RV Manufacture warranty

[JDsdogs]

My wife and I are looking at going from a Class A motor home to a travel trailer. It's been a while since we purchased an RV.

I was reading Forest Rivers web sight and was concerned with their warranty/service statement.

Under the dealer finder, they said it best to purchase from a local dealer as the dealers are not franchised, therefore dealers, other than the one you purchased the RV from, were under no obligation to service your RV.
What I got from that was that, If you didn't buy from us (specific dealer), you can go fly a kite.

WOW, really?

We take to heart the term "Travel Trailer". When we travel, we are most often out of our home state. Nowhere near our home area.
What happens is we break down several states away from home? A dealer can just tell us that they might deal with our problem when/if they get the time?
Or am I totally misinterpreting the statement?

If this is the case, buying new RV would have little value for us. If I'm going to have to take care of issues on my own, I may as well buy used and save some $$.

[way2roll]

As I understand it, despite my Cedar Creek being a FR product, not every FR dealer carries or works on Cedar Creek's. That said, it has not been an issue. I bought my FW about 2 hours away but get it serviced at a local dealer - who is not a Cedar Creek dealer. They sell FR, just not Cedar Creek. Heck they don't even sell FW's. But FR has been fantastic with warranty service and allowing me to take it there. Their communication is quick to respond, they text me, email me, whatever- my preference. We've owned several MH's and now a FW all from different manufacturers. I have NEVER had an issue getting warranty work at a dealership I didn't buy from. As long as that dealer is associated with the manufacturer, never been an issue. I don't get all the doom and gloom. Frankly I think a lot comes down to plain old communication.

[Grit_dog]

JDsdogs wrote:
Hey All, thanks for the input. It certainly provided food for thought.
I have done all the repairs on our 2000 Motor Home, with the exception the loss of a wheel bearing in Louisville KY. A mobile service took care of us and at a fair price. I could have done that too, except I did not carry the necessary tools to complete the repair. I'm not getting any younger and probably should no longer be doing the heavy stuff anyway.
Leaning hard toward a used unit now.

Has anyone compiled a directory of mobil RV repair services available across the nation? Does Good Sam
have a list of providers that they recommend if you break down?

Yeah, I know. I have more questions than a 4 yr old on a sugar high. 😄

But you sound like the type of person who can handle this, which is good. More capable and knowledgeable than many.

While I/we could buy new for large purchases, I generally subscribe to the buy used theory like you said in your first post.
Now, someone HAS to buy new or there won't be a used rig for you to buy, but there's no danger in that happening....human nature for many to "have" to have new.
It's really a question of both real and perceived "value" combined with a bit of personal quirks, like those that couldn't possibly buy a used RV because someone else slept in the bed or used the toilet, lol.
Either way, my reasons for buying new wouldn't revolve around having a warranty (for a year or maybe 2?). Mostly for reasons Dedmiston said. If it's less time, effort and aggravation to fix a warrantable item myself, I'll fix it myself.

[joelc]

The warranty is only as good as the manufacturer. Remember, things like A/C, Fridge, heaters are covered by those manufactures, not the RV company. I have a Cameo that went out of business, like many others, but any problems I did have, all though few, were covered by the appliance manufactures.

[midnightsadie]

I

[time2roll]

Generally a dealer will give you a break if you are on the road. Some may expedite your repair but as you know parts can take time to be shipped in. There is no white glove service where everyone has smiles and tells you it will be fixed shortly at no cost. Sometimes you deal with it until you get home for repair. Or you pay and may your own arrangements to attempt reimbursement. Some help more than others.

But honestly there is not as much to a trailer and you may have few to no claims.

[valhalla360]

If you are buying new because you expect a warranty that will have a highly trained tech following you around ready to repair anything that goes wrong at a monuments notice...you are in for a bad experience.

At best, it's a minor perk. Warranty work is something dealers do when they don't have anything more profitable to do (including the dealer you bought from). And just about everything is more profitable than warranty work and will take precedence.

