Help! 2021 Minnie Winnie Electrical Issues

Wild Bill · 10-21-2021, 02:38 PM

I bought a 2021 Minnie Winnie. A month after I purchased the rig I started having electrical issues. Ford discovered that during Winnebago construction a screw was put through a wiring harness. So, I’m having all kinds of issues. The rig has been down since June and in a shop since July.Winnebago doesn’t offer much help accept to tell me to be patient.
Does anyone have someone I can call for help? I’m just so disappointed.

sundog964 · 10-21-2021, 03:22 PM

Welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear about your issues. We put in for warranty service in March, and didn't end up getting the work complete until September. We did have the coach for some of that time, but it was massively frustrating.

Right now every dealer/repair depot seems to be backed up for months, which is mostly due to factors surrounding the pandemic, strong sales and understaffed shops.

It really seems like Winnebago should step up and get this fixed ASAP, as it clearly is a manufacturing defect.

We were also quite disappointed, but now that it is back in our hands it is better.

**creativepart** · 10-21-2021, 05:02 PM

Is the "shop" a Winnebago dealership or a Ford dealership?

What do they tell you about when they think it will be corrected.

You can always take the RV to Forest City, Iowa to the factory but that's 1,700 miles away from you.

The squeaky wheel definitely gets the grease. So, pester Winnebago daily if necessary.

Wild Bill · 10-22-2021, 09:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sundog964

Welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear about your issues. We put in for warranty service in March, and didn't end up getting the work complete until September. We did have the coach for some of that time, but it was massively frustrating.

Right now every dealer/repair depot seems to be backed up for months, which is mostly due to factors surrounding the pandemic, strong sales and understaffed shops.

It really seems like Winnebago should step up and get this fixed ASAP, as it clearly is a manufacturing defect.

We were also quite disappointed, but now that it is back in our hands it is better.

Thanks for the encouragement. We had so many plans that ewe have had to drop. I feel like the good Lord is taking me back to school. Ford, to their credit, is doing their level best. I just wish Winnebago would step up and try to easy the pain.

Morich · 10-22-2021, 09:57 AM

While it may not be what we would like, the situation is what it is and not likely to change very quickly so I have to move to what is best for me at the time.
So if this is a spot which has been found, is it possible the best solution would be to have the wires that were damaged repaired and just move on?
The hard part of most repairs is finding the cause and since they have located that, it would seem somewaht simple to clip the damage out and replice or repair insulation if only minor damage was done.

Not what we would like but it does let you get it done and start using the RV! The advantage I see is that it doesn't take any high level skill to repair a few wires, so it puts it into lots more places to do the work NOW, rather than six weeks from now?

Maybe drive it into some local shop, point to the problem and ask what it would cost?

**creativepart** · 10-22-2021, 11:10 AM

The sad truth is that Winnebago's dealer agreement is pretty flimsy. It is totally different than the relationship between auto makers and auto dealers.

RV dealers sell multiple makes from multiple manufacturers. They add and drop brands as they see fit. They take almost no direction from Winnebago and while they agree to take in Winnebago RV for repair they have no incentive to do so quickly or to complete the repair quickly. It's very likely that their shop rate for non-warranty work is 200% to 300% more per hour than what their agreement with Winnebago provides. So, in essence they "lose" money on warranty work.

It's not just Winnebago - the parts shortages, trained tech shortages, super long wait times, and manufacturers lack of control over their dealers is the industry standard and nearly always has been.

You're in Katy, TX. In Lewisville, TX 285 miles from you just north of Dallas is National Indoor RV Center's main storage, sales and repair location. NIRVC is a Winnebago dealer and they are known to provide excellent service with very well trained techs.

If you can get the RV away from the current shop - and I don't know if you can or want to - you might check with NIRVC about taking over the job. One word of warning though - NIRVC has a fantastic reputation which means everyone takes their RVs there for service and repair. So, this time of year they may have a long lead time to get in. I'm confident that if they got you in that they would take care of the issue pretty quickly and expertly.