If I knew then what I know now
So here is a consumer warning straight from the street about a shifty, fly-by-night business that you want to avoid when it comes to 5th wheel/travel trailer and portable storage manufacturing, sales and service.
I made the huge mistake of hiring Bill Wyrick at Auto Mate out of Los Banos, California to build a fifth wheel for me in which I paid thousands for. Since completion and pulling my rv off the lot, I've experienced numerous problems ranging from fundamental design flaws to unserviceable fused circuit boards sealed inside the walls of my rv. For the first few months of warrantee, anytime something went wrong, I would have to drag rv back to their shop (120 miles round trip) to leave it there. I had to do this for ridiculous corrections that were missed missed during manufacturing and upon completion of rv.
Example: an adjustment to a slide that wasn't installed correctly. Then go back to pick it up and slide still did not open and close as it should. I had to apply a five dollar can of insulation foam to fill a gap where the slide wouldn't close all the way.
A couple camping trips later and I'm headed back to Los Banos for more corrections and repairs for my brand new multi thousand dollar 5th wheel.
- One of which was squeaky floor boards during maiden voyage.
- Air bubbles developing in the rubber floor of my ramp door. Shortly after,
- the support springs installed on ramp door broke off one at a time due to improper placement.
- Delaminating rubber roof.
- Exterior molding that rotted off inside of 9 months.
- Incompatible LP hose connectors.
- Improper generator instillation that started to melt my rv.
- Over tightened hose clamps that caused oil leaks and a $600 shop bill.
I discovered by accident and before an accident, that the hitch provided by Auto Mate and used to haul my rv was grossly underrated. The list goes on. To ad insult to injury, each event that was supposed to be covered under warrantee, was like pulling teeth that always included some elaborate excuse or story. Recently and long after manufacturing warrantee has expired, more problems that have earned my rv it's name, Just Bill Me. Nick named after the slimy fast talking owner, Bill Wyrick. For each set of problems this guy always has a shpeel that results with either more money, more inconvenience, stalling and talking in circles to avoid any responsibility.
Then, Auto Mate went out of business. I remember feeling like I'm on my own with this rv and hoping for no further problems.
Recently one of my slides stopped working. Brought rv in for repair of my slide to two different dealers and both couldn't find why my slide wouldn't slide out. Slide motor working fine. No breakers or fuses out. No sign of a bad ground or a short. Then when I got rv back to storage, late at night, I noticed a strange noise coming from inside a partition while pressing the button to the broken slide. The service yards where I brought trailer were too noisy and you couldn't hear the noise coming from inside my wall. Desperate for answers, I reached out to the rv manufacturer again despite last hearing they had went out of business. Much to my surprise, Mr. Wyrick and Auto Mate, or, Los Banos rv Center, had somehow managed to start up shop again. I confronted Mr. Wyrick about my failing slide and the odd noise coming from an inaccessible and unserviceable portion of the rv wall. At that point he vehemently denied any practice of construction or installation of anything in his 5th wheel and trailer walls or partitions. Since then I have documented via video camera of the extraction of a Power Gear circuit board with a replaceable fuse attached to it. The circuit board apparently stopped working and as a result, I can't get the 12 volt power to my slide to open and close it. I've sent the video clip to Mr. Wyrick at Auto Mate and followed up with a phone call in which I was able to speak with him. His response was he had decided to claim that I was verbally abusive and hung up on me. I've tried to contact him since to no avail.
This slide takes up half the rv and the rv is literally inside of itself when it's inoperable. I've taken steps to contact Power Gear for a replacement circuit board. Power Gear has been very helpful.
For a brief moment I was relieved when I found out that Auto Mate was back in business. Soon after and faster then I could put it into words, I quickly discovered that not much has changed and I am still on my own with this 5th wheel. My last words with the owner at Auto Mate or whatever name they might be doing business as, was vowing to warn as many consumers, rv'ers and applicable authorities about his questionable workmanship and his gross and blatant lack of concern to stand behind his product.
It's quite possible that Mr. Wyrick will be watching his P's and Q's around future prospects once he finds out this review is public,... just like he did before he got my money.
