Legal Awareness

[Octane2Go]

Wow! Got some enlightening info the other day.

Our local news had a story about some people here in Central Ohio that bought a High-end (roughly 200K) Motorhome.

I guess it had a lot of issues, etc. but, they ended up hitting a deer with it.

Took it to the shop and during inspection it was found that it had broken away from the frame in multiple locations.

It was inspected and these fractured connections were found to NOT be the result of the deer strike.

The manufacturer (which is a big boy in the industry) says "too bad" it is out of warranty.

I think it had been a year and a half or something.

Anyway, with all the issues they had they were trying to get it returned under the lemon law. With all the issues it seemed that was reasonable.

As it turns out, their signing document said see manual for restrictions concerning those type things. If you actually go to the manual it says the laws are governed by the state in which the trailer is made.

Here is the kicker.

Indiana state law specifically says that the lemon law does not pertain to RVs.

As a consumer, you would have no way to know this unless you could think of a reason to even look it up.

I can only say "wow." "Buyer beware." Some things are just beyond what the average person can be aware of.

Ya know?

[mike837go]

We RV's are in an awful position when it comes to sate and federal laws....


The number of consumers of RV's is quite small when you compare it to cars, houses, retirement, banking, etc. So politicians are not wasting their campaign contributions on us.


Also the fact that one company built the frame and running gear. A separate company built the portable house on top. Who's responsible for what gets peculiar real fast!


Case law seems to be on our side though. Drag any large company into court and demonstrate a true defect...you'll get some cash or a replacement.


You are correct, Caveat Emptor still applies when owning and operating an RV!

[SloPoke]

Wait... the manufacturer of the Motorhome FRAME is not the RV manufacturer... You get a Chassis warranty separate from the Coach warranty.

of course a Trailer made by a RV manufacturer usually makes their own frame. That would still make sense

[DanNJanice]

My guess is that Indiana has number of laws that are highly favorable to the RV manufacturers, that is probably one of the primary reasons so many of them located there.

[bankr63]

Originally Posted by SloPoke

of course a Trailer made by a RV manufacturer usually makes their own frame. That would still make sense

Not generally, the frame on mine is made by Dexter. Lippert makes a ton of frames as well. They are delivered to the factory ready to have the floors and walls attached.

[norty1]

And Lippert now owns Dexter.


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[Octane2Go]

Originally Posted by DanNJanice

My guess is that Indiana has number of laws that are highly favorable to the RV manufacturers, that is probably one of the primary reasons so many of them located there.

Yep!

[Trippers]

Indiana's Lemon laws, or lack of, are applied only in Indiana. Contact the consumer protection office in your state or a lemon law attorney to get the applicable laws for you. Many other states do have consumer protection and even the Feds have an interest in vehicle safety. And why don't you name the manufacturer? May get them to fix a serious flaw, save lives too.

[Cdash]

I would also think that NHTSA would be interested in those type of situations. A motorhome falling of the frame would most definitely qualify as a safety issue. And I'd bet that they'd get some type of action eventually.

https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/VehicleComplaint/