Dave_from_ABQ
New member
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2016
- Posts
- 1
Why we bought a Cruise America Motorhome: We liked the idea of buying from a nationwide company that specializes in RVs rather than dealing with individuals selling through Craigslist or going to used RV lots. Cruise America claims that they have sold 25,000 used motorhomes. They do regular maintenance on the units and refurbish the units before they are sold though they won?t provide the maintenance records and, other than the paint job, not sure how much refurbishment was actually done.
The bottom line: You get a $30,000 motorhome with a nice paint job. We expected to make some repairs on the unit ($600 so far) since it was used but didn?t expect a $5,000 repair the first month. We are happy with our motorhome and, if we are ever in the market for another, would consider buying from Cruise America but would shop around more than we did this time.
Things to check if you are buying a Cruise America motorhome:
1. Turn the water on in the shower and let it run while you are going over everything in the unit. Check under the unit after a few minutes to see if water is leaking underneath. If so, the shower drain line is broken and needs to be repaired. This isn?t very expensive to do yourself but took me three days to make the repair. Another indication of a leak is the wingnut and threaded rod on the spare tire hold down is rusted. It took me about an hour with lots of penetrating oil and a sledge hammer to get the wingnut off.
2. Also, after demonstrating that the toilet will flush, fill the toilet with water then wait a few minutes to see if it stays. If not, the seals need to be replaced. Have them replace the flush valve at the same time.
3. Check the seals on the vents. Mine were dried out and loose. I didn?t catch this on the inspection.
Here?s what happened: Our adventure began on July 25, 2016, when we purchased a 25-foot motorhome (23A) from the Mesa, Arizona, location. The salesman went over the unit with us and showed us that everything worked. He did not check the furnace which apparently will not turn on if the temperature is too high (it did work). I inspected under the unit and the salesman provided a ladder for me to inspect the top. The only things that we identified as problems were the passenger?s side seat cover was stained and the entry door did not close all the way. The entry door should have been the first indication of a problem but seemed trivial at the time. While my wife and I went to get lunch, the salesman had the passenger seat cover changed and the door was tightened so that it looked like it closed better.
The next day we drove the unit home from Mesa, Arizona, to Albuquerque, New Mexico. The unit performed well and we didn?t notice any problems. We were happy with our purchase. On August 8, 2016, we left on our first road trip. We had planned to spend some time in Arlington and San Antonio, Texas. Everything seemed to be alright until the third day of our trip. On August 10, 2016, as I was exiting the motorhome I noticed that there was a gap between the door frame and the step. This was 16 days and about 1,100 miles after purchasing the motorhome.
When we got back to the RV pack that evening, I crawled under the front door to take a look. I noticed three new screws sticking out from the step where it had been screwed into the door frame. I tried to tighten them back up but they were stripped out of the door frame. I later noticed that there was a gap between the outside wall and the inside of the storage compartment that went all the way to the back of the vehicle. The next day we took the motorhome to an RV repair place to see if they could tell what was going on and what we needed to do. Two of the mechanics there looked at it and told us that the sidewall had broken free from the trailer frame and would have to go back to the manufacturer to do the repair because the sidewall would have to be removed and reinstalled. They did tell us that it would be safe to drive back to Albuquerque which is what we decided to do. That evening when we got back to the RV Park, I sent an email to Cruise America?s Sales Warranty Department to see if he could help us. I sent an email because we had spotty cell phone signal where we were at. I wasn?t sure how to contact the manufacturer and wanted to see if the repair could be done there in Phoenix which I figured would be closer that the manufacturer. I never received a reply to this email.
After safely getting home over the weekend, I tried calling the Sales Warranty number on Monday, August 15, 2016. I left a voicemail with my contact information and the information on the unit. I never received a response to my voicemail. I did not pursue it since Camping World responded to my call to them on Monday and said that they could do the repair. We took the motorhome to Camping World Albuquerque on August 16, 2016, for them to repair the damage. They repaired the frame and welded it back together and added some reinforcement to it in order to reattach the sidewall to the trailer frame. The final cost was $4,934.70.
Why I think Cruise America knew about the damage before the sale: In addition to the door not closing properly, there were three new screws holding the bottom of the step to the door frame. They looked like they had been recently added. There were also new screws added to the area where the wheel well and the sidewall are attached. I could only conclude that new screws were added to reinforce the sidewall that was starting to come loose from the trailer frame in order to hide the serious damage.
I sent a copy of the bill and a letter to the Cruise America CEO detailing what happened along with my suspicions that the unit was damaged when sold to us and that they knew about it. It took a couple of weeks but I was finally called by the head of sales. He confirmed that the model (23A) had a known history of sidewall detachment and that the manufacturer had a Technical Information Bulletin (TIB #12-1 Wall / Floor Separation, 01/16/2012). He said the repair should have only cost $800 to $900. I told him that made me really angry especially since I had contacted Cruise America twice with no response. He claimed that they contacted me but when pressed he refused to provide any details so I could go back and check. He also told me I should have contacted sales instead of the warranty department so it was really my fault that I didn?t hear from them. We reached an agreement on the repair cost so that I would be a satisfied customer.
