Factory service!-How far would you travel

Lucchese1 · 04-22-2005, 04:22 AM

In november of this year will be the end to my one year warrenty. All the winnebago dealers here around Los Angeles are real negative to deal with if you did not purchase from them, plus they need appointment months in advance and want the coach for a few weeks to gather all parts needed to repair

( I live in my coach part time). When we did a factory pick up the service was wonderful and done in a few hours with a large list to fix. Although my list is growing but only small items so far to fix. I think it would be worth the 4200 mile round trip for peace of mind!

Lucchese1 · 04-22-2005, 04:22 AM

In november of this year will be the end to my one year warrenty. All the winnebago dealers here around Los Angeles are real negative to deal with if you did not purchase from them, plus they need appointment months in advance and want the coach for a few weeks to gather all parts needed to repair

( I live in my coach part time). When we did a factory pick up the service was wonderful and done in a few hours with a large list to fix. Although my list is growing but only small items so far to fix. I think it would be worth the 4200 mile round trip for peace of mind!

John_Canfield · 04-22-2005, 06:46 AM

Ben,

I wonder if Winney would authorize a Cummins Coach Care facility to do the work. Maybe that would be easier to get into.

I'm a lurker on the Newmar forum and several of the guys are reporting factory appointments are currently out to September if you call today and they are also getting the "brush off" if you didn't buy from a particular dealer and want service from them. This seems to be a problem of endemic proportions all over the country. It will probably motivate me to do most of the small things myself after we get the coach.

John
- waiting on our Horizon 40AD to be built next week

whyoder · 04-23-2005, 06:55 AM

After purchasing my Suncruiser in the San Bernardino area I soon found out that dealer could not or would not fix my need repairs, so I planned a vacation around a trip back to Iowa. The factory in Forest City does excellent work, and I am 100% satisified. The dealers do not have the ability to service the demand here in the southern California area.

smlranger · 04-23-2005, 09:04 AM

While not exactly on the topic of factory service appointments, I called the only Winnebago dealer in my area last week when my slide/jack hydraulics failed. They never asked where I purchased the coach and said bring it by...now! When I got there (they were busy), they put a mechanic on it within 30 minutes. After about 2 hours (the mechanic, the service manager and the dealership owner had all checked the system/s) they advised my pump motor was shot. New stuff ordered from HWH and they are to call me when it arrives.

Needless to say, in view of what I read on these forums about dealers' poor response to those who have not bought coaches from them, I was surprised. I thanked them for their prompt attention, for sure.

ichn2go · 04-23-2005, 12:43 PM

While the factory is many miles away. If you can't get satisfaction from the local guys, I would think this is the way to go.

John, glad to hear winnie isn't the only one with long wait times.

Gary, Congratulations on finding what seems to be an outstanding dealership. Keep them smiling.

Good Miles

DonavonP · 04-23-2005, 04:32 PM

The factory is only about 150 miles south of me but I wouldn't dare go down there for at least a month or two. There's a orange glow on the horizon and I hear trumpets playing. I think they're building John Canfields unit.

John_Canfield · 04-24-2005, 02:24 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by DonavonP:
The factory is only about 150 miles south of me but I wouldn't dare go down there for at least a month or two. There's a orange glow on the horizon and I hear trumpets playing. I think they're building John Canfields unit.

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I hope the orange glow means good news

Yipee - four more days

The Shadow · 04-24-2005, 07:07 AM

To answer the question - not too far. I just went to Gaffney to have Freightliner do IM near the end of year one. That was not a huge detour and we continued on to VA to visit friends in Charlottesville. The few hundred extra miles were well worth it since the FTL people work on nothing but MHs so you feel you are getting fair value for your money. We will make this trip every year.

As to going to IOWA - I hope not. In the warranty material it states that Winnie can have you drive to the factory for warranty repairs if necessary. I'm hoping that will not be necessary since I have no desire to travel 1000 miles for something that should be available at the dealer.

Fred and Bonnie · 04-24-2005, 09:26 AM

Like Butch, we live in So Cal and don't have a great deal of confidence in local dealerships.

Our choice of National RV units has been the best move. The factory is close and willing to do quality work. We have looked and numerous units over the years and realized, after following various RV forums, the dealership network for the various units is the weak link. If you don't have easy access to the factory, you are asking for trouble. Case in point the Fleetwood factory is closer than National RV factory; however Fleetwood will not work on a unit until the dealership has tried to repair the unit three times. In my opinion attitudes, such as Fleetwood's, exhibits a total lack of customer service and support, in today's word this type of attitude is unacceptable. I expect the product to work as advertised or fixed the first time.

