Primetime Lacrosse 2014

[MCarnahan]

Our Experience with the Prime Time Lacrosse
June 29, 2013 we purchased a 2014 Prime Time Lacrosse from Northside RV in Lexington KY and it has been a nightmare ever since.
After owning our travel trailer for a week, we discovered a leak in the bedroom window. We were amazed it would have any leaks with Prime Time’s claim they put all their units through a “Rain Bay exposing our units to a downpour of water equivalent to over 24” per hour. Leak Guard is a true advancement in quality control and a Prime Time exclusive.” A statement quoted from their website.
We took our trailer back to Northside RV for repairs; it was there for two weeks and returned to us with a temporary fix. I contacted Prime Time and spoke to Roger Stickel. He told me that it would be at least three weeks before they would have the replacement window to our RV dealer. I explained to Roger how we had paid for a campsite for the entire month of July in order to enjoy our new purchase and asked if Prime Time would help offset the cost of the campground since we were not able to enjoy our camper for two of the weeks during the month of July. He said that they would not do anything.
After waiting a couple of weeks, we were contacted by the RV dealer letting us know our window had arrived and it would take approximately 2 hours to replace the window. I scheduled an appointment to bring it in to be replaced plus in the meantime we had some other issues. The LP detector would not shutoff – constantly beeping and we had a small fire in the water heater compartment. I took the trailer back to the dealer, the LP detector was replaced and the fire was a piece of tape in the pilot light area of the water heater. I was told it has been fixed.
The window was replaced with a new window sent from Prime Time that leaked worse than the original window. Prime Time has been contacted again and another new window has been requested. I have gone to the salesman and owner of Northside RV to voice my concerns about this camper. I have been told this just happens with campers and that we were lucky with the others we have owned in the past. We had received an email from Prime Time telling us they had shipped our window on Aug. 15, 2013.
Today Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2013 our trailer has been at the RV dealer for two weeks now and still waiting on the window. I emailed Prime Time today and was told the window would be shipped today. So far, we have owned our Lacrosse travel trailer for almost two months and paid a little over $1,500 (campground fees, monthly payment, insurance, and cash out of pocket for upgraded theater seats) for a camper we have only been able to use less then two weeks.
The service department at Northside RV has been great in trying to fix the issues but after this experience I would NEVER buy another Prime Time – not sure I’d ever buy another camper; which is sad because this is our 4th in less than 10 years.

[fessie01]

We bought a 2014 lacrosse, after our first weekend of use we had numerous issues with it
-Outside kitchen door wouldn't open when jacks were up
-Front door opened during travel
-cables not connect for sat/cable internally not at TV
-hot water heater wont light on propane
-both slides leak dust and water during travel
-Warped dresser drawers wont close in bunk room

So we contacted Roger at prime time and he says take it to the dealer. The trailer is at the dealer for about a week and they call and say its fixed. I ask what the did and the lady say adjust the front door and fix the dressers. I ask what about the kitchen doors and the leaky slides? She says they know nothing about it. So I email all the emails between myself, Prime time and the dealer and ask how they know nothing about it? No reply to the email.
So about two months later they call and say my trailer is fixed, the adjusted the slides and it was ready to go. I asked about the outside kitchen door and she said they couldn't duplicate the problem and the tech told her to tell us the jacks were for leveling only. I then again explained to her the issue with the outside kitchen door is happening with the jacks up. We cant put anything in it when we travel unless we put the jacks down and the frame flexes and the door un-jams. So they keep the trailer.
I bought the trailer mid July 2013 and I get it back April 2014.
Our first trip to the lake after the trailer is returned and its right full of dust from both slides after 5miles of gravel!!!
Believe it or not it gets worse. We stop by the dealer to get a slide adjustment prior to our cross country trip for a family reunion and hit the road. Well the weather turned a bit rainy and both slides were leaking from the top and bottom and the roof started leaking above the fridge. Keep in mind we have used this trailer less than 10 days total. As the trip progresses we notice our lights dimming and flickering even when plugged into 30amp. So I called Prime time and told them we were travelling right by their manufacturing shop and asked if they could help us out. They said someone would call us. (No one did) so we get to our destination and all of the sudden my wife smells some thing burning and then we lose all power. I go out side and try to unplug the trailer and the plugs are melted together, I take the screws out of the wall and pull the wiring out and the wiring inside hasn't been installed correctly and was shorting together. We'll at this point I call Prime time and my dealer and lose my mind. they assure me its "normal" to have some issues with trailers. So I fixed the wiring myself because they were no help.

So I guess what I'm saying is my experience with Prime Time Trailers and service has been less then horrible and I don't recommend anyone wasting their money on one.

