That is a surprise to me

AJMike · 08-19-2020, 09:56 AM

The check engine light just came on in our 2018.5 Winnebago Fuse so we took it to the local Ford dealer to look at. Fortunately we had already returned from a trip and were home when this happened.

The Ford dealer told me that they are so busy they can not get to it until next week so I left it there and, out of curiosity, I called the local RV dealership where we bought the coach to find out how long a wait there was there. When I spoke to the service department to make sure that the drive train was still under warranty they said they did not know (?? they did not know? That was also a surprise) and then told me that I should call the local Ford dealer to have it worked on. In fact, they told me, they take their Ford engine issues to the local Ford dealer to have the work done.

Is is certainly a surprise to me since I thought that the RV dealership had their own people to do the warranty (and non-warranty) work. Is it common for RV dealerships to farm our work like that to the local dealer?

It is not that that is a problem - they local Ford dealer they referred me to is the dealer where I left the RV and the service guy I spoke with when I left it is the guy the RV dealership referred me to - it is just that it never occurred to me that doing that was common practice.

**creativepart** · 08-19-2020, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AJMike

Is it common for RV dealerships to farm our work like that to the local dealer?

Yes, this is totally common and standard practice. Ford warranties the chassis and drivetrain and emissions system separate of Winnebago.

And, why didn't they know about it being under warranty? Because it's a Ford warranty not a Winnebago warranty. Also, different parts of your Ford vehicle have different warranty periods. For instance the diesel engine is warrantied for 5 yrs or 100,000 miles.

Here is the warranty details for a 2018 Ford Transit Van:

https://www.ford.com/cmslibs/content...US_08_2017.pdf

AJMike · 08-19-2020, 10:59 AM

> Yes, this is totally common and standard practice. Ford warranties the chassis and drivetrain and emissions system separate of Winnebago.

I knew that Ford warrantied the chassis, drivetrain and emissions but I assumed that the RV dealership did warranty work and billed Ford. I guess I learned something new today.

Thanks for the information.

Goodspike · 08-19-2020, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AJMike

>
I knew that Ford warrantied the chassis, drivetrain and emissions but I assumed that the RV dealership did warranty work and billed Ford. I guess I learned something new today.

I can see why you'd think that, since typically warranty work is done at a dealer, but I would think having the specialized test equipment and inventory would be prohibitively expensive. And not technically being a Ford dealer I'm not sure they could bill Ford.

In my CruiseAmerica disaster I learned that while their centers can change out batteries, they do not carry any automotive parts like coolant, air filters, nothing. I would expect many RV dealers to be not as bad, but somewhat similar

AJMike · 08-19-2020, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goodspike

In my CruiseAmerica disaster I learned that while their centers can change out batteries, they do not carry any automotive parts like coolant, air filters, nothing. I would expect many RV dealers to be not as bad, but somewhat similar

I guess I missed any posts about your CruseAmerica disaster. Do you have a link to the thread? Or would you care to explain?

Goodspike · 08-19-2020, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AJMike

I guess I missed any posts about your CruseAmerica disaster. Do you have a link to the thread? Or would you care to explain?

In a nutshell they sent me out in a motorhome that had either a cracked block or bad head gasket, not to mention a bad house battery. The coolant was very low after only 200 miles, at which point I tried to get coolant from a CA dealer. They directed me to an auto parts store. Spent two nights at repair places, the first of which just replaced a plug and coil since that's what the error code was. They actually went above and beyond, staying until 8:00 pm for parts to arrive. In the end we had to cut the trip short. In fact for the last leg the wife drove a rental car behind and we were just going to abandon it if it started acting up again.

When I got back I tried to get permission to return it to a different CruiseAmerica location so that my wife wouldn't blow up at the workers. We were denied permission because they had to send it out again. I just smiled as the wife let the worker have it.

Morich · 08-19-2020, 11:55 AM

Or did the gasket blow in the first hundred miles you drove it?
What's obvious is not always so obvious when we look at it from a different angle.
One reason there is such turnover at the front desk is because it is a bad job and people who know very much often quit and get replaced by folks who don't really give a squat if they get chewed out!

AJMike · 08-19-2020, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goodspike

In a nutshell they sent me out in a motorhome that had either a cracked block or bad head gasket, not to mention a bad house battery. The coolant was very low after only 200 miles, at which point I tried to get coolant from a CA dealer. They directed me to an auto parts store. Spent two nights at repair places, the first of which just replaced a plug and coil since that's what the error code was. They actually went above and beyond, staying until 8:00 pm for parts to arrive. In the end we had to cut the trip short. In fact for the last leg the wife drove a rental car behind and we were just going to abandon it if it started acting up again.

