the whole thing’s wet inside. We’re now talking rotting wood and mould and electrical problems – instead of actually making it right, they’ll just patch it until your one-year warranty runs out and then you’re really stuck.
[00:09:25] Matt Sims: So why are consumers putting up with this? Surely there must be an opportunity for a manufacturer to do the right thing and be the good guy. And then American buyers just vote with their chequebooks and go and buy from them. Why? Why are they letting manufacturers get away with this?
[00:09:43] Liz Amazing: Well, it’s multi-pronged. First of all, your typical RVer does not do research. It’s sort of the American way. Husband and wife nudge each other on the couch. Let’s buy an RV. It’ll be so fun. We can camp. And it’s often bought on a whim without research. That’s number one. Two, the word is only just now getting out. I think the number on goal of my channel is to educate people to really do your research, to take your time. The RV shows that we have here are like a circus. They’re designed to have you buy on a whim. You’ll go here, you’ll go there. It’ll be so great, and we have a show sale. So you’ve got to buy today. They capitalise on that. And I don’t know if it’s just an American thing, but buying an RV on a whim does seem to be an American thing. I ran into people in the campground, you know. How are you doing? Oh, great. We’re going to go to the show and buy an RV. I mean, I just ran into them a couple weeks ago, and I said, well, have you done your research? Do you know what you’re going to do? They don’t want to hear that. They just want to go and have fun and buy the dream. The other problem is that the RV industry is dominated by three big companies. I call them the big three, and that’s Winnebago, Forest River and Thor. And they control over 200 brands like Jayco, Airstream, Grand Design, Newmar. And where are you going to buy an RV? If you live in the US, you’re going to go to Camping World. And if you go to Camping World, they’re only going to be selling from the big three. And the big three are the ones that have really cheapened everything out.
[00:11:25] Matt Sims: Gosh. And do people not read reviews, then?
[00:11:27] Liz Amazing: Well, I’m trying to get them to, but like I said, it’s a spontaneous thing. I’ve interviewed plenty of people on my channel. Well, we didn’t really intend to buy an RV. We were just looking. And then we were offered a deal. Too good to be true. The other thing they do is the RV industry marks up the RV super high. So when the salesman says, look, it’s $210,000, but today I’ll give it to you for $160,000. This is a special deal. You know, they can’t resist that. They don’t realise that the MSRP, which is the manufactured suggested retail price, is false. It’s just a fake number. So they can come in and tell you what a good deal you’re getting. Another problem with the RV industry is that these salesmen are on 100% commission, so they’re not there for your best interest. They’re trying to put food on their table, so they may lie. They may tell you what you want to hear. It’s sort of like swimming with crocodiles out there.
[00:12:33] Matt Sims: So it really is a hard sell. Our market here in the UK can be a hard sell. Some dealerships do put the pressure on, but it’s not the British way. I guess there’s a different etiquette here and a different culture over here. And we do go and buy on a whim. Certainly during the pandemic we did. Everyone just went out and bought a motorhome. It went mad, as I’m sure it did on your side of the pond. But do you not have an ombudsman then, or a trades body that kind of does what you do? I mean, I guess not because you’re doing it!
[00:13:08] Liz Amazing: Well, there’s so much corruption. And I want to interject here that I was raised British on American soil. My family’s British going back all the way. Centuries and centuries. We can trace our ourselves back to the Crusades. So I get there is a big difference. I’ve been over to England and I love your country. I’m a Brit inside, so I totally get there’s a difference. And what they do here in the US is very much corporate-influenced. So if you have a big corporation, you pay off the people making the laws. Well, “pay off”. I don’t want to get sued! But you know, in Indiana, which is where 85% or 90% of RVs are built in the US, the companies have used their influence to change the laws. For example, in 2004, they managed to convince Indiana to say that these RVs can be built without using a licensed plumber or a licensed electrician. And that came out in 2004. Money talks in the US. It is very different. Money talks, and business talks. The laws are in favour of these big businesses, not in favour of the small consumer.
[00:14:31] Matt Sims: And I guess that’s the same with your employment law as well, isn’t it? I mean, half my family are in America. They’re laid off in an instant with no compensation, no warning, and you just sent home – no job. That’s it. Tough.
[00:14:45] Liz Amazing: That’s it, that’s it. So, you know, there’s good and bad with both countries. Absolutely, but that’s I think the biggest thing – money talks here. Businesses have a lot of influence. So we do have what’s called RV lemon laws. They vary by state. They’re very weak, in general. You have to work really hard. You probably know that lawyers have a lot of influence here. You know, this is a very sue-happy country. So lawyers are also a big part of this. You can get your money back if you hire a lawyer. So there’s a whole industry of RV lemon lawyers. And of course, if you study any of this, you realise that the only people getting rich are lawyers. So, I mean, there are so many things wrong with the industry in all different areas. And I think, you know, first of all, getting those salesmen off a commission is going to be a big thing to change, because then you’re getting someone who cares about you when you’re shopping. Now it’s every man or woman for themselves when they shop.
