Winnebago/Itasca Full body Paint

[stonewings-WO]

Does anyone share our problem? We have'nt found anyone and would like your comments.
Our 2004 Itasca Sunflyer (Full body paint) is full of white spots, chipped away paint. This is on the front, back, left side right side and slides. It has been brought to the attention of both Winnebago and CCI EVERY TIME we have been to the factory since mid-2005. EVERY TIME they say it is normal wear and tear and road chips. They are unwilling to do anything about it now or in the past. We have seen hundreds of other coaches, by nearly every manufacturer and cannot find the same conditions we have encountered. Everyone that sees our coach feels the same way we do and cannot believe that WINNEBAGO will not accept responsibility of make an effort to take care of it. Our latest attempts, encouraged by other RVers have been refused. We of course would not have this issue if WINNEBAGO would have addressed the problem within our warranty.
Our problem is exasurbated by the fact that WINNEBAGO repaired our front end after a deer caused damage. The cost of repairs exceeded $7000. and after driving just 3000 miles down Interstate highways to Arizona, our front end has hundreds of white specs, (paint chips) and stress/hairline cracks. Again WINNEBAGO refuses any type of repair, not even an inspection, because more than 90 days had pasted since the repair. (IT WAS STORED ALL SUMMER UNTIL WE MADE THE TRIP TO ARIZONA)
Your comments would be greatly appreciated.

 

[stonewings-WO]

Does anyone share our problem? We have'nt found anyone and would like your comments.
Our 2004 Itasca Sunflyer (Full body paint) is full of white spots, chipped away paint. This is on the front, back, left side right side and slides. It has been brought to the attention of both Winnebago and CCI EVERY TIME we have been to the factory since mid-2005. EVERY TIME they say it is normal wear and tear and road chips. They are unwilling to do anything about it now or in the past. We have seen hundreds of other coaches, by nearly every manufacturer and cannot find the same conditions we have encountered. Everyone that sees our coach feels the same way we do and cannot believe that WINNEBAGO will not accept responsibility of make an effort to take care of it. Our latest attempts, encouraged by other RVers have been refused. We of course would not have this issue if WINNEBAGO would have addressed the problem within our warranty.
Our problem is exasurbated by the fact that WINNEBAGO repaired our front end after a deer caused damage. The cost of repairs exceeded $7000. and after driving just 3000 miles down Interstate highways to Arizona, our front end has hundreds of white specs, (paint chips) and stress/hairline cracks. Again WINNEBAGO refuses any type of repair, not even an inspection, because more than 90 days had pasted since the repair. (IT WAS STORED ALL SUMMER UNTIL WE MADE THE TRIP TO ARIZONA)
Your comments would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Funtime-FRF]

I am not sure if we are talking about the same thing here but let's give a shot. When I picked up our new 06 Meridian in Dec. I noticed on one basement door little white specs (dots) from the bottom to about half way up. At first, I thought they were residue left from waxing or buffing. Upon closer examination it appears those specs are not on the surface but under the clear coat as I cannot feel them with my finger nail. I used some very light rubbing compound to one of them and it made no diffence. They look like stone chips but they are not. Does this have any resemblance to yours? Are you sure they are stone chips? I have noticed some more appearing on this door as time goes on. Can you take your finger nail and actually feel the indentation? Not sure if this helps but I would be curious.

 

[stonewings-WO]

Thank you for your post. The white chips on our coach might be the same as yours. They are chipped away paint. All over the coach, you can take your fingernail and feel the indentation. The paint is gone where all these spots are. We have been told by other professionals that something is wrong. Perhaps improper/defective prep. or defective paint. Unfortuneately the factory sez it is normal wear and tear. We don't understand how we could have rock chips on the inside of the slides when they are closed when traveling. Again, thank you for your post. Good luck with your problem.

 

[Thudman]

Write to Motorhome magazine. Be factual & to the point.

Thudman

 

[Duner-WO]

Our 2004 Chieftain has exactly the same problem. Paint chips very easily. Ours was delivered to CA in Dec '03 & they drove it thru a snowstorm along the way. Chips everywhere, but the rear cap was so bad I had the dealer repaint. The only good area was under the 3M film on the front -- that stuff works great. I have to use the touch up paint a lot so the white spots don't stand out so much.

I try hard to keep my equipment looking like new and I don't trade up often so I expect stuff to last if I take care of it.

I'M VERY DISAPPOINTED IN THE DURABILITY OF THIS PAINT.

