Motorhomes

I have a 3.0-litre Fiat motorhome and my question is whether I must have it serviced at a Fiat dealer. I got the first service done at a Fiat dealer in Newcastle and it cost me $550 as they changed the oil filter and oil. I had only done 10,000km. My next service is 48,000km or two years and, as I'll have done only about 20,000km, I will get it done at two years. I don't do many trips a year as I am paying it off and I have to work. The Fiat dealer told me my next one will cost $900 as they change the fuel filter and do more checks on it, and he also said if I don't get a Fiat dealer to do it then it won't be covered by warranty if something happens. I‘ve been told that if I use Fiat filters and spare parts and engaged a licensed mechanic then my warranty is still covered.

My Ford Transit motorhome has the annoying, and dangerous, habit of shutting down completely without prior warning or symptoms. To add to my annoyance, once the vehicle is manoeuvred to the roadside, the engine can be immediately restarted, and thereafter performs faultlessly until the fault recurs.

My efforts through Ford Australia and QCAT have not resolved this fault. It seems the view adopted by QCAT is that the vehicle is not unsafe and that Ford Australia, or its agents do not have a responsibility to locate and correct the fault. Ford and QCAT plainly do not share my concerns in relation to the legal aspects of continuing to use the vehicle on the public roads in its present state. I believe that you may have encountered other vehicle owners in an identical situation; in which case I would be grateful for any advice/information you may care to offer.

The vehicle has travelled only 40,000km and has been fastidiously serviced and carefully driven during my ownership, from new. Casual conversation with other 'motor homers' indicates that this may be a not infrequent mode of failure experienced by owners of other European makes. My assessment is that the fault is entirely electronic and related to the fuel supply and control system. The Direct Injection Ford Duratorque engine has an uncomplicated fuel system, which should function reliably as long as the fuel supply to the fuel pump is not interrupted, i.e. the fuel pump solenoid is not shut down during normal operation

Renault’s continued drive to become a mainstream player in Australia is proceeding at pace. The French marque’s car range has everything from low cost small hatchback, to family station wagons, with a delicious sprinkling of high-performance models from the RenaultSport division.Then there are the Renault light commercials. Small vans to large ones and most recently the introduction of a Renault Master cab-chassis with rear-wheel drive that we previewed late last year.Cab-chassis are imported only for one reason - to let Australian designers and engineers come up with a huge variety of bodies suited to very specific tasks. Indeed, as the local car industry moves away from large scale manufacturing it’s likely that many of the best people will move into designing and engineering vehicles based on cab-chassis, and others will manufacture them.Renault Australia and Sunliner, the latter a long established Australian family company, have entered into a partnership to build the Sunliner 40th Anniversary Model motorhome.We are delighted to report that French flair is very much part of the motorhome package; the bold frontal appearance of the Renault Master simply demands a futuristic looking motorhome. Even better to our eyes, the interior of the Sunliner breaks completely away from interior design and materials tradition. More luxury apartment than any olde-style caravan, it works brilliantly to our eyes. To quote the managing director of Sunliner, Nick Harding, “The interior is inspired by the design of super yachts and boasts the same sophisticated quality and style that people expect in a luxury product, including curved cabinets, leather and feature lighting.”We were impressed not only with the quality of the materials, but also the way they have also been crafted by men and women used by Sunliner who obviously know their trades very well.A slide-out wall not only increases Sunliners’ interior space, but also gives a feeling of extra room beyond that which actually exists. That’s clever.An interesting feature is the use of a drop-down bed. This allows you to sleep on a conventional mattress rather than the usual converted seat-and-table that inevitably compromises comfort.Swivelling front seats also improve interior space. Note that if you specify these the optional side airbags aren’t available. Front airbags are standard. An interesting feature is the outside TV inside a slide-up panel on the left of the Sunliner 40th Anniversary. Power down the large external awning by remote control, power up the TV by its remote, pour your favourite drink (not yet offered by remote control, but maybe one day!) and sit back to enjoy the great Aussie outdoors anywhere your Sunliner/Renault takes you.Renault Master is powered by a 2.3-litre turbo-diesel direct-injection four-cylinder engine, producing 110 kW of power and 350 Nm of torque, the latter between 1500 rpm and 2750 rpm. Whereas the front-drive models have the engine mounted east-west, the powerplant has been turned through 90 degrees to give it a conventional layout for the truck class.The engine drives through a six-speed manual gearbox or a six-speed automated ZF manual. It features electrically controlled clutch engagement/disengagement that makes it more precise at very low speeds than is usual is automated manuals.Sunliner 40th Anniversary Model motorhome is priced at about $170,000 driveaway. Prices will very state to state due to differences in government and dealer charges. Contact your local Sunliner dealer for details.At this stage we haven’t had a chance to road test, or bed or kitchen test, a Sunliner, all we have done is check it out in a stationary position. We hope to carry out a full review soon and will get back to you with a full report then.

