2010 Winnebago 40L. . .from Hell !

[jetartessales]

We just purchased a new (off showroom) 2010 Winnebago 40L from RV World in Nokomis, Florida. This purchase transferred to us on July 22, 2011.

Our shake down (understatement) trip of 3000 miles was a shocker. We turned the coach into RV. World service department with a total of 46 serious complaints. The pride of ownership fell from its graces almost at the snap of a finger. Here is the short list which includes the most serious.
1. Jacks will not work on manual. . .In "auto" the system raises the rear to the point of rear "4" being off the ground, then struggles to level front. . .without success. When raising jacks, the rear hang up until they cannot support the weight further, then "BANG" and the coach drops to the ground. In manual mode, the rear drop until they touch the ground then stop. Pushing front or left, only serves to run the pump
2. Both forward slides failed, the left during extension and the right during retraction.
3. Placing the AC blower on High, closes all the roof vents throughout!
4. MCD shades 3 failed . . .MCD says it is Winnebago install issue
5. We were locked inside our coach twice. Handing the keys through the window to a person outside to manually unlock the entry door freed us.
6. Every inch of the shoe molding at the base of the walls throughout came loose and worked away from the wall.
7. Foot rests (both) on Winnebago's mfg. pride and joy electric sofa BROKE and could not be used.
8. Shower surround (one piece shower enclosure) came loose from the coach bathroom walls and "oil cans" when you step into the shower. Shower floor is supported by a block of foam. . .you guessed it, the foam began colapsing as use progressed

A call to my dealer while enroute brought a call from "Steve" who is Winne's eastern Service manager. I offered to bring the coach to the factory at my expense. . .he said NO, due to the backlog of factory appointments thru the end of September. Steve set up a "bandaid" appointment with Tom Schaeffer's RV in Hamburg, PA. A call to the President remains unanswered.

I can go on and on with many other failures. I sit now, "coachless" while my dealer works through the list of problems.

Advice anyone ?

Thanks,
Eric & Anita Clapp
North Port, Florida

BTW, we just sold our 08 Fleetwood Discovery 40X which gave us 30K of virtually trouble free use. Our error !

[jetartessales]

Well, here we are the 21st of March and my Journey 40 L is still at the assigned dealer with the following un resolved issues:

a. Jack down warning system still intermittent. . .goes off whenever it feels like it.

b. Coach still not level when the Power Gear Panel green level light illuminates.

c. Still unable to use the shower as regardless of which you turn on first (Hot or Cold) you cannot mix to a comfortable temperature for use. You get a surge of scalding hot followed by a surge of chilling cold then it repeats itself. . .this in sync with the water pump

d. Circuit breaker on gen set trips and the gen goes off line. This is intermittent as well and happens two to three times a day when "dry" camping at our location. I go outside, open the access hood and reset breaker. This happens with basement air ON and TV on with two to three 12V lights and the refer on LP. I fear this will be a nightmare to trace. My concern is a loose connection which may be arching and could cause a fire.

All calls to the President were refused. I was informed he has subordinates who have the responsibility to resolve issues. I was after the fourth call, transferred to the V.P. in charge. Refreshing to a degree. When I informed him my request through Winnebago's field service manager to bring the coach to Iowa was refused, he was not happy. he offered their services if I returned to the factory BUT suggested I give the servicing (not selling) dealer another shot. We agreed, Servicing dealer then received a "do what ever it takss" email from the field service rep.

Maybe, just maybe when they finish this week, I will have all issues resolved. Servicing dealer VP does not want to see this coach on his property again due to the fact, they did not sell it. I fear once this attitude falls in place, service with results wanted fails as well.

That's it from sunny Florida where the Lemon Law ONLY applies to the chassis. . .not the house !

Eric and Anita Clapp

Total time in service thusfar since July 17, 2011. . .13 weeks !

[Ault]

You are correct, no lemon law for the coach part, only on the chassis in Fl. My Chassis has been great! The coach, we are getting there, only a couple write ups to go. If I get this one fixed it is a keeper, not going through this again.

[Ault]

And I own a 11 Tiffin Phaeton and it has had over 90 issues, a few very serious. No chassis issues from freightliner. I have been to the factory and dealer 5 times for several months getting all repaired. So get the Tiffin and join the fun. Red Bay Al. factory is nice this time of year for your new vacation head quarters.

[Jhlcopy]

I had many issues with winnebago and i am getting sick of it. I am trading my rv for Tiffin. I hope the new motor home is better than winnie.

[mccsix]

At this point I have to stand up and say If you want full customer support, buy an Entegra!!!
The best quality, fit, finish and after sale support for 2 years+. Tour their plant and you will be amazed at the engineering customer detail that goes into everyone of their motorhomes.
The attitude of the service personnel is like nothing I have ever seen anywhere. I have been through a number of Monaco/Keystone/ Tiffin products and never have experienced the "bend over backwards" customer attitude like you'll find at Entegra.
On my entrance level coach, I've had everything repair or replaced without hesitation, they even pulled their own thorough Post Delivery inspection and fixed a number of item I wasn't aware of.
They moved/rebuilt the Amish built cabinets by request, without charge or challenge. They installed new inverter outlets, additional bathroom lighting, added a full slideout topper without charge, and a whole list of small items.
Entegra is the best! (and no, I don't work for them)

[Oleo_Ranch]

Sorry to hear about your problems! I went thru the same in 2005. after the Texas Lemon Law adminstrator got thru, I received a brand new coach and a year later model, plus some $$$$. This did not make up for the year I lost while the lemon law was working.

Quality of a product is the responsibility of the PRESIDENT of the company. Start at the top and keep the pressure on---

the workers can only enforce his policies---if he does not care for a quality product, you will not get one.

