I own a 1999 Coleman tent trailer, which I purchased from a private party three years ago. Last year when we took the cover off it we found that it had a large crack in the ABS plastic roof shell. Since that time, additional cracks have appeared and the roof shell has begun to warp.
In checking with the local dealer who sold this trailer to the original owners, we found out that this roof design, which was used by Coleman for several years, has failed for a large number of owners, and the manufacturer (Fleetwood) will provide a free replacement roof for original owners. However, because we purchased our trailer from another party, we are not covered by that warranty. They told us it would cost us about $3000 to have them replace the roof. Since we only paid $4800 for the trailer, and its Bluebook value is now about $2800, it doesn't seem to be worth the cost for replacement. We have also checked a number of RV service centers in the San Diego area, and none of them seems to know how to fix the problem other than a full roof replacement.
My questions:
1) Has anyone successfully challenged Fleetwood's position that they will only replace the defective roof for the original owner? Has anyone taken them to small claims court or otherwise succeeded in getting them to replace the roof or otherwise compensate the owner?
2) Has anyone found a way to repair the ABS roof other than by a total roof replacement? I talked to a rep from Fleetwood about this today, and he said that he had heard that one owner was going to try to remove the ABS shell and put a rubberized roof coating on the roof substructure, but he never heard back as to whether that fix worked. He suggested I put out a message on a website message board and find out if anyone else has found a successful fix.
Any advice or help on this would be greatly appreciated!
In checking with the local dealer who sold this trailer to the original owners, we found out that this roof design, which was used by Coleman for several years, has failed for a large number of owners, and the manufacturer (Fleetwood) will provide a free replacement roof for original owners. However, because we purchased our trailer from another party, we are not covered by that warranty. They told us it would cost us about $3000 to have them replace the roof. Since we only paid $4800 for the trailer, and its Bluebook value is now about $2800, it doesn't seem to be worth the cost for replacement. We have also checked a number of RV service centers in the San Diego area, and none of them seems to know how to fix the problem other than a full roof replacement.
My questions:
1) Has anyone successfully challenged Fleetwood's position that they will only replace the defective roof for the original owner? Has anyone taken them to small claims court or otherwise succeeded in getting them to replace the roof or otherwise compensate the owner?
2) Has anyone found a way to repair the ABS roof other than by a total roof replacement? I talked to a rep from Fleetwood about this today, and he said that he had heard that one owner was going to try to remove the ABS shell and put a rubberized roof coating on the roof substructure, but he never heard back as to whether that fix worked. He suggested I put out a message on a website message board and find out if anyone else has found a successful fix.
Any advice or help on this would be greatly appreciated!