Hi New Member
Posted: January 20th, 2015, 10:46 pm
Hi I am Trevor. I bought a Ford Ranger at the end of last August so I could have a demountable and therefore only one vehicle to run. I own Ardnamurchan Campsite (www.ardnamurchanstudycentre.co.uk) which is featured in Cool Camping, I usually get excellent reviews through them. In the ten years I have been open I do not think I have ever had a demountable on site. I get a few Land Rovers with roof tents, not quite the same but obviously people who like to get off the beaten track now and again. My demountable experience has not got off to a very good start. About three weeks after purchasing the 3 year old Ranger from Arnold Clark I did a long journey from near Fort William to Cromer via Cambridge with the intention of picking up an Apollo in Yorkshire on the way back. My clutch suddenly packed in at Cromer and it took a week to fix (another Ford garage in Northumberland where I had been heading). They sold the Apollo unfortunately that week. I had a rear nearside leaf spring replaced at the same time as the clutch all on warranty, I also had a full service as I had no service history. Long post I know but things got worse. I managed to pick up an old heavy Werver a few weeks later then headed for Spain in early November. My rear nearside wheel flew off on the motorway round Santander. The damage fortunately was confined to the wheel bearing and brakes. It took two whole weeks to fix and cost me nearly £2000. I did manage to get some sort of holiday in Portugal although the rain and thunder was torrential. It was much better in Spain. The problem I have now is trying to get someone to take some responsibility for the wheel coming off. The garage who serviced it say they were able to check the rear brakes through an inspection port without removing any wheels and remove the rear spring without removing the wheel that later came off. Arnold Clark blame the garage who serviced it and are now just ignoring me. Small claims court next I think. I will not get much chance to use the camper in the summer as I am to busy with the campsite so I am planning a trip to south Wales in March and then in October, Spain and hopefully Algarve for a month or two.
