Question would you buy another Winnebago

[John Mo]

I might buy another Winnebago, but I have to say that a Tiffin or Newmar with a comparable floorplan would really grab my attention. The difference there seems to me to be that Winnebago provides a lot of documentation and support for the do-it-yourselfers and goes light on doing it right the first time and backing their products after the sale unless you want to make a pilgrimage to the factory. Tiffin's service is virtually legendary.

The subject of chassis issues is a sore point with me. My Sightseer was delivered with a very strong tendency to drive right off the right side of the road. Winnebago issue or Ford issue? Well, you know one blamed the other and nobody would take responsibility. I pushed Winnebago about it because it's part of their advertising that every coach gets an alignment before it leaves the factory. After much back and forth with them, I finally got them to admit that all they do is set the toe. It turned out with mine that the caster split was way off. My dealer eventually reimbursed me for cost of having it fixed, but the amount of time and irritation around just this one thing that should have been right from day one -- and the attitude that owner relations had about to boot -- was quite enough to let me know where I stood with my Winnebago -- on my own.

[two-niner]

John Mo: My daughter and son-in-law delivered hundreds of coaches, different brands, different locations.
If you or anybody else knew how many curbs were hit or hopped, you'd go for factory delivery. Some of their tales would make you swear off motorhoming forever.
Yes, they delivered brands you mentioned. They've had regular day jobs for several years now, so I don't know who's ramming the curbs now.
Just saying....

Kerry (we love our 08 Tour)

[tiggertoo]

In a heartbeat!

[John Mo]

Originally Posted by two-niner

If you or anybody else knew how many curbs were hit or hopped, you'd go for factory delivery.

Yes, that was one of the infuriating things owner relations stated about mine: the delivery driver didn't note any problems. Oh, really?

I don't think Winnebago offers factory delivery. The best you can do on that account is to buy from Lichtsinn.

[AFChap]

I would absolutely buy another Winnebago ...and would also look at Tiffin. When I looked for my first MH I researched online and with owners, and I noted fewer quality complaints and far fewer customer satisfaction complaints with Winnebago than with other brands ...and I found far fewer recent year Winnebagos for sale than other brands in spite of the fact that Winnebago was selling many more rigs than most other brands. I also noted the difference in quality of construction when I inspected different brands at dealerships and at rallies ...and that has been confirmed in my ownership experience.

Winnebago is not perfect, but IMHO they are WAY ahead of most mfg'ers...

My coach was a dealer "show coach" all over TX and OK for almost a year before I bought it ...do you suppose the dealer jockeys drove it any better than the delivery guy??? ...I SERIOUSLY doubt it !!!

[Grimesy]

I think John Mo hit on a really important statement. When I buy a car and it has a bad part the dealer fixes it regardless of who provided the part, unlike the motor home industry who kisses it off to the venders. The recent brake recall is the classic example. I could go on and on, but would still stick with Winnie, but again primarily because of my WIT friends.

Don. WIT 70041

[RanchoVectra]

Yes, I'd buy another Winnie, but as several others have mentioned I'd also look at a Tiffin due to their reputation for standing behind the product (friends of ours bought a Tiffin as their first MH on our recommendation). Be prepared to do, or learn to do, minor stuff yourself (battery maintenance especially) and consider an extended warranty before your original runs out. I don't buy extended warranties on phones or computers, etc, but I have been glad to have ours on the motorhome in several instances.

[pameridan04]

Yes I would buy another Winnie. Amy my choice would be an Ellipse 2010 or 2011 CD.

Love that design.

[Traps90]

Originally Posted by pameridan04

Yes I would buy another Winnie. Amy my choice would be an Ellipse 2010 or 2011 CD.

Love that design.

That's the one we're seriously considering.
As well as the same towed vehicle

Trap

[Traps90]

Just want to thank all of you for your replies, this one sound's much better. I know human nature is to report bad news more than good (I'm quilty of that also) so so I wanted to see if most where happy. I don;t mind having to do minor repairs as we roll along. Just after reading mainly about problems I was getting a little nervous.

