Cabinets delaminating '12 Sightseer

[ChileRick]

Originally Posted by sharksgirl21

Hey ChiliRick, We bought a lovely 2012 Sunstar in May, upon delivery we noticed one of the cabinets was delaminating. This was the three weeks between the time we selected and the delivery! Needless to say, it was noted and the cabinet and fascia was ordered. We went on our shake down trip. More delaminating. Over the course of the first three months every single laminated surface in our coach started delaminating. The beauty of this is that as the parts were replaced, they started delaminating as well. The dealer has had my coach more than I have had it. They called me last week to tell me they finished the work but now a new problem has come up. They could not get the coach our of the bay. Can start it up, put it in gear, won't go anywhere. They call it "limp mode". So the Ford dealer has been called to tow it and fix it. Hopefully, he says it is a sensor or something. Mercy me, I am glad this did not happen while we were out. We have all the warranty and roadside service but we usually travel with our dogs. My husband and I are new RV'ers and this is baffling to us the amount of problems with have had with something that was brand new.

We are new to RVing as well and expected to have the usual "new car/new house" kind of issues, but this has been crazy. We haven't been in "limp mode" yet, mechanically, we've just had leveling and air conditioner problems. Most of our issues have been with the house, cabinets and cabinet doors, slide molding and laminated countertops (waiting for our third set of parts) TV's (replaced 2 of 3), stereo speakers blowing out (gave up on those, we'll replace on our own), bedroom privacy doors won't stay in the track, and slide seals that aren't sealing. Not to mention a number of assorted screws that we keep finding on the floor origin unknown. We purchased the Winnie because of their reputation for quality? From the posts I've read since buying the RV, it seems like the entire industry is a bit flaky.

As of this post, the RV has been at the dealer for more than a month this time and we have no anticipated delivery date for the latest set of parts. Please keep us posted on your progress and we will do the same.

[ChileRick]

Originally Posted by garykk

I e-mailed the "company" last week, I was concerned that my dealer could not handle the job of replacement. Got a call the next day from a Winnie tech., was told that all the dealer will do is replace the cabinet faces and not the whole cabinet.....that was a relief.....he also told me to take it to dealer as soon as possible as there may be a wait for parts....It seems that all Winnies in the maple coffee glaze have this problem....the manufacturer tried a new process and it apparently did not work too well. I got the impression that the vendor for this material is on the hook for all this...

According to the documentary we saw and our salesman, Winnebago has it's own cabinet shop?

[Lault]

There is not one manufacter out there that does not have issues. I bought a 11 Tiffin and it was a mess. So glad it is gone.

[TerryJ]

This thread is very much like the one I started a week or so ago about Winnebago ignoring long time problems. I have a 2011 Vista 35F purchased new and have been dealing with the shoddy workmanship of Winnebago and my dealer for 2 years now. Their refusal to deal with these many manufacturers defects is, IMHO, damn near borderline criminal. Their customers should not have to act as their Quality Control Dept. I asked this on the other thread but it bears repeating: If Winnebago built airplanes, would you fly in one?

[ChileRick]

Picked 'er up from the dealer today, more cabinet work needed, some trim pieces re-ordered, new trim parts have come unglued, need ordered and various other issues we need to discuss with the dealer and Winnebago before we post here.
BUT, thought you might enjoy this......
to replace the fridge surround, they had to remove it, which entails removing the exterior access panels. they did replace them . . .REALLY?

[Lault]

All over it they are, crazy!!

[sharksgirl21]

Wow! Well I can tell you that our coach has gotten to the point due to issues much larger than the cabinets we are now in conversations with the dealer and Winnebago as to what action should be taken and if it is going to be determined a sourpuss. Fortunately, or unfortunately for us some of the new issues happened while the coach was at the dealer, not while we had it. So I am not imagining things! Who knew!

[TerryJ]

I have also had problems but I gave up on getting any real satisfaction from Winnebago. Some of my woodwork looks like a 3 yr. old with a shop rag finished them so I just saved some time and refinished them myself. The job was a PITA but at least they're done right. I'm retired and have the time to fix stuff so I'm going to eventually rip out the junk and build real cabinets out of good wood. The worst part is that the woodwork is one of the lesser problems I have had with this Vista. Good luck in your talks with Winnebago, you'll need it.

