2, 3 year professed warranty

[Jayhawk 29]

All the new units have the stickers. And yes I attempted to read the literature on the Jayco web page. So of course there are numerous stories about buying new. But I am really close to going that route, due to the narrow and targeted layout requirements my lovely bride "requests".
So upon saying this, has anyone had to deal with serious defects on new campers and had to argue until your skull was close to popping off to get anything fixed that was classified to be covered under the talking point. I know the webpage says the information is in their new manuals in the new camper. TIA folks, please don't push me off the edge of the cliff because I have lost my mine when considering buying new. .

I left out. What is the scuttlebutt on the Furrion ac unit? What should I look for? I had the Domectic ones and lhated the sound and their thermostats. I have had great service from the Coleman Mach units.

[Markb5900]

IMHO the warranty is very dependent on the dealer.
I’ve been working with a great dealer, new awning, ceiling leak from the factory, new axel and new countertop.
All I’ve ever had to do was drop it off and tell them when I wanted it back.
But of course there is the other end of the spectrum.
I’ve always had much better luck when I’ve bought from smaller family owned dealers.

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by Markb5900

IMHO the warranty is very dependent on the dealer.

X-2 that's why you should buy local and create a good relationship with them.

[JKyle]

Originally Posted by Jayflight 23

All the new units have the stickers. And yes I attempted to read the literature on the Jayco web page. So of course there are numerous stories about buying new. But I am really close to going that route, due to the narrow and targeted layout requirements my lovely bride "requests".
So upon saying this, has anyone had to deal with serious defects on new campers and had to argue until your skull was close to popping off to get anything fixed that was classified to be covered under the talking point. I know the webpage says the information is in their new manuals in the new camper. TIA folks, please don't push me off the edge of the cliff because I have lost my mine when considering buying new. .

I left out. What is the scuttlebutt on the Furrion ac unit? What should I look for? I had the Domectic ones and lhated the sound and their thermostats. I have had great service from the Coleman Mach units.

I already have the 'new' and will find out for myself once my season ends. A new kitchen countertop will definitely be on my list. The thermofoil edge of the inset sink had a bad seal and water intruded, causing swelling and the particle board countertop to be exposed.

Luckily there isn't a whole lot more wrong 'yet' for my unit. I've had it out on 4 trips already this season. I tow within 40 miles of home, so I've not had a lot of 'road' time to shake things up. I still have 2, maybe 3 trips remaining.

[Camp CA]

I have had 2 serious warranty issues covered under warranty......structural stress crack under and squeaky floor. The first was repaired by the dealer. The second is schedule to repaired next month. In both cases the dealers were proactive in troubleshooting and getting the manufacturer to cover the repair.

[gypsmjim]

Warranty...schwarnty.

I have had only minor issues, and I fixed them all at my own expense. All the horror stories you hear about are depressing. Waiting half the Summer to get a repair while it sits at the dealer is unacceptable.

A recent weather damage (not warranty) causes us to locate a mobile RV repair guy. Turns out before he went into business for himself he spent 18 years as the Plant Manager in a midwest RV manufacturing plant. Awesome knowledge and fast service.

OK, he charged $150 for a housecall but the repairs were made post haste.

IMHO, having the trailer available ALL Summer long is priceless. Being retired means living on a fixed income, but we also don't have any time to waste.

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by gypsmjim

Warranty...schwarnty.

I have had only minor issues, and I fixed them all at my own expense. All the horror stories you hear about are depressing. Waiting half the Summer to get a repair while it sits at the dealer is unacceptable.

A recent weather damage (not warranty) causes us to locate a mobile RV repair guy. Turns out before he went into business for himself he spent 18 years as the Plant Manager in a midwest RV manufacturing plant. Awesome knowledge and fast service.

OK, he charged $150 for a housecall but the repairs were made post haste.

IMHO, having the trailer available ALL Summer long is priceless. Being retired means living on a fixed income, but we also don't have any time to waste.

With the right dealer you don't always have that. The dealer I dealt with had his own "mobile" guy.

[gypsmjim]

Originally Posted by Grumpy

With the right dealer you don't always have that. The dealer I dealt with had his own "mobile" guy.

I agree. But the problem is you don't always know that ahead of time.

I bought a Jayco and immediately joined this forum. THEN, I found out that my dealer had been listed as one of the worst in NY state. He had the product I wanted (no other dealers product suited me), so I took a chance.

