So would you go for the reimo??
LowLife Stealth pop top
If I could offer any advice on this it would be to research your installer carefully. I thought I was doing the right thing by choosing the company that manufactures the roof to install it. Although I like the design of the Stealth roof on my van, I had horrendous problems with the company itself. How the vehicle was handed over to me was quite frankly disgusting. Although most (but not all) the issues I had were resolved, it was a fight at every stage to get Low Life to put things right.
There are other companies that install this roof, and I believe it's now in partnership with Skyline, so shop around. If you have your heart set on carbon fibre aesthetics, what happened to mine when it was exposed to sunlight would leave you heart broken. Thankfully, getting it colour coded to the van wasn't the end of the world for me. But getting Low Life to pay for it was another battle.
There are other companies that install this roof, and I believe it's now in partnership with Skyline, so shop around. If you have your heart set on carbon fibre aesthetics, what happened to mine when it was exposed to sunlight would leave you heart broken. Thankfully, getting it colour coded to the van wasn't the end of the world for me. But getting Low Life to pay for it was another battle.
Ianradcliffe
LowLife Products Ltd
In response to the above comments I would like to clarify the events which resulted in the issues. David came to us for a Stealth Roof which was to be fitted to his LWB T6 Caravelle. After multiple discussions it was agreed that the partial installation would be completed by the customer to finish off the trim and vents. We were not happy with the final finish and it was agreed with the customer that the vehicle would come back to Low-Life for full completion as the customer was finding it beyond his capability to complete, so without charge we put 2 days work into the interior completion to finish the van.
For a short period of time low-life were using a gelcoat that was not up to the job and when exposed to sunlight and turned slightly milky. We no longer use this product in our manufacturing process.
We did agree to pay for the roof to be sprayed and colour coded to the customer specification and requested the invoice to be sent directly for payment. Low-Life went above and beyond to support our customer with his van and the issue of the roof colour. To date we have not received any further correspondence regarding this matter and as with all of our customer we always make every effort to support the product in service.
If there is anything else we could of done in this case please let me know, and as always, we will be sure to support our customers throughout the life of our products.
For a short period of time low-life were using a gelcoat that was not up to the job and when exposed to sunlight and turned slightly milky. We no longer use this product in our manufacturing process.
We did agree to pay for the roof to be sprayed and colour coded to the customer specification and requested the invoice to be sent directly for payment. Low-Life went above and beyond to support our customer with his van and the issue of the roof colour. To date we have not received any further correspondence regarding this matter and as with all of our customer we always make every effort to support the product in service.
If there is anything else we could of done in this case please let me know, and as always, we will be sure to support our customers throughout the life of our products.
I feel I must defend stealth roofs I have had 4 now fitted by the manufacturer and im delighted with the quality and fit of them the level of customer service is exemplary it says something when a competitor reduces the price of a product to compete and changes the design to incorporate a similar front locking system my customers find them easy to use once I have demonstrated the unique process of lifting and lowering the roof and they say they get many admiring looks from fellow campers when they erect them finally I would like to say I wish the guys at low-life stealth every success with the new incorporation with skyline
I had a HiLo fitted. It’s pukka. The hinges are on the outside so, like what DaveyB pointed out, there are no chances of anything getting caught in mine. And unlike Diesel Donkey and his LowLife, I’ve had no problems with mine.
Have a look around Facebook and the forums for others than can give you more feedback on the LowLife. There are a fair few on here who can tell you about their Hilo’s - both good and bad - as well as all the other marques.
Research research research, my friend!
Have a look around Facebook and the forums for others than can give you more feedback on the LowLife. There are a fair few on here who can tell you about their Hilo’s - both good and bad - as well as all the other marques.
Research research research, my friend!
well said
Mmmhm. Think I should take sometime and explain my previous post. Some of you may have read the review I put on another thread about my thoughts on the product itself. I stand by that review and think it was pretty favourable and objective with respect to my thoughts on the design of the product. With the passage of time however, some issues have come to light. I'll discuss these later. In explaination of my above post, I have since been contacted by another forum member who read my initial review, purchased a low Life roof, and who has since contacted me and discussed similar issues he has had. Hence my note of caution posted above.
