Took me several motor homes and many years - but it finally dawned on me that the manufacturers have it figured out pretty well. Offer a one year warranty - build in a few relatively minor problems - have your buyers take their new MH's back to the dealer for service and make them wait days - or perhaps weeks - for service. Then find the need for repair parts that take weeks to arrive - and soon the one year warranty period has expired. I say this a little 'tongue in cheek' - but it sure seems our MH's spend much of their first year at the dealers taking far too long to address relatively minor problems. Nothing similar to the service we receive from the chassis manufacturers - if in fact service is ever required. The MH manufacturers can - and should - do better.

Newmar does, we have no problems with the coach, just appliances. but when you buy a chip board queen you get less than you pay for.

In California, your warranty is extended by 1 day for each day you can document it was at the dealership. However I can feel for you. When my motorhome was about 9 months old, a weld broke in the front end. The dealership writer said "It will take 6 labor hours to make this repair". They asked Fleetwood to pay for it, but Fleetwood said "That sort of repair can be done in 4 hours." So basically my motorhome sat at the dealership lot for a month while they argued over the amount of money to be paid for that warranty repair. Meanwhile I was making the $600 payment on a nearly new RV I could not use. While they argued over $200, I was making another $600 payment without using it.I also had to go to the dealership, move a water coolant filter that I had installed after taking delivery of my motorhome. I had to take off work 2 hours early, take the RV off the sales lot, remove 3 bolts and used a large tie wrap (wire tie about 1/2" wide and 1/8" thick) to hold the filter in place - yet out of the way of the repairman. Why they could not remove those 3 bolts - I have no idea.Later that same dealership had to replace a rear axle seal under the 6 year extended warranty. During a week long trip, prior to taking it in, the brakes did have a slight oil smoking smell. After not agreeing to a $546.00 brake pad charge, the mechanic at the stealership coated the brake pad in oil, then put everything back together, WAY overtightened the lug nuts (I could not loosen them with a 24" long breakerbar, and my weight is over 225 pounds). I had to use my buddy's 3/4" drive impact gun that has over 500 foot pounds torque rating. The max torque of this lug nut is only about 150 foot pounds. I guess the mechanic felt I would take the RV right back to them once I discovered the smoking brake pads. However $55 at the local Napa store, and I had new brake pads installed in a 1/2 hour on both sides of the RV. My feeling is the leaking seal damaged the brake pads, it should have been a covered repair. Asking 10 X the value to install the pads, that is just mark up going to the extreme. They had to install one pad anyway (the old ones or new ones) so labor was covered by the extended warranty. When my wife brought the motorhome home, she ran into the house and said "The motorhome is on fire" - there was a HUGE amount of smoke coming from the passenger side brake pads. I was able to drive it over to my buddy's house without using the brakes much (drive slow and use 1 and 2 gear to slow down, try to make all the green lights) and it did not smoke much on that trip.Lucky for me, that was the last repair they did to the 4 year old RV, and it is now 16 years old. Fred.

Just a humble opinion but if you read some of the fine print that rv and auto manufactures put out #1 You get reconditioned parts. Those parts may not be available immediately when new parts are. #2 They short the dealers on repair costs. The dealer gives your RV the sunshine treatment until things are slow on paid repairs. When things are slow he does warranty repairs. #3 The squeaky wheel gets the oil. You have to be pushy. #4 Don't take it in for a long list of repairs, especially little things you can do yourself.

WyoTraveler wrote:Just a humble opinion but if you read some of the fine print that rv and auto manufactures put out #1 You get reconditioned parts. Those parts may not be available immediately when new parts are. #2 They short the dealers on repair costs. The dealer gives your RV the sunshine treatment until things are slow on paid repairs. When things are slow he does warranty repairs. #3 The squeaky wheel gets the oil. You have to be pushy. #4 Don't take it in for a long list of repairs, especially little things you can do yourself.1. Reconditioned parts are RARELY used on RV repairs. I always receive new parts for 99 99/100% of warranty repairs2. GOOD dealers do warranty at the same rate as CP repairs3. They sometimes short the dealer on repair costs, but that is rare too. BUY from another dealer and yes, YOU will wait while they argue over the cost. BUY from THAT dealer and they usually EAT the difference, DO the repair and then fight over reimbursement. That is why buying and patronizing your local dealer sometimes is a better idea. LOYALTY does matter for the majority of Dealers and business's. YOU have the advantage of stating you will not buy from him again if problems arise. Buying from another dealer and the dealer figuresd "WHO CARES"? You will not patronize him anyway, so what does he lose? 4. BUY from another dealer out of your location and YES, the odds are you will get the sunshine treatment, as WHY should any dealer put off HIS loyal customers that bought from him to get you into his service dept? THAT is human nature and the fact of business. Lots of dealers will make you wait to schedule your apt and then may put you behind other customers that bought from him if you live in the area and purchased elsewhere. Doug