[Old-Biscuit]

RV Service Reviews

Not sure if there is one for Mobile Techs

I just ask the CG Staff for Whos/who....even if not staying there.
CGs in the area know which mobile guy to call


And seeing as how you did the repairs etc on your other RV.....jump in and get that new on (even if new is used)

[Super_Dave]

Don't be put off by the "dealer you bought it from" issue because even they have no obligation to fix anything under warranty. Every time that I took my trailer back to my dealer they said that they had to wait for manufacturer approval before starting work. It wasn't always given either.

[JDsdogs]

Once again, thanks to all who have responded. I appreciate all input.

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

First thing about warranties.

An RV is NOT a vehicle, it is a home. And like a house the builder (manufacturer) is only responsible for the shell construction, base utilities and such.

You have to deal with the manufacturer of the fridge, the furnace, the water heater.

Because of the movement potential of an RV, you may have to deal with the axle manufacturer (Dexter in our case), the company who built the jacks and slides hardware (Lippert in our case).

You also have two separate electrical systems - 120V AC and 12V DC - which requires special hardware.

And you have less than 1/4 the electrical power of a new home, 1/2 of an older home. Usually less than a small apartment - when hooked up to the power grid.

If you have a motorhome, you have to deal with the engine and chassis manufacturer.

There are two keys to being comfortable with an RV warranty.

1) Buy from a reputable dealer, and only use that dealer. We bought our TT from a company in Texas with a good reputation, and I must say, they have bent over backwards to get the rig worked on quickly, work with the various manufacturers, and get use back on the road as full-timers. And we have dealt with their locations in Mesquite, Canton, Boerne and Sequin Texas.

But when the Dexter axle broke a weld, a bad weld on the mounting bracket from their robot welder being out of position, it took 31 days to get the two replacement axles from Dexter. And we had to pay for shipping. An Extra-Ride extended warranty paid the installation labor. That was Dexter's fault, not the dealer.

They called me at 10 am and said the truck had delivered the axles, and the trailer would be ready to pickup at 3. It was.

2) Forget the warranty and deal with mobile RV service techs. Especially if you plan to travel. Put the money for an extended warranty into a bank account and only use it for repairs.

It is not uncommon for a dealer to not order the parts until they have the rig on their lot. RVs are highly customized compared to vehicles. And the manufacturers do not have regional warehouses full of parts ready to be delivered in a few hours/ overnight. (The market is too small).

Our experience with Dexter is an example. I could buy the axles from one of four suppliers in the Dallas/ Fort Worth area. But they would not be welded to the proper brackets to attach the axles to the Forest River TT. And any welding not done at their manufacturing plant voids any warranty.

Suburban did drop ship a new water heater to the one RV dealer in Connecticut who handled their warranty work. We had to pay for a service call to come out and install it. Cash off the books.

(It was 65 miles on US-6 - a 3 1/2 to 4 hour journey through an almost constant urban area, or 93 miles on CT-8, I-84, I-691, I-91, I-384 to the dealer - 3 to 3 1/2 hours).

FloJet refused to deal with a mobile tech for the water pump not working right. They wanted me to take the TT to a dealer near Fort Lauderdale. The dealer said they would give me an appointment to bring the rig to their lot in seven weeks, and it would be at least four weeks before they could look at the water pump.

We paid the mobile tech cash to replace it, after a trip to Chase.

Mostly, we use mobile RV techs. The campgrounds can recommend someone, and a little research can find a good one. The good ones are busy. And they don't get paid until they FIX the problem.

[dedmiston]

JDsdogs wrote:
Yeah, I know. I have more questions than a 4 yr old on a sugar high. 😄

LOL. Questions are good.

About the global registry of mobile RV techs... :B

I can't authoritatively say there isn't one, but there isn't one.

Think of the difference between a licensed contractor and a handyman. The handyman is usually a lot more transient, maybe working through his sobriety, etc. That's not to say he isn't fair & ethical or doesn't do a good job, but he works by word of mouth and isn't necessarily always around or available when you need him.