Trap

[37Gman]

One more opinion...and you know what they say about those. I have owned a total of 2 RVs, both Class A, both Winnebago, and would buy a third. I maintain my belief that they are not meant to live in 24/7, but I do and it has held up nicely. I would be afraid if things did not go wrong from time to time! They are made by humans. Hoping my next one will be like the rig in Spaceballs. Safe travels...

[Jasper]

Yes. We bought a 2000 Winnebago Brave new in 2000 and recently purchased a new 2010 Adventurer 32H. We were very happy with the Brave. We are very happy with the new Adventurere so far.

[Jbmsr]

We like to travel safe, so yes we would.

[Keith K]

We're former Tiffin owners, and we traded for our current Winnebago because of the "residential" floor plan. Would we buy another Winnebago? Maybe, but if we saw a comparable floor plan in a Tiffin product we'd probably buy Tiffin. Why? Ever met Bob Tiffin? We have, twice, and it's hard to believe that he wouldn't stand by his product. We also like that you can look at the Tiffin product line price listing and build your own coach, knowing what everything will cost beforehand. On the other hand, Winnebago service isn't bad, and they have some innovative features ("One Place", on-line documentation) that Tiffin doesn't have. But every dealer I've talked to said that they'll service a Tiffin in a heartbeat because they are always promptly paid. So, floor plans being equal and price comparable, I'd go with the Tiffin.

[hoppers4]

Not without it's problems, but I think it's a great motorhome. I've had it for 2 years and am really liking it so far. I would definitely buy another.

[pameridan04]

My two cents more:

Tiffin does not have the dealerships accross the country that Winnie has. In the Northeast of PA I know of only ONE Tiffin dealer about 85 miles away. While I have three Winnie dealers close to my area.

Everybody says that any dealer will work on the Tiffin coach and be promptly paid by Tiffin. But they will not be trained Tiffin mechanics, and if it is a specific Tiffin part they need, they will not have it on hand.

Both companies make a great coach. But it seems an awful lot of people praise Tiffin service and Bob Tiffin to make things right. That means they had to have things go wrong first.

[John Mo]

I mentioned the DIY nature of Winnebago in an earlier post on this thread. I thought of another great example of how this is a corporate-level attitude at Winnebago -- my batteries.

First off, mine was delivered with dead and/or bad batteries. It was a rainy day and we stopped for lunch. I left the headlights on. You'd think a brand new chassis battery could handle the headlights for 30 or 40 minutes, but no. The chassis battery seems to be OK. It hasn't needed boosted again...

But the house batteries were even worse. After a trip back to the dealer where a technician stated he tested them and they were OK, I checked them myself to discover there was at least one dead cell in both house batteries. This is where Winnebago expects you to do it yourself. The dealer could not replace the batteries. I had to take it to a NAPA retailer. Winnebago has an arrangement with NAPA, the supplier of the house batteries. I was told this was for my convenience. My local NAPA dealer, in addition to not stocking the batteries, wanted me to pay for them in advance before ordering them. The NAPA dealer wasn't very clear on the arrangement with Winnebago. I refused to pay anything at any time and the batteries were eventually ordered. Oh, and NAPA won't install those new batteries for you either.

For me this wasn't a huge problem because I'm physically able and know how to swap a battery or two. But... my dad, who's retired and aged right in the heart of a demographic I suspect Winnebago targets, isn't physically able to lean, squat, tug, pull, hoist, etc. a big, heavy battery in a tight spot like I am. Swapping a battery might seem like a little thing, but that's the point: it's a little thing. Why didn't Winnebago take care of the little thing?

[Nonno]

Do you mind imput from an SOB? In the past, I have owned 5 Winnebago MH's. If I were in the market for a new coach, I'd be looking at Winnebago first.

[RickO]

Originally Posted by John Mo

. The dealer could not replace the batteries. I had to take it to a NAPA retailer.

I'd find another dealer. Mine replaced all three house batteries twice under warranty.

Rick

[Chandler Bing]

Yep, love our 05, voyage 38J