[00:15:48] Matt Sims: And how do you drive this change then? I mean, you’re campaigning for it by exposing some of the challenges that you’re facing. That’s your plumber going in and out, I understand!
[00:15:59] Liz Amazing: Yes.
[00:16:00] Matt Sims: Fixing your RV toilet?
[00:16:03] Liz Amazing: Exactly. Life goes on! RV life… there’s always something. Always something.
[00:16:09] Matt Sims: So if you’re listening, that was the door opening and closing. There it goes again. He’s a busy guy. How do you effect change, Liz? I mean, where do you start?
[00:16:19] Liz Amazing: I don’t know. I thought about starting an RV consumer group. We have other groups that are just for consumers. You know, the American Association of Retired People, the AARP. There are different consumer groups where you can band together and then lobby for laws and protection. I tried to do that. There’s only one of me. I thought someone in my audience would pick this up. I tried this a couple of years ago and just couldn’t get any traction on it. The people who buy RVs here in the US are typically middle-income people. People who maybe have worked as truck drivers or worked in a factory, you know, blue collar. Not all. You know, there’s a lot of white collar too. But typically, you know, they’ve worked really hard. They’ve saved really hard. And then they bought an RV. They don’t have the energy to suddenly start a consumer group or to advocate for it. They’re mostly on the retired end. Now there is a whole other group of RVers that are young families. They particularly came out during Covid, but then again, they’re too busy to help with that. All I can do is be this force of good on my channel to help educate people. I know I’ve made a huge difference. I do know that. Every time I interview someone and they tell me their RV nightmare before I put it into video, I contact the presidents of the companies, you know, the whole executive team. And I say, you know, would you like to help these people before the video comes out? Because then I can include that in the video and you at least look like you’re responsive and that now you’re doing something. And a lot of times they will respond and they’ll say something to save face. Or for some reason, they say, we never received the email or we didn’t know, or there was a new person, you know, and they’ll take care of them. And so I know that the top people in the RV industry watch my channel. They respond to my emails, so they’re aware too. And I’m hoping that they will realise they need to change, because the more this word gets out, the more people are going to say, no, we don’t want that. We don’t want to be on vacation with a broken toilet or, you know, something really serious, with the wheels falling off. And I think it just takes one company doing it right. And then there’ll be a line out the door because there’s a hunger for that. There’s a hunger for people to be treated right.
[00:18:52] Matt Sims: It’s interesting, I think that what you’re saying then is the change is going to be made by manufacturers, one of them making a change rather than consumers driving that change. You are going to rely on one of those – the big three – making that determined change to do better and make a better end product.
[00:19:12] Liz Amazing: I hope so. I mean, I’m holding their feet to the fire because you would not believe it. Like when I do a video, let’s say on Tiffin. Tiffin is under Thor now, but Tiffin used to be its own independent brand of very high-end motorhomes. You can buy one of their top-of-the-line motorhomes today for $1.7 million. Over £1 million. And I’ve had three cases. I’ve got the third one coming up where they forgot to weld the entire side of the bus. So the wall started to accordion out as they were driving because it’s not attached, and also where they couldn’t even get the hot and cold water plumbed correctly, it was crossed. So every time I do a Tiffin video, people in my audience are up in arms because Tiffin has been such a wonderful name. And they say, well, I’m not going to buy a Tiffin now. I was shopping for a Tiff and I’m cancelling my order, so Tiffin has got to feel that heat. So on a video like that, I may get 600,000 views. That’s a lot of people who are getting an education about Tiffin. So it’s in their best interest to respond to this and say, we’ve got to make changes or we won’t stay in business.
[00:20:28] Matt Sims: It’s no wonder that you don’t reveal the exterior appearance of your RV.
[00:20:32] Liz Amazing: So we’ve talked about this so much. Now next time you see me, I’ll probably be in a different RV because we’ve talked about this one so much. Somebody out there Googling going, what is she in? You know, and I’m not really worried about the top, top people at the manufacturers. Maybe I should. I mean, I want to sleep good at night. I worry more about the salesman who sees that the RV sales are down and he blames it on my channel. And, well, I’m going to go slash your tyres or whatever, you know? I know that I’m creating an effect. I don’t mean to piss anyone off. I don’t mean to put anyone out of business. I just want them to do it right. If I spend $200,000, I want to know that I’m going to be taken care of if they make a mistake at the factory.
