...having originally posted this, I thought that, after yesterday's experience, I'd better add some balance.
Once a year, the motorhome has to go back to the supplying dealer for a short (but chargeable) inspection to keep the water-ingress warranty valid. (Motorcaravans being a "cottage industry" means that under many circumstances only the supplying dealer will do this and underwrite warranty work - this is one of those).
The trip for that is a 400-mile round one, and since they prefer easy access to the internals, it isn't easy to load up and incorporate it in a trip. The inconvenience and cost was factored into the original deal - the (rare-ish) 'van I wanted at the price I wanted - and my time is now my own...it is a bit of a pain though.
So, round trip from Notts to Somerset yesterday, in a 3.5 tonne brick. I don't particularly like the M42, or the upper reaches of the M5, so my preference is to use the M69 and A46 for the cross-country part.
It took me under 4 hours for the downward trip, slowing slightly towards the end as I was ahead of time, and, apart from a single comfort break, I don't think I stopped rolling all the way (careful approaches to traffic lights and roundabouts, of which there are quite a few, meant that I never came to a complete stop!).
I did start before 04:00 though ;-)
The (large) dealer is a bit iffy about doing any work with a same-day turnaround, but have been pretty good with me given the circumstances, and they had it ready for return within 2 hours. (With a tracker fitted, I could see that it had moved to the workshops fairly quickly). Accordingly, I returned home not long after 10:30 expecting a rather more prolonged journey. Once again, with a quick stop for a snack, it took me somewhat less than 4 hours, though without deliberately dawdling this time, and with a few (but less than expected) complete stops.
Whilst I'm still a bit knackered this morning, that's about the best it could be, and it was the last such occurrence as the warranty that depends on the inspection expires (with no renewal) next year.
The 'van is (only slightly) optimistic in its displayed fuel consumption figures, but it completed the round journey at an indicated 36.1mpg, which reflects the uninterrupted nature of progression.
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