Winnebago Adventurer Roof issues

[fenwickfam]

Hi there! I'm hoping somebody out there has some insight for us on this topic:
We have a 2005 Winnebago Adventurer 38J
Over this past weekend (a very windy weekend, I might add!), we were traveling south on I-29. As a semi went by us (we were only traveling around 50 mph due to wind and visibility), we heard a noise. I told my husband that I thought he had blew a tire, as it was a sound I hadn't heard before. When he went to pull off at the exit, we heard an awful sound from above (like somebody wobbling a piece of sheet metal). When we got out of the MH to look, the tires were all fine, however, the roof wasn't. The roof had came out of the seam from above the driver door to behind the front slide out. I called our insurance company, who told us to secure it as much as we possibly could, and continue to drive it.
We used tape (all we had available) and drove it to the nearest campground. I spoke with the insurance company again on Saturday. Of course, no adjuster available, so was told to try to drive it home, and yes, they would still cover the damage if we drove it home. As we headed north on a back highway, the wind was once again terrible from the west, once again hitting us on the driver side. This time, it got under the tape, picked up the roof and tore it. Once again, I climbed up and taped it down as best I could... we turned around and went south and dropped the MH at our sons place, because there was no way we could get it home without even more damage.
Now, our insurance company today tells me that this is a common issue with Winnebago Adventurer roofs, and that they may not cover it.
Has anybody else run in to this problem? Is this a common Winnebago Adventurer problem? I did call one Winnebago dealer service shop that said that they are unaware of this being a common problem.
I would like any information anyone could help me with to argue with the insurance company about coverage on this.
Unfortunate timing, as I am changing insurance companies to the Good Sam Insurance as of October 4th. However, that doesn't change the fact that this occurred while under this insurance company.
Thanks for any information!!

[fenwickfam]

We did point this out to the insurance company and to the ND Insurance Commissioner. They had told us to contact an attorney. Sadly, an attorney would most likely run as much as the cost for the RV Armour roof and take more time to get the roof fixed. As it is, we can't travel any great distance with it, so it needs fixed sooner rather than later.

[1968mooney]

tropical36 wrote:

fenwickfam wrote:
Hi there! I'm hoping somebody out there has some insight for us on this topic:
We have a 2005 Winnebago Adventurer 38J
Over this past weekend (a very windy weekend, I might add!), we were traveling south on I-29. As a semi went by us (we were only traveling around 50 mph due to wind and visibility), we heard a noise. I told my husband that I thought he had blew a tire, as it was a sound I hadn't heard before. When he went to pull off at the exit, we heard an awful sound from above (like somebody wobbling a piece of sheet metal). When we got out of the MH to look, the tires were all fine, however, the roof wasn't. The roof had came out of the seam from above the driver door to behind the front slide out. I called our insurance company, who told us to secure it as much as we possibly could, and continue to drive it.
We used tape (all we had available) and drove it to the nearest campground. I spoke with the insurance company again on Saturday. Of course, no adjuster available, so was told to try to drive it home, and yes, they would still cover the damage if we drove it home. As we headed north on a back highway, the wind was once again terrible from the west, once again hitting us on the driver side. This time, it got under the tape, picked up the roof and tore it. Once again, I climbed up and taped it down as best I could... we turned around and went south and dropped the MH at our sons place, because there was no way we could get it home without even more damage.
Now, our insurance company today tells me that this is a common issue with Winnebago Adventurer roofs, and that they may not cover it.
Has anybody else run in to this problem? Is this a common Winnebago Adventurer problem? I did call one Winnebago dealer service shop that said that they are unaware of this being a common problem.
I would like any information anyone could help me with to argue with the insurance company about coverage on this.
Unfortunate timing, as I am changing insurance companies to the Good Sam Insurance as of October 4th. However, that doesn't change the fact that this occurred while under this insurance company.
Thanks for any information!!

Winnie may have this ongoing problem alright, but when insurance companies choose to insure, they've also chosen to pay for incurred damages.
Threaten them with calling your attorney and if they don't pay up, then do it. Most likely they'll come around to your line of thinking, in short order.
We have a large law firm in our area that especially dislikes insurance companies or so it seems. Calls them bullies and then brags that his firm, bully's bullies!.....lol

Just be aware. When you retain a attorney, you relinquish your rights to that attorney. I other words, don't expect the Ins. Co. to talk to you. They will deal with the attorney only. Most Ins. Co. would rather deal with an attorney than a irate client. They are only going to pay out so much, attorney or not.