[00:21:19] Matt Sims: We have a sense here in the UK, Liz, that manufacturers… manufacturers will deny this, but there’s a sense that manufacturers don’t want to speak directly to a consumer. They want to place the dealer firmly in between them and the consumer. But it’s interesting you say you managed to get the top brass at these big companies to actually engage with you. Do they respond positively? Are they open to your communication? Is it a case of, oh no, another email from Liz Amazing. I’m going to very carefully open it and see what she’s moaning about now, are they actually responding to you?
[00:21:55] Liz Amazing: Yes. So I don’t know what they’re saying in private about me. I either get the boilerplate, thank you so much for letting us know. We will handle this privately with the customer, which is fine. I don’t need to be part of it. I’m in contact with the customer. They can tell me what they say. I want to call out Winnebago. The last couple of times I’ve reached them, they were very open and like, oh, we want to make this right. We want to serve them and help them out. It just depends, I guess, on what mood they’re in. And then sometimes, like Forest River, they’ll just ignore me, but then they’ll call the customer. So I know that I’m doing something. A lot of this response is because of the fact that we are so legally entrenched here in the US. They’re afraid to admit wrong because it opens them up to a lawsuit. So it’s a very different culture here. They’re very careful in how they speak. They cannot admit. So the American way, if you’re a customer, is you don’t want to admit wrongdoing. If you admit wrong, if you even say, I’m sorry, you know, then you’re opening yourself up for a lawsuit.
[00:23:07] Matt Sims: Interesting. That is not our culture here. Although there is an element of that lawsuit lawyer culture creeping into Britain, without a doubt. And I often joke that what happens here happened five years ago in the United States. And we’re running five years behind you now. And on that point, you mentioned two names that we will be very familiar with here. Winnebago – we typically call big American motorhomes Winnebagos. Whether it’s a Tiffin or a Fleetwood, it doesn’t matter. It’s Winnebago. So we’re very familiar with that name. And the name Thor we’re very familiar with here because they’ve been busy buying up European manufacturers, which are prolific here in the UK. They’re now part of Thor. Should we be concerned, then, that this trend that’s happening, you say, for just profit and it’s all about the P and L? Do you think that’s something that we should be very aware of here in the UK?
[00:24:10] Liz Amazing: Absolutely. Using Tiffin as a guide, Tiffin was bought in December 2020 by Thor. And the people in my audience, they’ll tell you, oh my gosh, we have a Tiffin and we love it. But it was purchased before the acquisition. So what they’ll do now, they may let the company they’ve just purchased glide for the next year or two, but there are going to be some changes and the changes will not be higher quality at all. They will be cost-cutting – any way that they can use glue and staples and cheapen the build. This is a Forest River. This is a 2017. It has hidden air conditioning. So instead of seeing the great big air conditioner in your roof – you’re used to seeing a big square, right – it’s ducted. It’s so quiet. And part of the reason why I bought this is that I can stand here and record a video with my air conditioning on, and I’m in the desert in Arizona. So this is kind of important. Well, they decided just a couple of years later in 2019 to get rid of that and have the big hole again. So it’s noisy. They’ve gone through every area. I have solid wood cabinets. The new ones are not. And it’s just that laminate crap. So they’ve gone through everything. And this is Forest River, so, you know, not Thor-owned, but this is what they do. They go through everything. How can we cheapen it? And you look at it, and it looks fine. You walk into a Forest River. It’s all white, but you’re not looking at wood. You’re looking at laminate that’s going to peel. If it gets wet, it’s going to actually bulge and fall apart. So it’s not going to last as long.
[00:25:53] Matt Sims: Thank you for the heads up. I’ll be looking closely at the next show I go to, just seeing if the build quality is going downhill. And perhaps we’ll talk to some of these manufacturers and see what pressures they’re under from their owners to cut and make more money.
[00:26:11] Liz Amazing: You know, it’s all about that. Now, the underneath of my RV, the underbelly, mine is a hard shell. It’s like an actual piece that you have to remove. If you need to do any work on it, you remove this big shell, you know. It comes in pieces, 3 or 4 pieces, and you put it back and screw it up so it’s tight. That’s really important to keep animals out, rodents out. It’s also good for sound and insulation. They have gone to rolled stuff now or plastics or something. And it’s a rolled thin plastic membrane. And so when you go out to an RV show in the UK, look under these brand new RVs. Is it that cheap plastic, door plastic? Because that’s not going to last the way that any repair is done. They typically take a knife and just cut into it and tape it up. If they unroll it, they’ll never get it back right. It can sag, it can fall off. So I mean, that’s just another example of how they’ve cheapened something that worked well, that was hard. It was very protective. They’ve cheapened it down.
