Warranty work approval

[luvlabs]

I experienced this same problem at our local Camping World. Winnebago didn't do this, didn't do that, it's not our fault, and so on. I called Winnebago, the warranty requests had been approved weeks before and Camping World had no parts orders in the system.

Called the Camping World and called them out on their screw ups. Everything was ordered and fixed in 2 weeks. Nothing like being armed with dates and facts to win the argument.

[Sue46]

I am happy that Winnebago is so cooperative with their owners. This shows where the real problem lie. Many of us in the past trusted our dealers but we are fast learning that the dealer is the problem.

[Dentkimterry]

My story 2016 Vista 26he. My overhead air conditioner vents were blowing out insulation and metal shavings. Happened to mention this to my dealer when I had it in for other warranty work. He said they wouldn't touch that because Winnebago would not reimburse them for that kind of work. They told me how I could clean them out! I went back to the waiting area to think about this. I decided to call Winnebago from the waiting room. Don't know who I talked to but he said of course we'll pay the dealer to fix this. He gave me a name and number for the dealer to call. The service writer did and got immeadite authorization. They spent over an hour on that issue and fixed it to my satisfaction.

[corjaguar]

This discussion with warranty work at Lazy Days is very familiar.....we went through a post delivery process that was from hell, This was our 4th coach and we will never go back to Lazy Days for any repair work ever. We did have a warranty issue subsequent to the delivery an decided to take the coach to LeMesa they were able to troubleshoot the problem, they called Winnebago to verify/authorize our repair and r/r the parts in a timely manner (slide motor/circuit board replacement...).
What I really missed was the long drawn out day long repairs that it took at LD......NOT.......

[BirchyBoy]

After many calls to LD, I picked up our coach two weeks ago for a trip. They had completed about 80% of the work, or the low-hanging fruit.

They replaced two pieces of trim above the front seats, one of the shades, checked the connection on the toilet that had leaked, checked the roof seals and the awning and slide topper. While looking at either the awning or the slide topper, they found a piece that hadn’t been installed correctly so they requested authorization to repair it, which they received. I honestly don’t know which piece because the tech couldn’t make the time to tell me. Time will tell....

They could not replicate the issue with the water heater switch being intermittent. They probably checked it once, it worked and they called it good. 3 days after picking it up, and 20 days after the Winnebago warranty ended, the water heater stopped working altogether. One tech person visit and $277 later and it is working as it is supposed to. I’m going to seek reimbursement from Winnebago.

The biggest issue is the big window above the couch. It has always been noisy when driving, almost like the frame is rubbing the wall. Well, they took the window out, decided it needed to be replaced and ordered a new one. They then installed the old one, sort of. When we got up to 60mph on the interstate, the sliding glass starts slapping inside the frame. I pull over to see what is happening. The tech hadn’t installed the rubber channel correctly and the window was between one side of the rubber and the metal frame. It took about 20 minutes to pull the rubber channel out and instal it correctly.

There were a few things happen on our trip that makes me wonder about the overall quality of Winnebago’s work:

I wash washing it and the wand hit the gutter above the door, which promptly pushed out of place. It only had one of the three original screws in it. The others were there at one time as the paint shows where the screws were tightened. The middle screw was broken off and the other one was gone. That was an easy fix but shouldn’t have been an issue.

The latch on the A/V compartment was loose and wouldn’t work. Again, an easy fix but a little Loctite would be nice.

Lastly, the front panel on the sofa fell off. The two brackets that it hangs with had pulled away from the wood. This is actually a good thing because it revealed a large storage space. Now I need to see if I can modify the front panel to swing up on hinges.

All of these are little annoyances, I know. But coupled with the poor heating and cooling makes me wish we had looked at more units. The furnace does a good job of hearing the back 1/3 of the coach, the bedroom and the bathroom. Anything beyond that was 15 degrees cooler when the outside temp got into the 40’s. This means that the thermostat never warms up and the furnace runs and runs and runs. I supplemented it with a ceramic heater but that is a bandaid. Because we had not used the camper in cold weather, this was an undiscovered issue that is beyond the warranty period. Now I get to figure out how to improve the flow to the front of the coach.

The cooling has been a known issue but is “operating as designed”. I thought it was a 13.5k unit and looked into upgrading it. It is actually a 14.8k unit running on a 4K generator. It cools the front 50% well but not the bedroom. think the main issue is the very restrictive intake on the “chill grill”. It only has two inlets about 1.5” x 4”. I’m going to fab up a cover that lets the whole intake work and see if this helps. More air in should equal more air out; I can live without the “chill grill”.

I am kind of dreading taking it back so they can finish the work. I will definitely be more aware and check everything they do.

[BirchyBoy]

Time for an update. After our trip in March, I put it in storage for a couple weeks until I was back in town. I talked with my service advisor at LD’s and she said that Winnebago authorized replacing the storage hinges but needed measurements. I dropped it off in late April, around the 25th I think, so they could measure, replace the window and hopefully the hinges. I said I need it back for Memorial Day weekend and she said no problem.

