2013 Winnebago Tour - New Purchase

[CarlaVan]

Okay, I will do my best not to "rant" and try to be positive.  We just purchased this new MH - and picked it up on September 19th from the dealer.  From the time we signed the contract to the time we took delivery it was 3+weeks.  There were items we pointed out to the dealer when we test drove that were not fixed upon delivery.  We had to take the RV back in for a repair to the Aqua Hot system and the cameras two days after pick-up.  I don't want to get into everything that has either broken, malfunctioned or just hasn't worked but suffice it to say that we have a list of 25 items at this point and those range from electrical to house-related items. 

Here's the issue I am having.....how can you pay in more than $312,500 for an RV (our last one was $150,000) and have so many things wrong? Is this really standard operating procedure? Am I unrealistic to think that this coach should have been tested and hd complete quality control prior to delivery? Who should we turn to for help? La Mesa RV has been less than helpful (although their Dublin, CA service department was very good to us). Winnebago has told us they can help us with 7 items at a time on a first-come, first-serve basis because their first appointment is not available until November 5th. We are just leaving Florida and heading North then home. Please tell me if my thought process on this is off.  We did not buy a used coach so shouldn't we expect it to be relatively free from issues this soon? Who should take responsibility? How can we get the help we need in a timely and efficient manner?

Thank you for reading and I appreciate your thoughts. 

p.s. We switched from Fleetwood to Winnebago because we were told they produce an exceptional product.

 

[DITTO]

Your expectation of a quality product are correct...reality is far less. Like you ,I too learned the hard way. Forest city is your best bet.....iif you have Freigtliner issues, go to Gaffney SC ..factory service.

 

[Alfa38User]

You have learned one of the basic truths about RV manufacturers, the overall quality control department is most often YOU!! You should expect a problem-free coach but, unfortunately reality rears its ugly head once again.

Many used coaches have less problems simply because the guy before you fixed them. Who should take care of it?? The dealer can often take care of a lot of the stuff on behalf of Winnibago but... many dealers leave a lot to be desired in that department and your pre-delivery list of problems is a prime example.

Winnebago is, by far, the best place. Perhaps there is a dealer nearer you with a good reputation for service, something you could research using this forum, among other tools on the internet.

 

[SargeW]

Hi Carla,

You are right, there should not be that many issues with a new coach.  I would get on the phone with Winnebago Customer Relations in a hot second.  Have a list of all the issues typed up that you can e mail to them.  Your best bet is to be realistic but firm.  If you are not happy, TELL THEM.  They will start a file on your case and insure that you are taken care of.  Winnebago has a reputation of being very responsive to their customers.  Make them prove it.

And Ditto is right. If you can get to Forest City, that is your best bet. 

 

[Scott-0168]

Winnebago I'm starting to think is no better then the rest of the MH manufactures out there!!!!!!!!!!!
They should send a service team to you! Winnebago, shame on you!

Scott 

 

[John Canfield]

...Winnebago has told us they can help us with 7 items at a time on a first-come, first-serve basis because their first appointment is not available until November 5th.

Welcome to the Winnebago family!  The seven items at a time is for drop-in customers (no appointments), if you make an appointment for warranty service, there is no limit (unless something just changed.)

You will for a fact have a period where you have to get the kinks worked out - this is no different with Winnebago or any other manufacturer.  It is a great product, but it won't be perfect when it ships out of Forest City.  One of my friends had the same year Horizon as us and bought an Allegro Bus a few months ago - same thing, stuff to fix on his new coach.

What I recommend is you get the "must have" stuff fixed at the dealer and then keep a "punch list" running for maybe six months.  By the end of that period, you should have identified 99% of everything that needs tweaking/replacing and then make an appointment for factory service in Forest City and then get everything accomplished with one trip.

That was our methodology with our then new Horizon, we made the trip to Forest City after ten months and got everything taken care of in about four days (we also had some floor tile added.)  In retrospect, it was fantastically successful.

 

[MN Cake Eater]

Carla, I feel your pain!  We bought a new Winnebago in April.  Between the Winnebago dealer and Freightliner service center, our coach has spent 10 weeks in service (out of approx 30 weeks).  Our number of issues is into the 30's.

The least of my pains has been Freightliner.  The Winnebago dealer has driven me crazy!  After telling the Service Mgr. that he should be in sales because every time his mouth moved, a bunch of lies came out.  Service on our coach went from slow and full of lies to none existent.  When I mentioned I called Forest City to discuss issues with WB Customer Service, our coach was out of the shop in a matter of hours.

This past summer was a waste of camping/travel time! 

 

[John Canfield]

...The Winnebago dealer has driven me crazy! ...