Golden HVAC; Sounds like you were just dealing with a VERY shady dealer. I've heard so many horror stories of people taking their RV to dealers that they didn't buy the unit from and waiting months for service. I take my 2012 Winnebago Journey to a dealer that I didn't buy it from and get excellent service from them. If you pay attention as to how you're treated when you first walk into a dealers service center you can get a fairly good idea of how that dealer does business.

warranty secrets revealed | Good Sam Community

33 Replies

mtrumpet
Explorer
May 03, 2014
dougrainer wrote:
mtrumpet wrote:
Tntman wrote:
Sorry to be so late here!
You bought a Tiffin motorhome, Bob Tiffin WILL take care of ANY problems you may have PERIOD. My Phaeton had more than three years of work performed with no charge. When my exhaust pipe blew a hole EIGHT years after I bought the coach, I talked to Bob and he told me to send him the bills for the repair and he would take care of it. I TALKED directly to Bob, try that with ANY OTHER COACH manufacturer. When I am in Red Bay, I stop and talk to Bob, the owner of Tiffin. Try that with the owner, president or CEO of any other RV manufacturer.
Tiffin has a service center out west somewhere, take your coach there, call Bob in Red Bay if you have a problem.

That's all well and good, however, isn't it true that you have to take the coach all the way to Red Bay, Alabama in order to get warranty work completed? Or, will local Tiffin dealers (who have the capability) do the work? (I'm not commenting, I'm merely asking because I don't know.)

Having to have to run down to Red Bay for repairs wouldn't seem to do much good for those Tiffin owners in, say, the northeast or upper mid-west for example.

OUT of warranty, you MUST usually take the Tiffin to Red Bay for warranty consideration for major repairs. Tiffin has a West Coast area RV service center authorized to do those major type out of warranty, warranty repairs to keep from driving to Red Bay. 99% of Tiffin warranty work (non chassis) can be done by the Tiffin dealer network. Some people just like to go to Red Bay. Now, Tiffin has changed their policy last year.
Units within 2 years on new can make appointments at Red bay for warranty repairs
Units OUT of the 2 year time frame cannot make an appt and are served First come first served. You arrive sign in and they give you a ticket and you park in their camping lot and they come get you as service bays open up.
They did this because a LOT of their repairs were items that any dealer or authorized service center could do, but people just wanted to go to the factory and they were overloaded with these type repairs. Doug

Ah, OK. I see. Thanks for the explanation (which may help clarify for some of the Tiffin owners here). I figured that if anyone would know, it would be you Doug.
wa8yxm
Explorer III
May 03, 2014
Well, reading some of the comments here I need to make one I guess.. The rig in my Sig is a 2005 Damon Indruder.. Did (DO) I have a few issues.. YES.. and I am addressing them as I go along.. Would I buy another when this one wears out (Assuming I do not wear out first) Well, that is a complex question as some of the factors that went into deciding on this unit have changed.. For example, the key selling point on this unit was the Bath and a half floor plan.. I no longer need 2 holes as there is just me, no wife any more. But this has nothing to do with the quality of the motor home... IF I can find a wife 2.0 (And I am working on that, though not all that hard) yes, I'd buy another . The problems are simply not that bad and the one that was.. Warranted.

Also, the more I learn, the more problems I an either control or prevent or fix myself.. And I learn.... Well I enjoy learning, this makes me do lots of it.
dougrainer
Nomad
May 03, 2014
mtrumpet wrote:
Tntman wrote:
Sorry to be so late here!
You bought a Tiffin motorhome, Bob Tiffin WILL take care of ANY problems you may have PERIOD. My Phaeton had more than three years of work performed with no charge. When my exhaust pipe blew a hole EIGHT years after I bought the coach, I talked to Bob and he told me to send him the bills for the repair and he would take care of it. I TALKED directly to Bob, try that with ANY OTHER COACH manufacturer. When I am in Red Bay, I stop and talk to Bob, the owner of Tiffin. Try that with the owner, president or CEO of any other RV manufacturer.
Tiffin has a service center out west somewhere, take your coach there, call Bob in Red Bay if you have a problem.

That's all well and good, however, isn't it true that you have to take the coach all the way to Red Bay, Alabama in order to get warranty work completed? Or, will local Tiffin dealers (who have the capability) do the work? (I'm not commenting, I'm merely asking because I don't know.)

Having to have to run down to Red Bay for repairs wouldn't seem to do much good for those Tiffin owners in, say, the northeast or upper mid-west for example.

