MOT & Habitation check

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Quick question, when I MOT my 'van do I take it to a motorhome place and get MOT & habitation check in one swoop or do I have to take it to a separate place for MOT?

Thanks
 
I don’t have habitation checks but I suppose it depends on the age of your MH but I am sure Cheerful Charlie will be along soon to explain all.
 
Do motorhome places do MOTs? I would think you'd need a garage for that but maybe your dealership handles the vehicle side of things too. I usually get mine serviced and MOT'd at the same garage but lots of people say to take them to a dedicated MOT centre, if you have one near you, because they have no vested interest in finding anything that needs fixing :)

Personally, I'd say that habitation checks aren't essential if you can check for damp and water or gas leaks yourself but if your van is still under warranty, it's probably a condition of warranty that you get one done annually for the duration of the warranty. Lots of people like to have them done for peace of mind anyway or if they're thinking of selling but I think they're pricey for the little work involved.
 
I use a mobile engineer for annual habitation checks and servicing. Our motorhome is 12 years old and I get the annual checks mainly for the reassurance that the gas system remains safe.

I get mechanical servicing and MOT done at a garage, although we are too big for most MOT garages, and have to find garages with bigger lifting capacity.
 
Unless your van is still under warranty I wouldn't worry about a yearly habitation check as long as everything works fine and have a look and smell for any signs of damp
 
There are some motorhome dealer's that offer a full ,mot ,service, and Hab check .great if they are close enough to be convenient .
 
Best place for an mot in my opinion is a council garage

I use my local council for the cars in our family as they dont do repairs and therefore give you an honest mot

For my camper i take it to the neighbouring town bus depot (council run buses ) As they can easily handle bigger vehicles
 
So, habitation checks?

I've done a quick search here and on WC but not much coming up. Is there a section/thread that covers this subject in a bit more depth?

If not, I have a current question. Have been offered a habitation check for an extra £150 on the Laika van we have bought before we go back to pick it up. I'm mulling over whether we should go for this or not. Is it actually worth having this done (the van is a year 2000 Laika Ecovip 400i)?

Testing the water here... I'd be very happy to pay an experienced member of the forum a fee instead if they happened to be at the same meet with us later in the year, or anywhere in the vicinity of where we live, and would be willing to give the Laika the once over when it's actually parked up outside? Just a thought...
 
Bit naughty of them not to include it free of charge Marie... to my mind, it should be part of their warranty terms but it's been a long time since I bought mine.

Normally, I'd say it's not worth the money but it might be worth having them do it this once, to give them a bit of the responsibility in case something goes amiss quickly. You could also double check for damp, gas leaks, pipe leaks, etc, yourself when you go to pick it up. In my experience, they check that water is flowing, that the pump, boiler, fridge and fire are all functioning properly but they don't repair, service or clean anything :rolleyes:
 
It's a tricky one Marie, but would they say for instance "That motorhome we have sold you is riddled with damp and the gas system is dangerous, thanks for the £150, oh and it will be another £1k for the repairs" - if that happened could you back out of the sale at that stage?

Not that I am suggesting anything like that, the Laikas are very well made vans and I'm sure you and Neil gave it a thorough look over.

But if it meant losing a sale, would they give it an impartial check?

Personally I would pay an independent surveyor to do the check within the 'cooling off' period just for peace of mind.
 
A Habitation Check has no clear definition. Anyone can do anything they fancy doing and call it a habitation check.
Generally they are just a revenue earner for the people who do them. And if they find something they can charge you for fixing, so much the better.
Paying someone who is selling you the van to check it for you is daft: they ought to have fixed any problems they found before selling it. They're not going to find faults they need to pay to fix, are they?
If you really want to pay someone to check it, go somewhere else who has no vested interest in overlooking any problems.
 
mariesnowgoose said:
So, habitation checks?

I've done a quick search here and on WC but not much coming up. Is there a section/thread that covers this subject in a bit more depth?

If not, I have a current question. Have been offered a habitation check for an extra £150 on the Laika van we have bought before we go back to pick it up. I'm mulling over whether we should go for this or not. Is it actually worth having this done (the van is a year 2000 Laika Ecovip 400i)?

Testing the water here... I'd be very happy to pay an experienced member of the forum a fee instead if they happened to be at the same meet with us later in the year, or anywhere in the vicinity of where we live, and would be willing to give the Laika the once over when it's actually parked up outside? Just a thought...
Click to expand...
i use g. w. caravan and m/homes services.l.t.d@crags ind.park. creswell, nr worksop. notts s80--4aj 01909-726-600 www.gwcaravans.co.uk best of
luck .pj
 
Robmac said:
It's a tricky one Marie, but would they say for instance "That motorhome we have sold you is riddled with damp and the gas system is dangerous, thanks for the £150, oh and it will be another £1k for the repairs" - if that happened could you back out of the sale at that stage?

Not that I am suggesting anything like that, the Laikas are very well made vans and I'm sure you and Neil gave it a thorough look over.

But if it meant losing a sale, would they give it an impartial check?

Personally I would pay an independent surveyor to do the check within the 'cooling off' period just for peace of mind.
Click to expand...
here here, pj
 
FWIW, after noting some problems with our van after we collected it, we had an independent habitation check done and got the dealer who sold the van to repair the reported defects. Other than that, as others have said, you can do the necessary checks yourself (perhaps having an expert do the gas and electric safety checks). HTH, Geoff
 
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