New Puma TT Purchase with problems

[mafitz]

My first time posting but have been lurking and reading about campers for several months as I prepared for my new purchase. I have had two campers previously and had each 10 years and had little or no problems. Going into this I knew to expect some issues, but have run into more than I think I should.

Unfortunately we did not check this out as thorough as we should but would not have noticed any of the issues except for the hailed on air conditioner.

We purchased a 2020 Puma 31QBBH about two weeks ago. During the walk through they pointed out a piece of missing trim which was due to them taking the wall out and fixing one of the tank sensors. They said they had the piece on order. In addition, there was a tear on the corner of the dinette and they again said they had a piece on order. Seemed acceptable

We walked around the camper and checked everything out...... We bought the camper and took it directly to the camp ground.

While we were camping I did a more thorough look at the camper. I found the main AC had hail damage on the fins and quite a few. The other AC which they installed for me did not have damage so not sure why they did not see that. I rolled the awning out and noticed a wrinkle in the awning. After further inspection noticed there was a dent in the awning tube...

Ok.. Further inspection showed that the caulking on the slides where the front meets the side were about 1/4 inch separated. It appears that there was an adjustment to the slides at some point. I could see bare wood in the corner of the slide. Furthermore the seal at the top of the slide was offset by about six inches and therefore stuck out on one side of the slide. Again why was this?

We also found a chip in the corner of the counter top which we had not noticed.

After camping was over, I pulled the slides in and that is when I noticed the the corner of the dinette crushes into the corner of the counter top. Hence the torn corner of the dinette ripped and the chipped and hairline fracture of the counter top. How can this happen?

We had some other issues which were minor and what I would expect but adds to the overall frustration.

I contacted the dealer and they set up a time to come in. My problem is that we have to go camping labor day and are committed to that with out of state relatives. I asked if I could get my old camper while they worked on the new and he said they could not do that. So we agreed to set a date after Labor Day. I voiced my concern on the caulking issues and they told me to caulk the sides. I did that for the two sides I saw issues with.

This morning we had a heavy rain and I went out and checked on the camper. I found damp carpet in 3 of the 4 corners of the two slides. One of the sides I caulked did not leak.. Yeah!

So a long story and definitely not happy. Given the issues that I have I am not sure i want a patched up trailer. Is there any other recourse for me or give it to the dealer for awhile to patch it up?

Appreciate any responses.

[mafitz]

Thanks for all the responses.

No did not buy it at Camping World

Not sure what issues we would have found during a more thorough walk through. The AC unit for sure and possibly the caulking on the slides, but we looked at the slides while out and did not notice that issue. Now we no more what to look for so next time definitely. The dent in the awning tube is not obvious either.

I think the biggest issue is the slide running the dinette into the counter top. Not sure how they will correct this without leaving the slide out a bit.

They have ensured me that they will fix everything.. We will see if they stand behind that.

Emotional?? Sure given what you pay for a camper and the problems you find it is a bit emotional.

In addition we had a 2019 version of this bought until a tree fell on it.

We will see how it goes.

[sgfrye]

DutchmenSport wrote:
Unfortunately, you have already taken delivery of the camper. The best you can probably do is keep pushing the dealership for repairs under warranty.

FYI... We've had our Keystone Montana for about a year now. Over the course of the year, I think I've rebuilt most of this camper. Little things that were just assembled shoddy or at a bare minimum to save a penny. I contacted my dealership on almost everything and the wait time was so long, I just fixed stuff myself ... probably much, much, much better than the dealership would have done and definately much better than original factory. Even though we have all the warranties and extended plans on this behemoth, the wait time for repair is awful. I'm just fixing stuff myself, and hopefully nothing earth shattering or horrifically major will ever happen.


x2
i've basically done this on 2 new Travel trailers. mostly small things and recaulking. i would rather do it myself personally to make sure it is done correctly. on our current TT i did find a small window leak on a frameless window. due to interior frame being jacked in **** eyed. there is no way i or anyone could have seen this on a pdi unless i took apart each window and inspected. i could have taken it in for warranty work but i researched it and learned how to remove the whole window and reinstall properly.

Good luck on yours. Keep pushing your dealership. Its under warranty.

