Decatur Ind??

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Fastcar

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Joined
Jan 4, 2010
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Daytona area
Finally going to bite the bullet and drive to Decatur Ind. to have the RV warranty work done at Fleetwoods service facility. Not overly happy about the need to make the trip but figure we might as well wander around while in the area. So, any suggestions as to what to do or see in the area, other than a tour of the Fleetwood factory?
 
Ft. Wayne has a nice botanical garden. There also is an old fort which isn't really exciting but somewhat interesting.

If you don't mind driving an hour or so, a trip to Shipshewanna is very interesting. It is an Amish community that is neat. Their shopping mall has more places to tie up buggies than to park cars. Some good restaurants with Amish cooking. They usually have a huge flea market on Wednesdays. That brings a lot of traffic into town. There are a lot of small shops offering all kinds of things to purchase. They also have an Amish/Menonite/Huterite Museum.

The West End Restaurant in Decatur is a great place for breakfast. There is, or used to be, a 50's style drive-in/diner on the main street that offers different fare for lunch. They show old time TV shows and there is a lot of memorabilia from the 50's all over the interior.
 
Tom said:
Better than the LDS library in SLC?

Ha ha, no, I don't think it can compare to the Salt Lake LDSlibrary  but it is a very fine source if you are in the Ft. Wayne area.
 
The 50's diner is Arnold's Drive-in - was still there in 2008. A good burger and plenty of nostalgia if you are 50+

The Back-40 Junction is a buffet type restaurant but a real treat. Excellent food, wide selection and friendly service.
http://back40junction.com/default.aspx
 
I have Family living in Ft. Wayne and whenever we visit, one place we have to eat is Coney Island Hot Dogs in Ft. Wayne.  It hasn't changed in in appearance or food since it started 80+ years ago.
 

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Do not I repeat DO NOT make a trip to Lake St. Mary..... it's on my way from Dayton to Decatur & the lake is like smelling a sewage dump that can't process the crap..... we will be up there this week to pick up our RV, hopefully they did a better job then what the local dealership did. 

 
    Tom the Allen Co Library in Ft Wayne is more amazing to us than the LDS Research Center.  For a small town library, with very limited funds, they have accumulated not only genealogical information, but also local historical info from places around the world.  Compare that to the whole LDS church supporting one library, but virtually all of it is limited to genealogy information.  Plus, the Ft Wayne library itself is designed like one other that we have seen, for example the children's section has seperate "egg" style chairs for kids to sit in to read, a games room for group activities, and on and on.
    We posted about it last year when we went for a day and stayed a week.  We stayed at the municipal park, Johnny Appleseed RV Park, which is only about 5 minutes from the library, and next to here he actually had his farm.  We enjoyed our time there and found lots of things to do.  As for pure genealogical research, I'd agree that the LDS Center will probably produce more results, but it depends a lot on what you are researching, plus it is about 3,000 miles closer to the east coast.  T^hat's why we stayed in Salt Lake 2 weeks, Donna's research is now very detailed as she is looking for minute details.

Ed
 
Ten days ago we were in Celina, OH,  at the western end of the lake, and it wasn't bad - just a mild smell.  Must have got much worse after we left town.

There is an excellent small RV repair shop in Celina, specializing mostly in electrical stuff and American Coach & Fleetwood but doing basic stuff on other brands as well (satellite tv, inverters, LED lighting, LCD TVs, etc). It's called CruisingAmericaRV and is owned by Kevin Mallory, a retired electrical systems engineer for American Coach. A great guy and as honest as they come. Call Kevin on 419-852-0791 if you have a problem or want some sort of upgrade.
 
2KViggen said:
Do not I repeat DO NOT make a trip to Lake St. Mary..... it's on my way from Dayton to Decatur & the lake is like smelling a sewage dump that can't process the crap..... we will be up there this week to pick up our RV, hopefully they did a better job then what the local dealership did.