I appreciate there are two sides to this story regarding my experience. I'll do my upmost here to remain balanced and fair. However as pictures tell a 1000 words, I'll include them as they show what I was up against here. I also have the emails which I believe support my account of what I experienced.
I had seen the Low Life Stealth at Bus fest in 2017. When I asked the guys on the stand, I was told they could fit the roof to a Shuttle. Indeed they had published photos of one fitted to a Shuttle, albeit a T5. It clearly showed added roof vents for the Shuttles heating system.
So I booked my van for its fitting with them and agreed to pay the additional £250 to have the vent kit fitted. A couple of weeks before the van was due for fitting, I was told by Low Life that there was a delay in the production of the LWB roof tent material. They wanted to make sure it was correctly produced before it went to market. In fairness, they offered me my deposit back. But no, I thought, they're making the right noises about wanting it to be right, before it goes on sale. So I stuck with them and agreed a new fitting date 5 weeks later.
So on a Monday, I took my van the 270 mile trip to Congleton. I asked for one thing, and one thing ONLY. When the roof lining was cut, I asked for them not to glue the lining in place, once it was folded over the cassette. The reason being, if it was glued down, I wouldn't be able to get under it to feed wires for interior lighting. I was quite prepared to fix it down myself.
So, expecting to collect the van the following Friday, I was contacted on the Thursday and informed it wouldn't be ready. It would have to be collected the following Tuesday. Subsequently, the delay ment additional travel expense, 1000 miles put on my wife's car instead of 540 miles on the van, and the inability for me to attend and support my wife with a distressing family matter.
Prior to collection, Low Life had also published a YouTube clip on Facebook showing my van. When I watched this, I noticed they hadn't fitted the correct colour bed board carpet that I had ordered. I called and informed them of this, and they agreed they had forgotten my request.
I was also told they were struggling to install the vent kit. They had discovered the wiring loom above the headlining was much thicker on T6 compared to their T5 and this was causing clearance problems. In an effort to assist them with an idea, I emailed a sketch of a possible solution, flattening the profile of the round ducting and slicing the top off the vent. See 1st picture below.
On the Tuesday, I returned to Congleton to collect my van. This is what I was presented with.......
I was shocked at what I saw. The one thing I had asked for them not to do had been interpreted as......
Fitting a handcut bed board. So the hatch wasn't symetrical and only fitted one way round. (They had run out of perfectly eliptical CNC cut hatches).
Stone carpet on front board only.
No carpet on centre board.
Grey carpet on rear board.
No hinges were fitted to join the 3 boards together.
The gas struts weren't fitted.
The bed board linkages weren't fitted.
They hadn't fitted the duct and vent system.
They hadn't cut the roof lining to shape or folded it over the cassette.
Again, domestic circumstances ment I had to take the van there and then to get home. £5000 stupidly handed over. (Albeit sensibly on a credit card).
But I set off for home, furious.
After emails and phone calls to Low Life the van was going back. I'd paid for them to do the job in the first place. I hadn't paid for a kit of parts and some scraps of carpet to complete the job myself. Meantime, embarrassed to have anyone near the van, let alone in it, I cut the headlining myself. Attached lengths of velcro down each side and along the rear of the cassette. Temporarily fitting the headlining in place. I carpeted the centre board with the scraps I'd been given. So It looked like this.
Now I'm just an amateur, but as a temporary fix, I think I achieved a considerably neater job which fell just within my capabilities, contrary to Ian's nonsense claims. However, that's not the point. Low Life thought it was acceptable to take full payment for a job nowhere near finished. There was never any discussion about me doing anything more than simply sticking the lining in place.
The zip around the tent hinge flap on one side was excessively tight. It was difficult to use the zip and I was certain the tension would cause the zip to fail. The zip stitching could also be seen to be under strain. Ian knew about this issue when the vehicle was handed over, as he showed me a way of manipulating the zip by only opening the roof by about a third of its elevation. But he was happy for it to be released to his customer and put into service in this state.
