Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 06-04-2018, 10:51 PM   #1
Winnebago Watcher
 
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: Gardnerville NV
Posts: 1
Angry Trying to Figure Out the Winnebago Warranty System

This is my first Winnebago, it was purchased in March 2018, I have had other brands and really never had a problem with warranty service even though I live in a rural area in Nevada. My Vista is a few months old and I have discovered a couple of issues that seem to be warranty issues. Some were identified at time of purchase, and because of timeframe could not be fixed before we took delivery. Those issues still have not been resolved as of yet and getting a call back from La Mesa RV in San Diego is horrible at best. The newer issues seem more pressing than the ones that have not been fixed. Most of these issues have been discovered on the 3000 maiden voyage, we took 2 short trips prior and discovered the water heater issue only to keep getting the buck passed. The issues are as follows
1. Hot water heater high limit sensor is not working on gas or electric, I called Winnebago and they passed the buck to Atwood
2. Inverter will not switch over automatically consistently sometimes it does sometimes it does not told by Winnebago that would not be a warranty issue.
3. Toilet has a water leak, I am not sure if it is a water line, bad seal or cracked bowl
4. Dometic electric awning does not work
5. Rearview, side cameras stared working only intermittently, Winnebago customer service passed the buck to ASA (ASA has said it is a Winnebago issue) No mater whose issue it is they still dont work

I have now contacted every Winnebago dealer that we will be passing close to and get the same answer from all of them. "You did not buy it from us so we cannot work on it until the end of July or maybe sometime in August.
I talked to RnR RV in Liberty Lake WA. service today and was told look you didn't buy it from us your lucky we will work on it at the end of July. I asked if they didn't have to honor the Winnebago warranty and I was told yes but only at their convenience because I didn't buy it from them.

My questions is this how Winnebago allows their dealers to treat Winnebago owners? After getting pissed of at the service advisor at RnR RV and saying I was going to call Winnebago regarding this all of sudden a date opened up on June 19th to fix the water heater and the toilet leak. That is all they are willing to work on none of the other warranty issues will be addressed. I live 10 hours from the dealer I bought the coach from and was assured by La Mesa RV and Winnebago customer service I would have no problems getting any Winnebago dealer to provide prompt warranty service from their extensive dealer program.

I am hoping this warranty issues does not cause me buyers remorse and wishing I would have bought a Tiffin or Newmar.

Have others experienced this type warranty discrimination by dealers?
jbellona is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-04-2018, 11:07 PM   #2
Site Team
 
creativepart's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Spring Branch, TX
Posts: 7,783
Unfortunately this is how it goes in the RV industry now a days. It not just Winnebago, you see this with all brands.

Warranty Service is not as profitable for the dealer as doing out of warranty repairs and dealers are both swamped with service requests and having trouble keeping good help. Somethings got to give... and you’ve found it.

Manufacturers can’t force a dealer to make warranty service a priority so they only do so for customers that purchased at their dealership.

I’ve found many dealers will do warranty work but they’ll make you wait a month or more to get an appointment.

Winnebago will do excellent warranty repair at their factory in Iowa. I was just there and it was fast and excellent. But they’re booked up too. They will allow you to wait without an appointment and take you in when a slot opens up. But many times there are 3 or 4 also in line for such work.

Winnebago has a new factory in Junction City, OR. If you’re in that area you might give them a call.
__________________
2017 Winnebago Adventurer 37F
2016 Lincoln MKX Toad
creativepart is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-05-2018, 12:15 AM   #3
Winnebago Master
 
