Bay Hill

Evergreen RV came to my rescue on Aug. 27, 2013. I had a scheduled service appointment for repairs at Best RV in Turlock...a reluctantly granted appointment by the way. Any sane individual would never, ever want to have anything to do with Best RV as I discovered on the 27th. I arrived with my trailer at the appointed time. The service mananger / co-owner blatantly and rudely refused to provide warranty service on my 7 month old Bay Hill 5th wheel. After lengthy arguing I left Best RV with a bedroom slideout that would not function and other minor issues that could have been easily resolved.

Evergreen had apparently severed business dealings with Best RV and for that reason, according to the service manager, warranty service was no longer being offered even though it was part of the original purchase agreement. Evergreen directed me to an RV business that would honor the one-year original Evergreen warranty.

I should have practiced due diligence in researching the business reputation of Best RV in Turlock. Their egregious record with the Better Business Bureau, Yelp, Yahoo, and Kudzu should have provided sufficient red flags to steer clear of this dishonest RV business.

There is a very active Columbus group on Facebook.

I submitted the claim to EverGreen but was never reimbursed. The service provider was an independent operator based in San Jose, California. I've had a few communications with EverGreen and they are not very responsive or are very slow in responding. I'm still waiting to hear from them after several followup emails/phone calls.

I'm hoping to see reader feedback on the Columbus made by Palomino. It was one of the trailers my wife and I were considering before buying the Bay Hill.

Why was there a service charge by coach net? Shouldn't that be part of your membership?

So far, EverGreen has stood behind its warranty. The water tank was replaced but I ended up having to pay for the $200 Coach Net service call. The service tech immediately commented that the angle iron frame should have had had at least 1/2 inch metal to withstand the weight of an RV water tank. The tank was less than one-fourth full at the time of the incident. The auto-leveling system failed on my first trip in the new unit. To make a long story short, the other issues should have been caught before the unit ever left the factory. The newest major issue has been the failure to the bedroom slide unit to fully extend or retract.

The dealer is Best RV in Turlock, California. Their service department is satisfactory at best. They did rebuild the water tank frame with a higher gauge frame. Getting an appointment for servicing, however, sometimes takes many weeks of wait time. To this extent, my Bay Hill has been "out of service" almost as long as I have been able to use it. I have owned the Bay Hill for eight months.

My previous 5th wheel, a Cardinal, had many fewer problems within the first year of ownership.

Have they stood behind these issues with their warranty? Who is your dealer?

Think QUALITY CONTROL (or lack thereof) if considering a Bay Hill trailer. The fact that my bedroom slide has stopped functioning, the fresh water tank simply falling out of its frame, malfunctioning auto leveling, cable TV connections miswiring, and non-labeling of galley water release location have me doubting whether I made a wise purchase. Other minor issues abound.

Yes. I spoke directly with Brian Linn @ factory who gave me this info. and past weekend looked @ a couple of them @ a local dealer. Originally Evergreen had a couple of fifth wheel floor plans that were mid profile and were built @ their tavel trailer factory using the same materials and construction as the travel trailers. Since they introduced Bay Hill they are built @ the same factory as Lifestyle by the same workers and use vacuum lamination and luan. You are correct that they look good and nice fit & finish work.

Are you sure?

I stand corrected if true!

WoodGlue

The Bay Hill does not use thse same composites as the travel trailers. The Bay Hill side walls are vacuum laminated and do have luan backing. Gel coat is standard.