getting a camper worked on

I have found that RVs are quite simple beasts. There is not much that you can't figure out for yourself or find out about somewhere online. You don't need a university degree to work on it. You do need to be physically able & not afraid to get your hands dirty.

First resort for so many seems to be 'take it to the dealer'. Uh...no, not happening here. My Alpenlite is an orphan. It is kept in MD. Bought it from a dealership near Denver where the owner of the dealership had bought it for personal use. Liked it better than anything he had on his lot but his DW did not.

Had my share of little things going wrong in well over 100,000 trailer miles. Needed proffessional service only once. Fridge replacement. Could not do that by myself. Paying $100hr to diagnose & replace something like a sheared bolt on a slide drive shaft would hurt too much. Likewise rebuilding 5er landing leg innards or brake servicing.

I do almost all my own maintenance. I do have a local heavy duty truck service center close by that works on motor homes as well and are very fairly priced.

rockhillmanor wrote:

geraldblizzard wrote:
is it just me or is getting your camper worked on a nightmare?...hundred dollar an hour charges?...get out of here...these arent rockets.......is it like this everywhere in the US?

3 words
RV MOBILE REPAIR

2 words
NO BETTER

another two
BUYER BEWARE

Although he's a pretty good mechanic, next-door neighbor didn't have time to find out why his generator wouldn't keep running (before departing on a trip).

Class C outside at curb for the Mobil Repair guy.
Neighbor & his wife at work.

Wandered out to see if the repair guy had any repair "tricks" I hadn't seen.
He had an aerosol spray can of brake cleaner.
"Chummed him up" a bit - he said the carb just needed cleaning.

He was there about an hour at most, some of which he was BSing on his cell phone.
Tab, no parts req'd = $300...:(

Do your own maintenance and repairs if possible.

If you must have someone else do the work, do your best due diligence" for *ANY* repair service, whether they come to you - - or you go to them.

The hourly rate is what it is..:(


.

If you think the rate is too high, you simply don't understand what's involved.
I'm certainly not going to complain about how they have to struggle in order to pay all the bills plus make a reasonable profit.

Just because I can't afford it does not mean there aren't thousands of people who can.

BTW I do all my own maintenance and repairs. Like right now, I'm tackling a major roof job, and attempting to learn all about my TracStar SV360 in-motion satellite TV antenna system. Gotta figure out why it won't lock into the satellite. I rely on the help from the RV technicians here on these forums, plus the techs at the factory. Thanks

If I can't fix it my dealer charges $65 per hour...... Can't complain to the shop foreman he's the mechanic. Could complain to the owner..... I guess but not at $65 hr rate........ The entire RV dealership has 4 total employees including the owner if he is there......... They sell more campers than many big dealers....... (low overhead)

Oaklevel wrote:
If I can't fix it my dealer charges $65 per hour...... Can't complain to the shop foreman he's the mechanic. Could complain to the owner..... I guess but not at $65 hr rate........ The entire RV dealership has 4 total employees including the owner if he is there......... They sell more campers than many big dealers....... (low overhead)

With 3 employees (owner and 3 workers) and them selling more campers than the big dealers, how do you ever get any service work done? They are truly "speedy Gonzales".

I have a leisure travel van 2007 just purchased.getting used to everything ...for the life of me can,t lock my sliding door. everyother door locks when i use the remote and the remote hsasto be used it seems has an anyone else had this problem?anyhelp would be thankfull.

The RV service operations in my area require a much larger lot and much larger garage buildings and have to spread this over fewer repairs as compared to an auto repair shop. I expect to pay more and only to get charged only for the hours worked and that the repairs are done properly.

The problem is not the hourly rate but rather that real incomes for the 99% have been stagnant for the past 45 years. Had wages kept up as a percentage of corporate income at the same level as the 1950's and 1960's then the average income would be 3-4 times what it is and no one would be worried about the cost of service work on their RV.

wintersun wrote:
The RV service operations in my area require a much larger lot and much larger garage buildings and have to spread this over fewer repairs as compared to an auto repair shop. I expect to pay more and only to get charged only for the hours worked and that the repairs are done properly.

The problem is not the hourly rate but rather that real incomes for the 99% have been stagnant for the past 45 years. Had wages kept up as a percentage of corporate income at the same level as the 1950's and 1960's then the average income would be 3-4 times what it is and no one would be worried about the cost of service work on their RV.

Oh boy. It's thinking like this that brings people demanding $15 per hour to flip burgers.

I agree that they are not that hard to work on if you are handy.
I never take things in for repairs if i can help it.

I just pulled out my 14 foot slider to fix a weak water damaged beam and worked out great. Can only imagine what a dealer would have charged. I have about 300 dollars in parts and my time.