When I got back I tried to get permission to return it to a different CruiseAmerica location so that my wife wouldn't blow up at the workers. We were denied permission because they had to send it out again. I just smiled as the wife let the worker have it.

Terrible story, and it makes me glad we have always owned our RV, not rented one. I suspect that rental RVs tend to be in bad shape because some of the people who rent them don't seem to care what damage they might do when driving them. I have seen big Class C rental RVs on off-road trails, both at Moab and at Monument Valley, roads that I would not travel on without a 4 wheel drive vehicle. It is no wonder that some are in bad shape.

Can I assume CruiseAmerica paid for the work you had done while on the road?

Goodspike · 08-19-2020, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Morich

Or did the gasket blow in the first hundred miles you drove it?
What's obvious is not always so obvious when we look at it from a different angle. !

There's no particular reason that would have happened, and the block clearly would have no reason to crack in that time, but based on the amount of coolant missing, it was low when we picked it up. I wish I had looked, although I don't know that I would have necessarily been concerned.

Goodspike · 08-19-2020, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AJMike

Terrible story, and it makes me glad we have always owned our RV, not rented one. I suspect that rental RVs tend to be in bad shape because some of the people who rent them don't seem to care what damage they might do when driving them.

This one had a left front blowout in its history. The damage to the fender had not been repaired. That would have not been fun! One thing I did do was check all the air pressures.

PeterAtt · 08-23-2020, 04:48 PM

The other issue with the Ford dealers is not all of them will work on Motor homes. I had to take my 2017 Fuse an hour and a half drive for recall work as none of the local dealers would touch it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AJMike

The check engine light just came on in our 2018.5 Winnebago Fuse so we took it to the local Ford dealer to look at. Fortunately we had already returned from a trip and were home when this happened.

The Ford dealer told me that they are so busy they can not get to it until next week so I left it there and, out of curiosity, I called the local RV dealership where we bought the coach to find out how long a wait there was there. When I spoke to the service department to make sure that the drive train was still under warranty they said they did not know (?? they did not know? That was also a surprise) and then told me that I should call the local Ford dealer to have it worked on. In fact, they told me, they take their Ford engine issues to the local Ford dealer to have the work done.

Is is certainly a surprise to me since I thought that the RV dealership had their own people to do the warranty (and non-warranty) work. Is it common for RV dealerships to farm our work like that to the local dealer?

It is not that that is a problem - they local Ford dealer they referred me to is the dealer where I left the RV and the service guy I spoke with when I left it is the guy the RV dealership referred me to - it is just that it never occurred to me that doing that was common practice.

Delco Bobby · 08-23-2020, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeterAtt

The other issue with the Ford dealers is not all of them will work on Motor homes. I had to take my 2017 Fuse an hour and a half drive for recall work as none of the local dealers would touch it.

Not every Ford dealer has a service bay large enough to lift a motorhome. Same with other brands. the bay doors may be high enough but the ceiling might not be and the length og the bay is limited. The lift capacity might be an issue also.

Last time I was at my Ford dealer they had 4 motorhomes waiting for service. All sent over by a local RV dealer.

09 harley · 08-23-2020, 08:37 PM

Would you really want a RV tech working on your Ford engine. They would need much more training and equipment to even begin working on them and I wouldn’t want to be the first guinea pig that they tried to fix.

akeagle · 08-23-2020, 10:14 PM

When we bought our 2016 Minnie Winnie from the rental fleet at Great Alaskan Holidays in Anchorage. We honestly expected the unit to have issues, but the dealer (their primary mission is renting motorhomes, but they also sell new Winnebagos) did an amazing job of sprucing it up. It looked and ran like brand new. The only problem I found were some drawer slides that needed some attention.

One of the things our salesman mentioned was that Great Alaskan not only serviced the Winnebago coaches, their mechanics were also certified by Ford to work on all Ford chassis.

It would be a great service to Winnebago owners if many more dealerships did that.

AJMike · 08-24-2020, 07:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 09 harley

Would you really want a RV tech working on your Ford engine.

Sure, if they knew what they were doing and were certified by Ford.

I am never that certain that the service people at the Ford dealership are completely knowledgeable. My main concern would be that any warranty would not be voided by their work.