[00:27:19] Matt Sims: We often do have a plastic floor. Now, it wasn’t that long ago that there was still wood in our floors, and some manufacturers are still using wood in the construction rather than a man-made plastic or poly product which obviously doesn’t attract water. You mentioned water ingress. We have huge issues in the UK with motorhomes suffering with damp. Hopefully in the future less so, as build techniques have changed. But do you have issues with water ingress and damp, and what other issues do you face or do your viewers face?
[00:27:57] Liz Amazing: Well, water is the enemy in RV life. Water intrusion is going to lead to four big things: mould, wood rot, electrical issues and rust. So because these are built the way they’re built, they aren’t really built to be serviced. You know, they’re built in a factory and they use a lot of pressed fibreboard. Fancy cardboard. It’s not meant to be wet. And if it does get wet, it just can’t be fixed. It’s very, very difficult to fix it. If one of the people that I interview suffers from water intrusion, if it’s not a buyback case, at the very least it has to go back to the factory. The dealer is not equipped to do that kind of repair. That’s so intrusive. It’s so invasive.
[00:28:51] Matt Sims: I was watching one of your episodes recently where RVs – I can’t remember which manufacturer it was – were being produced without a VIN number. This is the chassis number. It was actually missing from the chassis. So they had a registration number or number plate as we call it here, but they had no chassis number. How did they… what happened there?!
[00:29:14] Liz Amazing: I don’t know. And this is just a wonderful example of how… Newmar’s a wonderful company, really great reputation. But they were just mum over this because they were afraid to speak to this case, because the word on the street was that this is affecting hundreds of thousands of RVs that are not VINed correctly. So you want to have the VIN etched on the frame so that, should your RV get stolen, it can be tracked down. If it’s missing a VIN, as the owner of the RV said on my channel, someone could come to his yard right now and steal it and no one would ever find it. So it’s a very, very serious situation. And Newmar, instead of rushing to make it right… this customer spent over $1 million on his fancy Newmar motorhome, and Newmar just shut up. Wouldn’t talk to him. He had to hire lawyers in the US. He’s in Canada, so he has other lawyers in Canada, and it’s winding its way through the legal process. And I think, you know, that’s a really frustrating thing about my job. I wish these companies could just own up and say, oh my gosh, I am so sorry we screwed up. We’re going to make it right in this case. You know, they’re so worried about the lawyers, they don’t do that.
[00:30:35] Matt Sims: It would seem we’ve got it pretty good over here. We don’t suffer these kinds of major issues. And that litigation culture that you have in the States, which I know you’re almost proud of, aren’t you – I mean, it’s become endemic to your culture.
[00:30:51] Liz Amazing: I’m not proud of it. It’s really a shame. I don’t know how to unring the bell. I mean, it’s such a huge, huge industry, the legal industry. And it’s also a mindset, you know, where if you walk into an establishment and someone just mopped the floor and they forgot to put the cone up to warn you that the floor is mopped and you fall… if you’re an American, you’re going to say, I’ll sue you. I was raised British on American soil, so it’s not in me, you know. It’s more in me to give somebody some grace. Hey. I’m sorry. You’re going to give me a free meal because I bruised my shoulder. Thank you. It is unfortunately baked into the American way to sue. I don’t know how you fix that.
[00:31:34] Matt Sims: We saw this recently. We promised not to do a Trump in the edit of this clip. And of course, our own BBC were threatened by your president. Well, it is being sued. Yeah, I guess it’s from the top down, isn’t it? And it’s just cultural, and it really doesn’t help, does it? It’s not helpful. Quite how you undo this and turn the dial so that manufacturers want to do the right thing by the consumer is a real challenge. And I would encourage you, please don’t give up. Keep doing what you’re doing. You obviously are making a massive difference for people who are spending, as you say, millions of dollars on these RVs to live their dream, and it’s being absolutely ruined by poor craftsmanship.
[00:32:22] Liz Amazing: I counsel everyone, whether you’re in the UK or here, to take your time, do your research, and hear what’s coming out. New is often so defective that we have professional RV inspectors, and I’ve been recommending for the last three years for buyers to get an RV inspector, even when buying brand new.
[00:32:45] Matt Sims: I know we have independent inspectors here, but the idea of having a brand new one inspected sometimes would be good advice here as well. It’s such a shame, isn’t it, that this wonderful pastime that we both love, thousands of miles apart, is dashed by poor build quality? It’s prolific, and as I say, I think we should be grateful we don’t have it quite as bad as you do, and I hope that we don’t, in years to come, suffer.
[00:33:14] Liz Amazing: I hope not. And one way to avoid that is to avoid these big corporations. Go to a company that’s a small independent builder because they’re run by people who care. They’re not serving the stockbrokers or stockholders. You’re going to get that personalised attention. Now, the downside of ordering from someone who is an independent maker is that, yes, you have to order. It’s typically not sitting on the lot. And there might be a wait, but it’ll be worth the wait if they stand by their product so you’re not stranded somewhere having a ruined vacation.