SarahW's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Houston TX
Posts: 881
Hello and welcome to the forum. Sorry you are having difficulty with your new Winnie. This is a busy time for most service departments and I know it usually works out that dealerships service customers who bought from them first. So it can be frustrating in many ways.
SarahW is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-05-2018, 02:38 AM   #4
Winnebago Camper
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Indiana
Posts: 44
I have had very good work done by independent RV repair places and not dealers. Dealers seem more interested in the sale of units and not so much the repair side of the business, where as the independent repair business, there only business is repair and selling of parts. For example I had a fan go out on a A/C unit that was under warrantee. I called the independent business and asked it they could do warrantee work on the unit which they could. They took care of the paper work and it was fixed in three days. I got a list of authorized repair places off of the A/C web page. This is just one example. Another time we needed a air pump for the bed, so I called the place that supplies the beds to Winnebago and talked to them direct and the pump was replaced. There are good Independent repair places out there, just find one and use them. Often times they will come to where the RV is.
__________________
2015 Winnebago 36 M Journey
2013 Wrangler Unlimited-Blue ox base plate-Demco bar
Airforce One brake
vanmark is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-05-2018, 02:53 AM   #5
Winnebago Camper
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Indiana
Posts: 44
I might add to the above post that most all the vendor items have a warranty independent of Winnebago. I have found some items have longer warranties than the Winnebago factory warranty. The independent repair business deals direct with the vendor on the warranty. I never go thru a Winnebago dealer for work.
__________________
2015 Winnebago 36 M Journey
2013 Wrangler Unlimited-Blue ox base plate-Demco bar
Airforce One brake
vanmark is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-05-2018, 04:20 AM   #6
aa1ssradio
 
Ranger Smith's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Where the Rig is Parked
Posts: 286
Only thing I can suggest is Call Winnebago . . . make an appointment and have all the stuff fixed at the factory.


Their service used to be fantastic. I don't know what is going on with them internally. We have had several and never had getting warranty work done. Individual items like water heaters, awnings, are warranted by the manufacturer of the device.


PS . . . That is why I buy used and fix any problems myself
__________________
Steve and Joy
2014 Itasca Suncruiser
Where we are now
Ranger Smith is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-05-2018, 07:48 AM   #7
Site Team
 
creativepart's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Spring Branch, TX
Posts: 7,783
This is a good point. Going directly to the item manufacturer does indeed work well. I had a failure of my Xite Radio/GPS in the first weeks after buying my brand new coach and called them directly. They sent me a new head unit in exchange for the non-working one.

The only issue with this approach is that you must install the item yourself. Which was easy for the Xite head unit, but isn’t for a lot of things.
__________________
2017 Winnebago Adventurer 37F
2016 Lincoln MKX Toad
creativepart is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-05-2018, 08:01 AM   #8
Site Team
 
creativepart's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Spring Branch, TX
Posts: 7,783
By the way you would have the same warranty service problem with Tiffin and with most, but not all, Newmar dealers, too.

In fact, folks with those brands many times take their coaches back to the factory for service as I mentioned about your Winnebago. Tiffin’s is in Red Bay, AL and Newmar is in Napanee, IL.

For your location Junction City, OR is by far the closest of the bunch. I drove from San Antonio to Forest City, IA, which is near the Minnesota border, for service in May. Not only did they fix my problems, but I now have a factory rep that I can contact about any new issues. And, I got to tour the factory and see the care they put into each coach.
__________________
2017 Winnebago Adventurer 37F
2016 Lincoln MKX Toad
creativepart is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-12-2018, 05:59 AM   #9
Winnie-Wise
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 302
You can't really blame the other dealers for not dropping everything and fixing your delivery issues because you didn't have time when you took delivery.



I've had work done at the factory, my dealer Lichtsinn and my local dealer here in NY. Both Lichtsinn and my local dealer took care of smaller issues with no problems with short notice. I went to the factory for a very large issue (soft floor fix which took a week), Lichtsinn would have done it but with such an extensive issue there would be less problems with authorization and parts.


I have in the past made appointments (at Lichtsinn where I purchased my rig) when I'm going to be in the area, with usually a few month lead time, and keep a running list of issues. I keep the dealer updated as to new problems and they can then adjust the amount of time needed well in advance. It's worked every time and they get me in and out without having to hang around for weeks like some other brand RVs/or dealers.



Even car dealers need some advance notice for repair work, especially if they have to order in parts or secure approval for individual "item" warranty work such as heaters, AC units, fridge.


