New Buyer, This is not fun

[fcwatson]

First let me say, I am not sure if this is the right place to post this point.

I purchased a brand new top of the line Heartland Big Horn 5th wheel, 10/2013. From the moment I walked into to it I have had nothing but problems with it, over 30 warranty issues from the small to the large within 4 months.

I toured the factory right after the coach had been completed, and realized very quickly I had made a very bad choice in an RV company. I wish there was a forum where I could have gone to and found the good, the bad and ugly on various manufacturers.

Seems you only hear the truth after you have purchased one and it's then to late and the info is only by word of mouth. Most forums do not have an outlet for what I would call a Lemon, which is what I believe I have.

I am spending all my time documenting the problem, fixing the problem, finding repair people, arranging for things to be fixed, coordinating repair people etc. There has been nothing fun about spending 1/3 of my savings to do this. If this is the RV life, Im not missing anything.

I am told by Heartland no refund, but do not feel with all my problems this is right. Heartland owes me a new working non fixer upper or a refund, however having seen how they build coaches I do not want another Heartland product.

Companies should be responsible for their actions and if there is no outlet for the consumer to make them responsible then we are the losers in this investment. Why is there no place for future buyers to go.

I want my experience to be heard so that buyers will be made aware and the RV industry will be held responsible.

I have a dedicated Facebook page outlining my experiences with photos, but understand URL's are not allowed in this forum.

Just my thoughts for tonight.

[kzspree320]

The OP (fcwatson) says:
"I am spending all my time documenting the problem, fixing the problem, finding repair people, arranging for things to be fixed, coordinating repair people etc. There has been nothing fun about spending 1/3 of my savings to do this. If this is the RV life, Im not missing anything."

I can't understand this. It makes no sense to me. If this is a new camper as claimed, the dealer should have repaired everything under warranty. Why would they have needed to spend 1/3 of their savings?

This post just does not add up to me. I wish them good luck with whatever problems they have.

[ScottG]

After the flame and blame reception the OP got, I'd be surprised if we heard from them again.

[rhagfo]

I wonder if it is in part to watching them being built??
I one was thinking that an RV is "Hand Crafted" then watched an assembly line they are likely thinking OMG!!
Sure they are put together quickly, but in reality Henry had a good plan when he came up with it.

[bob34787]

bought a Landmark last week and other than a few fixes that the dealer missed and has corrected seems to be the most trouble free unit i have ever bought. Time will tell but my last 3 top of the line Cedar Creeks spent more time being fixed than I actually had use of them and that was from the date of acceptance. If you expect a 10,000 to 15,000 lb RV hauled from Indiana behind Bubba"s truck at high speed to be trouble free than you are going to be greatly dismayed .

[Michelle_S]

Sort of sounds like closing the Barn Door after the animals have escaped.
With the number of RV forums you can find info on just about any brand/model, now in some cases you have to work your way thru some of the BS, but generally some good info there somewhere.

[aruba5er]

And I thought my 17 issues where a lot .Too bad you did not do a PDI before signing the papers or accepting the unit. They crank them out too fast at the factory and their attitude is "Let the dealer fix it". The dealer may not have that kind of margin in the sale to get to it when a paying customer is waiting for their repairs. Very Sad that the makers of RV's can get away with what they do. There was a video of PBS one night of the making of these things. Not good. Those people litterly flew putting in insulation, walls.etc.Not what I wanted to see. That being said, I will never buy another New unit. Let someone else go thought the shakedown and repairs.

[NC_Hauler]

I too owned a Coachmen Somerset, 04' 3slide....saw a lot of negative about Coachmen, had the 5er for three years and never had the first issue. Then purchased, brand new, in 07', the 5er in my sig., 06 Holiday Rambler 37RLQ Presidential Suite...heard some bad things about them too. Replaced a front landing gear on one side last year, cheap and easy...other than that, we love this unit, no issues and it's going on 8 yrs old....

Almost every manufacturer out there, no matter the reputation will make one that seems more problematic than the rest or "out of the norm".....

[greende]

And for all the Keystone bashing that goes on from a few people, I must say that we bought a new Cougar 5er and had only one minor problem that could have been fixed by me but I live 6 miles from CW and took it back just beacuse.

The point I'm making is that there are good and bad units in both new and used.

[ddschuman]

DSteiner51 wrote:
I've read enough and heard enough about peoples problems with their rigs, I feel very fortunate. My Coachman Ultralite has been so trouble free I'd be afraid to buy a another rig. In 13 years I've owned mine (15 year old) I've had a frig, a wheel brging, a frig vent, tires, and a fender need replaced. I just took out the carpet and put down vinyl flooring this winter. Does Coachman still have the same quality?

We have the Coachmen listed in signature. We bought it brand new in April 2013 and have had no major issues with it. We tightened a few screws here and there after and during first trip and had to fix the rubber trim that came loose around the front cap but that is it. I called Coachmen about the trim because the dealer said they couldn't get to it for 6 weeks and that I would void warranty if I tried to fix myself. Coachmen assured me that it was ok for me to fix and even told me what to use and how to do it. We love our FW and are very happy with the purchase. I have read many negatives about the Coachmen brand on here and so far, I have been given no reason to agree with them. We feel we made the right purchase for our needs in our price point. If we were fulltimers, we would have probably chose differently but as vacationers...this is perfect for us.

To the OP - Minor issues are common with any new RV and you should not let that ruin your camping experience. If you are having major issues, stay after the dealer and/or the manufacturer. As consumers, we expect what we pay hard earned money for should be flawless and we tend to want refund if not. Unfortunately, it doesn't work like items you purchase at Walmart. Vehicles, RV's, boats etc can not just be taken back for refund. There is process to the lemon law to get things done. It's a headache and time consuming but if you don't follow process, you will never be satisfied and be stuck with a lemon.

[spud1957]

newman fulltimer wrote:
The last i checked there are lots of threads on here about how bad keystone product has become.

The last I checked, Heartland/Big Horn is not a Keystone product.

[C_Schomer]

I feel for ya! Our third rv was a major POS and I learned more from that one than all the others put together. That one made a good rv repairman out of me. Craig

[Randu]

fcwatson---
"have a dedicated Facebook page outlining my experiences with photos, but understand URL's are not allowed in this forum"

You can link a site for purposes of additional information. It's the 10th button above where you start or reply to a thread that has the world and paper clip picture.

Knowing the type of "30 issues" will go a long way in getting good information from a forum. Most of the people that will respond are seasoned rv'ers that may have been there before and can help direct you. Vague references to this is a lemon don't help but rather hurts your credibility. Maybe you do have issues that warrant legal action or maybe you are seeing things that are normal but you don't know they are normal? More information like is it electrical, trim, carpet, etc. is needed.

Randu

[Elwoodj]

I hope this is not off topic. This is another reason I would almost never buy a new unit. Let owner number one do all of those issues. The nature of most rv,s (rolling up and down the road) means there is all ways going to be some repair issues. Further the fact that most warranties are only one year on such an expensive item says something. We have had several fifth wheels made by different companies and we seem to shake something alose every 1000 miles-lol.

[NC_Hauler]

goducks10 wrote:

NC Hauler wrote:
...so where is the OP?

Still documenting problems I guess.

:B...may be, doesn't sound good, but again, would like to know a little more about what dealer is doing for the OP

[goducks10]

NC Hauler wrote:
...so where is the OP?

Still documenting problems I guess.