New 2017 View - dealer problems

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sunvale

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Joined
Apr 22, 2017
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I purchased a new View  on the Mercedes chassis with the diesel. In the past 5 weeks I have done nothing but work on it fixing things. From the wheels to the dinette to the LP valve and electrical components. Biggest problem I find is that non of the dealers will do any warranty work since I purchased in Forrest City IO and not from any dealers locally. The warranty is useless when you on the road and in a different state.
Does anyone else have any experience with this? I like the unit, but the little problems that pop up and the difficulty getting things fixed is making me regret having purchased it.
I could use some ideas.
 
John Canfield said:
Who are the dealers that are shunning you? And yes, having lots of little things that need attention with a new RV is pretty much the norm.
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That's why many times members recommend buying slightly used. The original owner has to fight the battles. Good luck.
 
Welcome to our world. W/O going into a lot of detail, I have been told by dealers and Winnebago Warranty that it is industry standard for dealers not to perform warranty work on units not purchased from them. I did find one Winnebago dealer that would work on my TT. When I picked up my trailer he said he would not do any warranty work on units not purchased from him in the future. The reason why-Winnebago did not fully pay him for the work. He charged 4 hours labor and Winnebago paid him for 30 minutes (he removed a window, put back in and recaulked). I ended up taking our trailer to the factory in Indiana, a 4 day RT. They replaced our rear window. When we got home we noticed a side window leaking. Winnebago gave me two options; take it somewhere to have problem diagnosed and if window is defective they will send new one, or they will send me the window and I will be responsible for replacing. This is their good faith fix since our trailer is now out of warranty even though these problems have been ongoing since we purchased the unit.
 
I always celebrate when my warranty is over - and often I just pretend I never had one. 
 
Yeah, warranty work on RVs not purchased at the same dealer can be somewhat hit or miss, and quality control (or lack thereof) on new RVs is even more of a gamble. Sorry, I wish there was a satisfactory explanation for your concerns, but we hear this all the time when it comes to new RVs.

Kev
 
Oldgator73 said:
.....I did find one Winnebago dealer that would work on my TT. When I picked up my trailer he said he would not do any warranty work on units not purchased from him in the future. The reason why-Winnebago did not fully pay him for the work. He charged 4 hours labor and Winnebago paid him for 30 minutes (he removed a window, put back in and recaulked). .......
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Winnebago pays the servicing dealer their going labor rate but they will pay what they determine the actual hours will entail. Winnie has plenty of historical data from factory service to decide how long a particular job will take.
 
John Canfield said:
Winnebago pays the servicing dealer their going labor rate but they will pay what they determine the actual hours will entail. Winnie has plenty of historical data from factory service to decide how long a particular job will take.
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When I took the trailer to the factory it took more than 4 hours to remove a window and put a new one in.
 
In my opinion, 4 hours to remove & replace a window is preposterous, but 30 minutes is near the other extreme. I can understand the unhappiness of a shop that normally bill 4 hours for a simple 30-60 minute job, but the fact is their charges are way out of line, aka "rip off".

The automobile industry pays labor by the flat rate book too, as does the appliance industry, so Winnebago's policy is hardly unique or unreasonable.
 
Gary RV_Wizard said:
In my opinion, 4 hours to remove & replace a window is preposterous, but 30 minutes is near the other extreme. I can understand the unhappiness of a shop that normally bill 4 hours for a simple 30-60 minute job, but the fact is their charges are way out of line, aka "rip off".

The automobile industry pays labor by the flat rate book too, as does the appliance industry, so Winnebago's policy is hardly unique or unreasonable.
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I don't know how long it takes to remove a window, clean and prep the area and install a window. But I am getting ready to find out. I'm sure that 4 hours included trying to find the source of the leak since they were not simply removing one window and replacing with a new one.

There has to be some reason dealers will not perform warranty work on units not purchased from them.