[00:33:49] Matt Sims: Yeah, that’s very true. And we have some fantastic, it’s fair to say, big corporate manufacturers here in the UK and in Europe, and some fantastic small independents too. So it’s all about research, isn’t it? And it’s for the consumer to understand who and what they’re buying. It’s so important.
[00:34:06] Liz Amazing: Absolutely.
[00:34:07] Matt Sims: Liz, thanks ever so much. It’s great to see you. Thanks for giving up some time whilst your toilet’s being fixed to speak to me. And I’d love to catch up again and talk with you about how people use their RVs in the US. Because we’re seeing big changes here as van life becomes ever more popular, and I’m intrigued to get a bit more of an insight into how American folk are using RVs. So can we do that?
[00:34:34] Liz Amazing: Sure, that’d be great.
[00:34:35] Keith Gooden: Well, that’s Liz Amazing. Wow, Matt, it seems we don’t have it too bad here in the UK.
[00:34:41] Matt Sims: It seems that would be the case when you hear how bad it is for some in the USA. Yeah. Can you imagine spending half a million on an RV and the sidewall fell off?
[00:34:53] Keith Gooden: That’s not good, is it, really?
[00:34:54] Matt Sims: It’s terrible. We’ve talked about people having troubles with habitation doors when we met. You know, it came up in a recent week. But the whole side coming out, I mean… some of the build quality faced over there. What concerns me is some of those big three, as Liz calls them now, own lots of manufacturers in Europe and undoubtedly will start buying up businesses in the UK. And Liz’s concern is their cost-cutting is resulting in poor build quality. And if that transpires over here, we’re in trouble.
[00:35:31] Keith Gooden: Is it poor build quality or is it just quality control issues where the bad stuff is getting through, whereas you’d always get a bit of bad stuff?
[00:35:39] Matt Sims: I think that’s a very good question. I think there is a theme, though, of lower build quality in order to maximise profits. And these businesses are, I guess, being run by accountants, and that is a problem if that happens here. So I think there’s merit in what Liz is doing to try and fight that and try and get the build quality up. And I think it’s really important that we here in the UK and across Europe are doing the same. And I will continue to campaign for better build quality and better after-sales service, because there is so much that we as an industry can change and improve on. And thank goodness we don’t have the litigation culture that the US has, because that is not helpful over there.
[00:36:23] Keith Gooden: It slows everything down, doesn’t it?
[00:36:24] Matt Sims: Absolutely. And it just creates fear of pursuing a claim or a complaint. And we’re very good and very polite about complaining here. And often we take it on the chin, but I think we should stand up for better standards and continue to do so.
[00:36:37] Keith Gooden: Yeah, and there’s a place for legal action, but it’s the end of a process rather than the beginning, isn’t it? You don’t say, if you don’t sort it out in three weeks, I’m going to sue you. You give them the chance. You be as patient as you can be. But in the end, in this country, you can always resort to legal action.
[00:36:54] Matt Sims: Of course you can.
[00:36:54] Keith Gooden: But in America, it just seems like…
[00:36:56] Matt Sims: It just starts with, I’m suing you.
[00:36:58] Keith Gooden: First base on the baseball field, isn’t it?
[00:37:00] Matt Sims: As we mentioned, it starts at the top. You know, Trump was very quick to jump on the BBC, wasn’t he? He responded with, I’m suing you. So that’s their culture and it’s top down. So we don’t need that here. And I don’t think we’re going to end up with it here. But I think we should be standing up for better after-sales service and better build quality, better performance from manufacturers, from dealers and from those that look after the consumer.
[00:37:26] Keith Gooden: Now, Matt, you’ve mentioned this NordVPN thing a few times. What’s the deal with it? Why do you have to have it in a motorhome?
[00:37:34] Matt Sims: Well, imagine this. I’m parked up on a site in Italy with a beautiful view, slow public Wi-Fi, and I’m trying to sort a booking, and I suddenly think anyone could be snooping on this connection. And that’s where NordVPN comes in. I use it every time I’m online in the van.
[00:37:52] Keith Gooden: Right. But for us non-techie types, what is a VPN actually doing?
[00:37:58] Matt Sims: Okay, so it’s like a secure tunnel for your internet traffic. So whether you’re on a sketchy campsite network or a coffee shop hotspot, it keeps your data encrypted. No one can see what you’re doing, not even the Wi-Fi provider.
[00:38:12] Keith Gooden: It sounds like the sort of thing you don’t realise you need until it’s too late.
