Winnebago Quality & Service

[lenny-shawna]

We love and are happy with our Tour. The layout is exactly what we want. I feel the quality is there and all the extra we did is for a more personal enjoyment which is tough to achieve on a production coach. Examples would be air infiltration, which is hard to deal with in sunny Florida.
Our fix was we removed many of the kitchen and bathroom cabinets, found the large unsealed air gaps and fixed it. We used Great Stuff Foam for the gaps and lined the walls and back of cabinets with foil insulation "reflective" from Home Depot 4'x25' rolls. That made a world of difference. Before we did it when you opened up the cabinets you felt a large difference in temperature. This worked so well that we will remove all the cabinets and line the entire basement with this product. I'm certain it will help when we travel to colder climates.

[RTegarini]

Originally Posted by Tom-NC

HI.
They stand behind their product and will bend over backwards to help you.

Well, from personal experience and reading the many threads right here on this forum, I'd have to respectfully disagree. For example, Winnebago has a serious issue with windshield frames that rust out due to a design flaw that ran for close to ten model-years on class-A models. Read any of those threads, including mine, and you'll see that "They stand behind their product and will bend over backwards to help you." is not at all an accurate statement for many. While it may be true that Winnebago stands behind their product in a variety of ways, it's only selectively, at their discretion. Bending over backwards? Again, as I've posted before, Winnebago Customer Service has actually hung up on me, refusing to discuss any responsibility, liability or any assistance in any way. Between my 2005 and my father-in-laws 2006, we had to spend almost $8k to have the windshield glass replaced, along with extensive metal work, priming and painting to repair the extensive damage done by water getting behind the fake windshield moulding, with no way to drain out. Research the threads here and you'll see that I'm not just 'complaining', it's a fact. Some owners have even posted that they have had to do the repairs twice.

While it's probably true that Winnebago is a good brand for the dollar spent, and many here have had great experiences, Winnebago falls far short by denying any repair help to the many people that have experienced rusted-through windshield frames due to a simple design flaw... and the fact that it ran for almost ten model-years? Inexcusable, as far as I'm concerned. Since my reply has run long, I won't even bother getting into the slide-out issues and the plastic gear that Winnebago uses, at almost $1k per slide-rail repair, or the Bosch brake fiasco that Winnebago claimed wasn't their problem, in spite of the fact that Winnebago actually bought the chassis and put it under their coach.

Based on my experiences, I envy those that bought the perfect Winnebago/Itasca motorhome, because unfortunately, mine isn't one of them. Not even close. -RT

[Hikerdogs]

Originally Posted by Old Crows

Sorry Bud.....disagree. Toyota is recalling vehicles to correct problems. RV mfgr's also recall for safety issues. Numbers are meaningless as Toyo, GM, Ford, Fiat-Chrysler field vehicles in numbers that are orders of magnitude greater than RV builders. Airbag recalls are due to Takata who supplies many other manufacturers. Yeh...1.2 B fine.... Allegedly hiding UA issues.... Never had an issue with my hybrid... Nor has anyone of my many friends who have them. My point is Toyos rarely have cosmetic and installation issues that we associate with poor QC/QA. Fit, finish & functionality is of high quality.

How is it on one hand you berate Winnebago for a failed microwave purchased from a vendor, yet on the other hand excuse Toyota for failing air bags saying it's the vendors problem since they supply many manufacturers?

As for the 1.2 Billion dollar fine, it was for hiding information that would affect their bottom line. They were trying to minimize the problem and the money they would have to spend correcting it.

You may not have been personally affected by Toyotas quality control or failure to acknowledge serious problems, but millions of others were. They're not fixing these vehicles "out of the goodness of their heart", or "because it's the right thing to do". They're doing it because the federal government ordered them to do it or face even more serious consequences.

[Cooperhawk]

Ask any question and you will bring out detractors from all over. You can read into some of the remarks what actually might have been the overall issue with some of these folks.

We owned a 1985 Airstream 345 Turbo Diesel for twenty years. That's a company that was known for quality, and it was a good machine.

We now have a used Journey 36 DL and find the quality is just as good or better. We maintain the chassis as the manufacturer recommends, and we have few problems, only with vendor systems, and that is minimal. We have attended two National Rally's at the Factory and are impressed with the service available there.

Anything you buy will have detractors. Find what you like and look it over carefully. Then expect to have a few problems. I have heard that if there are ten Motorhomes in a campground, eight have something that needs to be fixed.

