2003-2008 Winnebago owners: need help

[RetiredNurse]

i have a 2008 winnibago vectra. The hot water tank works on elect. and propane and appears to be heating. when I touch the tank pressure valve outside it feels hot but at the faucets I only am getting luke warm water. Do you have any ideas on what I might look at.

[Sandie115]

I believe this is a legal issue as it is a danger to him and the public that the dealer withheld. i would go to small claims court if they cover $4000. I would put on the net what the name of the dealer is so none of us will use that dealer. #2 I would contact Highways magazine for members of Good Sam and ask them to intervene and often they get results when owners do not and they too will say the name of the dealership. I would try #2 first. The dealer needs a wake up call. Winnebago should be notified of what their dealer is pulling with used Winnebagos!!!!

[Sandie115]

SMALL CLAIMS COURT HERE I COME if I were you!! Also get in touch with Good Sam magazine and have them intercede for your father in law, they get good results!!! Ride around with a sign in the window you were jipped by this dealership, do not go there, it will get them bad attention. THEY knew!!!! They should have done the work but RV dealerships are basically out to sell and not out to satisfaction.

[Clay L]

Originally Posted by RetiredNurse

i have a 2008 winnibago vectra. The hot water tank works on elect. and propane and appears to be heating. when I touch the tank pressure valve outside it feels hot but at the faucets I only am getting luke warm water. Do you have any ideas on what I might look at.

You might want to start a new thread. You will probably get more answers.

[garyspang]

Had the same problem on my 2003 Sightseer this year.
Glass guy refused to mount a new windshield. Told me to go to a body shop and get the frame refinished. I was temporarily devastated.

Since I had my dingy with me, I borrowed a ladder, bought a small grinder and spray primer/paint. Ran the grinder from the generator. Worked on it for about 4 hours down to shiny metal all the way around. Primed/painted it. Next day they installed the window without reservations.
Later got several NAPA windshield adhesive beads in boxes. Cleaned and pushed them in the spaces under the removed black plastic strip. This took some time and muscle to replace the black plastic strip, but both windshield frames are now super-leak-tight.
No big deal, just a real pain in the neck.

[RTegarini]

Originally Posted by Sandie115

I believe this is a legal issue as it is a danger to him and the public that the dealer withheld. i would go to small claims court if they cover $4000. I would put on the net what the name of the dealer is so none of us will use that dealer. #2 I would contact Highways magazine for members of Good Sam and ask them to intervene and often they get results when owners do not and they too will say the name of the dealership. I would try #2 first. The dealer needs a wake up call. Winnebago should be notified of what their dealer is pulling with used Winnebagos!!!!

I agree, and in California, small-claims court is good up to $5,000 now. While my father-in-law is hoping not to have to go that route, it's a distinct possibility.

At this point, I wrote a letter for him to submit to the dealer, including pictures, the invoices for the actual repair, and a letter from the body shop and glass company stating the unsafe condition due to the extensive metal rust and rot. It is a large multi-store dealer, so he is sending out certified letters to both the selling store and the corporate store tomorrow, explaining the time-line of the windshield replacement BEFORE taking delivery and the fact that the windshield frame rust and rot was intentionally overlooked and never reported to my father-in-law.

Until we hear back from the dealer with a final decision, I've asked my father-in-law not to contact Good Sam, Motorhome Magazine, Winnebago, the California Department of Motor Vehicles, etc, but he will certainly expose the dealer in every way possible should they decide they have no 'ownership' in what took place. -RT

[JC2]

Originally Posted by RTegarini

I agree, and in California, small-claims court is good up to $5,000 now. While my father-in-law is hoping not to have to go that route, it's a distinct possibility.

At this point, I wrote a letter for him to submit to the dealer, including pictures, the invoices for the actual repair, and a letter from the body shop and glass company stating the unsafe condition due to the extensive metal rust and rot. It is a large multi-store dealer, so he is sending out certified letters to both the selling store and the corporate store tomorrow, explaining the time-line of the windshield replacement BEFORE taking delivery and the fact that the windshield frame rust and rot was intentionally overlooked and never reported to my father-in-law.