It's a pretty sad when one feels the need to drive to the factory to get issues repaired. The dealers seem incapable of doing much other than selling the product.

Thinking about it for a minute. It is also pretty sad that quality control is so lacking that these units are shipped with soo many problems or defects. It is truly buyer beware imo
 
Fastcar,

It is too bad many dealerships have a problem with fixing situations. I don't think it's sad to drive to the factory for repairs. Let's face it, those technicians are, most likely, the best trained in the product. They also have, in most cases, all the parts required to fix the problem. Factory service is the best available and, if it is within a reasonable distance, worth the trip. Our coach has only been to the dealership maybe three times in ten years. I really enjoy going to the service center for repairs as I know it most likely will be fixed properly.
 
I do agree that many of the issues on our RV shouldn't of left the manufacturer that way.  Issues with the wall covering all wrinkled up & the tape looking like a 5yr old put it up there.  The lady we talked to worked on the assembly line on Class C's then on A's & mover to where she is now in the service center.  She said I beleive last year they put her on the final inspection area & the workers didn't like her due to how much stuff she returned.  She said fix it now otherwise it will come back after it's purchased.

I do feel Fleetwood was lacking in their inspections & many of the issues we have shouldn't of left the manufacturer that way.  One of the windows didn't even have a screen in it......

Most of our issues are with Tom Raper who we purchased it through. They had the RV for 7 months of the first year we owned it & made more issues then they fixed.  We are picking up the RV Thursday & Fleetwood states everything is fixed except for the leather seat cushions....... hopefully that is true
 
Jim Dick said:
Fastcar,

It is too bad many dealerships have a problem with fixing situations. I don't think it's sad to drive to the factory for repairs. Let's face it, those technicians are, most likely, the best trained in the product. They also have, in most cases, all the parts required to fix the problem. Factory service is the best available and, if it is within a reasonable distance, worth the trip. Our coach has only been to the dealership maybe three times in ten years. I really enjoy going to the service center for repairs as I know it most likely will be fixed properly.

To quick points.

It is sad that the dealers are unable or otherwise incapable of effecting a repair properly. Secondly it is sad that one has return to the factory to have items repaired that it should not have left the factory with. I don't do that with my cars or truck.

I agree the factory techs should be the best trained on the product. Now if they can train those who intially assemble the unit to their level of expertise the subject would be moot. Also I wouldn't be driving 1,000 miles each way and incurring hotel expenses while it is being worked on.

 
Fastcar,

Actually I chose to go to the factory for repairs. :) They have all the parts necessary to fix a problem in most cases. A dealership just cannot afford to stock all the parts for the many different brands they carry. Inventory would cost a fortune. One also cannot expect a dealership to have highly trained techs for every brand. Again, the cost would be prohibitive. I agree many problems should be fixable by a well trained technician. Many of the systems in RV's are the same but, in the case of more expensive units, there are major differences.

Hotel expenses have never been a problem. With both the Country Coach and the American Coach we have always been able stay in the coach. When we had the American Coach repainted they provided a class C for us to use for three weeks. I'm not saying they all will do this but we were lucky.
 
Fastcar, as you've figured out, the RV Industry is more like a cross betwene the airplane insustry withou any FAA Certifications, inspections and certified mechanics. It's also a place where poor used car salesmen can find a dealer willing to let them work on commission.

The RV Industry layers:

Corporate Owner
Manufacturing Plant Often for different lines/models, types  Some only sell/deliver new from the factory and service there.

Plant COO
      Production Supervisor  "Ship it!" Bonus was often paid on what was shipped
      Service/Parts Manager [Keep the inventory as low as possible!]
      Financial Manager, Purchasing Mgr, back office staff

Regional Managers/Reps  Ususlly on % plus base

Dealers    For the bigest brands, maybe 10-15 dealers provide 75% of the sales, for the smaller, 5-10. Disparity in service is common.