[MitchF150]

yeah, I just got my brand new Rockwood and while parked on the side of the house, I turned on all the mechanicals and all worked great, except for the fridge... It cools down just fine.. it's just when it reaches it's temp and cycles off, it does not turn back on and sets the "check" light.. Does this on either gas or electric..

Turn the fridge 'off' and then 'on' again and it'll cool down to set temp and cycle off and the check light comes on..

Everything else I spent at least an hour going over before even agreeing to the deal and another hour during the PDI and all seemed fine that way.. They did not have the fridge turned on during the PDI, so no way to know that..

It goes back this Friday, so hopefully, it's just the board and a simple fix..

Other than that, very happy with the new rig and I know it'll get fixed, just a bummer right out the gate, so I know how you are feeling OP..

Mitch

[Terryallan]

mafitz wrote:
My first time posting but have been lurking and reading about campers for several months as I prepared for my new purchase. I have had two campers previously and had each 10 years and had little or no problems. Going into this I knew to expect some issues, but have run into more than I think I should.

Unfortunately we did not check this out as thorough as we should but would not have noticed any of the issues except for the hailed on air conditioner.

We purchased a 2020 Puma 31QBBH about two weeks ago. During the walk through they pointed out a piece of missing trim which was due to them taking the wall out and fixing one of the tank sensors. They said they had the piece on order. In addition, there was a tear on the corner of the dinette and they again said they had a piece on order. Seemed acceptable

We walked around the camper and checked everything out...... We bought the camper and took it directly to the camp ground.

While we were camping I did a more thorough look at the camper. I found the main AC had hail damage on the fins and quite a few. The other AC which they installed for me did not have damage so not sure why they did not see that. I rolled the awning out and noticed a wrinkle in the awning. After further inspection noticed there was a dent in the awning tube...

Ok.. Further inspection showed that the caulking on the slides where the front meets the side were about 1/4 inch separated. It appears that there was an adjustment to the slides at some point. I could see bare wood in the corner of the slide. Furthermore the seal at the top of the slide was offset by about six inches and therefore stuck out on one side of the slide. Again why was this?

We also found a chip in the corner of the counter top which we had not noticed.

After camping was over, I pulled the slides in and that is when I noticed the the corner of the dinette crushes into the corner of the counter top. Hence the torn corner of the dinette ripped and the chipped and hairline fracture of the counter top. How can this happen?

We had some other issues which were minor and what I would expect but adds to the overall frustration.

I contacted the dealer and they set up a time to come in. My problem is that we have to go camping labor day and are committed to that with out of state relatives. I asked if I could get my old camper while they worked on the new and he said they could not do that. So we agreed to set a date after Labor Day. I voiced my concern on the caulking issues and they told me to caulk the sides. I did that for the two sides I saw issues with.

This morning we had a heavy rain and I went out and checked on the camper. I found damp carpet in 3 of the 4 corners of the two slides. One of the sides I caulked did not leak.. Yeah!

So a long story and definitely not happy. Given the issues that I have I am not sure i want a patched up trailer. Is there any other recourse for me or give it to the dealer for awhile to patch it up?

Appreciate any responses.

Just hope you didn't get it at Camping World

[CA_Traveler]

Sounds like the all to common emotional purchase w/o any significant and complete user PDI. Sadly this is hardly the first such post...

[Lwiddis]

Hopefully others will learn from you...do the inspection slowly and carefully before money changes hands.

[DutchmenSport]

Unfortunately, you have already taken delivery of the camper. The best you can probably do is keep pushing the dealership for repairs under warranty.

FYI... We've had our Keystone Montana for about a year now. Over the course of the year, I think I've rebuilt most of this camper. Little things that were just assembled shoddy or at a bare minimum to save a penny. I contacted my dealership on almost everything and the wait time was so long, I just fixed stuff myself ... probably much, much, much better than the dealership would have done and definately much better than original factory. Even though we have all the warranties and extended plans on this behemoth, the wait time for repair is awful. I'm just fixing stuff myself, and hopefully nothing earth shattering or horrifically major will ever happen.

Good luck on yours. Keep pushing your dealership. Its under warranty.

[pennysmom09]

Very typical. Fix as much as you can yourself, if you take it back to the dealer they will have it for weeks and the repairs will be poorly done. Especially all the cosmetic ones.