I called last week to set a pickup time and was told they’re still waiting on the hinges. Ok, how about the window, which had been received back in March. Not installed yet, do you want it done before you pick it up on Friday. I said it’s up to you guys, but I want it done correctly, not in a hurry.

I pick it up on Saturday and the service writer said they were waiting on parts and the window had not been installed. I check with parts and he says they’re waiting on measurements to pass onto Winnebago. I stand there with a odd look on my face and he asks what’s wrong. I told him it has been sitting there for almost a month waiting on them to measure. He shakes his head and said that they’re going through personnel changes because of lots of issues. He also said that he can have the hinges dropped shipped to my house if I prefer.

I told the service writer that I’d be touch on Tuesday to setup a time for the measurements and to get the window installed. I’m considering asking Winnebago to pay an independent service tech to install the window. They have had my unit, with the exception of about a month, since January. They did say that they have raised my issues to the general manager, and the parts guy comped my propane fill ($50). I’m considering asking them to comp me for my unused storage, about $350.

We have been considering a different Winnebago or a Tiffin. Unfortunately, this is the dealer for both of those brands in Denver. That makes me sad.

[KatieVL]

I've had the same experience with Lazy Days in Post St. Lucie Florida. Service manager says he is waiting for authorization, for weeks.....then it is waiting for parts for weeks....LD takes months to finish simple jobs.

[rk911]

Originally Posted by BirchyBoy

....We have been considering a different Winnebago or a Tiffin. Unfortunately, this is the dealer for both of those brands in Denver. That makes me sad.

i'd be inclined to call winnebago customer relations and tell them exactly why you won't be buying a new Winny...because LD is the only dealer in town.

[BirchyBoy]

I’m still dealing with this ongoing repair dilemma. They have now had my coach for close to six months, with a few weeks of vacation time mixed in. The last 2.5 months have been with the two remaining issues, the big window and the storage latches.

They replaced the window but put the interior trim piece on incorrectly. The interior trim has a split along on one of the long sides that should be at the top, hidden behind the valance, out of sight. I told them that it needs to be rotated 180 degrees. I even said to look at any of the other 5 Vista’s on the lot to see how Winnebago intended it. Somehow, they interpreted what I said to mean that the whole window should be rotated, and they said that it would allow rain to come in when driving. They even had a little picture they drew showing why they couldn’t rotate the window. I really think I am speaking English and they are hearing Greek.

The latches. Oh, the latches. As of last week, still no measurements since my May 27 update. Yup, 6 more weeks of nothing. They really must love having my Vista occupying their lot. I lost my mind there last week and demanded progress. As of tonight, they had measured and ordered the parts.

We’ve got a trip this next week so the Vista is at my house. I am going to call Winnebago tomorrow and ask that they authorize an independent tech to come and fix the window and possibly the storage door latches. I am probably going to take the dealership to small claims court for the repair cost of my water heater, 6 months of storage and maybe a thousand for just plain aggravation.

[BirchyBoy]

I finally emailed Winnie and the dealer:

I am writing this email in an attempt to highlight issues I have had with warranty repairs on my 2017 Winnebago Vista 31BE (VIN ends in H0A07903). We purchased this motorhome (MH) in March 2017 from a dealer in Wilmington, NC. Due to a move, we were not able to return to that dealer for warranty repairs and instead had to find one near where the MH is being used. The only Winnebago dealer in our new area (Denver, CO) is Lazy Days RV (LD) in Aurora CO.

We contacted Lazy Days in late 2017 and made an appointment to drop our MH off in January, 2018. At the time of drop-off, we went over a list of issues and said that we needed the MH back by late March for a two week trip. The list of repairs, and the status of each as of the pickup date around March 22, 2018, are listed below:

1. Wood trim pieces above both driver and passenger seats (resolved).
2. Dash A/C knob was loose (resolved) and A/C light was intermittent (was told it was not a Winnebago issue but a chassis issue; a chassis repair shop told me the opposite earlier).
3. Bathroom door would not stay closed when driving (resolved).
4. Both mirrors vibrate when driving impacting usability (was told this is operating as expected). 5. Water heater switch light was intermittent (see Issue 1 below).
6. Storage door hinges rusted (see Issue 2 below).
7. Large sliding window above couch noisy when driving (see Issue 3 below).
8. I asked to have the awning and slide topper checked for issues (was told that one bracket was replaced).
9. I asked for an inspection of roof seals at my cost (completed).

There may have been one or two other issues on the list but it has been long enough that I have forgotten. I can say that items 1-4 were either resolved satisfactorily or was told that there was no resolution. I have used the MH for several trips since March with the MH spending extended periods of time at LD so that items 5-7 could be addressed. I last picked the MH up in late July 2018 and items 6 & 7 are still not finished to my satisfaction. Details on items 5, 6 and
7 follow:

Issue 1 (water heater):
The issue as I outlined it was an intermittent lighted switch on the control panel. The tech tested the water heater and determined that it was operating as planned, with the explanation being that the green light was not supposed to be on all the time. Two days into our two week trip, the water heater stopped operating and we could not use it for the first 9 days. We had to have a technician come to our site and resolve the issue, which was a faulty DSI module. The repair totaled $272, receipt attached.

