Warranty work!

[ZINGERLITE]

Has anyone had warranty work done somewhere other than where they bought their RV?

I have a couple of warranty issues that i would like to get taken care of. I keep calling the dealers service center where i purchased from and they wont answer or call me back. Plus alot of their recent google reviews make me think that id rather not go to them. I Emailed crossroads and they gave me a list of a few other places to try.

Id like to take it to a General RV near my house. Not sure how they handle warranty work when i wasn't a customer. Should i expect to be done for the season? I assume they are small repairs.

[Dukecity426]

azdryheat wrote:
Repair facilities also can't keep up with demand due to all the junk being sold. If the factory's would have a little quality control, many repairs would be unnecessary.

Anyone can do your warranty work so long as the manufacturer OK's it. Feel free to do your own work, as I did when my trailer was new, and avoid having your RV sit at the dealer for weeks.

I agree with this quote. We have a new 5th wheel (in signature) and I have done all of our repairs. Now, having said that, so far all repairs have been cosmetic, and one was structural. I have called some of the manufactures with question/problems and they have been very helpful with instructions on trouble shooting a problem. (One comes to mind and that is Lippert) they have been patient and helpful. Dexter is another company that has been helpful to us over the years. So going to the dealer may not be the best bet if you can do it yourself. My 2 cents...Bruce

[2edgesword]

Yes. We had a KZ Spree Escape that needed warranty work after a trip to Disney (2,500 miles round trip). The dealer was 3 hours away and the work required wasn't extensive (replace leaking plumbing fixture, find a fix short in trailer running lights, find and fix cause of non-working stereo speaker). KZ agreed to allow a local RV repair shop document the issues and after review gave the shop the go ahead to do the repairs.

Again, this wasn't a huge and expensive list of repairs but depending on the manufacturer and your situation that may allow an independent shop handle the work versus having you drive hundreds of miles to the dealer you purchased from.

[ZINGERLITE]

troubledwaters wrote:
When my friends recently (about 2 months ago) bought a new RV from General RV, General RV told them that they do not do any work on RV's that they didn't sell. I have no way of knowing if that is true or not but you probably should call them. I would call the places on that list that Crossroads gave you, especially any that are mobile fix it types (if any). American Mobile RV repair in Pinckney comes to mind (I know nothing about them, just know of them).

If you bought it from National RV I know exactly what you are going through. While there work was OK, there ability to return phone calls is non-existant. You will have to be persistent, call 17 times in a day and leave a message, etc. You also will need to make an appointment to take it in. Your appointment will likely be in about November, and they will have it until March. Make sure you winterize it and take the battery out (ask me how I know all this). Or do whatever it take to get a mobile RV guy approved to do the work.

That's it. Thanks for the advice. i bought at the camper show and was impressed with the salesman. I was not impressed when i showed up to pick it up. The camper was fine upon initial inspection. I did not get a good vibe from the condition of the showroom, parts and service department.

[bob213]

Forest River allowed me to use an independent repair shop. No sales just repairs. A dream come true! Out of warranty now but will not go anywhere else. Check around for a repair facility. Ask them if they do warranty work and if they do you might want to verify with your Mfg. that it's ok to take it there.
Good luck!

[delwhjr]

ZINGERLITE wrote:
Has anyone had warranty work done somewhere other than where they bought their RV?

I have a couple of warranty issues that i would like to get taken care of. I keep calling the dealers service center where i purchased from and they wont answer or call me back. Plus alot of their recent google reviews make me think that id rather not go to them. I Emailed crossroads and they gave me a list of a few other places to try.

Id like to take it to a General RV near my house. Not sure how they handle warranty work when i wasn't a customer. Should i expect to be done for the season? I assume they are small repairs.

See if manufacturer will authorize mobile mechanic. Many will and a lot of the mobile mechs will take it. They will be quicker.
If you think you can do it yourself, ask if they will send you the parts and let you do it. Will save both of you time and money.