[falconbrother]

The combination of cost and stories like these keeps me in my 20 year old motorhome. It's antiquated but, everything works and it's paid for. We were gonna move to a newer, or new motorhome next month but, have decided to keep driving the muppet bus.

I am so very sorry for your troubles with this motorhome. RV-ing should be pleasurable. That's what you paid for. That's what you should get.

[DanTheRVMan]

JC2 wrote:

oneolddog wrote:
The whole industry needs a wake up call. The only way that will happen if the consumer's demand it. Start by stopping defending what you own no matter what brand it is. Just because it puts a smile on your face driving down the road and you love it some of the time does not make it a great RV. I cannot believe how many people will defend the manufacturer of their RV even if it clearly has problems.

I don't think you could compare the RV manufacturing industry to any other industry in the world. I wish the Japanese or German's would come up with something to bring the US manufacturer's to their knees so they would be forced to stop getting away with selling junk with no quality control.

All that being said I can hardly wait to get my next piece of junk so I can go travelling in it!

Adam

I agree. We sometimes are our own worst enemy.:W

X3

I have seen horrible product and service by Tiffin similar to what the OP states about Winnie and I suspect it is industry wide. Yet people get very upset and come to the defense of these various manufacturers. :h It makes no sense to me. I wish Honda opened an RV division. Japanese auto industry woke up Detroit and Detroit's product is a LOT better than it use to be.

[traveylin]

A very appropriate option for new MH sales would be an allowance to return it to the factory for a refit after 10 months or 10000 miles. Regardless of the brand,the quality workmanship is highly variable with each unit, components utilized are commercial grade and startup failures are rampant. My Mh is currently getting the factory recall implementation at 11 months and I think it is the best part of the purchase process. The recall is not a result of purchase negotiation but rather inoperable slideout, inoperable level jack, third doorway stair mechanism, stuck windows, topper that has blown out and been replaced twice and misc issues.
The alternative to a planned refit would be to value a one/two year old unit higher than a new one because the bugs would be worked out. Seriously.

[gonesouth]

I have 3 comments:
1. The issue with MAx AC closing all fan vents: As they say in the software industry, that's not a bug, that's a feature!
2. When my Chevrolet engine blew up at 50,000 miles, the factory rep told me, "that's what you get when you buy a Chevy". I haven't made the same mistake again.
3. I'd think seriously think about parking outside the Winnie plant with Lemon signs saying "I wish Winnie employees took pride in their work"

BTW, I've heard one reason the Lemon sign doesn't work well anymore is that the CC Lemon guy was running about 35,000 pounds overwight and most of his issues were weight related.

[ct1978barnes]

I agree there should be a longer warranty for the hundreds of thousands we pay for Winnebago products. Why do we have to deal with all the problems during the first 12 months of service. (We northerners only have 6 months of warranty) I have been to Forest City,countless times,after I bought our new coach and have personally witnessed all the problems people have had with their new units and some of the aggravation they have to experience with customer service. I was a plant superintendent in a manufacturing facility and we had stringent "Quality Control" in place during the manufacturing process.

I believe if Winnebago had "Quality Control" in place and were committed to the quality phrase "DIRTFT" (do it right the first time) they would have a lot more satisfied customers and would definitely save money on service work. I have had the opportunity to talk to some of their employees in a non business environment and they stated the "Quality Control" they have has something to be desired. What they basically said that if there is a problem on the line that problem is ignored and they think it will be fixed at another work station. Winnebago should accept "Zero Defects" as a slogan for their manufacturing process and from their suppliers as well.

Quality starts with Bob Olsen and works its way down. Maybe that's why he didn't receive your letter but instead it went to customer service. Bob is probably to busy to talk to his customers and that is a "big mistake"

Its been stated on this thread that we have come to accept all the intiall problems we experience with new motorhomes. What is wrong with this thinking!!!!

[Jagtech]

Wow! After reading all of this, I'm so glad that I bought a 10 year old MH, which so far has been quite good. Sorry to hear all your troubles. But once its all fixed, you'll eventually love it.

[ct1978barnes]

Dear Bob Olson, Chairman, CEO, and President of Winnebago Industries,

We have been a loyal Winnebago customers since 2006. Our first coach was a 2003 Sightseer and we had such good luck with our used coach we special ordered this coach in March of this year and took delivery of our new coach on May 19 of this year. We knew up front that we would have bugs to work out in the first year and if you run our VIN number you will see we had our fair share in the first four months of service. That said, we are still loyal customers and I just got sworn in as Vice President of our WIT club. The reason for this email to you is that we are part of the baby boomer generation, your future customers. We are the youngest of our club at 52; with our kids through college and on their own, and with our house paid for we bit the bullet and ordered our new coach.

The problem with more of us younger boomers is your warranty is only 12 months. I think you would sell more coaches to us younger customers if you would give a longer warranty. With the way the economy has been, a lot of people have had to postpone their retirement and keep working. I am still working and we live in Ohio. So from November 1st until April 1st we have to put our brand new coach in storage in a building at our local fairgrounds. In essence, we lose 5 months of warranty.

I think that if you want to grow your business with our age group you need to have a storage option like GMAC Insurance. They allow us to put our coach in storage mode and just keep fire and theft until spring when we get it out storage. You could require proof that our coach is in storage or out of service.

This is the letter I sent to him but Customer service got it. I think you should be able to talk or email him and not have Customer service determine what he sees. I wonder how many good ideas that he gets but never sees because some one thinks it is not worth his time.

[ct1978barnes]

I have heard that Winnebago monitors this site and other sites.You would think if they do it would be a great resource for them. To see first hand what there customers go through. Maybe forward this thread to Owners Relation .

[Jarlaxle]

At this point...I would at least consider either getting a lawyer, or simply calling the finance company & telling them to come get it, it's a lemon.