Hi there all,
Not sure I am posting in the correct place but I am trying to help my parents who have broken down in Florida. Last year my parents purchased a new 34' Four Winds Hurricane. Although a year old, until a few weeks ago they had not taken a real trip yet in the RV. They had been up to the Adirondacks (they live here in NJ) and taken a few weekend trips inside NJ but no 'real' trip until they headed to Florida recently.
Well today I received a call. My father had heard some "terrible" noises at the rear of the RV while driving. It was bad enough that he decided to have it checked out. They had a hard time finding a place to look at it but eventually found a Ford dealer willing to look. Apparently this dealer went to check the differential and when they went to check the oil (fluid?) - sorry I am not very mechanical - only some salt water came out. No oil. Not willing to do anything else... they topped it of with the correct fluid and sent my parents on there way. Meanwhile my parents called Thor, Ford and the RV dealership to see what might be going on. Less than a day later the noises were back and they 'limped' into another Ford dealership near Homestead, FL. The service folks at this place are 'very nice' according to Mom and Dad but could not believe what they were seeing. The underside of the RV is all corroded and rusted out. Various places underneath have what this place has determined to be sal****er damage. There are places underneath that have sal****er in them that would require close to 3' of water to reach. Long story short.. $3500 for a new differential and some other repairs, not including all the areas that are corroded.
Thor says not our fault. Ford says not our fault and the dealership says "tough nuggies". Do my parents have no recourse, short of retaining a lawyer.
My dad didn't drive the RV through 3' of salt water!! : )
I feel terrible for them that their "dream RV" and first trip since their retirement has taken this turn.
Any advice?
Thanks very much for reading this lengthy post?
Scott
Not sure I am posting in the correct place but I am trying to help my parents who have broken down in Florida. Last year my parents purchased a new 34' Four Winds Hurricane. Although a year old, until a few weeks ago they had not taken a real trip yet in the RV. They had been up to the Adirondacks (they live here in NJ) and taken a few weekend trips inside NJ but no 'real' trip until they headed to Florida recently.
Well today I received a call. My father had heard some "terrible" noises at the rear of the RV while driving. It was bad enough that he decided to have it checked out. They had a hard time finding a place to look at it but eventually found a Ford dealer willing to look. Apparently this dealer went to check the differential and when they went to check the oil (fluid?) - sorry I am not very mechanical - only some salt water came out. No oil. Not willing to do anything else... they topped it of with the correct fluid and sent my parents on there way. Meanwhile my parents called Thor, Ford and the RV dealership to see what might be going on. Less than a day later the noises were back and they 'limped' into another Ford dealership near Homestead, FL. The service folks at this place are 'very nice' according to Mom and Dad but could not believe what they were seeing. The underside of the RV is all corroded and rusted out. Various places underneath have what this place has determined to be sal****er damage. There are places underneath that have sal****er in them that would require close to 3' of water to reach. Long story short.. $3500 for a new differential and some other repairs, not including all the areas that are corroded.
Thor says not our fault. Ford says not our fault and the dealership says "tough nuggies". Do my parents have no recourse, short of retaining a lawyer.
My dad didn't drive the RV through 3' of salt water!! : )
I feel terrible for them that their "dream RV" and first trip since their retirement has taken this turn.
Any advice?
Thanks very much for reading this lengthy post?
Scott