The bottom line: You get a $30,000 motorhome with a nice paint job. We expected to make some repairs on the unit ($600 so far) since it was used but didn?t expect a $5,000 repair the first month. We are happy with our motorhome and, if we are ever in the market for another, would consider buying from Cruise America but would shop around more than we did this time.
Things to check if you are buying a Cruise America motorhome:
1. Turn the water on in the shower and let it run while you are going over everything in the unit. Check under the unit after a few minutes to see if water is leaking underneath. If so, the shower drain line is broken and needs to be repaired. This isn?t very expensive to do yourself but took me three days to make the repair. Another indication of a leak is the wingnut and threaded rod on the spare tire hold down is rusted. It took me about an hour with lots of penetrating oil and a sledge hammer to get the wingnut off.
2. Also, after demonstrating that the toilet will flush, fill the toilet with water then wait a few minutes to see if it stays. If not, the seals need to be replaced. Have them replace the flush valve at the same time.
3. Check the seals on the vents. Mine were dried out and loose. I didn?t catch this on the inspection.
Here?s what happened: Our adventure began on July 25, 2016, when we purchased a 25-foot motorhome (23A) from the Mesa, Arizona, location. The salesman went over the unit with us and showed us that everything worked. He did not check the furnace which apparently will not turn on if the temperature is too high (it did work). I inspected under the unit and the salesman provided a ladder for me to inspect the top. The only things that we identified as problems were the passenger?s side seat cover was stained and the entry door did not close all the way. The entry door should have been the first indication of a problem but seemed trivial at the time. While my wife and I went to get lunch, the salesman had the passenger seat cover changed and the door was tightened so that it looked like it closed better.
The next day we drove the unit home from Mesa, Arizona, to Albuquerque, New Mexico. The unit performed well and we didn?t notice any problems. We were happy with our purchase. On August 8, 2016, we left on our first road trip. We had planned to spend some time in Arlington and San Antonio, Texas. Everything seemed to be alright until the third day of our trip. On August 10, 2016, as I was exiting the motorhome I noticed that there was a gap between the door frame and the step. This was 16 days and about 1,100 miles after purchasing the motorhome.
When we got back to the RV pack that evening, I crawled under the front door to take a look. I noticed three new screws sticking out from the step where it had been screwed into the door frame. I tried to tighten them back up but they were stripped out of the door frame. I later noticed that there was a gap between the outside wall and the inside of the storage compartment that went all the way to the back of the vehicle. The next day we took the motorhome to an RV repair place to see if they could tell what was going on and what we needed to do. Two of the mechanics there looked at it and told us that the sidewall had broken free from the trailer frame and would have to go back to the manufacturer to do the repair because the sidewall would have to be removed and reinstalled. They did tell us that it would be safe to drive back to Albuquerque which is what we decided to do. That evening when we got back to the RV Park, I sent an email to Cruise America?s Sales Warranty Department to see if he could help us. I sent an email because we had spotty cell phone signal where we were at. I wasn?t sure how to contact the manufacturer and wanted to see if the repair could be done there in Phoenix which I figured would be closer that the manufacturer. I never received a reply to this email.
After safely getting home over the weekend, I tried calling the Sales Warranty number on Monday, August 15, 2016. I left a voicemail with my contact information and the information on the unit. I never received a response to my voicemail. I did not pursue it since Camping World responded to my call to them on Monday and said that they could do the repair. We took the motorhome to Camping World Albuquerque on August 16, 2016, for them to repair the damage. They repaired the frame and welded it back together and added some reinforcement to it in order to reattach the sidewall to the trailer frame. The final cost was $4,934.70.
Why I think Cruise America knew about the damage before the sale: In addition to the door not closing properly, there were three new screws holding the bottom of the step to the door frame. They looked like they had been recently added. There were also new screws added to the area where the wheel well and the sidewall are attached. I could only conclude that new screws were added to reinforce the sidewall that was starting to come loose from the trailer frame in order to hide the serious damage.
I sent a copy of the bill and a letter to the Cruise America CEO detailing what happened along with my suspicions that the unit was damaged when sold to us and that they knew about it. It took a couple of weeks but I was finally called by the head of sales. He confirmed that the model (23A) had a known history of sidewall detachment and that the manufacturer had a Technical Information Bulletin (TIB #12-1 Wall / Floor Separation, 01/16/2012). He said the repair should have only cost $800 to $900. I told him that made me really angry especially since I had contacted Cruise America twice with no response. He claimed that they contacted me but when pressed he refused to provide any details so I could go back and check. He also told me I should have contacted sales instead of the warranty department so it was really my fault that I didn?t hear from them. We reached an agreement on the repair cost so that I would be a satisfied customer.