[00:38:17] Matt Sims: Exactly, yeah. And NordVPN also lets you access UK websites when you’re abroad, so I can still watch normal TV and get into my accounts like I’m back at home.
[00:38:28] Keith Gooden: And how about setting one up?
[00:38:30] Matt Sims: Tap on the app. Easy. That’s it. It runs in the background. You don’t even notice it.
[00:38:34] Keith Gooden: Sounds great. So where do people find it?
[00:38:37] Matt Sims: Just go to www.nordvpn.com/motorhomematt. You get four extra months free on the two-year plan, and there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee.
[00:38:49] Keith Gooden: The link is in the episode description.
[00:38:51] Matt Sims: It is. Just don’t wait until your data has been pinched. Just go and get it sorted.
[00:38:57] Keith Gooden: It’s the Motorhome Matt podcast. I’m Keith Gooden.
[00:38:59] Matt Sims: And I’m Motorhome Matt.
[00:39:00] Keith Gooden: It’s brought to you by www.thatleisureshop.com and sponsored by Ripe.
[00:39:04] Matt Sims: Now remember, you can save 15% off your premium. Just use the link in this episode description.
[00:39:11] Keith Gooden: Now it’s time for the Q&A. The questions and answers. I say it every week, but I’ll repeat it for good measure. You ask the questions and Matt, the expert, will give you the answer. But if he doesn’t know, he will ask somebody who jolly well does. First of all, Leo Curran got in touch.
[00:39:28] Leo Curran: Hello Matt, wishing you every best for the 2026 year and your recovery from surgery. Simple question. Where can we go to get an independent, objective view on the valuation of our lovely Bürstner 585 vehicle? Love it to bits. Thinking of going a little bit bigger because we want to do some major touring now that we’re retired. Love your independent advice. Love your views and your critique of the industry. Agree with so much of what you say, and we’ve bought a tonne of stuff from your shop as well. So listen, take care and hope the family are well.
[00:40:09] Keith Gooden: Cheers, Leo. Much appreciated. He likes the cut of your jib.
[00:40:14] Matt Sims: Never mind my jib. Thanks, Leo. I really appreciate the kind words of support. Very kind of you. And a happy New Year to you too. I’d be really happy to help if you drop me an email – matt@motorhomematt.co.uk. I would be happy to put a value on your motorhome and discuss it with you. I would need the make, model, and what service history it has. These are the types of questions that are really important. Any extras on it? Has it got tow bars, Airide? Has it got extra solar? And your honest appraisal of the condition. They’re always ten out of ten, Keith. Everyone says that. But honestly, is it?
[00:40:47] Keith Gooden: Apart from the scratch here.
[00:40:48] Matt Sims: And there…
[00:40:49] Keith Gooden: Oh, I didn’t notice that. I was going to get that done.
[00:40:51] Matt Sims: And the dog wee stain on the carpet. So, yeah, just be honest. And also why you’re selling it. That’s a really key thing as well. It might be you’re just changing it for a different model. And some pics of inside and out – maybe 4 or 5 of inside and outside. These things all help, and I can give you a value, or I can go and check. You could speak to a main dealer. How motivated they would be to buy it from you would depend on how much stock they’ve got, and also what interest they might have in that model from people who are interested in that particular layout. I would also give you a figure, which is a trade-in figure. So if you sold it to a dealer, so someone like We Buy Any Motorcaravan, they would give you a trade price. There are two margins for them. They’ve got their margin and they’re going to sell it to a dealer. So the dealer wants their margin. But that could be a quick route to cash. If that’s your motivation or if you’re happy to wait, I’d be happy to look at brokering it if it’s a good fit for us and we take a commission from that.
[00:41:46] Keith Gooden: So brokering is where you put it on your lot, you use your contacts, it gets sold, people visit you, but you take a percentage from this?
[00:41:54] Matt Sims: Yes, but it remains the owner’s vehicle until it’s sold. We take a deposit. The key thing that we do with brokerage is we agree how much we’re returning to the seller when it’s sold. And there might be a discussion about that if we have a lowball offer. But again, it depends on your motivation, Leo, as to why you’re selling it. So there are a number of ways that we can sell this. And I’d be happy to put a number on all of them for you. Just drop me an email at matt@motorhomematt.co.uk.
[00:42:20] Keith Gooden: Just a quick question. With cars, they usually go to auction, don’t they? Does the same thing happen with motorhomes, or do they have their own dealers?
[00:42:29] Matt Sims: So We Buy Any Motorcaravan tends to put them into auctions. They get them all ready, put them into an auction – they want a margin in it – and then the auctioneer takes a fee. And then of course, it goes to a dealer at a trade price. So they want their margin in it as well. So you will get less for it selling it that route. But you’ll get the money like that.
