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I have an Auto Sleeper Palermo 2006 which I bought about two and a half years ago. As purchased the bathroom sink had a few small cracks together with a lot more micro-cracks and crazing. This is quite common in older vacuum formed plastic sanitary fittings and wasn’t sufficiently bad for me to overlook a motorhome which otherwise ticked most of the boxes. In addition the rear fibreglass bumper was cracked where the previous owner had presumably reversed into an immovable object. Bad news at the time no doubt but this had prompted the fitting of a reversing camera which for me was better news!
Very recently (in fact on my travels following the meet at Ilfracombe) I made the damage to the rear bumper more than a little worse. The method I employed was somewhat unusual and is far too embarassing to recount. It was time to give the rear bumper some TLC.
I contacted Auto Sleepers who advised that they could supply a rear bumper IF their supplier still had the mould for a price of about £650+VAT, plus fitting at an estimate of about £300+VAT or they could crate at a cost of £60 +VAT plus transport cost. So in total about £1200 fitted or about £850 delivered. This seemed on the high side to me!
An internet search led me to AW Motorhome Replacement Body Panels of Canvey Island, Essex. This company used to manufacture high specification fibreglass boats up to about 20 metres but like many others suffered when Far Eastern and Eastern European companies targeted the UK.
They assessed their in-house skills and moved to motorhome repairs.
Anton at AW Motorhome Replacement Body Panels quoted £295 including VAT for a one piece rear bumper and about £100 to fit though would charge less for fitting if it proved to be straight forward. I emailed some photos of the bumper to Anton and he confirmed that he had the mould for my bumper having made one to the same pattern about a year ago. In fact the cost would have been the same if they had needed to make a mould for my bumper. They would have patched up the old damaged bumper to new (visual) specification then made a mould from that then made a new bumper for me. They make no extra charge for this but simply keep the mould for their own subsequent use.
Anton said he would have the bumper made in five days and could fit it the following week – an offer I couldn’t refuse!
I arrived at the ex boatyard and Anton and Brian (his father) greeted me and started work straight away. Brian took a diamond cutter to the old bumper, took a grinder to the old retaining bolts and within a few minutes the old bumper was in pieces on the floor. The new bumper was offered up, bolted and sealed in place and the job completed within about 90 minutes. I’d say that the new bumper fits the body work better than the old though Brian pointed out that the large vertical panel on the Palermo was not quite symmetrical – a fault with the mould used by Auto Sleeper’s original suppliers. Brian made a note to adapt his mould to accommodate this in any future bumpers they make!
The final bill was the quoted £295 inc. VAT and LESS than the quoted £100 for fitting. I’m a VERY happy bunny.
Whilst I was with Anton and Brian they looked at the bathroom sink for me and quoted £180 inc. VAT plus fitting. They will manufacture the sink (once again from an existing mould they made for an earlier customer) and will fit the sink when I return from Greywell. I'll post the outcome of that in due course. I have been unable to find any other company able to supply a new sink though there are companies prepared to coat the surface to cover the cracks etc. at about £100. Anton has replaced several shower trays that have been painted in this way but where the customers have been disappointed with the outcome. AW Motorhome Replacement Body Panels charge approximately £20 to crate and ship a bumper.
In summary if you have need of a motorhome rebuild (they’ve rebuilt insurance write-offs) or a bumper or a shower tray or a sink or a roof or ………. anything in plastic or fibreglass then you might find it fruitful to contact AW Motorhome Replacement Body Panels. They can (and have) also manufactured a right-handed part from a supplied left-handed part and vice versa. This might be useful if, for instance, a left hand bumper corner bracket is lost.
Their website can be found here and it’s well worth looking over their gallery to get a feel for what they can do. Ask for Anton.
I emphasis that I have absolutely no business or other financial interest in this company.
Colin
Very recently (in fact on my travels following the meet at Ilfracombe) I made the damage to the rear bumper more than a little worse. The method I employed was somewhat unusual and is far too embarassing to recount. It was time to give the rear bumper some TLC.
I contacted Auto Sleepers who advised that they could supply a rear bumper IF their supplier still had the mould for a price of about £650+VAT, plus fitting at an estimate of about £300+VAT or they could crate at a cost of £60 +VAT plus transport cost. So in total about £1200 fitted or about £850 delivered. This seemed on the high side to me!
An internet search led me to AW Motorhome Replacement Body Panels of Canvey Island, Essex. This company used to manufacture high specification fibreglass boats up to about 20 metres but like many others suffered when Far Eastern and Eastern European companies targeted the UK.
They assessed their in-house skills and moved to motorhome repairs.
Anton at AW Motorhome Replacement Body Panels quoted £295 including VAT for a one piece rear bumper and about £100 to fit though would charge less for fitting if it proved to be straight forward. I emailed some photos of the bumper to Anton and he confirmed that he had the mould for my bumper having made one to the same pattern about a year ago. In fact the cost would have been the same if they had needed to make a mould for my bumper. They would have patched up the old damaged bumper to new (visual) specification then made a mould from that then made a new bumper for me. They make no extra charge for this but simply keep the mould for their own subsequent use.
Anton said he would have the bumper made in five days and could fit it the following week – an offer I couldn’t refuse!
I arrived at the ex boatyard and Anton and Brian (his father) greeted me and started work straight away. Brian took a diamond cutter to the old bumper, took a grinder to the old retaining bolts and within a few minutes the old bumper was in pieces on the floor. The new bumper was offered up, bolted and sealed in place and the job completed within about 90 minutes. I’d say that the new bumper fits the body work better than the old though Brian pointed out that the large vertical panel on the Palermo was not quite symmetrical – a fault with the mould used by Auto Sleeper’s original suppliers. Brian made a note to adapt his mould to accommodate this in any future bumpers they make!
The final bill was the quoted £295 inc. VAT and LESS than the quoted £100 for fitting. I’m a VERY happy bunny.
Whilst I was with Anton and Brian they looked at the bathroom sink for me and quoted £180 inc. VAT plus fitting. They will manufacture the sink (once again from an existing mould they made for an earlier customer) and will fit the sink when I return from Greywell. I'll post the outcome of that in due course. I have been unable to find any other company able to supply a new sink though there are companies prepared to coat the surface to cover the cracks etc. at about £100. Anton has replaced several shower trays that have been painted in this way but where the customers have been disappointed with the outcome. AW Motorhome Replacement Body Panels charge approximately £20 to crate and ship a bumper.
In summary if you have need of a motorhome rebuild (they’ve rebuilt insurance write-offs) or a bumper or a shower tray or a sink or a roof or ………. anything in plastic or fibreglass then you might find it fruitful to contact AW Motorhome Replacement Body Panels. They can (and have) also manufactured a right-handed part from a supplied left-handed part and vice versa. This might be useful if, for instance, a left hand bumper corner bracket is lost.
Their website can be found here and it’s well worth looking over their gallery to get a feel for what they can do. Ask for Anton.
I emphasis that I have absolutely no business or other financial interest in this company.
Colin
Last edited:
Only kidding