Issue 2 (storage door hinges):
This repair is one that has taken months, mostly due to issues within the dealership, and is not complete. I understand that it took a while to get the approval. Once the approval was given, there had been no forward motion in the repair because one department was waiting on measurements, the other department didn't know they were supposed to measure, etc. At this point in time, I am not sure if the parts have been received by the dealer or not. I thought the dealership would call when they had arrived but I have not received a call. I am not even sure that I want the repair work to be completed for these reasons:

a. I do not know if the hinges are painted to match.
b. I do not know if the new hinges would be rust resistant.
c. I am not sure if the doors would operate correctly following the repair.

Issue 3 (sliding window):
This issue is by far the most frustrating, confusing and problem-laden of them all. The original window was creaking when we were driving; it sounded like the window frame was moving slightly while in motion.
When we picked the MH up in March we were told that they had attempted repair but determined that it needed to be replaced and had reinstalled the old window. I was assured the new window would be ordered and installed soon after we were back from our trip. About 60 miles into our trip, while traveling at highway speeds, the sliding pane of glass was vibrating and sounded like it was going to fall out.
I was able to pull off the interstate and found that the sliding pane had not been installed in the rubber channel correctly. Also, one of the screws had not been reinstalled. It took me about 30 minutes to resolve the rubber channel issue and then we were underway.

Once we dropped the MH off again at LD, we were told that the new window had been been received and could be installed any time. The MH sat at the dealer for another month until we needed it again, and were told that that the window had not been installed because they were waiting to repair it and the storage hinges at the same time. We took the MH out for a week at a time in April, May and June, all without any resolution of the window. At one point in one of our trips, my wife told me that the inside window frame wasn't installed correctly.
I doubted her memory, but was proven wrong when I looked at a new Vista that was on the lot at LD. The issue is that the seam in the interior trim is installed at the bottom of the window, not at the top where it would be hidden by the valance. When I raised this as an issue in late June or early July when I dropped it off again, I explained the issue and even showed the service writer by going out to the new unit.
When I picked the unit up in late July for another trip, nothing had changed except for the story. What I was told then was that the new window had actually been installed way back in March, when we were told that the old one had been reinstalled. They (the service writer and parts person) could now look at their screen and see the parts inventory changing even though the service tech hadn't logged their time to replace it. Further, I was told that they wouldn't resolve the interior trim being upside down because that would involve rotating the whole window, which could result in water penetration if we drove during a rain storm. The service writer even went so far as to draw me a nice picture showing how flipping the window would let rain come in. I left feeling flabbergasted by this, and was not sure how my request to reinstall the interior trim ended up with the whole window being rotated 180 degrees; ridiculous beyond comprehension.

At this time, I am not comfortable saying they are falsifying the window repair, but I find it hard to believe that a window can be replaced without anyone knowing it happened for 3-4 months. Nor can I say that we are willing to live with window trim that is installed incorrectly in a window that we don't believe was ever replaced to begin with.

So, all this said, we are the proud owners of a Winnebago that is out of warranty but still has repairs pending after months of frustration and waiting. I would like to work with Winnebago on getting these issues resolved as soon as possible so that we can put this behind us and enjoy our otherwise great vacation home.

[SarahW]

Originally Posted by BirchyBoy

I finally emailed Winnie and the dealer:

Good luck; I hope you get a favorable response and the repairs are made ASAP.

[BirchyBoy]

A Winnebago rep emailed back and said to keep working with Lazy Days and to contact Norwood for reimbursement on the hot water heater repair. Thanks for the support :(

[BirchyBoy]

I’m still dealing with this fiasco. I dropped it off mid January, almost a year to the day from when this all started, for the hinge replacement and window trim rotation. I went in today, 6 weeks later, and nothing has been done. I’m “first in line” for the paint booth for the hinges. Well, the paint shop is 50 miles north and my RV isn’t sitting up there waiting to go in.

Some have had good experiences at Lazy Days. I will never, ever buy there and expect good service. I can’t even get bad service!

[BirchyBoy]

I picked up the RV today. They did a good job on replacing the hinges and painting them. The inside window trim is better, too.

I wish they’d have taken the initiative and painted the furnace cover too. I need to get a can of spray paint made so I can paint it.

[BirchyBoy]

The window saga is still ongoing. They installed the interior trim upside down, meaning the seam is on the bottom. It took far to long for them to understand, but that may have been to my benefit. In the last 8 months, it was also leaking a lot. They worked with Winnebago and LCI and a second new window is waiting to be installed. It would have been done in March but the COVID mess pushed everything back.

They know at this point that I’m not going to accept anything less than great. I’m hopeful that they will get it right the first time this time. The key indicator for this repair is a driving test and a water test. If it’s rattling, it isn’t OK. If it’s leaking it isn’t OK. The service department has gone through lots of change in the past two years and is slowly getting better.