Yes you should have been able to be pushed up a list somewhere for your heater and toilet repair since they are critical to using your rig. Your other issues are less important as far as being able to use your rig.
__________________
Enjoy Life! It's later than you think. Life changes in a second. There isn't enough time for cheap booze and cheap cigars.
NYBobbo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-12-2018, 08:19 PM   #10
Winnebago Owner
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 157
This has not been my experience in working with Winnebago during my warranty period on our '16 Journey. Rather than wasting the gas and time to drive to a dealership, I've used a mobile tech. Winnebago will not pay for the service call, but consider how long it takes to get to a dealer, it's about a wash.

Something is just not right here. Winnebago helped me diagnose some issues and sent me the parts direct under warranty. Some parts they authorized a mobile tech to replace with me picking up the service call but Winnebago paying the labor. They never pawned me off to a sub supplier for warranty work. Even out of warranty, Winnebago has been great to deal with to diagnose issues and ship me parts.

I just don't work with dealers or service centers. You tube, the Internet, a good mobile tech and your IQ above room temperature are far superior to taking your rig in. Sooner or later I'll get bit in the butt and end up in some service center.
__________________
2016 Winnebago Journey 40R - 2012 Jeep Rubicon
2 Arctic Cats, 3 Shelties, 4 cats
Bottle of Jack Daniels & wife
BVThunder is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-13-2018, 01:26 AM   #11
Winnie-Wise
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 396
Why don't you go to an independent repair place and have them fix everything? Most of them will do warranty work. Even if they don;t get it fixed, pay the bill then deal with the mfgs. At everything will be working. We have found inidependents are in business to repair, dealers only want to sell. You are aso in and out, none of this weeks to get a repair.
__________________
Sue and Tom

2015 Winnebago Vista 36Y
Sue46 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-13-2018, 05:36 PM   #12
Winnebago Camper
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Scottsdale, Az
Posts: 5
First and foremost forget about getting anything done by LaMesa. Great sales department but service is beyond poor. We are in Scottsdale and have two LaMesa dealers in the valley. I take my unit to Affinity RV in Prescott (100 miles) because it is quicker than dealing with LaMesa. Have heard good things about Johnnie Walker and Finley in Vegas. Also found CS at Winnebago to be very helpful only problem is the long wait time. But once you get through they are very helpful. I always talk with them before taking the unit to the dealer they will make a notation in your recode.
__________________
Dave and Cinyi
2016 Brave 31C, Jeep Rubicon.
Prvs:2008 Tiffin AB, 2013 LTV Unity, Airstream 27FB
rtdavew is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-13-2018, 05:51 PM   #13
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Glass Creek USFS - north of Mammoth
Posts: 531
Sorry to hear of your issues with Winnebago and La Mesa.
LarryW is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-13-2018, 07:02 PM   #14
Winnebago Camper
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 5
Sounds like Winnebago products have a lot of issuses warranty or not, and everyone wanting to pass the buck, including Winniebago. We have owned other brands without issuses. we bought our first winnebago January 2018, I was hoping we paid for quality but seems more like we paid for the name, I will post my dislikes in another post.
M1 Garand is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-13-2018, 07:05 PM   #15
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Glass Creek USFS - north of Mammoth
Posts: 531
I’m completely happy with my 2015, Garand....as I was with my M1!
LarryW is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-13-2018, 09:15 PM   #16
Winnie-Wise
 
Gordon Dewald's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 301
Quote:
Originally Posted by BVThunder View Post
This has not been my experience in working with Winnebago during my warranty period on our '16 Journey. Rather than wasting the gas and time to drive to a dealership, I've used a mobile tech. Winnebago will not pay for the service call, but consider how long it takes to get to a dealer, it's about a wash.

Something is just not right here. Winnebago helped me diagnose some issues and sent me the parts direct under warranty. Some parts they authorized a mobile tech to replace with me picking up the service call but Winnebago paying the labor. They never pawned me off to a sub supplier for warranty work. Even out of warranty, Winnebago has been great to deal with to diagnose issues and ship me parts.