I then started noticing small rusty specs on the bodywork and around various crevices. Alarmed, I phoned Low Life requesting to know if they'd taken an angle grinder to my roof. I was told no. They apparently had a bandsaw in the workshop. The filings where supposedily from that. I have no recollection of seeing a bandsaw in their workshop but gave them the benefit of the doubt.
They reluctantly agreed to replace my canvas due to the zip issue. When I took the van back Ian tried the zip again for himself. Low and behold, it failed in his hand and the zip burst.
So after another trip south and a week without my van, I got the van back with the job completed. The tension on the zip was less but still left me feeling uncomfortable. It didn't need to be that tight. A design flaw was admitted, in that the tightness of the bend the zips negotiate, causes the teeth not to interlock properly when the roof is fully elevated.
This time when the van was handed over, there was about a dozen smears of silicone over the bodywork and windows. Along with grubby finger prints all the over the roof lining. The roof lining had been creased where it joined the cab roof. I found a knife blade, bonding itself to the rubber seal above the windscreen a couple of weeks later.
Then I was horrified to discover this under the front of the roof when it was elevated.....
For all the world, it looked like the roof had fractured and cracked. Another call to Low Life. I was told, the LWB roof mould uses polythene. Folds in the polythene produces ridges in the gel coat. Fair enough. It wasn't cracks I was looking at but rather ridges. But everytime you see it, you double take, thinking your roof has shattered. Why couldn't they just buff the gel coat down to a smooth finish rather than leave it like this.
Remember those iron filing rusty specs. Well I kept finding them. I discovered my wiper blades had been impregnated with the tiny molten particles. Not wanting to risk scratches on the glass, I had the expense of replacing all three wipers.
So then I took my van along to a local company to have window tints applied. 'Your windows are contaminated with something odd' he said. 'Come and see this'. Little pit marks and tiny particles of metal on the inside of the glass. So, the vertical blade of a bandsaw fires sparks horizontally with enough force that they bond to glass, does it!
Raging!!!
I've also since discovered the that the zip on the panoramic part of the canvas has been stitched on, in a nice straight line. However, clearly the material has then been flipped over and a storm flap has been stitched on other side. So the storm flap stitching runs in and out of the zip material in a stretched out wave. Small detail, but annoyingly noticeable. Looks likes it been stitched in by someone on drink.
More worryingly the press studs used to hold back the window flaps, are starting to wear holes in the canvas when the roof is in the collapsed position. Theres a small bouncing movement on the roof when its down. Just flex to be expected. But enough to cause friction as the studs rub holes in the material above it. Gaffer tape solution I'm afraid.
Then one day, I looked out the bedroom window overlooking my drive. I couldn't believe what I was looking at. The roof had got blotches of a milky green colour through it.
I appreciate there are two sides to this story regarding my experience. I'll do my upmost here to remain balanced and fair. However as pictures tell a 1000 words, I'll include them as they show what I was up against here. I also have the emails which I believe support my account of what I experienced.
I had seen the Low Life Stealth at Bus fest in 2017. When I asked the guys on the stand, I was told they could fit the roof to a Shuttle. Indeed they had published photos of one fitted to a Shuttle, albeit a T5. It clearly showed added roof vents for the Shuttles heating system.
So I booked my van for its fitting with them and agreed to pay the additional £250 to have the vent kit fitted. A couple of weeks before the van was due for fitting, I was told by Low Life that there was a delay in the production of the LWB roof tent material. They wanted to make sure it was correctly produced before it went to market. In fairness, they offered me my deposit back. But no, I thought, they're making the right noises about wanting it to be right, before it goes on sale. So I stuck with them and agreed a new fitting date 5 weeks later.