The popularity of large motorhomes escaped us until this week when we actually experienced one first hand.

The dust is yet to settle on the court action but Winnebago Australia is transforming into Avida from the end of February. The company says the Avida Motorhomes name will first be promoted as the makers of the Australian Winnebago to establish a link between the brand names, says CEO Ben Binns.“We have always considered operating with two distinct brands in the marketplace however the legal battle over the rights to use the Winnebago name in Australasia has convinced us that we need to create our own Australian identity,” he says.US company Winnebago Industries has no association with the Australian company and - after a period of more than 40 years - took action to prevent Winnebago Australia from using the name despite having signed an agreement in the early 1990s, says the Australian company.An Australian Federal Court decision in July last year ruled in favour of the US company but that decision is being appealed next month. “To have them try to take it away from us so many years later is astounding,” says Mr Binns.“Avida is a brand which will be with us for many years irrespective of the result of the appeal and to assist in providing credibility to the Avida brand, we intend to promote Avida as the makers of the Australian Winnebago, linking our heritage since 1965 to the newest motorhome brand on the market,” says Mr Binns.The Avida brand is being launched at this month's SA Caravan and Camping Show and nine of the brand's new motorhomes will be displayed to the public for the very first time. Avida lists a full range of ten models, starting from $99,990 through to just over $600,000 for the flagship Avida Classic motorhome, a 12-metre luxury “home-away-from-home.”The company boasts a broad variety of layouts and features for buyers to customise their motorhome, including an electric roll-down bed system and even the smallest model is equipped with a fully-functioning bathroom comprising a hot and cold shower, vanity basin and flushing toilet.Every Avida motorhome also has LED lighting and cooking facilities to be tailored - ovens, grill, hot-plates and microwaves - as well as refrigerators operable on 240-volt, LPG gas or battery power.The Avida brand also carries with it a two-year/1-million km warranty with roadside assistance (whichever comes first), a five-year structural guarantee and a service network in Australia numbering more than 100 accredited service centres nationally.Winnebago has been building motorhomes in Australia since 1965 when Bruce Binns, a builder by trade, returned from a US holiday - having seen the growing US motorhome industry in action - and decided to build a slide-on camper for the tray of a 1964 EH Holden ute.It has recently expanded its manufacturing facility at Emu Plains in NSW, a 3.6 ha site that houses two factories covering more than 17,000 sq m and employs around 160 people.Mr Binn says the legal action has created anxiety for its workforce but the company is moving forward with its plans. “We have adopted a worse case strategy, a conservative yet exciting approach of launching a second brand  Avida,” he says.“Whilst we are confident of winning, we intend to promote Avida as the makers of the Australian Winnebago, linking a tried and tested brand to the newest motorhome brand on the market,” he says. 

The dealership, part of the Motoco Group, scooped five gongs in Winnebago's national awards, including customer service dealer of the year, merit achievement, sales achievement and Tropical Bliss sales incentive program.Dealership manager Owen Wyer also won dealer employee of the year, with a prize including a seven-day sojourn on the Cook Islands where the awards were presented. Winnebago Industries sales and marketing manager Max Mayo said the Townsville dealership demonstrated all the professional qualities that Winnebago expected."They have overcome the disastrous consequences of Cyclone Yasi and continue to move forward strongly, especially in their desire to look after their customers after the sale," he said. The coveted customer service dealer of the year, an award based on surveys of customers, was a big endorsement for the dealership.Mr Wyer said the dealership also recorded the highest sales above target of any in Australia. Motoco Group managing director Jason Collins praised the team headed by Mr Wyer and sales manager Dave Berryman. "It is important for us to receive national recognition from such a well-regarded manufacturer."

The international automotive giant’s case alleged Australian company and 11 dealerships have been selling knock-off motorhomes for three decades.Winnebago does not sell many campervans in Australia, but Sydney man Bruce Binns has been manufacturing and selling his own “Winnebago''-branded motorhomes since 1978.The US company did not discover the copycat business until 1985, at which point it decided it was too complicated to chase Mr Binns, and hoped he would eventually go broke.But Mr Binns's company, Knott Investments, thrived to the point where it today employs 190 manufacturing workers.Mr Binns negotiated a truce with Winnebago in 1992, with the US company agreeing not to sue him in the US courts so long as his business remained in Australia and he did not register the US trademarks as his own.Knott registered the logo in Australia as its own. In the meantime, Winnebago's Iowa headquarters has been receiving a stream of complaints from Mr Binns's Australian customers who wrongly believed the two enterprises were linked.Winnebago finally took action in October 2010, filing a complaint in the Federal Court for breach of intellectual property.Last Wednesday, judge Lindsay Foster backed the US firm, cancelling Knott's trademark and asking the parties to bring forward a plan to rebrand the Australian company and dealerships.“By choosing to exploit the Winnebago name and the Winnebago logos, (Mr Binns) was intending to gain for himself as much benefit as possible in Australia from the goodwill and reputation of Winnebago and its RVs,'' the judge said. “(Mr Binns) intentionally hijacked the Winnebago (trade) marks in Australia.''