[jedgar1]

I am a Winnebago owner, 2011 Journey 40 U and a WGO stockholder. While years ago Winnebago produced a good product and stood by it reasonably well, in the last few years things have changed and not for the better.
From the Winnebago owners Facebook page to the forum here as well as many others reports of new coaches with serious problems and horrible support are rampant.
I love my coach but when I call Winnebago support and the first thing I hear is they don't give out part numbers my hair catches on fire. Oh a rep will tell you if you can actually get one, that the schematics with part numbers are on line. True but unless you have a windows computer you can't access it.
I read almost daily of people with new rigs that went to the GNR for repairs and were sent away after 10 days and 5 attempts to fix it being told that well that is so and so's problem not ours.
It really hurts me that a company I used to defend and am invested in is treating their customers so poorly.
I have made my feelings known to Robert Olsen the new interim CEO. Randy Potts in an effort to keep the company afloat after the crash lost focus on quality control and customer support.
Would I buy another Winnebago? At this point no. I live in Florida so while Tiffin is notorious for problems they are equally notorious for excellent customer service and support and Alabama isn't that far away.

[RTegarini]

Originally Posted by Cooperhawk

Ask any question and you will bring out detractors from all over. You can read into some of the remarks what actually might have been the overall issue with some of these folks.

Ouch! 'Detractors?' Is that what we call people here in the forum that report actual and specific problems and issues with Winnebago products? Problems that are long-provable and by a multiple of people, over ten model-years?

I'd love to know 'what actually might have been the overall issue' in my case since the bulk of the replies in this thread love Winnebago and have had problem-free motorhomes, which I pointed out in my response. Anyone who points out a different view, from PERSONAL experience, shouldn't be negatively referenced as a 'detractor'.

I can tell you exactly what the problem is... Winnebago's design flaw of allowing water behind the windshield molding, which is 'fake' in the sense that it is cosmetic only and does not seal out water. Further, once the water gets in there, it has no where to go and eventually rusts and rots out the windshield frame. There is absolutely no maintenance that Winnebago has ever recommended that prevents this problem, either verbally or in writing in any service manual, owners manual, online documentation or any written communication by mail or email. And the worse part of this is that while you can get some sort of idea of what might be going on if you remove all the reveal molding, you can't see how extensive it is until you physically pull the glass. And since it is glued in, you have a more than 50% chance of glass breakage.

Winnebago should have come clean years ago, but as a 'detractor', I'll happily point it out for anyone thinking of buying a class-A Winnebago/Itasca motorhome, model-years 1999-2009. -RT

[Cooperhawk]

No, that's what I refer to as folks who have a negative feeling on the subject. It's not meant to insult anyone.

The notion was that Winnebago has very good service, you did not agree. You are a detractor.

[kayserc]

Originally Posted by INSAFE

Considering downsizing to a smaller RV and like the layout of the Itasca 25B - a Class C (no slides). However, after reviewing posts on this forum & other sites we are uncertain about the quality of Winnebago products, as well as the support provided by the company. We realize no RV is/will be trouble free. But reading about some of the manufacturing quality deficiencies, along with mfg. support issues has been surprising and alarming. Any thoughts, pro or con, would be appreciated.

We purchased a Itasca, 27N sunstar and had a host of problems that SHOULD of been caught by the factory, i.e., leaking toilet valve, screen door that could not mate with female end of latch (2" short!) AND driver and passenger windows that would not stay closed and required replacement. Needless to say wife and I were not happy! The good news was Winnebago factory extended our warranty to cover the time we lost while unit was awaiting warranty repair. We are now considering downsizing back to a 24/25 ft class C or B+. Not because of above issues but just no longer need a coach this large. I agree with several of the posters that ALL of the manufacturers have their problems BUT why ship a unit that has not undergone thorough QC?? Car dealers manage to get it right most of the time why not RV's????

[Yellowboat]

We just took delivery of our second Sightseer. The first was a 2005 Sightseer 29R built on a 2006 F-53 chassis. Our first problem was a circuit board in the water heater fixed under warranty. The second problem was that our V10 engine failed 6 months after warranty. Winnebago was not responsible for a either of these problems. It is very rare to have a V10 engine failure. I reached out to Ford but they would not help financially.

Our just delivered Sightseer 33C has a few cosmetic issues that the dealership has committed to fix. So far there is a 4" scratch complements of the delivery driver. A screw fell out allowing mismatch between the fender and bin door. Another bin door is not shimed correctly creating mismatch between the bin door and coach door structure when closed. Lastly a removable panel in the bedroom has a screw that missed the supporting structure and every screw in that column has a false start, maring the panel.

We haven't made our first trip yet and we will probably find other things that the dealership needs to fix.

My understanding is that all of the RV manufactures laid off during the downturn in the economy and now that sales are brisk they are struggling to train new hires. Every defect found in our new coach so far, with the exception of the scratch, is something that I could easily fix but I will let the dealership do the work.

I'm very happy with Winnebago products especially our new Sightseer 33C. I was a little dismayed when I saw the slides closed for the first time as the center aisle is not very wide. This is our first coach with opposing slides. It makes sense, now that I think about it, to maximise space when the slides are extended and to minimize aisle space when slides are retracted. We are already adapting. Other people have turned their recliners sideways making more aisle space in the most restricted section. This layout is fantastic with the slides extended.

Safe travels. JD