So on a Monday, I took my van the 270 mile trip to Congleton. I asked for one thing, and one thing ONLY. When the roof lining was cut, I asked for them not to glue the lining in place, once it was folded over the cassette. The reason being, if it was glued down, I wouldn't be able to get under it to feed wires for interior lighting. I was quite prepared to fix it down myself.
So, expecting to collect the van the following Friday, I was contacted on the Thursday and informed it wouldn't be ready. It would have to be collected the following Tuesday. Subsequently, the delay ment additional travel expense, 1000 miles put on my wife's car instead of 540 miles on the van, and the inability for me to attend and support my wife with a distressing family matter.
Prior to collection, Low Life had also published a YouTube clip on Facebook showing my van. When I watched this, I noticed they hadn't fitted the correct colour bed board carpet that I had ordered. I called and informed them of this, and they agreed they had forgotten my request.
I was also told they were struggling to install the vent kit. They had discovered the wiring loom above the headlining was much thicker on T6 compared to their T5 and this was causing clearance problems. In an effort to assist them with an idea, I emailed a sketch of a possible solution, flattening the profile of the round ducting and slicing the top off the vent. See 1st picture below.
On the Tuesday, I returned to Congleton to collect my van. This is what I was presented with.......
I was shocked at what I saw. The one thing I had asked for them not to do had been interpreted as......
Fitting a handcut bed board. So the hatch wasn't symetrical and only fitted one way round. (They had run out of perfectly eliptical CNC cut hatches).
Stone carpet on front board only.
No carpet on centre board.
Grey carpet on rear board.
No hinges were fitted to join the 3 boards together.
The gas struts weren't fitted.
The bed board linkages weren't fitted.
They hadn't fitted the duct and vent system.
They hadn't cut the roof lining to shape or folded it over the cassette.
Again, domestic circumstances ment I had to take the van there and then to get home. £5000 stupidly handed over. (Albeit sensibly on a credit card).
But I set off for home, furious.
After emails and phone calls to Low Life the van was going back. I'd paid for them to do the job in the first place. I hadn't paid for a kit of parts and some scraps of carpet to complete the job myself. Meantime, embarrassed to have anyone near the van, let alone in it, I cut the headlining myself. Attached lengths of velcro down each side and along the rear of the cassette. Temporarily fitting the headlining in place. I carpeted the centre board with the scraps I'd been given. So It looked like this.
Now I'm just an amateur, but as a temporary fix, I think I achieved a considerably neater job which fell just within my capabilities, contrary to Ian's nonsense claims. However, that's not the point. Low Life thought it was acceptable to take full payment for a job nowhere near finished. There was never any discussion about me doing anything more than simply sticking the lining in place.
The zip around the tent hinge flap on one side was excessively tight. It was difficult to use the zip and I was certain the tension would cause the zip to fail. The zip stitching could also be seen to be under strain. Ian knew about this issue when the vehicle was handed over, as he showed me a way of manipulating the zip by only opening the roof by about a third of its elevation. But he was happy for it to be released to his customer and put into service in this state.
I then started noticing small rusty specs on the bodywork and around various crevices. Alarmed, I phoned Low Life requesting to know if they'd taken an angle grinder to my roof. I was told no. They apparently had a bandsaw in the workshop. The filings where supposedily from that. I have no recollection of seeing a bandsaw in their workshop but gave them the benefit of the doubt.
They reluctantly agreed to replace my canvas due to the zip issue. When I took the van back Ian tried the zip again for himself. Low and behold, it failed in his hand and the zip burst.
So after another trip south and a week without my van, I got the van back with the job completed. The tension on the zip was less but still left me feeling uncomfortable. It didn't need to be that tight. A design flaw was admitted, in that the tightness of the bend the zips negotiate, causes the teeth not to interlock properly when the roof is fully elevated.
This time when the van was handed over, there was about a dozen smears of silicone over the bodywork and windows. Along with grubby finger prints all the over the roof lining. The roof lining had been creased where it joined the cab roof. I found a knife blade, bonding itself to the rubber seal above the windscreen a couple of weeks later.
Then I was horrified to discover this under the front of the roof when it was elevated.....