Duner

 

[Funtime-FRF]

Stonewing & Duner: Since you can feel an indentation we are talking about two different scenerios in this case unless my situation develops into yours over time. I believe what I have is a clear coat that was not properly prepped. I hope you guys continue to pursue this and keep us posted.

 

[Fakrwee]

Maybe it's time to stop being nice. Report them to the BBB. They will send them a letter with you're grievance and expect a response. It's worked for me in the past. Unfortunately sometimes you have to pressure them. It's the old, squeeky wheel sindrome.Good luck.

 

[Dgold2]

fun time,

From what you describe on your basement door, I would have to agree with a poor prep job prior to paint. From your description, I would say that you have a surface tension issue, probably with some type of contaminate on the door. Better described as fish eyes in the base (color) coat, and then just sprayed with clear afterwards. This allows the white gel-coat to be seen as what appears as chips, but in essence is fish-eyes in the base coat which is then cleared over.

stonewings,

Without seeing the chips, there could be several possibilities. More than likely, the manufacturer of the gel coat is probably culpable for this. It sounds as if the gel coat is giving way underneath the paint, producing the white chip marks all over your unit. I highly doubt that it has come from normal from wear and tear. The application equipment for the gel coat can malfunction, and either put too much or not enough of the acid catalyst (MEKP) with the gel coat. I would suspect over catalyzation, as this phenomena of "popping" is more likely to show up when the gel coat is over-catalyzed, rather than under-catalyzed.

There are other plausible explanations for this, and like I said, without seeing the unit, it is hard to pass judgment.

I would suggest that you have a reputable paint shop that does fiberglass painting to look at it and get their opinion. Either someone that specializes in corvette repair, or a marina that does a lot of fiberglass work on boats would be excellent candidates. I am sure that they have seen this before, so they would be able to tell for sure.

Keep the faith and good luck!

Dgold2

 

[Mr benelli]

My front end has the same problem and came from the dealer that way. I believe it is a prep problem. It takes a lot of work to prep any plastic like the front nose. My next rv will have the 3m mask. I tried to get teh 3m mask done in my area but not many people in my area know how to do it correctly. Plus the area must be clean an free of chips and I did not want to pay to repaint. Bago told me CCI wanted $1600.00 to put it on. The price seamed very high. All I do now is touch up the many liitle spots. If the RV runs great I can live with the litte chips and some are probably from road travel.

 

[stonewings-WO]

This post is from stonewings. Thank you, all of you for your comments. I am getting the impression that Winnebago had a problem in late 03, which is when our 04 Sunflyer was completed.
It sounds like the Chieftan, above is similar to ours. Our paint shows imperfections (debri) under the surface, which chips away over time revealing additional white spots. The front end, which was redone following a minor accident, chips terribly, (ONE TRIP SOUTH and it has well over A HUNDRED CHIPS ON IT) Winnebago sez the 90 day warranty is over, sorry.
Anyone else out there. Please share your comments and suggestions. Thank you all, for your help.
Stonewings.

 

[stonewings-WO]

Additional comment from Stonewings.
At present, we are in a large Mesa, AZ rv resort. Many RV's have seen our 04 Itasca, Sunflyer. So far, everyone cannot believe Winnebago would have denied our claims dating back well within the warranty period. We have not seen this condition on other manufacturers full body paint, or any other Winnebago products, thus far. Anyone else? We welcome your advice and will continue to pursue your suggestions. Thank you for sharing.

 

[swyates]

We've also been disappointed with the paint job on our 05 Adventurer. When we were negotiating the purchase, we noted clear coat overspray all over the place, almost ruining the ourside entertainment center. There were rough places all over the coast. The dealer was great to work with, replacing the outside radio and other effected items, but said CCI would have to cover the cost of polishing out the rough clear coat. Getting CCI to cover the cost turned out to be an ordeal requiring several trips to Winne dealerships.
I hope Winnebago's listening to these post!

 

[stonewings-WO]

thank you for your post. I am glad CDI did take care of your paint problems. We have had them look at ours. They will do nothing for us!
Here in the large RV resort we are in presently, our coach has become the conversation piece. We have people stop by often to look at the amazing number of white chip spots and tell us they can't believe Winnebago/CDI won't inspect it, admit it, or take care of it. It was reported well within the warranty period.
From this forum and others we participate in, we are discovering that Winnebago had more coaches with problems at the same time ours was produced. We are continuing to gather information which many of you are kindly sharing with us, so that we can get this ongoing problem remedied.
Thank you again. Any more comments, problems out there? Please share your paint problems with Winnebago/CDI with us.