[tropical36]

fenwickfam wrote:
Hi there! I'm hoping somebody out there has some insight for us on this topic:
We have a 2005 Winnebago Adventurer 38J
Over this past weekend (a very windy weekend, I might add!), we were traveling south on I-29. As a semi went by us (we were only traveling around 50 mph due to wind and visibility), we heard a noise. I told my husband that I thought he had blew a tire, as it was a sound I hadn't heard before. When he went to pull off at the exit, we heard an awful sound from above (like somebody wobbling a piece of sheet metal). When we got out of the MH to look, the tires were all fine, however, the roof wasn't. The roof had came out of the seam from above the driver door to behind the front slide out. I called our insurance company, who told us to secure it as much as we possibly could, and continue to drive it.
We used tape (all we had available) and drove it to the nearest campground. I spoke with the insurance company again on Saturday. Of course, no adjuster available, so was told to try to drive it home, and yes, they would still cover the damage if we drove it home. As we headed north on a back highway, the wind was once again terrible from the west, once again hitting us on the driver side. This time, it got under the tape, picked up the roof and tore it. Once again, I climbed up and taped it down as best I could... we turned around and went south and dropped the MH at our sons place, because there was no way we could get it home without even more damage.
Now, our insurance company today tells me that this is a common issue with Winnebago Adventurer roofs, and that they may not cover it.
Has anybody else run in to this problem? Is this a common Winnebago Adventurer problem? I did call one Winnebago dealer service shop that said that they are unaware of this being a common problem.
I would like any information anyone could help me with to argue with the insurance company about coverage on this.
Unfortunate timing, as I am changing insurance companies to the Good Sam Insurance as of October 4th. However, that doesn't change the fact that this occurred while under this insurance company.
Thanks for any information!!

Winnie may have this ongoing problem alright, but when insurance companies choose to insure, they've also chosen to pay for incurred damages.
Threaten them with calling your attorney and if they don't pay up, then do it. Most likely they'll come around to your line of thinking, in short order.
We have a large law firm in our area that especially dislikes insurance companies or so it seems. Calls them bullies and then brags that his firm, bully's bullies!.....lol

[pslocum]

We got a new Winnebago last summer I got insurance through Winnebago insurance it was the same coverage good Sam quoted but a bit less money. I think they modified the roof so that more. Of the fiberglass is put into the clamping grove, the dealer showed me a model of it.

[fenwickfam]

jhilley wrote:
I am president of the WIT North Dakota Club. We have had three members out of our average of 30 members have this problem, one had it happen twice. It was repaired by the insurance company in all cases. In one instance, the whole roof was replaced. I think in all cases the work was performed by Leisureland in St Cloud, MN. In all of them after repair you couldn't tell it had ever happened.

It would be interesting to know what insurance providers they had... we have since changed to National General through Good Sam, however, and understandably so, our roof will not be covered should anything happen to it unless we have documented proof that it was repaired. This was a part of our decision to go with having RV Armour do the roof as it is covered with a lifetime warranty.
I'm curious as to if anybody has done the RV Armour on this thread and any pros or cons that you may have. I've also seen rvroof.com with a 'flex roof' as well as the linex roof.

[jhilley]

I am president of the WIT North Dakota Club. We have had three members out of our average of 30 members have this problem, one had it happen twice. It was repaired by the insurance company in all cases. In one instance, the whole roof was replaced. I think in all cases the work was performed by Leisureland in St Cloud, MN. In all of them after repair you couldn't tell it had ever happened.

[dougrainer]

As an RV Service Center, 2 companies are a pain to work with. Progressive and Geico. Doug

[Jim_Norman]

Wow, on several levels.
We HAD a 2008 Itasca. Our roof seam was loosening, I re-caulked the bad parts, but notices that there were additional issues that might develop, Traded in last year. If the best fix is to put a 2" strip of Eternabond tape on this joint, wouldn't it pay Winnebago to do so? having just a 1/4" or so of the fiberglass inserted into the track and caulked in place does seem to be shall we say a less than well engineered design. This joint needs to withstand high winds, sun, rain heat and cold. It doesn't. Now wil the entire roof be left behind? Not very likely, but that fact that it can tear out, have pieces rip off, just really bad.