The move comes after winning a court battle against local manufacturers and dealers using their brand name.Sydney-based Knott Investments Pty Ltd has been making Winnebagos RVs for more than 30 years, but the original American company, established in 1958, challenged the Australian company's use of the name in 2010 after deciding it wanted to export its product to Australia.The Federal Court has now ruled that Knott and 11 Winnebago dealers around the country had contravened the former Trade Practices Act and the current Australian Consumer Law by using the American Winnebago name and logo. Costs are yet to be decided, but the Australian company, trading as Winnebago Industries, has been given time to re-brand itself. Director Samantha Binns, daughter of founder Bruce Binns, has refused to comment on the court's decision. Winnebago Industries last year built a second factory on its Emu Plains site in Sydney doubling capacity to cope with the wave of baby boomer retirees. The 47-year-old family-owned company now produces one motorhome every three hours with a staff of 250.Company spokesman Max Mayo said earlier this year that Australia's biggest motorhome company expected to record its second successive record financial year after topping 600 sales last year. Meanwhile, the big American motorhome company plans to move into the Aussie market with its behemoth homes on wheels.Winnebago RVs have featured in Hollywood movies for several decades, including Lost in America (1985), Spaceballs (1987), Independence Day (1996), About Schmidt (2003), Terminator 3 (2003), Talladega Nights (2007), Wild Hogs (2007) and Race to Witch Mountain (2009).The very name Winnebago has become synonymous with monstrous motorhomes. The biggest motorhome company in the world is based in Iowa and named after the local county, river and original American Indian tribe of the region. 

Available in a range of new and modified layouts, the 2012 Jayco Sterling range brings even greater levels of style and comfort thanks to its unique layouts and furnishings.As well as the fantastic electric slide out bed and lounge feature which is available in a number of layouts, caravanners will also be impressed with additions to the Sterling's interior which include a new curved kitchen design which incorporates curved seats, sink, drawers and a table.The Sterling offers travellers a new and improved Thetford swivel toilet, patented aluminium furniture construction and an upgraded 150 litre fridge. Holidaymakers will also enjoy new standard additions including a Coast to Coast washing machine and high quality Dometic windows with built in blinds.Externally, Jayco has upgraded the Sterling's wheels, graphics and offers a provision for external BBQ installation, as well as a range of other improvements to ensure the Sterling is entrenched as the leader in the caravan market. 

The Diversion motorhome range starts at $119,900 with features such as soft front seats that swivel around and an oversized slide sliding door.Diversion can sleep four adults as it is equipped with an electric roll down bed which drops from the ceiling at the touch of a button and can be stopped in any position, used as a low double bed or is adjustable to create a bunk effect to sleep additional people.Now available in the Diversion range is the choice of a twin lounge area in the rear of the vehicle, the leather lounge cushions doubling as single beds to provide extra full size bedding. While the lounges can be kept in a single bed format, they can also be converted to a large double bed by sliding the lounge seats towards the centre.In both layouts, the Diversion is equipped with seatbelts for four people. Diversion has two living areas with a large kitchen area, light-coloured furniture and bathroom with a hot shower, flushing toilet, vanity and 125-litre fresh water supply.The Diversion is manufactured on the Mercedes Benz 316 powered by a 2.2 litre turbo diesel engine married to a five-speed automatic or manual transmission. It features electric windows and mirrors, cruise control and trip computer and all the safety related features expected from a Mercedes Benz vehicle.Standard features are an external wind out awning, a flat screen television with a built in DVD player, power-boosted TV aerial, roof-mounted reverse-cycle air-conditioning and refrigerator operating on 240 volt, gas or battery power.Winnebago RVs come with a two-year, one million kilometres warranty and a five-year structural warranty as well as two years free emergency roadside assist.Winnebago DiversionPrice: from $119,990Chassis: Mercedes Benz 316 EXL VanEngine: 4 cyl turbo diesel 2143cc, 120kWBody: 7.5m (L), 2m (W), 2.8m (H)GVM: 3880kgGCM: 5880kgWater: 125L (fresh), 74L (grey), 14L (hot)Fuel: 75L diesel tank; 2 x 4kg LP gas tanks