Glendale RV is the latest victim...

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Gary RV_Wizard

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Glendale RV, Canadian RV manufacturer of the Titanium 5W brand, has filed for bankruptcy. Too bad - they were one of the good guys.  :(

http://www.thestar.com/business/article/752975--rv-maker-glendale-at-the-end-of-the-road
 
Oh no!!! Not another quality RV manufacturer. :'( :(. Guess with the economy folks can't afford the higher end quality units. Problem is, you get what you pay for. All that's left will be the Yugos.
 
This is really too bad.  Sounds like they were one of the better makers. 
(edited: already another thread on this)
 
I looked online at one of the dealers.  One mentioned the filing and will do extended warranty if there is no factory warranty(I don't know what the warranty is in these situations).  Hopefully a market for quality RV products is there.  IMO, it seems like an exchange rate issue than anything else.  I wonder if this will present an opportunity to get a nice used one(The new ones are out of my price range).  I noticed when some other makers "filed" last year, a lot of used ones went on the market.

 
When the manufacturer goes belly-up, any manufacturer warranty becomes useless. You are in effect an unsecured creditor of the manufacturer and rarely is there any money left for those when the business if liquidated. Sometimes a buyer picks up the remaining assets of the business and provides some warranty service either as good will or part of the asset sale agreement, but don't count on it.

An extended warranty helps but is not equivalent to a manufacturer "bumper-to-bumper" warranty. For example, an extended warranty will typically exclude things like fabrics, awnings, perhaps electronics, etc. Read the fine print carefully.
 
Gary is correct about factory warranties, however most of the stuff in an RV is warranted by the equipment mfgrs not the RV mfgr. (AC, furnace, microwave, stove, blinds, reefer, slides, etc). The hard part about an RV mfgr that has gone out of business are the proprietary parts such as chassis and structure and structural/manufacturing defects. So those with Western RV motorhomes that had their chassis may be in a fix. Aside from minor gripes there isn't much to go wrong with the structure unless you have an accident in which case your insurance should cover and you can find places that can repair or have a supply of parts. For example, when I had a tire blowout on my Alpenlite 5th wheel, I was able to locate replacement fender skirts even though Western RV had closed its doors.

Bottom line I guess is that, if you can find a good deal on a  RV manufactured by a quality company that has gone out of business because of the economy, I wouldn't worry too much about the mfgr's warranty. Do a very thorough pre-buy, get the dealer to fix any glitches you may find and go for it.
 
We have 3 left.  Those ought to be fun.  Toughest part is getting over the warranty objection.  Dealer pays for the coach at full dealer cost, so discount is somewhat limited, and no warranty.  We have a policy like we did with Monaco and Country Coach, but it is inhouse, not something for all over the country. 

 
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