What really concerns me is the comments on Progressive here. In NJ we are looking at losing the carrier we have. Progressive seems to be the only company being quoted.

From other sources I've heard they are good. Their denial of this claim concerns me, but not having a written approval to move a damaged vehicle, talking to an unknown person on the phone and heading out is not the best way to proceed in a situation like this where additional damage is likely. Not saying I would have done anything differently.

[fenwickfam]

Progressive, as we knew, denied the claim. Offered to pay $128 for supplies we used to patch the roof enough to get home with it. We took it to the North Dakota Insurance Commissioner who got a reply from Progressive with several false statements. Progressive told the NDIC that they had offered to have us towed to the nearest repair facility. That is exactly what we wanted. This was never offered. They referred to speaking to my DH on these calls. They never once spoke with him, it was always me. We had asked for transcripts of the calls prior to taking the case to the NDIC, and were denied by Progressive. We wrote the the NDIC after getting their denial letter asking them to get the recordings/transcripts of the calls, and they will not do so.
So, lesson learned. Never use Progressive for RV insurance, as they will do anything to get out of paying a claim.
We are scheduling our MH for the RV Armour roof.
Thank you to all who were helpful with this situation.

[soren]

fenwickfam wrote:
We are still trying to work with the insurance company. We spoke with Winnebago who said that this is not a defect, as they have been using these roofs for many years producing over 10 million of these and if it were a defect, they wouldn't be using this design. They did state that it does happen, and in our situation, it was a wind issue, not a defect or a design flaw. So... now, back to the insurance company....

We are on our second used Winny. I just wanted to caution you as to the difference between reality, and reality as viewed by Winnebago Industries. For example, they spend years ( IIRC a decade) bonding windshield glass to raw steel frames. They knew, several years into that decision, that it was not the right thing to do, as they started seeing evidence of water penetration, corrosion behind the glass, and even stress cracked glass, from the pressure of the rust expansion behind the glass. In response to this they did absolutely nothing, and continued to build tens of thousands of coaches with this defect. Second example. My 2007 Vista has side skirts that extend from the floor line down, and have cut-outs in them for the basement storage doors. These skirts are built of the same material as the walls,(paneling, foam board, and glue) but "protected" from road dirt, moisture, salt, and corrosion, by a poorly installed patchwork of thin aluminum skins, that are "sealed" by thousands of lineal feet of caulk joints. This might be a reasonable technique for a park model trailer, but it's a joke when used as a road going vehicle. I spent almost $2K dealing with the windshield corrosion, and 40-50 hours laying on my back, grinding and patching the underside to get that mess under control.

At a trade show I was discussing this with a Winny regional rep. who had been with the company for decades. He avoided the windshield mess entirely, and dismissed the pathetic design and workmanship on the underside as a "maintenance issue" since the owner is responsible for "inspecting and maintaining any sealants under the coach, at least every six months" I just laughed, and moved on.

Bottom line? Winny priority is to first do what's in their best interest, and what will not result in warranty issues that would bite into their profits. Telling a customer that they couldn't possibly have a defective product, since they build tens of thousands that way, is simply BS.

[Mile_High]

Bruce Brown wrote:

Mile High wrote:

Bruce Brown wrote:

fenwickfam wrote:
We are still trying to work with the insurance company. We spoke with Winnebago who said that this is not a defect, as they have been using these roofs for many years producing over 10 million of these and if it were a defect, they wouldn't be using this design. They did state that it does happen, and in our situation, it was a wind issue, not a defect or a design flaw. So... now, back to the insurance company....

Yet how many other motorhomes and travel trailers were on the road that same day, driving in those same conditions that didn't have their roof blow off. And thinking about this even more, have we ever seen a post on RV.Net about a roof blowing off on anything but a Winnebago. :h I'm not saying there hasn't been one, but I sure don't ever remember seeing one. It seems we do see these posts come up with Winnies about 3-4 times a year. Nope - not a design flaw at all, it was a "wind issue". Umm...OK. :S

Good luck with the insurance company - I think you're going to need it.

MMM - I'm assuming your are trying to pin Winnebago as having the only "fiberglass" roofs that blow off in the wind, and that may be true, but overall, I encountered 3 rubber roofs blow off in my social group in the last year. The last one was my brother in laws brand spanking new Avalanche 5er that lost the roof all the way back to the 1st AC driving through Wyoming a few months ago. It peeled past his skylight and even ripped his Sensar antenna off. Damaged the side where it was flapping in the wind before he saw it.