[00:42:47] Keith Gooden: It’s quick, it’s fast.
[00:42:48] Matt Sims: And if that’s your motivation, that could be a route out.
[00:42:50] Keith Gooden: If you need the money fast.
[00:42:52] Matt Sims: If. Yeah. And if you can afford to sell it that way.
[00:42:54] Keith Gooden: But it won’t be the best possible price.
[00:42:56] Matt Sims: Definitely not. No. And another option is to sell it privately. And that’s fraught with concerns for people. Strangers turning up at your house, or not turning up. That’s the biggie. Wasting your time when you spend a Saturday afternoon waiting for them, and they never come. Depending on the value of the vehicle, you’ve got to find one person with that amount of money and no part exchange, not needing finance and prepared to buy it and have no comeback when they drive it away. Whereas buying it from a dealer gives people a bit of peace of mind. So there are lots of ways to get out of a motorhome. I’m sure I can help.
[00:43:28] Keith Gooden: Cheers, Leo, thanks for the question. Douglas Maxwell is in Hamilton.
[00:43:32] Douglas Maxwell: I’m just back from the NEC or flying back right now. And the thought occurred to me – do you think it is acceptable that in this day and age, with C-Class coachbuilt motorhomes, that the habitation gap, between the cab and the habitation, on motorhome that are worth £100,000 are filled with rather clumsily applied mastic? Do you think this is acceptable, or do you think that this should be an area that should be tackled by innovation? My own opinion is that if this was a car and I was asked to pay 100 grand, and I saw a bead of mastic half an inch wide covering a gap, I wouldn’t be paying for it. What’s your opinion?
[00:44:23] Keith Gooden: Well, there you go, Matt. Brings us back, doesn’t it, to what you were discussing earlier about quality control. But before you jump in with the answer, the reason that Apollo spacecraft had loads of Velcro in them is that it was invented for the Apollo program for the space program to save weight. Instead of screwing things in, they would use Velcro. So is there a bit of that going on? You know, people are trying to save weight, which is why they’re not using screws.
[00:44:50] Matt Sims: Could be saving weight, saving money. But I understand what you’re saying, Douglas, and I hear you. I agree. I look at some build finishes and think, really? And look at the price tag – £89,000, and you’ve done that. There are some poor practices that go on for sure. It’s not across the board, though. There are some manufacturers that are better at this than others. And it’s not just about mastic, but of course, the reason that mastic is there and what Douglas is describing is that what’s called a B pillar, and it’s the bit between the metal cab and the plastic body, let’s call it plastic. And there’s that rounded hip between the two. And where the plastic meets the metal is where that mastic is that Douglas has observed.
[00:45:29] Keith Gooden: And the mastic is there to stop water getting in, I presume. Water ingress.
[00:45:32] Matt Sims: You’re right. And also movement. It allows movement. So that mastic is flexible because the body is going to move on the back and it needs to be able to move. Now, there is a possibility that you could use some kind of rubber on the edge, but that is probably going to degrade far more quickly than mastic. Mastic is easy to remove and replace and thus easier to manage, which is why it’s used. You also need to remember that some manufacturers, many of them, will heat that area inside the B pillar because it’s often hollow, and that’s a cold part of the motor. When you’re sat in the lounge, that corner gets cold. So some manufacturers I know – Laika did this. They heat inside that B pillar, so it has to be airtight. So it’s a compromise really of finding a material. And I hear what you’re saying about innovation. I’d love to see some innovative solution to this, but mastic is a solution. Sometimes the gap is big because the plastic is cut too short. Well, just cut the plastic a bit bigger. That would be the answer to fix that. And so often the mastic goes black, and it looks unsightly. And that’s where you can peel it out and reseal it.
[00:46:37] Keith Gooden: And it’s a job you can do yourself.
[00:46:39] Matt Sims: You could do it if you’re confident with a mastic gun.
[00:46:40] Keith Gooden: Yeah. Like you?
[00:46:43] Matt Sims: You would not want me doing it. No. That is one job I cannot do. I have tried and I failed spectacularly, and I was the butt of many a joke and never allowed near the gun ever again! And you’re right, you can vote with your wallet if you don’t like the look of it. As with any facet of a motorhome or campervan, go and buy something else.
[00:47:03] Keith Gooden: But it could be that the mastic, which is silicone-based, is the right thing to use. Yeah, but he just doesn’t like it.
[00:47:11] Matt Sims: It’s best practice. So you’ll see on some vehicles it’s a very thin bead and on others it’s much thicker. And I’m not going to call them out and name them. But if you go to a show or a dealer, go and have a look around and you’ll see what I mean. Is it a reason not to buy it? No. There are far bigger issues in motorhome build quality that I think you should be concerned about. And if you really don’t like it because you’re going to see it every time you get in and out of the cab and it annoys you, then buy something else.
