2010 RV buyers nightmare- please assist

[Bob and Vicki]

What about the extended warranty? Will it cover the repairs?

 

[bill dean1]

Hi swhoward01:

I believe XXXXX dealer is not standing up to your complaints. I would start a letter writing campaign to Good Sam and FMCA complaint lines. They appear to have resolved certain problems in the past. I would also copy the county attorney and state's attorney office. In each letter I would copy the general manager of dealership.

The power of the pen is strong. Good luck.

 

[John Hilley]

All of the chassis problems should be covered under the chassis manufacturers warranty. I guess, since it is a second buyer, Winnebago wouldn't be covering any thing under warranty. I would however, contact Winnebago Customer Relations to see if they could do any thing.

Questions and Inquiries from Vehicle Owners

If you own one of our motor homes and have a question about it, we encourage you to contact our Service Administration area by phone or email.
• (800)-537-1885
• email (We will reply to owner related questions within 2 business days. This excludes weekends and holidays. We may call you to address your questions. If you require a more immediate response, please contact our Service Administration Department at 1-800-537-1885. Thank you.)

 

[two-niner]

Nobody posting has seen the motorhome or driven it except the OP.

Nobody knows what the real problem is.

I don't know the OP's Mothers age, but sometimes it is not worth the aggrevation.

Just saying...

Kerry

 

[Midniteoyl]

Nobody posting has seen the motorhome or driven it except the OP.

Nobody knows what the real problem is.

I don't know the OP's Mothers age, but sometimes it is not worth the aggrevation.

Just saying...

Kerry

You're right... which is the reason for the advise to have an independent RV mechanic look at it and advise..

 

[John Hilley]

Nobody posting has seen the motorhome or driven it except the OP.

Nobody knows what the real problem is.

I don't know the OP's Mothers age, but sometimes it is not worth the aggrevation.

Just saying...

Kerry

Actually, a couple of us have seen the motor home at Quartsite.

 

[swhowardno1]

we did have a motorcycle carrier on the back at quartzsite, but we also took a 60 mile trip without it, no real difference, the coach is just uncontrollable. We still don't have the coach back from the service department yet either. Right now the dealer is refusing to do anything about the handling even though they admit it was difficult to drive during the test drive, apparently they they just don't care one way or another. The suspension has been checked by the dealer, and everything was supposedly within specs what ever that means. Arizona lemon law doesn't take affect till the coach has been in repair for more than 40days so basically right now there is no recourse that can be taken, and its just a buyer beware....until someone gets killed trying to drive the damn thing. I wonder if they would be responsible then???

 

[offthewall]

we did have a motorcycle carrier on the back at quartzsite, but we also took a 60 mile trip without it, no real difference, the coach is just uncontrollable. We still don't have the coach back from the service department yet either. Right now the dealer is refusing to do anything about the handling even though they admit it was difficult to drive during the test drive, apparently they they just don't care one way or another. The suspension has been checked by the dealer, and everything was supposedly within specs what ever that means. Arizona lemon law doesn't take affect till the coach has been in repair for more than 40days so basically right now there is no recourse that can be taken, and its just a buyer beware....until someone gets killed trying to drive the damn thing. I wonder if they would be responsible then???

What type of motorcycle? What was the weight of the motorcycle plus carrier? I can't imagine that weight hanging off of the back of gas class A would make "no real difference" in the handing.

 

[HD4Mark]

Arizona lemon law doesn't take affect till the coach has been in repair for more than 40days

Are the 40 days consecutive or cumulative? If cumulative do all of the days it has been in for service add up to 40?

It is hard to believe this dealer did not know full well there was a problem especially when he did not want you test driving on the highway. When test driving our MH the dealer insisted we take it on the highway to prove how much power it had.

 

[swhowardno1]

the motorcycle weight was about 350lbs and the carrier was about 70lbs. it stayed well under the tongue weight of 500lbs. It wasn't even a noticeable difference once the carrier was removed the vehicle still sways violently and was uncontrollable.

is it normal for a class a coach to start swaying as much as 2ft driving down a straight, flat road, at 55mph. heaven forbid someone pass us creating bad air, that one left us 3ft off onto the shoulder before we could regain control of it.

 

[Midniteoyl]

By 'sway' do you mean 'leaning from one side to the other' or 'being pulled from left to right on the road'?

the 'leaning' usually means something is up with the tires (low pressure), the sway bars (loose or broken links), the shocks (worn), or springs (worn/broke).

being pulled left/right could be tires (low or worn), worn or broken suspension parts, or worn steering parts.

