Another way to buy
In MMM's Buying Advice feature (August, p136), one aspect that has been overlooked is to buy through a broker. This is how we purchased our latest motorhome, an Elddis Autoquest, which we bought through Motorhome Depot.
The process works that the seller agrees to have the brokerage handle the selling, and the buyer turns up at a designated place to inspect the motorhome or campervan, decide on the deal and hand over the agreed amount.
Of course, this is a different way of doing a private deal as you generally get to meet the seller who gives the final nod to the deal.
The broker is often backed by a financier so that you get the motorhome on completion and drive it home if you have handed over enough, either by bank transfer (preferred) or cash in hand and, of course, you have arranged insurance cover to drive it once you have bought your new model.
We did that precisely only recently on buying an Elddis and part-exchanged our older ’van, something that most private buyers are not interested in doing.
Ian Bosman
Applicable app
I was surprised when reading the answer to the technical question from Peter Mesney (Sept, p122) that it didn't include using the mylpg.eu app to find LPG filling stations as it covers GB as well as mainland Europe. We are lucky enough to have a filling station quite close to our home but find the app very useful on our travels.
Sue Hollingsworth
Uphill struggle
We have a 2018 Auto-Sleeper with a Comfort-Matic semi-automatic gearbox.
We bought the ’van in August last year, downsizing from a coachbuilt.
We love the layout and the test drive was good. But on our first big trip out of Cornwall on the first long hill the ’van slowed down to a crawl. This happened on every long, gentle incline we drove up.
In Wales when we were on the mountain roads, we had no issues at all.
My husband thought perhaps it was driver error as this was the first semi-automatic we had driven but it kept happening, even going into limp mode on one hill.
So, my husband sat for many evenings researching all he could find about this Fiat semi-automatic gearbox.
Recommendations to have the ECU brought up to date seemed to keep coming up and, as the ’van was four years old, we thought it was worth a try.
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So we took it to a Fiat Professional workshop in Truro, which was very helpful – several issues were flagged up on the diagnostic machine and these were all sorted.
The drive home from there felt much better, but still not brilliant, so more research was done and we wondered if the gearbox needed oil.
We went back to Fiat Professional, which changed and topped up the oil and the difference is remarkable.
I won't say it flies up the long inclines, but it is so much better and we keep up with the traffic rather than being a hazard.
The gear changes are much smoother and it still takes steep hills with no problem.
It is recommended that you make sure you go to someone who knows what they are doing when changing the oil in the gearbox as each compartment has to be done in order and to an exact level. We found the Fiat Professional garage very good and very fair with its pricing and we were confident it knew what it was doing.
Jim and Sue, Cornwall
Comfort-Matic review
Following Allen Morgan's letter and Nick Fisher's reply (Sept, p123), I also have a Comfort-Matic on a 3-litre Fiat, which I had bought