[garykk]

Originally Posted by ChileRick

According to the documentary we saw and our salesman, Winnebago has it's own cabinet shop?

Yes they do make their own cabinets but the veneer wood comes from a vendor. They make their own stain/finish colors to as i found out....they would not sell me any

[garykk]

So......has it been determined yet that the problem with the veneer wood has been fixed??

[Brockx]

Originally Posted by ChileRick

Picked 'er up from the dealer today, more cabinet work needed, some trim pieces re-ordered, new trim parts have come unglued, need ordered and various other issues we need to discuss with the dealer and Winnebago before we post here.
BUT, thought you might enjoy this......
to replace the fridge surround, they had to remove it, which entails removing the exterior access panels. they did replace them . . .REALLY?

they will probably offer to re-paint them

[ChileRick]

Originally Posted by garykk

So......has it been determined yet that the problem with the veneer wood has been fixed??

Won't know for sure until next summer when it gets hot again, HA!
seriously, some of the new pieces that came in are already bad!

[ChileRick]

Has anyone had any real success getting this issue fixed. We were just told our 5th order of parts (ordered in November) are now expected in April! That will make it a full year that we have been trying to get this fixed. We are pretty much worn out by this issue and would appreciate hearing any suggested courses of action that have worked for you to get this done.

[garykk]

I just spoke with a the Winnebago tech guy the other day concerning our cabinets. As per the case, all facias are defective. Was told that the "new " stuff is good. Some of the replacement material shipped to them last year was actually bad on the delivery truck. Was told that cabinets are being made more quickly now and should not be the several months but could get no definite date. Ours were ordered last of December 2012.
Am told it will take dealer about 60 hours.

[motohomer]

ChileRick,
Sorry to hear about your problems with your dealership.
Our issues/replacement was handled at the factory (Forest City) right after last years GNR. One week to order & about 2 days to install. Quick & professional.
6 months later & they're still fine.
For an issue like this, I would only trust the factory.

[garykk]

We wanted to have the factory do our cabinets but its a haul from where we live. When i called the factory the other day the tech ensured me that the local dealer could handle the job as in his words" its just a lot of screws". I told him my concerns about local dealers not being trained in this and not having the experience, damage to surrounding areas etc. He assured me that any and all problems would be dealt with. so.....we'll just have to wait and see....hopefully its all completed before our summer trip..:(

[ChileRick]

Originally Posted by garykk

We wanted to have the factory do our cabinets but its a haul from where we live. When i called the factory the other day the tech ensured me that the local dealer could handle the job as in his words" its just a lot of screws". I told him my concerns about local dealers not being trained in this and not having the experience, damage to surrounding areas etc. He assured me that any and all problems would be dealt with. so.....we'll just have to wait and see....hopefully its all completed before our summer trip..:(

We had the same conversation and assurances, These are some of problems /results we had to deal with







We also had hammer marks on some adjacent cabinet fascias, and note the location of the knobs on these
cabinet doors they re-installed





They also must think our toilet is the trash can! Not to mention they returned our coach to us filthy, wood shavings everywhere, even on top of the window treatments.






Winnebagos way of dealing with the problem was to suggest we go to another dealer.

[DancinCampers]

We are holding our breath on this issue. Our coach was made Feb 2112, we took delivery 15 Mar. So far all is well.

It is hard to find a good dealer. We have a list of items left to get fixed before the warranty is up. I have a Feb 19 appointment at the factory, and hopefully get them done without any problems.

[motohomer]

Yikes.
Who is the dealer that did that?
I want to be sure we never go there.
I have found that you rarely get the best price and the best service at the same place.

[Delrob]

We have been interested in buying a new or late model Adventurer. Even looked at them at the Tampa RV Show this week, but are very concerned about the cabinetry after reading this thread. Do the late model Journeys have solid wood cabinetry? If not, do any Winnebago products have solid wood?