Until we hear back from the dealer with a final decision, I've asked my father-in-law not to contact Good Sam, Motorhome Magazine, Winnebago, the California Department of Motor Vehicles, etc, but he will certainly expose the dealer in every way possible should they decide they have no 'ownership' in what took place. -RT

I support the position you and the father-in-law are taking. All to often, some dealers will play the wait it out game hoping the complainant will get tired and go away. Keep us posted.

[RetiredNurse]

We have the same problem and are awaiting the part. We, likewise, have a 2008 Winnebago Vectra. We are on a trip to Texas and when we made our first stop we realized we only have warm water, but the tank feels hot. We have an extended bumper to bumper warranty at Camping World so we made an appointment and pulled in at New Braunfels, TX last week. They did the diagnosis and determined it needed a "mixer valve" and it's on the back of the hot water heater. They told us the part itself is $200 without labor. We were headed to Riviera, TX and didn't want to wait the week to 10 days they said it would take to get the part, so we called the Camping World in Mission, TX and they are to call us when the part comes in. Also, if you have the Model 2011 side by side refrigerator, there's a recall on it. It could catch fire unless they install the high temperature limit switch. We just had the frig stop and come to find out the switch they put on it went bad so were awaiting a new switch. It's free through the recall, but a pain in the neck to be without the frig. The switch can be bypassed, but that creates the risk of fire. Good luck! (We do love our rig though )

[dagray]

Sounds like a job for Judge Judy. Take them to small claims court.

[asw211rf]

Hi RT, My wife and I purchased a new 2008 Sightseer 29R. While we had no windshield leaks, that we knew about, we did have a front passenger sliding window leak. The leak took several visits to a Winnebago service center including one visit to Winnebago at Forest City. After they failed I took it once againg to our local dealer they reluctantly replaced the entire window and frame which fixed the problem. We also had several other rust problems around the basement door frames that were never totally resolved before we sold the unit in 2011. I believe that Winnebago normally builds a decent unit, we had an unusual number of problems with the unit, most were corrected. Besides the expense, the problems really leave a bad taste for their motorhome! While I believe "as is" is a cop out for the dealer, fighting the issue any further will add significant cost and aggravation to an issue that's likely already a soar point. Good luck. RF

[lwasouth]

I had both windshields replaced due to an air conditioner cover coming off a vehicle as it was going by us. Hit the center support and cracked both windshields. Duncan Systems (A national company) came out to replace them. The technition advised me that due to the fact that my coach is an 05, they may not be able to do the work if the rust is "Through". After removing the windshields they found considerable rust, but none was through and the framework was sound. They ground off the rust and used a special primer to seal the metal frame. The new windshields were installed and I was given a written warranty they will be replaced at no charge if they ever leak, except by breakage

[RTegarini]

New information update:

The corporate office insists that they have no responsibility or liability, and that the reason the windshield frame rust/rot was not mentioned was due to their view that it was 'normal' and still a 'safe driving condition'. But as a gesture of 'goodwill', they have offered my father-in-law $500, with the understanding that he would need to sign-off on a release of liability. He told them it would take a lot more than $500 for that signature, so the dealer representative is supposed to 'mull over their options' and call back in a few days.

My father-in-law, when asked, told the representative that he felt that them paying 50% of the total costs would be acceptable. (Not me, though; if it were up to me, I'd want a lot more than that but it's his motorhome. I'd take my chances in small claims court in front of a judge, with his evidence and I feel that automobile and RV dealers are not viewed favorably here in California.)

I'm hoping that they make a better offer to my father-in-law, but based on their first (and insulting) offer, I think he'll be better off in front of a judge.

Thank you all for your replies and support. -RT

[RTegarini]

Well, for anyone who thinks that the 'Winnebago Leaking Windshields' issue doesn't apply to them, you just might get a surprise, like I just did. Since my father-in-law bought his motorhome used, I attributed at least some of the windshield rust/rot to maybe the motorhome had come from another state with more severe weather.

Recently driving to southern California, I discovered water all over the dash driving through heavy rain for an extended period. (And the windshield wipers quit working properly; I could not turn them off and lost the intermittent mode. The wipers would continue to run and would only turn off after there was a period of no rain. As soon as I hit more rain, the wipers would turn on by themselves. Doing a search, one possible cause is the wiring plug at the windshield motor gets wet and shorts out.) Water was leaking down the windshields in two spots, and quite extensively at times. While I have not had the motorhome inspected, my father-in-law is convinced my Itasca has the exact same problem as he experienced.

