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stew47's avatar
stew47
Explorer
Sep 12, 2015

Think we are done for season

This post is one part story and one part question. Few weeks ago we were returning from the campground when I hit a piece of metal on the interstate. Rear passenger duals both blew. Exhaust fell out, wheel well tore up, floor, insulation, propane lines, electric wires to furnace, furnace also received minor damage. I replaced tires while on side of road by jacking her up and taking to local Walmart. No it wasn't safe but I was mad because tow companies didn't answer phone. Moral of story carry cribbing and couple jacks. Called progressive next day. No problems there. They've already paid me for tires and exhaust. I took to local General rv for estimates. They haven't looked at it in two weeks but they say it's really busy and they promise to get to it as soon as they can. I'm ok with that the place seems busy. The insurance adjuster gave me a friendly warning that it may take a couple of months to repair so I guess that's it for 2015. Wasn't a bad year until this.

Now part 2 or the question. What on earth would we do if this motorhome was across the country? What would we do if we are full timers? I just wanna know because we have discussed going out on the road in 10 years when I retire. Ok I guess that's a few questions haha. Are 5ers going to give you more options when damage occurs? Thanks all.
Class A

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  • Tom_Barb's avatar
    Tom_Barb
    Explorer
    Sep 13, 2015
    stew47 wrote:
    This post is one part story and one part question. Few weeks ago we were returning from the campground when I hit a piece of metal on the interstate. Rear passenger duals both blew. Exhaust fell out, wheel well tore up, floor, insulation, propane lines, electric wires to furnace, furnace also received minor damage. I replaced tires while on side of road by jacking her up and taking to local Walmart. No it wasn't safe but I was mad because tow companies didn't answer phone. Moral of story carry cribbing and couple jacks. Called progressive next day. No problems there. They've already paid me for tires and exhaust. I took to local General rv for estimates. They haven't looked at it in two weeks but they say it's really busy and they promise to get to it as soon as they can. I'm ok with that the place seems busy. The insurance adjuster gave me a friendly warning that it may take a couple of months to repair so I guess that's it for 2015. Wasn't a bad year until this.

    Now part 2 or the question. What on earth would we do if this motorhome was across the country? What would we do if we are full timers? I just wanna know because we have discussed going out on the road in 10 years when I retire. Ok I guess that's a few questions haha. Are 5ers going to give you more options when damage occurs? Thanks all.
    Didn't you drive it to the repair facility? You could have driven it home.
  • Dutch_12078's avatar
    Dutch_12078
    Explorer III
    Sep 13, 2015
    stew47 wrote:

    Now part 2 or the question. What on earth would we do if this motorhome was across the country? What would we do if we are full timers? I just wanna know because we have discussed going out on the road in 10 years when I retire. Ok I guess that's a few questions haha. Are 5ers going to give you more options when damage occurs? Thanks all.

    Over the years we've had motorhomes, we've blown an engine, blown a transmission, destroyed a rear end, plus various other more minor, yet disabling, failures. In every case our emergency road service, Coach-Net for the past 8 years, has found us a competent tow service that responded in a reasonable amount of time, and depending on the circumstances, either hauled us to a qualified repair shop or first hauled us to a campground for the night, and then to a repair shop the following day when needed. Also in every case, we've been able to spend at least the nights in our coach, if not the actual working hours. Before we had a toad, one shop even loaned us a car to go grocery shopping and site seeing during the day while they worked on the engine replacement. The only time we haven't stayed in the coach was for two days/nights while a previous rig was being painted, and we didn't want to endure the smell. That time, we stayed in a rental cabin at a KOA. There's almost always a motel or some other alternative accommodation in the area, wherever we go, but fortunately, we haven't needed them except for the paint job.
  • stew47's avatar
    stew47
    Explorer
    Sep 13, 2015
    You could've used the funny response! It's ok it's almost funny now. We have so many misadventures as it is my coworkers start humming national lampoons vacation theme.
  • Johno02's avatar
    Johno02
    Explorer
    Sep 13, 2015
    Lots of available money helps. Save all you can for the next ten years.
  • Johno02's avatar
    Johno02
    Explorer
    Sep 13, 2015
    Lots of available money helps. Save all you can for the next ten years.
  • Raist11's avatar
    Raist11
    Explorer
    Sep 13, 2015
    I had a really funny drawn out post in response to this... but decided against it.

    Simply put, it's sort of obvious. If you have a 5er or a Class A.. if it's tore up you'd probably have to stay with friends or in a hotel/motel/apartment or something. If your tow rig or toad survived the accident then you'd still have transportation.
  • RayChez's avatar
    RayChez
    Explorer
    Sep 13, 2015
    Have a company like CoachNet tow it or load it on a flat bed truck and take it to a reputable repair shop. Get on your tow vehicle and drive home and wait for repairs. Now if you are a full timer that does put you in a hard spot. Some insurance companies will pay for you to stay in a hotel, but I am not sure what some have.

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