I just don't work with dealers or service centers. You tube, the Internet, a good mobile tech and your IQ above room temperature are far superior to taking your rig in. Sooner or later I'll get bit in the butt and end up in some service center.
This has been my experience as well. I call Customer Support quite often and have always been treated courteously and been given very valuable help or advice. Our dealer Lichtsinn also has very knowledgeable staff who have been very helpful.

A trip to Junction City or Forest City may be the best thing to do. You bought the MH to travel and going to the dealer would be good. If you are going to Forest City go in August when the corn is ready. Both Janet and I think the corn is excellent.
__________________
Gordon and Janet
Tour 42QD/inTech Stacker
Gordon Dewald is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-14-2018, 07:50 AM   #17
Winnebago Camper
 
Join Date: May 2018
Location: Wake Forest, NC
Posts: 40
Starting to regret our recent decision also.
ExBuckeye is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-14-2018, 08:05 AM   #18
Winnebago Camper
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 8
I want to second the idea of using a mobile service person. I had a new Montana 5th wheel. In S Texas for winter. Bought it in Indiana. Local dealer would not even consider looking at it. Called a mobile service person. He was in the campground a couple days later. Found I needed a part, he called Surburan, the furnace maker, they shipped a part to him, he installed it, furnace fixed. He billed Surburan for the labor. Since he was in the rv park all the time working on other folks stuff, no service call charge.

Now, 5 years later, when I have a problem, I call Mark, and in a couple days my problem is fixed. My 5th has never been back to a dealer for work. I either use Mark in the winter or Dave, the mobile service guy in Colorado when there for summer.

The little stuff, I either fix my self or just pay for it. 8-10 mpg, diesel fuel, $3.00+ a gallon, drive to some place, leave rig, go back get it. Nope. Cheeper to just do it my self or pay to have it done.

Jim
jlb27537 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-15-2018, 07:21 AM   #19
Winnebago Owner
 
puttin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 245
Winnebago has a bumper to bumper warrantee on any new unit within the first year (10 years on the roof). They should be fixing anything that goes wrong within than fist year and not referring you to the individual component manufacturers- that would only take place if you had a problem with a warrantied item that stretches past the first year of your coach ownership. I agree with some of the posters who have used mobile techs...the cost is probably worth it.
puttin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-15-2018, 07:32 AM   #20
Site Team
 
creativepart's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Spring Branch, TX
Posts: 7,783
One problem is the perception that buying an RV is like buying a car. We expect it to be the same or mostly similar. We expect to call the dealership and get a quick appointment and bring it in and have it fixed. Simple. Right?

RV dealers don't seem to have the same legal responsibility to repair anything the brand sells no matter where it was purchased. I don't know what their dealership agreement looks like. But it's obviously not that kind of agreement.

One can only guess but it appears that manufacturers don't pay dealers enough for warranty work to make it worth their while. If it was worth their while you'd bet they'd be begging for our warranty work.

But this surely doesn't seem to be a Winnebago-specific issue. It seems to be across all brands. Even the most expensive models.

Those of us that use mobile mechanics and or contact the sub-manufacturers directly are just doing what we can to get things fixed so we don't have to deal with the problem any longer.

I hate to say it, but REV Group's solution of opening multiple "factory" repair facilities around the country seems to be a fairly good response to the problem.

As a Winnebago owner looking for factory support, it's a long way to Iowa or Oregon from south Texas - or just about anywhere south.
__________________
2017 Winnebago Adventurer 37F
2016 Lincoln MKX Toad
creativepart is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
winnebago


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Please Help me...I'm trying to decide between a VIsta 27PE and a Minnie Winnie 26A PatrickA Winnebago Class A Motorhomes 11 10-17-2018 09:09 PM
Roof Trying to Fly Off! covered.wago General Maintenance and Repair 7 04-23-2016 03:44 PM
Is there a secret hand-shake to figure out... RTegarini Winnebago General Discussions 13 07-02-2014 04:32 PM
Warranty Running Out Want-a-be Winnebago General Discussions 19 04-24-2009 06:45 PM
Factory Service. No out of Warranty Help arkaussie Winnebago General Discussions 25 10-09-2008 07:23 PM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Winnebago Industries or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 01:47 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.