Which is exactly why I recommend to get the show stoppers repaired at the dealer (or a dealer) and then get all of the other stuff repaired in Forest City.  It's an unfortunate situation, ideally all dealers would have an excellent service department but sadly that is usually not the case.  Winnebago provides dealer technical training and pays the dealer's going labor rate for warranty service, but apparently some dealers choose to be satisfied with mediocre service department performance.  Maybe the flawed logic is they make the money on the front-end (sales) and not the back-end (service.)

 

[CarlaVan]

Thanks so much to all of you for thoughts, comments and suggestions.  We have decided while we are "out here" and before we return to California to go to Forest City and get in the queue for "non-appointments" and get our 7 highest prioritized items fixed so we can be home in time for 2 of our daughters' birthdays in early November.  After that we will figure out our next steps. We really don't want to go back to the dealer because of the bit of history we have with them and our experience thus far. 

It is a shame that a 6 week cross-country trip has to include repair work on this new coach, but alas this appears to be the case.

They all say that customer service is a priority for them but their actions have not matched their words.

Thanks again!

 

[CarlaVan]

To those of you that responded to my original post, I wanted to post this follow-up.

We received a call from a Supervisor from Winnebago yesterday who spent quite a bit of time with us discussing the issues we are having with the RV.  They have been good enough to schedule some time with us rather than than putting us in the queue when we arrive.  We are planning on being in Iowa next Tuesday for a Wednesday appointment.

We were very happy that we heard from them and that they seem to be taking our situation seriously.  I appreciate that Winnebago got back to us and are interested in helping us.

Thanks everyone!

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Good to hear that Winnebago is going to take care of you, Carla.  Winnie is pretty darn good about that, so hopefully things will go well in Forest City.

 

[Garyk]

Just a thought, dealers are supposed to check each unit when it comes from the factory for problems, damage etc. If they do not and its missed, the factory will not reimburse them for parts and labor,but........if you bring up a warranty issue, the factory will cover it.....
When we took possession of our unit, we found several dings in a bath door and table which the dealer has missed on intake of the unit....they had to eat the parts and labor.

 

[Five2o]

I just finished our 4th visit to Forest City with our Ellipse. I am again very satisfied. There is no such thing as a new 300k motor home without numerous problems. I think my 1st list at the 1 year warranty was over 20 items but my last visit after 2 1/2 years only had 6 items. 

 

[Rvliberty]

One other note of interest. Forest City will do seven items on drop in basis. When those are done you can get in line with another seven items. We did that in July and they were great.

Most dealers just suck. Nuff said.

Winnebago is a class act. Sometimes it takes getter a supervisor involved, but they really do a good job.

Alan Howell
12 Winnebago View
Bellevue, Wa

 

[howdymi]

I see a lot of complaints about the dealer service dept on this and other RV forums all the time.  Yet a lot of praise for the factory service of most brands.  I suspect if the workers at most dealers had all the experience, tools and resources to parts the factory guys have we might hear different.  I remember years ago when the wagon wheel became popular on travel trailer we had one and as most did the wagon wheels rusted within a year.  Under warranty I took it back to the dealer and he repainted the wheels.  Of course in a few weeks the rust started again.  This time off to the factory repair center I went.  The factory put on 4 brand new wheels with brand new tires already mounted on them, replaced several pieces of outside trim that had yellowed I had not even ask about.  Ask me if I wanted to take the old tires and wheels home as they were just going to scrap them..  Number one the dealer can?t afford to operate that way.  The dealer might have been able to call the RV builder, they call the wheel manuf. and 3 to 4 weeks later I get new wheels,  but then I might have been unhappy with having to wait 3 or 4 weeks for the wheels to come in.  The factory had pallets of them with tires already on them.  And even the factory doesn't stock the parts they use to.  many dealers have several brands and models to repair where the factory has only there own brand and models. 

 

[ct78barnes]

We had issues with our new 2011 Winnebago and the first 3 months we had over 20 repairs done.What we found is that after going to our selling dealer 5 times and not getting things fixed we tried a different dealer and was treated a lot better and got better service,They say to go back to your selling dealer because you bought it there and you will get better treatment but this is not what we encountered. What I was told is that some dealers do a test drive and some do not. I thought they all did but ours we special ordered and they new it was a sold unite and did not and missed over 20 items that we found  after delivery. Like the one poster stated you are Winnebago,s Quality Control and its all about the bottom line and getting the coach out the door . Then let the dealers and customers deal with the mess after they receive it.Is this not this kind of stuff that almost run the American Car companies to the brink in the 1970s .In closing Winnebago did finely got things fixed for us and 16 months after delivery they paid for a repair that we found so they do do service after the 12 months on a case by case bases.