[dadmomh]

This really horrible. I'm not so sure that your dealer is "working hard to fix the problems"...seems more like they're working hard to do a half-a....d job and then get your trailer out the door. How hard is it to replace a window?? Granted it's different than a standard home window, but when 2 men can remove 12 existing windows and have the new ones in, caulked and perfect in about 6 hours...Seems like somebody's dragging their feet or are just totally incompetent. Is there another dealer in reasonable driving distance?? Any chance you were able to get the warranty extended?? Believe I'd be doing a couple of things you haven't tried yet. #1 try another dealer and see if their service department is any better. #2 get yourself an attorney and go after either a complete refund for your trailer or a brand new replacement with a new warranty. They've all had their chances, and have failed miserably. Nice didn't work in this case, neither did second chance, now you have to get help. BTW, in the settlement, they also need to cover the attorney fees. You've given them more than enough chances. Good luck.

[prfssr]

UPDATE: from my previous post.

We had to put our camper back in for a leaking issue, again. We took it to the dealer for them to de-winterize and to review everything since we had a bad winter.
We received it back and said we were good to go. We took it out to our local campground and everything seemed to work except one light bulb. Very pleased until I tried to get hot water to flow through our faucets. Not happening so I decided to remove the panel for ht ewater heater and yup - you guessed it the dealer never turned the valve on for it. It was still in de-winterized mode. Was this a big issue, not really just another issue not folled up on at the dealership.
When we ready to leave the campground I was doing our black tank flush as our last item to be done. We walked to the opposite side of the camper and we heard a "wooshing" sound coming from underneath. I told the DW that it was from the flush of the black tank. She said OK, but why is the underbelly sagging so much. AW - shoot. Turn the water off, crawl underneath camper and feel the underbelly. Very squishy - full of water. So I took a few screws of of the underbelly and - yup - got soaked with about 10 gallons of water. I was using the water reglulator at the time.

Took it to the dealer and they looked at it during the week. Was told that they could not duplicate any leak. I went to pick it up and took it camping. While reviewing the underbelly I noticed it had 3 places where the dealer cut 12x12 squares, peeled them back like they made peep holes to see if they could see anything leaking. They then sealed them back up with black goopy goop and told me there was nothing leaking. This of course after they told me they were going to "drop" the underbelly to reveiw everything.

Once we got to the campground I deceided to duplicate my expierience from before (without getting wet) and sure enough, I could hear water swoooshing again when I use the black tank flush. I carefully removed screws from underbelly and sure enough, out comes about 2 gallons of water. I called the dealer and said I found the leak.
The black tank flush area, as I am being told by the manufacturer that there is a pop off valve and this is most likely the issue. So back to the dealer and at the time of this writing it is still in there being repaired - PER the manufacturer request along with putting a new underbelly on for me since they butchered my first one. I told Prime Time that I wanted everything under the camper to be reviewed for damage and wanted to know why my underbelly sags - meaning did something come loose or are there items not put in the correct location.
I have made and received numerous emails from Prime Time and so far they are taking care of me. This by far from is not over so I will complete yet another post once it is.

I am still pleased with the layour and ammentities in this camper and like it, but am concerned. like I told Prime Time if this camper will hold up for 10 years. It's not like we use this full time as we are just weekenders and a couple of long trips during the year.

[mister_d]

Sounds like the company is having growing pains. Ours was built in their first year I believe. Assuming they've kept the staff over the years, the guys I dealt with to get questions answered jumped through hoops for me. Hopefully this is just a very small percentage of units, but if not, I'm hoping they pull it together in time for our next TT.

[checca]

We love our 2013 Lacrosse 318BHS, never had any issues. Guess we are lucky? I would sure buy another PrimeTime RV.

[Bob_Landry]

The story about Prime Time, or at least the one I've heard, is that it was started by a group of executives who worked for Keystone that decided to break off and start their own RV company. I don't know if it had anything to do with Keystone's quality, customer service, or they simply saw a chance to make more $$$. I own a Keystone trailer and the only reason that I'm happy with it is because I have been able to fix just about everything myself but I have spent a lot of time researching what went into it and replacing and repairing with quality parts and materials. That being said, Keystone's quality is probably middle of the road, but if there was a word to describe their customer service lower than abysmal, I would use it here. I emailed them wanting to know about some suspension parts on my trailer. I gave them the VIN number and they still got it wrong. I have to wonder if they even know what goes out the door. As far as PT, being purchased by any big conglomerate such as Berkshire-Hathaway almost guarantees a decline in everything as the bean counters take over every aspect of the operation , from purchasing to the production floor. They can all shoot convincing videos showing construction, testing, and their production managers extolling the virtues of their customer satisfaction, but the real test is when it hits the road and that's a little late to be fixing manufacturing problems. It's not comforting knowing that the parts in the trailer you spent big $$$ on that is supposed to provide comfort and safety to your family were purchased on the lowest bid.The more I read on these forums, the happier I become with my trailer.