Quinton Hayes,
Not proud Auto Mate owner
I made the huge mistake of hiring Bill Wyrick at Auto Mate out of Los Banos, California to build a fifth wheel for me in which I paid thousands for. Since completion and pulling my rv off the lot, I've experienced numerous problems ranging from fundamental design flaws to unserviceable fused circuit boards sealed inside the walls of my rv. For the first few months of warrantee, anytime something went wrong, I would have to drag rv back to their shop (120 miles round trip) to leave it there. I had to do this for ridiculous corrections that were missed missed during manufacturing and upon completion of rv.
Example: an adjustment to a slide that wasn't installed correctly. Then go back to pick it up and slide still did not open and close as it should. I had to apply a five dollar can of insulation foam to fill a gap where the slide wouldn't close all the way.
A couple camping trips later and I'm headed back to Los Banos for more corrections and repairs for my brand new multi thousand dollar 5th wheel.
- One of which was squeaky floor boards during maiden voyage.
- Air bubbles developing in the rubber floor of my ramp door. Shortly after,
- the support springs installed on ramp door broke off one at a time due to improper placement.
- Delaminating rubber roof.
- Exterior molding that rotted off inside of 9 months.
- Incompatible LP hose connectors.
- Improper generator instillation that started to melt my rv.
- Over tightened hose clamps that caused oil leaks and a $600 shop bill.
I discovered by accident and before an accident, that the hitch provided by Auto Mate and used to haul my rv was grossly underrated. The list goes on. To ad insult to injury, each event that was supposed to be covered under warrantee, was like pulling teeth that always included some elaborate excuse or story. Recently and long after manufacturing warrantee has expired, more problems that have earned my rv it's name, Just Bill Me. Nick named after the slimy fast talking owner, Bill Wyrick. For each set of problems this guy always has a shpeel that results with either more money, more inconvenience, stalling and talking in circles to avoid any responsibility.
Then, Auto Mate went out of business. I remember feeling like I'm on my own with this rv and hoping for no further problems.
Recently one of my slides stopped working. Brought rv in for repair of my slide to two different dealers and both couldn't find why my slide wouldn't slide out. Slide motor working fine. No breakers or fuses out. No sign of a bad ground or a short. Then when I got rv back to storage, late at night, I noticed a strange noise coming from inside a partition while pressing the button to the broken slide. The service yards where I brought trailer were too noisy and you couldn't hear the noise coming from inside my wall. Desperate for answers, I reached out to the rv manufacturer again despite last hearing they had went out of business. Much to my surprise, Mr. Wyrick and Auto Mate, or, Los Banos rv Center, had somehow managed to start up shop again. I confronted Mr. Wyrick about my failing slide and the odd noise coming from an inaccessible and unserviceable portion of the rv wall. At that point he vehemently denied any practice of construction or installation of anything in his 5th wheel and trailer walls or partitions. Since then I have documented via video camera of the extraction of a Power Gear circuit board with a replaceable fuse attached to it. The circuit board apparently stopped working and as a result, I can't get the 12 volt power to my slide to open and close it. I've sent the video clip to Mr. Wyrick at Auto Mate and followed up with a phone call in which I was able to speak with him. His response was he had decided to claim that I was verbally abusive and hung up on me. I've tried to contact him since to no avail.
This slide takes up half the rv and the rv is literally inside of itself when it's inoperable. I've taken steps to contact Power Gear for a replacement circuit board. Power Gear has been very helpful.
For a brief moment I was relieved when I found out that Auto Mate was back in business. Soon after and faster then I could put it into words, I quickly discovered that not much has changed and I am still on my own with this 5th wheel. My last words with the owner at Auto Mate or whatever name they might be doing business as, was vowing to warn as many consumers, rv'ers and applicable authorities about his questionable workmanship and his gross and blatant lack of concern to stand behind his product.
It's quite possible that Mr. Wyrick will be watching his P's and Q's around future prospects once he finds out this review is public,... just like he did before he got my money.
Quinton Hayes,
Not proud Auto Mate owner
