No Warranty on your RV? Don't buy new?
I am new here and I am surprised most of you guys recommend not getting a new RV with warranty. I bought a very old boat a few years ago and it was my first boat. Looking back I wish I had a warra...
Forum Discussion
I've bought 2 new RVs (a motorhome and TT) and 2 used RVs (both motorhomes). Our fist RV was a used motorhome, a very used motorhome. It didn't come with a warranty per se, but the dealer did agree to fix issues we identified before purchase. We did a thorough inspection and the dealer fixed several issues. We owned that one for a couple of years and we only had to do minor repairs which I did myself.
Our second used motorhome was a newer, but not new enough to still be under any drive train warranty much less coach, class C that was a repossession. It was sold by the repo agents as is where is. Once again we did a thorough inspection and found a few minor things that we fixed ourselves. We did wind up having to have it towed about 40-50 miles to have a crank shaft position sensor replaced. I think that was about $500-800 including the tow.
Our third motorhome was brand new and had a 1 year coach warranty and I think 3 years 36000 miles on the drive train but I can't remember for sure. We traveled about 6 hours out of state to purchase it and the dealer delivered it about a week after we bought it. Most dealers don't do any prep or PDI until its sold. We had our first warranty issue almost immediately after delivery. Fleetwood told us to take it to our local dealer for repair. We made an appointment and took it in. The shop manager lost his **** in the most unprofessional display of customer interaction I've witnessed in my life because the shop had agreed to work on it since we hadn't bought it from them. He tried to send me away and cussed his staff and me and Fleetwood but I had made an appointment and cooler heads finally prevailed. They did fix that issue. I took it back to the selling dealer 6 hours away for some other minor issues and I found a local independent RV repair only shop that was factory authorized for future work. Several minor issues with the coach and more significant issues with the chassis electrical system were addressed by warranty.
We had a few nit picky issues with our travel trailer when we first got it. The shower door was off track and the water fill line was kinked. Those were taken care of quickly.
As others have said though, the warranty, especially the coach warranty, is only as good as the dealer doing the work. I've heard lots of stories about RVs sitting in dealerships for months at a time waiting for warranty work. For most minor things, I would rather handle them myself than drag the trailer to dealership. Warranties can give you peace of mind, but it may be false hope. As others have already said, RV warranties aren't like automobile warranties. Most shoppers who do their homework would come out far ahead financially buying a 2-5 year old used RV and either fixing issues themselves or paying out of pocket to have an RV repair place fix them.
Having said that, there are many good reasons to prefer a new RV other than cost. One of the reasons I like having the RV is I know who's slept in my bed, who's used the kitchen and appliances, and for the most part who's put what down the toilet. There's a story about a child's wallet and a blocked black tank drain on our first used RV that I don't like to revisit...
Our second used motorhome was a newer, but not new enough to still be under any drive train warranty much less coach, class C that was a repossession. It was sold by the repo agents as is where is. Once again we did a thorough inspection and found a few minor things that we fixed ourselves. We did wind up having to have it towed about 40-50 miles to have a crank shaft position sensor replaced. I think that was about $500-800 including the tow.
Our third motorhome was brand new and had a 1 year coach warranty and I think 3 years 36000 miles on the drive train but I can't remember for sure. We traveled about 6 hours out of state to purchase it and the dealer delivered it about a week after we bought it. Most dealers don't do any prep or PDI until its sold. We had our first warranty issue almost immediately after delivery. Fleetwood told us to take it to our local dealer for repair. We made an appointment and took it in. The shop manager lost his **** in the most unprofessional display of customer interaction I've witnessed in my life because the shop had agreed to work on it since we hadn't bought it from them. He tried to send me away and cussed his staff and me and Fleetwood but I had made an appointment and cooler heads finally prevailed. They did fix that issue. I took it back to the selling dealer 6 hours away for some other minor issues and I found a local independent RV repair only shop that was factory authorized for future work. Several minor issues with the coach and more significant issues with the chassis electrical system were addressed by warranty.
We had a few nit picky issues with our travel trailer when we first got it. The shower door was off track and the water fill line was kinked. Those were taken care of quickly.
As others have said though, the warranty, especially the coach warranty, is only as good as the dealer doing the work. I've heard lots of stories about RVs sitting in dealerships for months at a time waiting for warranty work. For most minor things, I would rather handle them myself than drag the trailer to dealership. Warranties can give you peace of mind, but it may be false hope. As others have already said, RV warranties aren't like automobile warranties. Most shoppers who do their homework would come out far ahead financially buying a 2-5 year old used RV and either fixing issues themselves or paying out of pocket to have an RV repair place fix them.
Having said that, there are many good reasons to prefer a new RV other than cost. One of the reasons I like having the RV is I know who's slept in my bed, who's used the kitchen and appliances, and for the most part who's put what down the toilet. There's a story about a child's wallet and a blocked black tank drain on our first used RV that I don't like to revisit...