Curious as to why you would say 4 hours is preposterous and say 30 minutes is near the other extreme and then say it is 30-60 minute job.
 
I pulled a small window on our bedroom slide three or four years ago. The hardest part is getting the blasted frame broken loose from the sidewall. I probably spent a good 30 minutes carefully removing it so I wouldn't damage the frame. Installation was trivial, maybe ten minutes, all in all I probably had a good hour into the job, gathering tools, ladder, solvent, etc was part of that hour. A shop already set up for this kind of repair (and experienced) could probably R&R a small window in 30-40 minutes.

A large window would of course take more time and I suspect two techs would be required (or a tech and helper).
 
John Canfield said:
I pulled a small window on our bedroom slide three or four years ago. The hardest part is getting the blasted frame broken loose from the sidewall. I probably spent a good 30 minutes carefully removing it so I wouldn't damage the frame. Installation was trivial, maybe ten minutes, all in all I probably had a good hour into the job, gathering tools, ladder, solvent, etc was part of that hour. A shop already set up for this kind of repair (and experienced) could probably R&R a small window in 30-40 minutes.

A large window would of course take more time and I suspect two techs would be required (or a tech and helper).
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Then the reason for dealers not performing warranty work on units purchased from competing dealerships must be to force buyers to purchase local. I priced units locally and found I could save up to $4k by going out of state. Winnebago will even tell you to buy local or suffer the consequences. I understand it is industry wide. I know there are folks that will say their experience has been 180 degrees different. But I have heard it from more than one dealership so I have to conclude the situation is majority industry wide.
 
Oldgator73 said:
... But I have heard it from more than one dealership so I have to conclude the situation is majority industry wide.
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I heard that years ago from a dealer in central Florida - "we take care of our own first." We bought our coach from Lazydays in Seffner, FL and had them do some warranty service which was a less than a stellar experience. Our schema for RV service is to get the coach to Forest City if possible if it's not a DIY project. We've also had good luck with mobile service the two times we were on the road I couldn't do the work myself.

Winnebago is well aware of the state of dealer service complaints from owners.
 
John Canfield said:
I heard that years ago from a dealer in central Florida - "we take care of our own first." We bought our coach from Lazydays in Seffner, FL and had them do some warranty service which was a less than a stellar experience. Our schema for RV service is to get the coach to Forest City if possible if it's not a DIY project. We've also had good luck with mobile service the two times we were on the road I couldn't do the work myself.

Winnebago is well aware of the state of dealer service complaints from owners.
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I agree with trying to get into the factory. Only problem with that is the factory is a 4 day round trip from us. My unit is now out of warranty so I guess I don't have to worry about that particular problem any longer. From here on out I will try my best to fix any problems that occur. Which reminds me. We had a storm last night and the widow leaked. I'm going to tighten all the screws and see if that helps.
 
I purchased a class C winnebago from out of state and had to take it to a local dealer who said he would not repair. One call to Winnebago however fixed that! Winnebago aksed for the name of the dealer and said they would handle it. Winnebago called me back about 15 minutes later and said take it to the local dealer. Winnebago told me that local "authorized" Winnebago dealers HAVE to do the warranty work. Winnebago gave me the name of the local dealer owner and told me to see him. When I arrived the owner apologized for the mix up and made the repairs.
 
rider1520 said:
I purchased a class C winnebago from out of state and had to take it to a local dealer who said he would not repair. One call to Winnebago however fixed that! Winnebago aksed for the name of the dealer and said they would handle it. Winnebago called me back about 15 minutes later and said take it to the local dealer. Winnebago told me that local "authorized" Winnebago dealers HAVE to do the warranty work. Winnebago gave me the name of the local dealer owner and told me to see him. When I arrived the owner apologized for the mix up and made the repairs.
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That certainly has not been our experience. Winnebago told us the dealers are independent and they cannot force them to work on any unit. I'm talking about warranty work.
 
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