Caravan Service or Habitation

Caravans and motorhomes under manufacturers warranty need to be serviced every year to maintain the cover, but vans that are out of warranty should still be serviced yearly, perhaps it could be argued that it’s more important that these vans are serviced as there is more of a need for the safety critical checks to be done as the vans age. It’s obviously up to the customer to decide if they want the van serviced but the general rule of thumb is to service every year.

A caravan full service generally takes 2.5 – 3hrs, this time varies depending on if the van is a single or a twin axle, how old it is and if the van has been serviced regularly. At the end of the service we will present you with a 4 page report, some gas test print outs and maybe some leaflets.

A full service covers all the major parts of the caravan, briefly these are such things as: the chassis (brakes, wheel, hitch and steadies etc), the 240v and 12v electrics (RCD, sockets, amp draw of the appliances and road lights etc), the gas system (leak and pressure tests, appliance flame failure, gas regulator and hose inspections etc), the water system (pumps, taps and pipes etc) and condition of inside and out (furniture, windows, roof lights, security of bonded items like solar panels etc). This isn’t the full list of things that are checked but it gives you a good indication of what we do on the service.

A Caravan Habitation or Seasonal Service is everything mentioned above but we don’t do the chassis checks. This is often an option for customers who have sited their van and no longer tour, this normally takes between 1.5-2hrs depending on the amount of kit inside the van, ideally we would still ask that the van be emptied so we can do the damp report.

We very often get calls from customers who say ‘I am going away on holiday and I want my caravan serviced’. This is a good thing, but sometimes the customer has the wrong idea about what a ‘service’ is. The service, to give it it’s proper name is a ‘condition report’. It’s a report of the status of that caravan on the day of the service. It’s a set of tests that are carried out to gauge if the condition of the vans gas, electrics, appliances, tyres, brakes and the body shell etc are all in good working order. However having a service may result in unforeseen issues being highlighted that actually stop a customer from going away on holiday. The service is not like an MOT for a car, the service report will not necessarily be a green light to travel. We do not fix things on a service, but if anything is broken it is noted on the report and the customer then has the option to rebook for the repair. It’s definitely a good idea to have the caravan serviced, but thinking it can be done just before a holiday may not be a good idea. We normally are working 4-6 weeks ahead but this could be up to 8 weeks ahead in March – August therefore we urge all our customers to book in well in advance.