Cabinets delaminating '12 Sightseer

[EngineerMike]

This type of problem is a recurring theme in the motorcoach market. To put a product on the market at a price that will sell & still make a buck, there is a constant search for cost advantages. That results from time to time in a rosy sounding sales pitch, followed by product delivery of stuff that is defective for its intended use. Delaminating side wall fiberglass contributed heavily to the demise of National RV for example. It was such a heavy burden monetarily that it began to scuttle the National ship even before the recession took its toll.

Winnie is doing fine monetarily, so should be able to service the problems, but they are not making too good a show of it if this thread is any indication. Hopefully they will get their act together.
IIWMI'd get solid wood milled & assembled for cabinet face frames. One time & done.

[ChileRick]

Originally Posted by dennis45

Sorry to hear of your problem. These issues seem to be more and more common with Winnebago lately. They used to have a very good reputation but lately they seem to be going in the wrong direction. Before I bought our DS, I had looked at a few winnys and felt they were of decent quality but in the end I am glad we went with our Newmar. When I compare it to everything else, I am convinced we made the right choice.

We purchased the best motorhome by reputation that we could afford. I am quite disappointed in the quality of "house" construction and expected much better.

[ChileRick]

Originally Posted by EngineerMike

Winnie is doing fine monetarily, so should be able to service the problems, but they are not making too good a show of it if this thread is any indication. Hopefully they will get their act together.
IIWMI'd get solid wood milled & assembled for cabinet face frames. One time & done.

We suggested to Winnebago that we would pay the difference, if they would mill our fascias out of maple. They simply wouldn't do it. Makes no sense to us, now we are out major amounts of time and inconvenience and they have currently spent 5 times what they would have spent, had they taken us up on our offer. Really not sure what's driving their focus and direction, but it certainly has the potential to seriously harm their reputation and eventually their sales.

[garykk]

I don't think WB is the one on the hook for the bad cabinet wood but their vendor I suspect is taking the hit for this.

[dennis45]

Originally Posted by garykk

I don't think WB is the one on the hook for the bad cabinet wood but their vendor I suspect is taking the hit for this.

Not sure how that let's WB off the hook. They sold it,,,,

[ChileRick]

Even if they are charging all of the bad wood back to the vendor, it's costing them salary dollars to deal with it all and I'm sure they are on the hook for the labor costs for the repairs. From a reputation perspective, we're all saying WB, no one even knows who the vendor is. The crazy thing is that WB is now on year 3 producing new coaches with wood that has a very high probability of going bad if it already hasn't. You would think that they would find a solution that works.

[garykk]

Originally Posted by dennis45

Not sure how that let's WB off the hook. They sold it,,,,

What I meant was WB is surely going after their vendor for their loss..

[garykk]

Originally Posted by ChileRick

Even if they are charging all of the bad wood back to the vendor, it's costing them salary dollars to deal with it all and I'm sure they are on the hook for the labor costs for the repairs. From a reputation perspective, we're all saying WB, no one even knows who the vendor is. The crazy thing is that WB is now on year 3 producing new coaches with wood that has a very high probability of going bad if it already hasn't. You would think that they would find a solution that works.

What???now that would be way too easy

[toneumanns]

We took the Winny tour & I thought they mentioned that the did their wood work in house.

[ChileRick]

Originally Posted by toneumanns

We took the Winny tour & I thought they mentioned that the did their wood work in house.

They do, but they get their wood and wrapped wood stock from a vendor! We didn't know that until we had this problem. Very disappointing.

[Verlyn]

We are having all the cabinet facias replaced in our new 2012 Winnebago Adventurer 37F, starting today. Maybe 2-3 weeks. Hope all goes good!!

[Mr_D]

We had what seemed to be that construction in a '98 Santara. I got tired of having to repair the hinge/support screws almost every time out. When we ordered our first Dutch Star I made sure to get the hardwood cabinet option. Did the same when we ordered the present '02. I added about 75#'s and cost some $3,000 but I have yet to repair a cabinet even after 11 years.

[rtr]

does anyone know if changing from 19.5 tires to 22.5 does any good for mpg ? I have a workhorse chassis on a 35j Sightseer 6 speed Allison transmission

[garykk]

You're in the wrong thread but to answer your question, it will probably decrease your mileage as the load will increase with bigger wheels and tires..

[Verlyn]

We bought a new 2012 Winnebago Adventurer 37F and was told the cabinets are having a problem with the fascia boards bulbing, but Winnebago is standing by you to have them fixed.
We are now having all the cabinet faces replaced plus a few trim and door moldings. They had a bad run on them from the manufacturer of the vinyl covered fascia boards.

[garykk]

Well so far we had only part by the refrigerator reappear. And its been in the 100s here for days. I figure if the cabinets are going to delaminate again this heat would do it.....we'll see how the summer goes

[ChileRick]

When we met with our now designated rep from Winnebago, (as we were expecting order #5 now waiting for #6) he said they were expecting an increase in cabinet issues to appear and reappear after summer.

Are we the only folks having trouble with replacement parts coming in bad? This going on 18 months of constant repair requests and bad parts being received. We're pretty weary of it all.

[TerryJ]

The trouble everyone is having with their cabinets doesn't surprise me. All you have to do is look through this forum and see all of the continuing problems that Winnebago has, for years, failed to make right. In my 2011 Vista 35F there are brackets falling off, cabinet problems, slide lock & leak problems, freshwater fill trouble etc. There are also many reports of rusting around windshields. How about all the wind noise complaints due to those window weep hole covers falling off all the time.? None of these problems seem to ever get resolved and some of these go back 10yrs or more. I gave up going to my dealer before my warranty expired and started to do the work myself. I've already built some new cabinets of wood and bought new weep hole covers and glued them on, which is something the factory should have done. Has anyone checked out having the cabinets facelifted the way they do in houses? This is our 6th motorhome, 4 of them Winnebagoes, and this Vista has given me far more trouble than the others combined.I hope you all get your cabinets taken care of but Winnebagoes track record doesn't look to be in your favor.

[Verlyn]

It is a warranty issue and should be taken care of at any local Winnebago/Itasca dealer.

[Verlyn]

All of our cabinets in our new 2012 Winnebago Adventurer 37f are being replaced at a dealer right now.