Again the Winnebago fiberglass roof - its not the best design, but compared to a rubber roof, it is light years better.

You had 3 in your group lose their roof last year? Wow...I'm glad I'm not traveling where you travel. 3 gone in one year - that's just amazing.

I'm not a rubber roof fan either, but at least any RV shop or anyone with even the slightest amount of handiman in them can pop on a new rubber roof, the same can't be said for fiberglass.

Fortunately/unfortunately, it seems the reports of loosing a fiberglass roof appears to be limited to Winnebagos.

For clarification, I said they were in my social groups (social media like forums) - not traveling with me. All three started from that front seal where it meets the cap. Two were the same brand as I had and both got Rhino spray type (Truck liner) replacements. The Avalanche was only a month old so it went back to the factory for repair.

Winnebago must really like the advantage of that wall to roof channel to justify staying with that design for so many years. That's all I can think of.

[Bruce_Brown]

Mile High wrote:

Bruce Brown wrote:

fenwickfam wrote:
We are still trying to work with the insurance company. We spoke with Winnebago who said that this is not a defect, as they have been using these roofs for many years producing over 10 million of these and if it were a defect, they wouldn't be using this design. They did state that it does happen, and in our situation, it was a wind issue, not a defect or a design flaw. So... now, back to the insurance company....

Yet how many other motorhomes and travel trailers were on the road that same day, driving in those same conditions that didn't have their roof blow off. And thinking about this even more, have we ever seen a post on RV.Net about a roof blowing off on anything but a Winnebago. :h I'm not saying there hasn't been one, but I sure don't ever remember seeing one. It seems we do see these posts come up with Winnies about 3-4 times a year. Nope - not a design flaw at all, it was a "wind issue". Umm...OK. :S

Good luck with the insurance company - I think you're going to need it.

MMM - I'm assuming your are trying to pin Winnebago as having the only "fiberglass" roofs that blow off in the wind, and that may be true, but overall, I encountered 3 rubber roofs blow off in my social group in the last year. The last one was my brother in laws brand spanking new Avalanche 5er that lost the roof all the way back to the 1st AC driving through Wyoming a few months ago. It peeled past his skylight and even ripped his Sensar antenna off. Damaged the side where it was flapping in the wind before he saw it.

Again the Winnebago fiberglass roof - its not the best design, but compared to a rubber roof, it is light years better.

You had 3 in your group lose their roof last year? Wow...I'm glad I'm not traveling where you travel. 3 gone in one year - that's just amazing.

I'm not a rubber roof fan either, but at least any RV shop or anyone with even the slightest amount of handiman in them can pop on a new rubber roof, the same can't be said for fiberglass.

Fortunately/unfortunately, it seems the reports of loosing a fiberglass roof appears to be limited to Winnebagos.

[fenwickfam]

More to the point with the insurance company is to how their representatives handled this.
Please forgive me for misquoting the number of motorhomes produced with this roof.

[fenwickfam]

tderonne wrote:

fenwickfam wrote:
... producing over 10 million of these ....

From the Winnebago website:
"In 2008...Winnebago Industries reached another milestone with the production of the 400,000th unit."

Unless they have built 9,600,000 units in the last few years, they haven't made 10,000,000 units with a fiberglass roof. (Or more as they have only been doing fiberglass roofs the last few decades.)

I really didn't care for the exact number... they do 8-10000/year and started using this design in the early 90's, per the gentleman my DH spoke with...
so far as other RV's on the road at that same time.. I'd be curious as to if there were others damaged, too! Ours was because we were going slower than most traffic down the interstate due to the high winds and got passed by 2 semis going much faster (most likely they were doing the speed limit in SD, which is 80)... it was as the 2nd one went by that I heard a noise thinking that a tire had blown... sure as he!! wish that's what it had been

[tderonne]

fenwickfam wrote:
... producing over 10 million of these ....

From the Winnebago website:
"In 2008...Winnebago Industries reached another milestone with the production of the 400,000th unit."

Unless they have built 9,600,000 units in the last few years, they haven't made 10,000,000 units with a fiberglass roof. (Or more as they have only been doing fiberglass roofs the last few decades.)