For all the world, it looked like the roof had fractured and cracked. Another call to Low Life. I was told, the LWB roof mould uses polythene. Folds in the polythene produces ridges in the gel coat. Fair enough. It wasn't cracks I was looking at but rather ridges. But everytime you see it, you double take, thinking your roof has shattered. Why couldn't they just buff the gel coat down to a smooth finish rather than leave it like this.
Remember those iron filing rusty specs. Well I kept finding them. I discovered my wiper blades had been impregnated with the tiny molten particles. Not wanting to risk scratches on the glass, I had the expense of replacing all three wipers.
So then I took my van along to a local company to have window tints applied. 'Your windows are contaminated with something odd' he said. 'Come and see this'. Little pit marks and tiny particles of metal on the inside of the glass. So, the vertical blade of a bandsaw fires sparks horizontally with enough force that they bond to glass, does it!
Raging!!!
I've also since discovered the that the zip on the panoramic part of the canvas has been stitched on, in a nice straight line. However, clearly the material has then been flipped over and a storm flap has been stitched on other side. So the storm flap stitching runs in and out of the zip material in a stretched out wave. Small detail, but annoyingly noticeable. Looks likes it been stitched in by someone on drink.
More worryingly the press studs used to hold back the window flaps, are starting to wear holes in the canvas when the roof is in the collapsed position. Theres a small bouncing movement on the roof when its down. Just flex to be expected. But enough to cause friction as the studs rub holes in the material above it. Gaffer tape solution I'm afraid.
Then one day, I looked out the bedroom window overlooking my drive. I couldn't believe what I was looking at. The roof had got blotches of a milky green colour through it.
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Phoned Ian. Again. To be told that they had seen one other van do this. It's either the cold or UV light that causes it. Binding agent is the problem and production has been changed to address the issue, I was told. Great. So why have I been sold a roof with a defect that was known likely to materialise. He also told me that as it's a cosmetic issue, it wouldn't be covered under warranty. This was the point where my patience evaporated. 'Aesthetics, Aesthetics, Aesthetics.....favourable strength to weight ratio.......and did I mention.....AESTHETICS! That is why people buy carbon fibre. Because of how it looks! Because I bought a black CF roof so that in 2 months time it would turn GREEN!' It had got to the point where I asked him, how long would it take to fit a new roof, before he agreed to pay 300 quid to get my roof colour coded. In the interest of compromise, I agreed to foot the other £50 It cost to get it done locally. Again, it was fight to get this done. I shouldn't of had to loose the plot over a fault where something is so blatantly defective. They'd have been quite happy for me to see this every time the roof was elevated and just be content, that it's only cosmetic.
I was at a VW event a few weeks ago with the family, and happened to come across another Low Life Stealth roof fitted van in the car park. So I got myself to an elevated position so I could see the roof. Guess what colour it was changing to. So that's three vans I'm aware of now with this issue.
So again, let's try and stay balanced.
Admittedly, I've not mentioned the wiper blades, glass pitting, zip stitching and press stud issue to Ian. Quite frankly I was so done with the hassle of getting them to address the issues. Nothing was forth coming with getting things put right with this company. I couldn't be arsed driving to Congleton again. I was sick of the grief and had enough to be dealing with over and above this.
They broke my interior mirror. But they ordered a new one and posted it to me to for me to fit myself. Apparently I'm competent enough to do that.
They offered me £200 compensation. Every penny of that went on travel expenses. They did however, collect me and drop me off at the local train station.
I was told it was me that had a problem with 'expectation'. Really. Look at the pictures. I'm not deluded enough to expect VW factory finish, even though they advertise 'OEM look' when describing their product. But come on, just basic things, let alone the dogs dinner of how the van was handed over.
I was moaned at because they had made a loss on my van. Perhaps they had. I'd like to sympathise but really they need to put it down to development cost. But somebody handed over £5000 of their savings. I think I was far more patient with them than many would be. I even found it in me to give a fair review on just the product, which Ian himself described as 'right down the middle'. But I'm afraid the camels backs been broken. (Probably by carrying a mug of a donkey).