How many people do the due diligence ahead of time?

My last RV was 20 years old when I bought it, and we kept it until she was 50 years old. I gave it to a neighbor and she still lives. BOY, they made everything better back in the day.

[cariboocreek]

Warranty is a red herring. Important yes, but if Jayco and others improved their construction and QA, then warranty would and should be a last resort. I am curious about the business model whereby they save a bunch of money using poor quality bits and pieces coupled with poor quality construction. They then spend bajillions at the other end managing warranty claims.

I have had two new Jayco fifth wheels, an Eagle Premiere and now a Pinnacle. Both ended up in the shop shortly after purchase and both for major repair. My new Pinnacle is in the shop with the front cap removed as the front cap is full of cracks behind the window and was leaking water. Guessing this repair will be in the thousands.

We wouldn't let GM, Ford, or Ram get away with this so why do we collectively let RV manufacturers get away with this? As a willing repeat victim I understand I am part of the problem.

[gypsmjim]

Originally Posted by cariboocreek

Warranty is a red herring. Important yes, but if Jayco and others improved their construction and QA, then warranty would and should be a last resort. I am curious about the business model whereby they save a bunch of money using poor quality bits and pieces coupled with poor quality construction. They then spend bajillions at the other end managing warranty claims.

In a past life I was the Manager in charge of the "Complaint Department". Company policy was that to stay competitive (and still be profitable), our complaint dollars had to be below $XXX per Million Dollars in Sales.

If we were below that, it was policy to lay off inspectors and let some crap get out. If we were above that we would tighten QC. Regardless, we always had intelligence out there to see what our competition was doing.

If the competitors had less complaints, we tightened up. If they were much worse, we let the crap roll.

The thing is that with multiple factories and multiple market areas our quality varied considerably. Customers in the south would not say a word if we shipped product made in the northeast. But visa versa southern crap would simply not fly in New England where quality was #1.

Sad story. Apparently, RVers have to come to expect crap, and they are willing to buy it. If / when nobody wants RVs any more, things will change.

[Jayhawk 29]

Thanks everyone for your input, opinions and experiences . I have purchased NEW, against my well experienced observations and experiences. It's really sad that for all the hype about quality workmanship and the regional "craftsmen" and even in house quality control, my new White Hawk left the factory like crap.

I will leave it there.

[JKyle]

Originally Posted by Jayflight 23

Thanks everyone for your input, opinions and experiences . I have purchased NEW, against my well experienced observations and experiences. It's really sad that for all the hype about quality workmanship and the regional "craftsmen" and even in house quality control, my new White Hawk left the factory like crap.

I will leave it there.

Wait...what? Noooo. You can't leave us...me...hanging.

Tell us about the Whitehawk. What floorpan? Did you buy it or found it to be 'crap' and left it at the dealer?

[Jayhawk 29]

I have been pretty busy with the normal job of debugging of a brand new camper. So I have not taken the time to organize some thoughts on the "new and improved" sales promotion of the 2 and 3 year warranty. But this is my initial reply and observation after one month of thoroughly going thru this new camper to fix stuff, a lot of stupid stuff too in preparing for an extended winter travel season for us.

If a new buyer cannot get anything other than pre-programmed replies that you get from foreign call center in replies to cable network issues , then good luck getting serious problems corrected down the road.

Now mind you I have encountered some really friendly call center service individuals . But that's just about the limits of what I have successfully achieved. I feel for the folks that have bought into the idea that they can take their rv in and get crap fixed. Many folks have takend their campers in and have had to leave it for months on in , during the prime rving seasons too. Of course the warranty time is just clicking along too as they get no use out of their rv. .

If you are buying new, the very first thing a person should do is to look under the skirts, so to speak. The residue and leftover sawdust, cut out pieces of the flooring and even cut of pieces of wiring left in the underbelly, of all places, quality control and attention to detail no longer happens in new builds. I guess I was raised to do a job correctly and leave it in a manner at punching out time that I left it the way I would like to find it myself if I had to come along behind myself.

I somewhat give all manufacturers a pass on added equipment. It is what it is and most all manufacturers use the same stuff. They all may as well not add different level of models under the same brand name. Layouts are all the same, just a few more cabinets and an occasional additional ac or a bigger frig these days. It is my opinion that the lots are just decorated with the same deck chairs , just painted differently.