[sgfrye]

wildtoad wrote:
I’ll echo the comments on the NC dealers, especially the CW in Concord, especially when it’s race week. The RV’s used by the racers get priority. I’ll also voice if you can, fix it yourself, you will save yourself a lot of time and aggravation and perhaps even a bit of money in fuel in reducing the number of “take it to the dealer trips”. The dealer I bought from (above) is 90 miles from me and I had a awful time getting warranty work done. Phone calls not returned, finger pointing as to who is the bottle neck (CW, Newmar, Supplier).

The sales process was perfect, getting service done was/is a problem and looking at the number of RV’s backed up waiting I can understand some of the problem.

our experience also. sales dept at CW fayetteville nc was good. our saleman actually was very helpful picking out a TT that we could safely tow. he took our payload, etc numbers off our door tag, engine info, and out of about 30 possible TT's using our floor plan needs and truck info he narrowed it down to 3 in about 10 minutes.

[goducks10]

Bought my 5th wheel 250 miles from home. Only needed one warranty repair. Called the MFG and they set me up with a local independent RV repair shop. In and out in 2.5 hrs.

[troubledwaters]

When my friends recently (about 2 months ago) bought a new RV from General RV, General RV told them that they do not do any work on RV's that they didn't sell. I have no way of knowing if that is true or not but you probably should call them. I would call the places on that list that Crossroads gave you, especially any that are mobile fix it types (if any). American Mobile RV repair in Pinckney comes to mind (I know nothing about them, just know of them).

If you bought it from National RV I know exactly what you are going through. While there work was OK, there ability to return phone calls is non-existant. You will have to be persistent, call 17 times in a day and leave a message, etc. You also will need to make an appointment to take it in. Your appointment will likely be in about November, and they will have it until March. Make sure you winterize it and take the battery out (ask me how I know all this). Or do whatever it take to get a mobile RV guy approved to do the work.

[wildtoad]

I’ll echo the comments on the NC dealers, especially the CW in Concord, especially when it’s race week. The RV’s used by the racers get priority. I’ll also voice if you can, fix it yourself, you will save yourself a lot of time and aggravation and perhaps even a bit of money in fuel in reducing the number of “take it to the dealer trips”. The dealer I bought from (above) is 90 miles from me and I had a awful time getting warranty work done. Phone calls not returned, finger pointing as to who is the bottle neck (CW, Newmar, Supplier).

The sales process was perfect, getting service done was/is a problem and looking at the number of RV’s backed up waiting I can understand some of the problem.

[azdryheat]

Repair facilities also can't keep up with demand due to all the junk being sold. If the factory's would have a little quality control, many repairs would be unnecessary.

Anyone can do your warranty work so long as the manufacturer OK's it. Feel free to do your own work, as I did when my trailer was new, and avoid having your RV sit at the dealer for weeks.

[mikim]

We have a 2013 Tiffin Allegro Open Road and have used the extended service network a few times with good results. Trying to get into the selling dealer was getting problematic....3 to 4 weeks and always complaining about the reimbursement rates and wanted me to pay part of the fees.

And then the constant up-selling, such as wanting to charge me $80 to put nitrogen in the tires.

[sgfrye]

prichardson wrote:
Some dealers will do warranty work on units they did not sell, but many won't. Only way to find out is ask. If the work needed is minor and you are handy probably the quickest solution is do it yourself and forget about the warranty.

x2 on this

we bought a new TT a year ago from a camping world 1 hour drive time from our home. no other dealerships any closer.

we had 1 small floor issue that was repaired under warranty. FYI i phone tagged their service dept for 2 weeks trying to setup an appointment.

i drove to the dealer in person and had an appointment set for the following week in less than 10 minutes.

camping world and other rv dealers in north carolina are usually back logged 2 to 3 months for appointments for anything, warranty, repairs service etc.. they can't keep up with demand because of the rv boom and the sales of new units everyday.

with the exception of possible major warranty issues, i have learned how to inspect, maintain, and service our TT

[prichardson]

Some dealers will do warranty work on units they did not sell, but many won't. Only way to find out is ask. If the work needed is minor and you are handy probably the quickest solution is do it yourself and forget about the warranty.