Having an engineering background, I fully accept things go wrong and products need developed. But as it has been said before on this forum, the measure of a company is when things go wrong, it's how they go about putting it right. I'm afraid for me, with Low Life, it was a fight all the way.
If they had turned round and said, were really sorry. Circumstances have meant your van isn't finished. Can we get you a courtesy car/van to get you home? We'll get your van to you as soon as we can, I'd have accepted that. But to come up with this cock and bull story about agreeing to do this work myself whilst taking 5 grand is just appalling. As I said above, disgusted by the customer service.
I was at a VW event a few weeks ago with the family, and happened to come across another Low Life Stealth roof fitted van in the car park. So I got myself to an elevated position so I could see the roof. Guess what colour it was changing to. So that's three vans I'm aware of now with this issue.
So again, let's try and stay balanced.
Admittedly, I've not mentioned the wiper blades, glass pitting, zip stitching and press stud issue to Ian. Quite frankly I was so done with the hassle of getting them to address the issues. Nothing was forth coming with getting things put right with this company. I couldn't be arsed driving to Congleton again. I was sick of the grief and had enough to be dealing with over and above this.
They broke my interior mirror. But they ordered a new one and posted it to me to for me to fit myself. Apparently I'm competent enough to do that.
They offered me £200 compensation. Every penny of that went on travel expenses. They did however, collect me and drop me off at the local train station.
I was told it was me that had a problem with 'expectation'. Really. Look at the pictures. I'm not deluded enough to expect VW factory finish, even though they advertise 'OEM look' when describing their product. But come on, just basic things, let alone the dogs dinner of how the van was handed over.
I was moaned at because they had made a loss on my van. Perhaps they had. I'd like to sympathise but really they need to put it down to development cost. But somebody handed over £5000 of their savings. I think I was far more patient with them than many would be. I even found it in me to give a fair review on just the product, which Ian himself described as 'right down the middle'. But I'm afraid the camels backs been broken. (Probably by carrying a mug of a donkey).
Having an engineering background, I fully accept things go wrong and products need developed. But as it has been said before on this forum, the measure of a company is when things go wrong, it's how they go about putting it right. I'm afraid for me, with Low Life, it was a fight all the way.
If they had turned round and said, were really sorry. Circumstances have meant your van isn't finished. Can we get you a courtesy car/van to get you home? We'll get your van to you as soon as we can, I'd have accepted that. But to come up with this cock and bull story about agreeing to do this work myself whilst taking 5 grand is just appalling. As I said above, disgusted by the customer service.
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@Dieseldonkey a very good review with the pictures to demonstrate fact. You are right, most of us have to save up for a very long time to get these additions on our vans, so that we can take that special holiday time with our family’s, I personally don’t think that it is too much to expect that those people taking that money should handle your vehicle with more care than if it were there own. Well done for speaking up.
Oh wow Dieseldonkey, this seems more down to the fitter? Had a similar experience with a pop tops slimline roof that I think was more down to a fitter (10 mins from me thankfully).
Was looking at Hilo for new van but don’t want to loose the headroom, there are others such as Buspoke who fit these stealths I might consider
Was looking at Hilo for new van but don’t want to loose the headroom, there are others such as Buspoke who fit these stealths I might consider
@Dieseldonkey For 5 grand I think you've got the right to expect perfection - not compromise. There are far cheaper options, so you'd think you're paying for a high quality job - not this shambles.
Thanks for taking the time to detail all of this - very illuminating.
Thanks for taking the time to detail all of this - very illuminating.
That was £5k?!
I thought the point of a lowlife was that they were cheap, for another £1k you can get a proper high spec HiLo fitted.
Just wow, feel sorry for you and the way it worked out.
I thought the point of a lowlife was that they were cheap, for another £1k you can get a proper high spec HiLo fitted.
Just wow, feel sorry for you and the way it worked out.
Did you ever get one fitted?
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