I've got two great mobile RV techs nearby who do great work. One of them is a great guy who does incredible work and we've become good friends over time. He's my go-to guy when I need help, and he stops by to say hello just because. The problem with him though, is that the secret is out and he's in high demand. He'll go for a week without answering calls because he's busy and the calls slow him down.

I use the other guys out of necessity if my favorite guy is busy. They're busy too though, so there's no guarantee.

So if you're looking for a handy directory so you can call a guy when you need him, I don't think you'll find one.

If you're on a trip and need some help, I would first check at the office where I'm staying and see if they know anyone. If that doesn't work, look for long-term residents and see if they know anyone. Next I would call other local RV parks. I'd also try local RV storage yards, because the techs are coming and going all the time at those places.

My last resort would be to search Facebook for local RV groups and ask the local members. I found both of my techs through my local FB camping group. Our local members are pretty brutal, so the bad techs get bashed and run out of town. Consequently, the two good ones are busy every day they want to work.

[JDsdogs]

Hey All, thanks for the input. It certainly provided food for thought.
I have done all the repairs on our 2000 Motor Home, with the exception the loss of a wheel bearing in Louisville KY. A mobile service took care of us and at a fair price. I could have done that too, except I did not carry the necessary tools to complete the repair. I'm not getting any younger and probably should no longer be doing the heavy stuff anyway.
Leaning hard toward a used unit now.

Has anyone compiled a directory of mobil RV repair services available across the nation? Does Good Sam
have a list of providers that they recommend if you break down?

Yeah, I know. I have more questions than a 4 yr old on a sugar high. 😄

[dedmiston]

JDsdogs wrote:
If this is the case, buying new RV would have little value for us. If I'm going to have to take care of issues on my own, I may as well buy used and save some $$.

Warranty issues are a near certainty with a new unit. They almost always have to go back to the dealer for repairs in that first year until all the bugs are worked out.

The second near certainty is that warranty service is slow and dealers don't care. Your new rig will sit on their lot for weeks or months while the sausage is being made.

Your choices as I see them are:

1. Buy new and brace yourselves for a rocky first year.

2. Buy new and just deal with those initial issues on your own.

3. Buy used and hope that the previous owner was thorough in catching all of the factory defaults and hope that they have all been remedied.

If I had known in advance that it would take our dealer 20 months to complete all of our warranty repairs, I would have split them out into batches of things we could afford to deal with and things we couldn't, and then just have the dealer work on the items where I couldn't go out of pocket.

I'd say that 1/3 to 1/2 of the dealer repairs were so bad anyway that we ended up having to re-repair them ourselves or hire a mobile tech to clean up their poor work.

The day we finally said goodbye to our dealer was a very happy day.

[QCMan]

Good that you are doing research. If you were driving fifty feet away from the dealer you purchased the unit from, don't expect too much in the way of emergency service. It will go on the end of the list and you will have it back in a snappy two weeks to a month. Most dealers do not do emergency. There are many skilled mobil mechanics out there that do.
Consider this: your spring breaks in front of the dealer you got the unit from. Service department has to do an evaluation as to the cause of the breakage. Then that evaluation is forwarded to the manufacturer. Then it gets reviewed. Then a determination is made on it being a warranty issue. That decision is sent to whoever communicates with the dealer. The dealer then either tells you that the claim is denied or that it is covered. Then the dealer orders the parts if it was covered and waits for them to be shipped. When they get in you are still at the end of the line waiting for an appointment to have the work done. Remember that nobody is in a hurry to make any of the above decisions. If it is denied, you are out the use of it for whatever it took to get to that point and now have to order parts and get on the end of the line and then pay for the repairs.
Rv systems are not rocket science and the parts are common to many units. If I have something go wrong on the road, I either fix it myself or get a mobil tech to the campground. Exactly the same way most fulltimers do it. A couple of hours of my time or a tech's time is worth it to me instead of losing the trailer for a month and having it damaged in the service yard.
Just my .02