[prfssr]

I guess I will jump on the wagon here since I have real life experience with both the TT and the dealer. I live locally to Northside and purchased our PrimeTime Lacrosse 327RES from them on June 14, 2013. The first trip out was great, everything worked as it should. 2 weeks later we were at KY. Speedway and it poured the first night, we had water coming in from 3 windows in the living room, the slide seal and water coming through a screw hole that holds the shades in place. This one concerned me since I know the water is now flowing from somewhere above and through the wall. We were scheduled to go Charleston, S.C. right after the race for 8 days but called Northside RV first to tell them the condition. During the trip to S.C. we stopped in N.C. for the night and noticed that the water that was coming from the screw hole had leaked again has now runied the plaster cabinet. We hit heavy rain while traveling so how did the water get in - a hole in the roof maybe. While in S.C. we had lots of rain but the camper never leaked again, hmmm, makes me wonder.
Problem # 2 - rear stabilizer jack quit working - another item to get fixed.
Problem #3 - dresser drawers in bedroom broke.

Returned to dealer after vacation and told them of everything that needed to be fixed. 3 weeks later they said all was good. Won't go into detail on what happened as I don't have time to type all of it but the dealership did great work and were thourough.
Problem #4 - Labor day weekend at a local campground and the fridge was at 34 degrees when we arrived with food in it already and within 4 hours it went to 54 degrees. Called dealership and after screaming at them they sent a tech. out to see and verifiy - yup - fridge is not working properly. All of our food went to our neighbors RV for the weekend. Woke up up the next morning and the fridge was at 34 degrees again - hmm. All of sudden on Saturday morning we turned the AC on and within 30 minutes it started blasting out ice crystals through the blower fan. Called the dealer again about this issue. Nothing they could do at this time and told us to bring it in on Monday after the Holiday.

Well, brought it to them and told them that I do not want this camper back until it is 100% fixed for evey issue I have written down and is verified by me and them collectively. The only constrain we had was it had to be done by October 10th. This gave them 6 weeks.
Solution #1- replaced AC unit.
Solution #2 - The fridge not working - we were told that the factory did not "terminate" some wire connection correctly and we were shorting out. Hmm, nice to know we could have burned this RV down with us in it. The dealer was very thourough on everything since I was down there every Saturday checking their progress.We went on our October vacation as scheduled and everything worked correctly, nothing leaked and nothing new broke or came apart.
All in all the camper is not what we expected, it has way to many issues and since I work in the automotive industry as an Engineer I am very disapointed in their craftsmanship and consistency from one camper to another.
Now that the camper has sat for the winter and was winterized as normal we have notice that trim has started to pop off through the staples, not a big deal but still it's falling apart by sitting there. We also have a power switch that is suppose to turn off all power to save your battery in between uses but that doesn't work like it should. Maybe another "termination" issue??? The dealer has been great and I have no complaints from them, just feel sorry that have to deal with all this faulty craftsmanship.

It is scheduled to go to dealer on March 22nd. for these issues.

My only question is why hasn't the RV industry followed in the automotive industry in having a set of quality controls in place for making / building a better product?

I will keep everyone posted and hope to here from other folks.

Thanks for your time,

Mark

[MCarnahan]

Hello All,

Update, our Lacrosse stayed at the dealer for about three weeks and we got it back. It had gotten some new occupants while being there, mice. We have taken it out once this year and found the stabilizer jacks once again have bent. I'm going to contact the dealer to see if anything can be done. I have filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau and contacted Kentucky Attorney's General Office. The only thing accomplished was a negative complaint against Prime Time.

Good Luck BereaCamper

[BillB800si]

My friend who I mentioned previously just got back from Florida and his electric stabilizers won't work again. This will be his fourth set.
Plus while in Florida he had to have his furnace fixed- his thermostat replaced and the propane regulator replaced.
Said this is his first & last Lacrosse trailer. Never again...

[BereaCamper]

I too am having issues with Prime Time and North Side RV in KY
Any suggestions on a reputible lawyer in KY to us? They will not repair the damages on the camper

thanks!

[mister_d]

That's too bad to hear. We've had almost the exact opposite experience and when we were shopping around, I read nothing but positive reviews.

I'm not sure why people leave their units at a dealer while waiting for parts or to be fixed. If it were me, I'd throw some duct-tape or a tarp over the area and get out there camping until I was told it was ready. It doesn't usually take a place very long to make repairs - what 2 or 3 days for a big project.

Either way, I hope all your issues are behind you and you'll have a great time in it for years to come!

[KY_JOE]

I feel your pain trust me, I have went around and around with Prime Time about problems we had with a leaks in the outside kitchen door and slide outs.... I had to hire a attorney to get them to do warranty work and to extend my warranty my LaCrosse was at the dealership 8 months of the 10 months I owned it.... POOR craftsmanship and customer relations.
We have now traded it in and have cut our losses and moved to something much nicer...

[goukcats]

Is the leak within the window or between the window & wall? Did they show where the original window was leaking?

I hope you have better luck with Northside than I. I found they would talk a good talk but always came up short on the walk. I needed their warranty service on 2 RV's a total of 4 times & they never completed everything & outright lied once. I don't understand why they lied when they knew I would discover the truth the first time it was used.
My fixes were all minor, thank goodness. Good luck.

[WoodGlue]

I hope the OP keeps us posted on the progress.

WoodGlue