Since I know that my motorhome is a California vehicle and not typically exposed to harsh weather, I've spent some time searching the Internet for leaking windshields and have come away surprised at just how big the problem seems to be, with model-years 1999-2008 showing up as affected Winnebago motorhomes. (Could more on either side of these model years; just basing it on posts where the model year was mentioned.) Even more surprising is that only Winnebago seems to be affected, apparently due to the design and how they install and seal the windshields in place compared to other manufacturers.

Reading through all the posts at all the RV websites, it becomes quite clear that Winnebago doesn't take any responsibility for repair costs other than a couple that were repaired while under warranty. All the affected motorhomes are now well out of warranty, so it appears that Winnebago has washed it's hands of the matter.

Worse, after repairing the rust/rot from the windshield and repainting the frame, posts reflect that only stopped the leaks for now, but most people feel that it doesn't solve the design problem, and many expect the rust/rot to come back and then have to do the repair all over again. A couple of posts I found claim that they have already experienced just that.

I can tell you that when my father-in-law first told me about this, I inspected my motorhome and saw no evidence of leaks on the dash and around the windshield inside or out, and saw no water damage or spots around the sun visors and lining. Now, since I saw the water leaking down the inside windshields, I knew to take a better look and discovered water damage to the side-window and windshield curtains. While the motorhome is in storage, I keep the curtains closed and they touch the dash. I can see that the windshield has been leaking enough that the water on the dash water stained the curtains and I didn't notice it from the inside of the motorhome.

For anyone that is buying a Winnebago motorhome in those model years, you should have the windshields throughly inspected, as a common 'solution' was to trade or sell the motorhome without doing the costly repairs.

So, for those of you that feel that your motorhome windshield seals look perfect, with no visible trace of rust anywhere on the front cap, you might just get the surprise I did while driving in heavy rain. -RT

[Hikerdogs]

Not all water leaks are necessarily from the windshield. Over the years we've gotten some water spots on the padded dash. I've taken the rubber trim from around the windshield and found no evidence of rust yet every once in a while water will drain off the inside molding. I've inspected all the side windows and still found no traces of leaks.

This spring we drove through a rainstorm and got a few drops on the dash. When we stopped for the night I removed the inside molding to find water marks. Further inspection revealed the rubber gaskets around the center clearance lights has deteriorated. Water has been forced past the gaskets and runs down the inside of the fiberglass cap. Eventually it makes it to the inside molding and onto the dash. In our case it's a matter of resealing the lights.

Before you jump to conclusions that the windshield is leaking do a thorough inspection. You may find it's something far more simple and far less costly.

[SarahW]

Originally Posted by RetiredNurse

i have a 2008 winnibago vectra. The hot water tank works on elect. and propane and appears to be heating. when I touch the tank pressure valve outside it feels hot but at the faucets I only am getting luke warm water. Do you have any ideas on what I might look at.

Originally Posted by RetiredNurse

We have the same problem and are awaiting the part. We, likewise, have a 2008 Winnebago Vectra. We are on a trip to Texas and when we made our first stop we realized we only have warm water, but the tank feels hot. We have an extended bumper to bumper warranty at Camping World so we made an appointment and pulled in at New Braunfels, TX last week. They did the diagnosis and determined it needed a "mixer valve" and it's on the back of the hot water heater. They told us the part itself is $200 without labor. We were headed to Riviera, TX and didn't want to wait the week to 10 days they said it would take to get the part, so we called the Camping World in Mission, TX and they are to call us when the part comes in. Also, if you have the Model 2011 side by side refrigerator, there's a recall on it. It could catch fire unless they install the high temperature limit switch. We just had the frig stop and come to find out the switch they put on it went bad so were awaiting a new switch. It's free through the recall, but a pain in the neck to be without the frig. The switch can be bypassed, but that creates the risk of fire. Good luck! (We do love our rig though )

Retired Nurse--Howdy and welcome to the forum. You might want to move your posts to a separate thread as they don't have anything to do with the Winnebago rust issue topic and likely won't get much attention buried in here. Good luck to you.