Fred

Greyhound · 04-24-2005, 10:20 AM

doc · 04-24-2005, 11:39 AM

We drove over to Gaffney to have the chassis serviced at the Freightliner chassis factory and it was worth the effort (300 miles round trip)
Could not get a dealer to repair the chassis a/c although they tried three times. We ended up going from Athens, Georgia through Forest City on a trip west and the factory guys had it repaired along with some adjustments to the door, oil change in the genset and a 'complimentary inspection' of the caulk joints on the roof...all in about three hours or a bit less.
We think the stop by the factory was worth the effort, because we had become so frustrated trying to get the A/C repaired we had acutually started negotiations with Lazy Days on a Allegro Bus.
Factory team saved us several thousand dollars and a lot of frustration. Worth the trip definitely

ppeter313 · 04-24-2005, 11:52 AM

Don,

How was Gaffney and what did you have done? We're thinking of making a stop there for service next month.

Paul

The Shadow · 04-24-2005, 12:54 PM

Paul, I'm glad we went. We had the first year initial maintenance done (see the FTL manual for the IM items). They showed me a list of what would be done and said they would do all of the items on the full page list unless I took an item off. We said "do it all please." We also had the transmission fluid changed and we switched to TranSynd from Dexron ($7.25 per qt vs $1.50) - so we have to have that done again next year - but then we can go four years on the tranny. The cost was very fair IMO and we certainly will be back again next year on way back from FLA.

By the end of the year they hope to have a new facility up and running - several miles from the plant - 6 bays instead of 4 and 15 parking spots instead of 7 (in theory they have 8 but that would be a tight squeeze). They will have 30 and 50 amp service to all 15 sites (now one 30 and one 50 for two units - we got stuck with a 30). They will also have water and perhaps sewers.

This year we observed a couple of owners who were spending extra time in Gaffney and using the parking site as a CG - to the detriment of other customers who then could not get a space. That will not be allowed at the new location - they will have customers registered and they will be able to arrive early and stay late if, and only if, it doesn't inconvenience other owners - and it will cost for the extra nights. They will able to turn the power and water on and off for the sites and if you shouldn't be there - they will be off.

My wife, son and I enjoyed the plant tour - well worth seeing how the chassis is made - from start to finish. Also saw the new Merc engine as it was being fitted into some of the chassis - along with Cummins and Cat. Also, they are now putting on Michelin AND Good Year tires (they have heard the message about concerns over Michelin so are providing a choice). Nice group of people there and we appreciated their efforts.

I'm going to drop the President of FCC a note with some suggestions (like regional service centres of this nature), changes to the speedometer (they screwed up the metric version), addition of scales so each corner can be weighed (I don't know about others here but I'd sure be prepared to pay $10 to have the 4 corners weighed), etc, and thanking him for the fine service we got from his staff.

Don

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by ppeter313:
Don,

How was Gaffney and what did you have done? We're thinking of making a stop there for service next month.

Paul </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

The Shadow · 04-24-2005, 12:58 PM

Paul - one more thing - COST. Their charge was VERY fair. The whole thing cost me LESS than my Winnie dealer wanted to change the fluid and filters in the Allison using TranSynd. Hard to imagine, but true. The dealer said cost of TranSynd in Canada would be over $400 and the filters would be $190. Then add labour. My cost for the works at Gaffney with the 5% FOC discount was $560US. I really DID leave with a smile on my face. I also asked myself why Winnie can't create a dealer network where one could get service like this.

smlranger · 04-24-2005, 01:19 PM

Don:

How far in advance was your appointment in Gaffney made? We may want to go there in mid May but wonder if they will be able to get to us on such short notice?

The Shadow · 04-24-2005, 01:33 PM

Since we had a narrow window we booked in February. I'd suggest you call and check ASAP.

ichn2go · 04-26-2005, 02:05 AM

Just a comment, Yes other MOHO owners do take advantage of the free parking at Gaffney Freightliner. If you find one doing this run them out and give them H***.
When I visited an old timer did this to an intruder and was his face red.
I was ready to leave when my maintenance was finished. Course there is always those that will mess up a good thing for others