 

[Scott-0168]

Okay, I will do my best not to "rant" and try to be positive.  We just purchased this new MH - and picked it up on September 19th from the dealer.  From the time we signed the contract to the time we took delivery it was 3+weeks.  There were items we pointed out to the dealer when we test drove that were not fixed upon delivery.  We had to take the RV back in for a repair to the Aqua Hot system and the cameras two days after pick-up.  I don't want to get into everything that has either broken, malfunctioned or just hasn't worked but suffice it to say that we have a list of 25 items at this point and those range from electrical to house-related items. 

Here's the issue I am having.....how can you pay in more than $312,500 for an RV (our last one was $150,000) and have so many things wrong? Is this really standard operating procedure? Am I unrealistic to think that this coach should have been tested and hd complete quality control prior to delivery? Who should we turn to for help? La Mesa RV has been less than helpful (although their Dublin, CA service department was very good to us). Winnebago has told us they can help us with 7 items at a time on a first-come, first-serve basis because their first appointment is not available until November 5th. We are just leaving Florida and heading North then home. Please tell me if my thought process on this is off.  We did not buy a used coach so shouldn't we expect it to be relatively free from issues this soon? Who should take responsibility? How can we get the help we need in a timely and efficient manner?

Thank you for reading and I appreciate your thoughts. 

p.s. We switched from Fleetwood to Winnebago because we were told they produce an exceptional product.

Still you paid over a quarter million dollars for a motor home and you had to take it back to the factory! What would have happenened if you lived in the midwest or east coast? Would Winnebago expect you to take time off work if needed and drive all the way to Forest City? Something is not right with this picture! Winnebago should of came to you and picked up your Coach for that kind of money!
I get mad  just reading you problems with Winnebago!


Scott 

 

[howdymi]

Still you paid over a quarter million dollars for a motor home and you had to take it back to the factory! What would have happenened if you lived in the midwest or east coast? Would Winnebago expect you to take time off work if needed and drive all the way to Forest City? Something is not right with this picture! Winnebago should of came to you and picked up your Coach for that kind of money!
I get mad  just reading you problems with Winnebago!


Scott 

I?m not one that thinks just because you purchase a quarter million dollar rig you should be treated any different than the guy with a brand new $50,000 rig when it comes to having your rig fixed under warranty.  If Winnebago should come to the high dollar rig they should do the same for the low dollar rig.  Unless Winnebago wants to have a written policy if you purchase over a quarter million dollar rig we will come to you and repair on site.  Then you know that?s part of what your paying for in the high dollar rig and that?s fine, but to say a high dollar rig should be build with less problems than a $50,000 rig why?  I can see the high dollar rig having solid wood cabinets and trim, a better grade of floor tile or carpet etc:  But on the other hand I don?t expect to see the paper covered cabinets in the low dollar rig falling off the wall or the paper pealing off the doors any more than I expect the solid wood cabinets to fall off the wall.  It?s no different than most of the high dollar rigs are quieter on the road with there engines in the rear and I assume more sound deadening material to make it quite Vs the low dollar rig with a up front engine.  That?s part of what you pay to get.  But both should get you from point A to point B with no break downs or falling apart getting there.  Maybe the time has come Winnebago needs to have a 2 or 3 year warranty on the high dollar units and only a year on the low dollar units.  Or maybe it?s time to have every 4th man on the line for the high dollar rig be an inspector, and add that cost to the high dollar rig.  Now both the low dollar owner and high dollar owner know what they are getting for the dollar spent.  Maybe I?m just getting old and cranky. 

 

[MN Cake Eater]

My complaints this past summer have been with how slow a dealer was to fix issues, but the issues are really from back at the factory. 

Quality Control type things like drains not properly attached to sinks, floor tiles not glued down, wiring not connected to outlets, slideout awnings with no tension and on and on.  Plain and simple...carelessness!

These are things a dealer shouldn't have to deal with!  These are items that should come correct from the factory and it shouldn't matter how much you paid for your RV.

Just my humble opinion! 

 

[CarlaVan]

I agree that price point should not indicate service level.  I just thought that by paying more for something that the quality of it would be better.  When you pay more money for clothes you typically get better fabrics, longer lasting products, etc. 

My real issue / point is that Winnebago is ultimately responsible for sending a product to a dealer that has so many things wrong with it.  We live in California.  We are on vacation. This side trip to Iowa is in total setting us back by two weeks.  They told us this past Wednesday that they will take us this Wednesday.  We sat in Nashville waiting.  We are in St. Louis now and are headed North.  Only to head back South to start heading home.  This has been stressful and painfully.  I am depressed and discouraged. 

We'll see how it goes with Winnebago but I am only cautiously optimistic.