[00:47:38] Keith Gooden: Yep. Cheers, Douglas. Much appreciated. Thanks for that. Martin Telford is in Northumberland. Hi Matt, I have an Adria Matrix and will be using it during colder days and nights, possibly in frosty conditions. How can I stop water freezing – fresh, black and toilet cassette water? Can you get tank heaters or use better insulation around them? What is the answer in order to be able to continue to use the motorhome all year round, or is it not really an option? So how can you stop his wee freezing?
[00:48:15] Matt Sims: Well, of course, his wee is going to go into the cassette warm, so he’s already ahead of the curve! The simple answer is keep the heating on. So we were away in our Adria Twin all over New Year’s. We were in Edinburgh, parked on a street outside our friend’s house, and it was minus seven at night, and we were toasty warm. Our Truma heating was fantastic. We had it on I think 10 or 12 through the night, and there was one night where we woke up about three in the morning and Mrs Motorhome Matt said, I think we’ve run out of gas. The heating hasn’t come on for a while. And I looked at the fridge and sure enough, it was flashing, which meant we had run out of gas. So I then laid there for an hour and a half, thinking it’s getting colder and colder, and we don’t have a diesel heater in ours.
[00:49:01] Keith Gooden: And if I lie here long enough, she’ll get up and do it for me.
[00:49:05] Matt Sims: Never, never. But what I was most concerned about was that the frost valve would pop. So we have this little blue button. It’s called a frost protection valve. And when it gets to five degrees next to the boiler, the blue button pops and it dumps all the water from the boiler, so you lose your warm water. And if you’re unlucky enough and there’s enough of a slope, like we were on, the fresh water will drain back and come out of that frost valve as well, so we’d lose all our water. And that was my motivation in the end for getting up at about 5:30 and opening the back door of the van and changing the gas bottle over, because I was more concerned about losing the water than I was about getting cold. So you can use them all through the winter. We will be using ours this winter. It’s just about keeping the heating on during the day. We left the heating on about ten, so there was always a warm ambient air inside, and you use not very much gas running it that low. It’s when you want to get up to 15 and above that you start churning through gas. And we got through a bottle of gas in I think five days. So that will give you an idea. And that’s running low during the night, during the day. And we did warm it up to about 19 or 20 degrees in the morning and in the evening when we were going to bed.
[00:50:15] Keith Gooden: But turning it off and turning it on again and heating from coal that uses more gas, doesn’t it?
[00:50:20] Matt Sims: Well, yeah, that’s a big debate, isn’t it? It’s all over the news at the moment, I see. Where should you leave your thermostat? At home! It’s the same in the van. And the risk with the van is, yes, you get frozen pipes. So if you keep the ambient area inside the van warm, where your fresh water tank is, that’s not going to freeze. Wastewater is a different issue. We left the wastewater open. We use very, very little water, and we were over a kerb, so the water was just running off into a drain. Some people might frown at that, but we were literally washing hands. That is all we were doing, right? And you can buy something called a tank blanket, which you stick on the bottom of the waste tank, which keeps that water warm.
[00:50:59] Keith Gooden: A tanket!
[00:50:59] Matt Sims: That’s a good name for it. I think this came up before. I didn’t patent it then. Maybe someone will. But they’re a good idea. Some motorhomes do have, and yours may have, the little slider which goes from blue to red. And red means that you’re blowing warm air around the wastewater tank, keeping it warm and stopping it from freezing.
[00:51:21] Keith Gooden: S- when you did first footing up there in Scotland on New Year’s Eve into New Year’s Day, you tapped on the door. It wasn’t with a frozen poo, it was with a lump of coal!
[00:51:31] Matt Sims: It was with a lump of coal. Yeah, we did get some coal on the doorstep. It was a nice party. It was good fun.
[00:51:38] Keith Gooden: How do people get in touch?
[00:51:39] Matt Sims: We would love it if you did. I always say this! If you’ve got a question, there are probably a thousand people who think it’s a great one or wish they’d asked it, so please do. mhmp.info/askmatt. Fill in the form or hit the orange button and record it. Remember to tell us where in the world you are.
[00:51:59] Keith Gooden: And if you’re looking for trusted brands and services, then make sure you visit the Motorhome Matt Approved directory. It’s at mhmp.info/approved.
[00:52:10] Matt Sims: And remember to follow on your favourite podcast app. Or if you’re watching on YouTube, click subscribe and that little bell.
[00:52:19] Keith Gooden: Thanks for listening to the Motorhome Matt podcast. Remember to check back here for more episodes full of hints and tips and helpful advice. We’ll see you soon for another Motorhome Matt podcast brought to you with www.thatleisureshop.com.