 

[4Knights]

Nobody posting has seen the motorhome or driven it except the OP.

Nobody knows what the real problem is.

I don't know the OP's Mothers age, but sometimes it is not worth the aggrevation.

Just saying...

Kerry

I would say 100k is worth lot a of aggravation! Unless you have $ falling from the sky you gotta fight to get what that money was supposed to buy.

 

[Bob and Vicki]

Has a Ford truck dealer check it out? Does Fords warranty transfer to second owners?

 

[JohnRR]

is it normal for a class a coach to start swaying as much as 2ft driving down a straight, flat road, at 55mph. heaven forbid someone pass us creating bad air, that one left us 3ft off onto the shoulder before we could regain control of it.

I'm thinking if in fact what you say it correct and I have no reason to doubt your word and that is how it drives if you drive this and get into a serious accident because of it and it went to court you would be very liable for your actions especially once you have posted it in public and they were to find out about.

I'm serious enough to suggest in a lethal accident it could be the difference between a manslaughter charge and second degree murder! Am I trying to scare you "You Betcha" your driving a known serious safety deficient vehicle on public roadways after admitting publicly that is extremely unsafe to do so.

In today litigious society it can easily happen, you need to think very seriously about driving it any further. People have been charged for less.

 

[amanda_h]

Like somebody else mentioned, I'd take it to 3-Ts to have it diagnosed as they are experts at handling issues and are an authorized Winnebago service center. Then you'll have some ammunition to proceed once you know exactly what's wrong with the coach.

 

[Midniteoyl]

I drove a pace arrow that certainly felt like it swayed 2 or more feet.. not fun at all. However, my son behind me said it looked steady as a rock. They rarely are actually swaying as much as you think.

 

[JohnRR]

I'm serious enough to suggest in a lethal accident it could be the difference between a manslaughter charge and [STRIKE]second degree murder[/STRIKE]! Am I trying to scare you "You Betcha" your driving a known serious safety deficient vehicle on public roadways after admitting publicly that is extremely unsafe to do so.

I don't know what I was thinking at the time but the higher charge would/could be negligent homicide not second degree murder but still bad enough to defend against

 

[WantaWinnie]

For what it's worth, we test drove a 2011 33C last fall, and its handling was fine--in fact better than most class A gas units we had test driven over the past several years. Straight as an arrow at 65 mph. So there has got to be something drastically wrong with that particular unit; it's not the design.

 

[Traps90]

While I feel for the OP, I don't understand his reluctance to take it in and have the chassis checked out.
1-At least he will know what's wrong with it
2-Much easier to get issues resloved with LaMesa if your armed with facts.
3-It may be a simple as a wheel alignment or tire problem and then everythings good.

From everything he's said I wouldn't trust LaMesa to fix it properly anyways.

Sorry but sometimes ya gotta let go of the tail and grab the horns.

Just my 2 pennies worth of thought.


Trap

 

[m111]

Need to have it looked at on your $s

I agree with those saying you need to have it looked at on your $s at an independent shop. I know it is annoying since you spent so much money on it but the dealership either doesn't know how to fix it or won't.

An example of how an second opinion can help:
We bought a used coach. Test drove it at 65 mph. It drove like a dream. Took it on a trip. Still drove wonderfully. Before our first long trip we had the tires replaced and some other work done. It was also realigned.

Picked it up from the work and it was a nightmare to I drive. Unfortunately the work was delayed by parts and we picked it up the day we left for the long trip. I couldn't hang on to it over 50 mph. My husband could but I could not. Midway through the trip we gave up and decided to get it realigned. We found a truck shop with an opening, camped nearby and had it realigned the next day. Again it drove like a dream. I had no problems with it at 70-75 mph. I hadn't intended to go that fast but it drove so nicely that it crept up there before I would notice.

When we got back we told our story to the shop, showed them the receipt and wanted our money back on the alignment. We liked the rest of their work so also got some more upgrades done. It then needed an alignment again and they said they would do it for free and have another person do it. We got it back and it was again a horrible driving RV. We took it back to them and complained. They looked over everything, test drove it and the sales guy said it was normal driving. They have a mechanic I trust so I had him test drive it and he agreed with me. Not a good drive. The owner got involved and promised to make it right. They had their most senior person look at it. They couldn't figure out how to make it right. I eventually gave up on them.

After getting it back I was checking the air pressure in the front airbags. I remembered the road alignment shop had told me what they adjusted them to. They were way too high. I adjusted them back down and we were back to our great driving RV.