Last week I experienced total brake failure at 18,000 miles on a 2003 Winnebago 35U on a W22 Workhorse chassis. I purchased the coach in Ohio and drove it back to California. All was fine until 70 miles from home, I experienced the brake pedal going to the floor and no brakes. After pulling over, I did a walk around to find right rear wheel hot and smoke coming from brake. I let the unit cool down for 2 hours and everything came back to normal. I took the coach to Workhorse dealer and after inspection they said the computer read-out indicated that I was "riding the brakes" therefore no warranty (recall) coverage. Needless to say, I was not riding the brakes so I called Workhorse. They were very defensive, probably from dealing with a lot of upset customers, but acknowledged this vehicle was going to be part of the recall and what I had experienced, including the result of the inspection, was well documented and would be fixed once the actual recall was here. But, at this time they would not cover any of the cost for inspection, damage and or replacement of brake fluid although they said purging the brake system of old fluid "helps." They further told me that the recall "fix" that was scheduled for this fall has been delayed again and will more than likely, not be available until spring of 2010. Customer relations were not sympathetic to my situation and stood firm that Workhorse is not going to do anything about trying to fix my brakes until the recall this spring. So in the end, I paid the dealer $360 to have the wheels R&R, brakes inspected and the brake fluid changed. I can only pray that changing the brake fluid remedies the "no brakes" condition. It is outrageous that Workhorse is not doing everything possible to keep good customer relations by handling some of these costs and/or replacing damaged components. Instead they stick by the story that they are having issues with customers "riding the brakes." They do this, while at the same time, acknowledging that the computer read-outs are B/S and further admit that they have a problem. This leads me to believe they have made a calculated decision that the cost to remedy these problems by keeping consumers safe far outweighs their liability in case of accidents or God help us, deaths caused by the no brake situation. Good customer relations....does not seem to be a consideration.
Update to earlier post re: Brake failure:
I got the coach back from the authorized service center, Cummins Cal Pacific in Ventura, 3 days ago. After driving it less than 30 miles, the ABS light is on...so back it goes on Monday. Challenge is that now I will need to do a work-around because I was to take the coach to the SEMA show on Monday. But, I'll gladly make plans to stay at a hotel rather than take another chance on NO BRAKES. YIKES! It was a scary SOB when the incident occurred last week. It was a near disaster as it happened at a stop light, near the bottom of a steep hill, in Friday night So Cal traffic. Thank God I had a braking system on the tow car. Also, to be clear, I do not think this is an issue with the service center, although I could be wrong. When I spoke with customer service at Workhorse, they told me in no uncertain terms that they were not going to repair the brakes with new parts that were known defective so I would have to wait until the recall "fix" is out. It might be a different issue if the calipers, pads etc were damaged beyond "safe." Mine showed overheating and some transfer of material but were deemed "safe" to drive. (Maybe they think I can learn not to "ride the brakes"....after all I've only been driving Motor Homes, trucks etc for 40 years or so)