Dealers, as Jim and others have said, don't carry much inventory and work as do the plants on JIT purchasing to control cash flow. Lots of dealers and owners went under with a lot of inventory both in product and parts in the early '70's oil boycott by the new OPEC cartel and the ongoing recession these last two years.

Most plants are usually the best place for coach service, unless one of the top production engineers set up a center such as Gary mentioned.

For chassis service, Freightliner and Spartan have service centers in many locations and the Freightliner plant in Gaffney SC is an excellent service facility. Some custom chassis can only be serviced where made or if the plant is no more by a few specialty service centers.

That the reality as I see and experienced it --I was a Purchasing Manager and a Marketing Manger in the RV Indudtry.
 
Let me give you a example as to why my frustration level is so high.

Shortly after receiving the unit a water leak developed under the sink. A loose water line connection. No big deal, I tightened the thing. But shortly after the outside radio stopped working. It is mounted under the sink. I was emailing Fleetwood regarding a bunch of other problems and add this to the list. Anyway the repair procedure is this. Call for a appointment to get it diagnosed. I ask for the location of the fuse, nobody knows where it is. Anyway 30 days for a appointment to get diagnosed. If it is cooked they send it to Fleetwood who moves it to the vendor for repair or replacement. The vendor's projected time is 30 to 45 day's to diagnose, repair or replace and ship to dealer. Then I have to make another appointment to get it installed. I figure another 30 day's. Doing a bit of addition I'm without the use of the radio for 3 months or so.

I'm a tad put off with this so called warranty procedure and spend 5 minutes violating my warranty and pull the radio. Two fuses, one in line and one in the radio. Both tested okay. Oh, these were the fuses that nobody could tell me where they were. A quick ride to best buy where I purchase a marine radio( the kind that are resistant to moisture) and install it. Total time including the drive to purchase the new radio under 2 hours.


I have a list of stuff that has failed or frankly fallen off. Everytime we use the unit it is something else. The selling dealer blames Fleetwood for mistakes  in parts mis ordered and Fleetwood blames the dealer. When things are repaired the repair fails. I'm the sap that is driving back and forth 2+ hours each way for this comedy of errors. So  I figured drive to Fleetwood, give them the unit and maybe things will be taken care of. I also get to see some nice places along the way.

As far as staying in the unit is concerned. Given that things start at 0600 at Fleetwood, we are not happily looking forward getting up at 0430 to clear out of their way. There is paint work to repair, my wife has breathing problems so we figure a hotel will be best. Also we travel with a German Shepherd that needs to be exercised, a factory, with all the confusion isn't the best place for that as well.
 
If I recall they do have a area for pets..... but yea, hotel sounds better

I am headed there tomorrow to pick up our RV.  They have had it for 1-2 weeks to fix issues that we have complained about & tried to get Tom Raper to fix. Supposidley they claim everything is fixed except for leatherette issues which will require another trip back to the manufacturer.

Yea, VERY frustrating that the dealership we purchased it from is so clueless they can't make us even close to happy.  RV's are quite a bit more complex then a car but still, they should care enough to get the job done especially since they are getting paid for the work. 

Similar story... T. Raper told us many many times the wrong stuff was shipped.  Hopefully tomorrow will turn out OK & all the stuff will be fixed....... everyone I talked to that was getting their RV serviced there had nothing but excellent things to say about them. 

 
They told me given the list I gave them that we'd be there 4 day's. We'll see.

What I have a very hard time with is what seems to be a sorta mindset that it is okay to sell RV's with shoddy workmanship and the end purchaser will happily go wherever, for who knows how many time's to get repairs made. I just don't get it.
I have better things to do that drive to a factory and hang out for a week or so to get repairs made on a RV that should not have a punch list of stuff wrong, which the dealers for whatever reason are unwilling or unable to repair.

But rather than spend my life running back and forth to a dealer this seems to be the lesser of the two evils. Time will tell.


 

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