[RTegarini]

Originally Posted by Hikerdogs

Before you jump to conclusions that the windshield is leaking do a thorough inspection. You may find it's something far more simple and far less costly.

Thanks Hikerdogs for the suggestion. I certainly will look into it further once I get home, but will say that when you do a Google on the subject, BY FAR the leaks are tied into rusted/rotted windshield frames, not leaking clearance lights.

I can also say that since new, if there has been a 'cheap' repair and a far more 'costly' repair to resolve an issue, unfortunately for me, this motorhome has been the 'expensive' one each and every time, so I know what I'm guessing the problem will turn out to be. Luckily, summer is almost here, so I'll have plenty of time to figure things out before once again maxing out my VISA over this motorhome. VISA would probably take my card away if I ever sold the motorhome, telling me I no longer need it. -RT

[Sandie115]

We have friends with Itasca with leakinig windshield that was repaired by CampingWorld and it came back LEAKING so back it went to CampingWorld to get it to not leak. Winnebago and Itasca are great rigs and I am suprised that they are not standing behind their product. This obviously is a design problem that they should step forward and acknowledge and so something about it. Our friends unit was a mess when they got the windshield out the whole area was rotted out. Not sure what year their rig was manufactured.

[RTegarini]

Originally Posted by Sandie115

We have friends with Itasca with leakinig windshield that was repaired by CampingWorld...

It would be great if you could post the year and some pictures before the repair. I think some people would be surprised at how prevalent and severe the rusted windshield frame really is...

In fact, I'd like to see everyone post pictures just to see how many iRV2 Winnebago members have or have had the problem. If Winnebago monitors the forum, they should see just how wide-spread the problem is. I came across a post from someone who had written Winnebago, and Winnebago's response was that the problem was limited to just a few motorhomes and blamed 'environmental' issues and the owners lack of maintenance. I personally have never had to perform any kind of maintenance to a windshield on any other vehicle and am not sure if the Winnebago owners manual points out any specific requirements. I guess owners periodically are supposed to remove all the reveal molding and maybe pull the windshields out to inspect the windshield frame.

If nothing else, people looking to buy a newer, but not new, Winnebago might have second thoughts when they see the pictures and costs ranging up to almost $4k to repair. (If the windshields get broken upon removal.) And from what I've read, it's only a repair, not a long-term solution to the design flaw. -RT

[Duner]

Originally Posted by Hikerdogs

Not all water leaks are necessarily from the windshield. Over the years we've gotten some water spots on the padded dash. I've taken the rubber trim from around the windshield and found no evidence of rust yet every once in a while water will drain off the inside molding. I've inspected all the side windows and still found no traces of leaks.
.........
Before you jump to conclusions that the windshield is leaking do a thorough inspection. You may find it's something far more simple and far less costly.

Water can also get to the inside of the windshield from cracks in the roof-to-gutter seal. If water penetrates the roof seal it should drain out the little weep holes in the bottom of the gutter (the holes are spaced about 10-12 feet along the full length of the coach. But when I released the leveling jacks and the front dropped down there was a surge of water that went past the weep holes and ran out the end of the roof-to sidewall frame channel. For a year or two I had seen rain/dew leaking out the weep holes and I knew I need to re-caulk the roof seal. So when I saw it come out and run down the inside of the windshield, then I knew it was past time to fix that roof seal (another "known common Winnebago problem").

Also, regarding California small claims...the upper limit is $7,500. I received a check for $5643 from the company that makes the Winnebago fiberglass roof. There were repeated denials that the cracks in the fiberglass were not material defect and not covered by the 10 yr warranty. When I filled in small claims and they were issued a notice to appear, their response was positive and quick.....so I never had to go to court.

Based on my experience, I think the OP has a very good chance for full payback in small claims on the windshield repair. I would get a letter from the "experts" at the glass/frame repair shop, stating what they saw (ie, the inferior repair that the dealer made). That, along with photos, and cost estimates, and receipts, will make it easy for the judge to rule in your favor, and convince the dealer to settle up and pay out full costs.

Good luck,
Bill

[jimmyjnr]

I have a sightseer built 2001 that needs a new passenger windshield , should I prepare for this rusted frame problem