First Time Buyer...Updated 03/06/2006
This post is intended to be helpful to the first time buyer of a motor home. For those of you who don't fall into that category or believe this post is incomplete or off the mark, do us all a favor, a...
Forum Discussion
Kay your post points out the weakness of this industry and the lack of any standards with teeth. While many new motor homes have some issues that can take a couple years to work through it never the less is troublesome to hear stories like yours when in good faith placed your hard earned money down for a home that is not meeting the performance level one would expect after spending $185K per one ad I saw. The first hit on Google when searching “Sportscoach Elite quality complaints” provides you a story similar to your story for a 2005 Elite. http://www.epinions.com/content_173887622788 2005 Coachman Elite story
According to http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/recalls/recallresults.cfm?start=1&SearchType=QuickSearch&rcl_ID=07V341000&summary=true&PrintVersion=NO Recall there is a potential engine failure with the CM 850 diesel engines but that is not likely a concern for you since it only applied to 49 units of the 2007 model year. While Freightliner is a wonderful company it just goes to show you they got let down by Cummins who supplied the engine.
Coachmen 2007 Sportscoach Elite motor coach
August 6, 2007 - On certain motor coaches built with Cummins ISL CM850 diesel engines, the connecting rod contains a machining defect in the wrist pin bushing of the rod that could cause a seizure of the piston pin. If allowed to progress, this can lead to engine failure with the possibility of the rod rupturing the lock cavity, spilling oil and debris onto the roadway increasing the risk of a crash.
I know a guy who bought a brand new mobile home from Fleetwood (a motor home less the truck) and he fought with them for years over major quality issues. I know some that work in a local Fleetwood factory and the stories you can hear about quality is not good. The ones building mobile homes often are not tradesmen with skills but just people hired off the street to push them out the door and let the dealers fix what should have been fixed in the factory right the first time. Even from down under we hear the same stories http://www.motorsm.com/complaints/caravans/default.asp Stories from down under
http://www.my3cents.com/showReview.cgi?id=14807 tells of a person who went 640 miles to save a mint with less than great results but with Google no one would buy anything if they researched their future purchases. Low cost dealers
It is true there are many happy campers out there who do not post how excited they are. Many wait out the first owner buy at steep discounts after the bugs get addressed during the first few years or go ahead and spend the same about of money as you did and get a Prevost that cost the same as the lower quality mobile home based motor homes. Slides are nice and at some point the hardware manufactures will perfect the slide technology and the bad ones will go out of business hopefully but they add complexity to an already complex machine. They are really nice if you are looking for a house instead of a rolling hotel.
The problems you have should get addressed in time and you will have a nice MH for years to come. The more you use it the faster you will find the defects and quirks. Try to stay positive. Your initial objective was valid and while RV’s are not for masses there are now 8 million households now in the US with one or more types of RV’s so it is huge. Remember there are people that live in units like yours so the bugs can be addressed even if you have to do it at your expense. Motor homes are very different and there is a learning curve to both maintaining them and enjoying them. You post can be very helpful to others that dig deep on the internet before spending on their first box on wheels.
As an added point you can find cases of about all brands of MH's where there were quality workmanship and dealership issues.
According to http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/recalls/recallresults.cfm?start=1&SearchType=QuickSearch&rcl_ID=07V341000&summary=true&PrintVersion=NO Recall there is a potential engine failure with the CM 850 diesel engines but that is not likely a concern for you since it only applied to 49 units of the 2007 model year. While Freightliner is a wonderful company it just goes to show you they got let down by Cummins who supplied the engine.
Coachmen 2007 Sportscoach Elite motor coach
August 6, 2007 - On certain motor coaches built with Cummins ISL CM850 diesel engines, the connecting rod contains a machining defect in the wrist pin bushing of the rod that could cause a seizure of the piston pin. If allowed to progress, this can lead to engine failure with the possibility of the rod rupturing the lock cavity, spilling oil and debris onto the roadway increasing the risk of a crash.
I know a guy who bought a brand new mobile home from Fleetwood (a motor home less the truck) and he fought with them for years over major quality issues. I know some that work in a local Fleetwood factory and the stories you can hear about quality is not good. The ones building mobile homes often are not tradesmen with skills but just people hired off the street to push them out the door and let the dealers fix what should have been fixed in the factory right the first time. Even from down under we hear the same stories http://www.motorsm.com/complaints/caravans/default.asp Stories from down under
http://www.my3cents.com/showReview.cgi?id=14807 tells of a person who went 640 miles to save a mint with less than great results but with Google no one would buy anything if they researched their future purchases. Low cost dealers
It is true there are many happy campers out there who do not post how excited they are. Many wait out the first owner buy at steep discounts after the bugs get addressed during the first few years or go ahead and spend the same about of money as you did and get a Prevost that cost the same as the lower quality mobile home based motor homes. Slides are nice and at some point the hardware manufactures will perfect the slide technology and the bad ones will go out of business hopefully but they add complexity to an already complex machine. They are really nice if you are looking for a house instead of a rolling hotel.
The problems you have should get addressed in time and you will have a nice MH for years to come. The more you use it the faster you will find the defects and quirks. Try to stay positive. Your initial objective was valid and while RV’s are not for masses there are now 8 million households now in the US with one or more types of RV’s so it is huge. Remember there are people that live in units like yours so the bugs can be addressed even if you have to do it at your expense. Motor homes are very different and there is a learning curve to both maintaining them and enjoying them. You post can be very helpful to others that dig deep on the internet before spending on their first box on wheels.
As an added point you can find cases of about all brands of MH's where there were quality workmanship and dealership issues.