OUT of warranty, you MUST usually take the Tiffin to Red Bay for warranty consideration for major repairs. Tiffin has a West Coast area RV service center authorized to do those major type out of warranty, warranty repairs to keep from driving to Red Bay. 99% of Tiffin warranty work (non chassis) can be done by the Tiffin dealer network. Some people just like to go to Red Bay. Now, Tiffin has changed their policy last year.
Units within 2 years on new can make appointments at Red bay for warranty repairs
Units OUT of the 2 year time frame cannot make an appt and are served First come first served. You arrive sign in and they give you a ticket and you park in their camping lot and they come get you as service bays open up.
They did this because a LOT of their repairs were items that any dealer or authorized service center could do, but people just wanted to go to the factory and they were overloaded with these type repairs. Doug
nbargolf
Explorer
May 02, 2014
Everyone posting complaints about a dealer should state the dealer and the address. Should be too long and those guys will be gone. Just a thought.
mtrumpet
Explorer
May 02, 2014
Tntman wrote:
Sorry to be so late here!
You bought a Tiffin motorhome, Bob Tiffin WILL take care of ANY problems you may have PERIOD. My Phaeton had more than three years of work performed with no charge. When my exhaust pipe blew a hole EIGHT years after I bought the coach, I talked to Bob and he told me to send him the bills for the repair and he would take care of it. I TALKED directly to Bob, try that with ANY OTHER COACH manufacturer. When I am in Red Bay, I stop and talk to Bob, the owner of Tiffin. Try that with the owner, president or CEO of any other RV manufacturer.
Tiffin has a service center out west somewhere, take your coach there, call Bob in Red Bay if you have a problem.

That's all well and good, however, isn't it true that you have to take the coach all the way to Red Bay, Alabama in order to get warranty work completed? Or, will local Tiffin dealers (who have the capability) do the work? (I'm not commenting, I'm merely asking because I don't know.)

Having to have to run down to Red Bay for repairs wouldn't seem to do much good for those Tiffin owners in, say, the northeast or upper mid-west for example.
Effy
Explorer II
May 02, 2014
Just another post rehashing what we already know. There is no quality in the RV industry and little in the way of regulation. It takes either compeitition or oversight to make products "better". I prefer good old fashioned free market, be it foreign or otherwise to tighten things up. All oversight does is invovle the gubmint and drive up prices. But until a competitor steps up to make better quality at the same price (key point) you have 3 options; don't buy an RV, be as knowledgeable as you can - buy and deal with it, or pay a lot more money for a brand that adds the quality you are looking for. But I disagree with the OP's stance that's its all a ruse. I don't believe there is intentionally placed warranty items. I think they cut as many corners as they can cuz all of us suckers will still buy them. Slap em together, overlook known issues, get it off the line to sell, and deal with problems later. Its not about the product, its about money.
OhhWell
Explorer
May 02, 2014
peaches&cream wrote:
John S. wrote:
Reading these stories makes me glad I have a Foretravel. Even an old one can get fixed in two weeks at the factory with a long list. If you buy a new one they have a whole team dedicated to making it right. They send you out for a long weekend about 90 miles away and have you come back with anything that is wrong. Usually there is not much.

John, that sounds great, but. Could you not purchase 3 HR Ambassador's new for the same price as 1 Foretravel? That way if 1 was in the shop you would have use of the other 2. This holds true comparing yr. models for 15 yrs.

:B Good one.
peaches_cream
Explorer
May 02, 2014
John S. wrote:
Reading these stories makes me glad I have a Foretravel. Even an old one can get fixed in two weeks at the factory with a long list. If you buy a new one they have a whole team dedicated to making it right. They send you out for a long weekend about 90 miles away and have you come back with anything that is wrong. Usually there is not much.

John, that sounds great, but. Could you not purchase 3 HR Ambassador's new for the same price as 1 Foretravel? That way if 1 was in the shop you would have use of the other 2. This holds true comparing yr. models for 15 yrs.
JoeH
Explorer III
May 02, 2014
We just finished our first year of ownership of our current coach. We had several significant issues that required it to be in the dealership for extended periods of time. Now that things seem to have settled down, I went to the manufacturer and told them I wanted the warranty extended by the amount of time it was in the shop and I didn't have use of the unit. hey complied and extended the warranty at no cost to me for the agreed to duration.
John_S_
Explorer II
May 02, 2014
Reading these stories makes me glad I have a Foretravel. Even an old one can get fixed in two weeks at the factory with a long list. If you buy a new one they have a whole team dedicated to making it right. They send you out for a long weekend about 90 miles away and have you come back with anything that is wrong. Usually there is not much.