Costly Diesel Motorhome Repairs Derail 2026 Travel Plans

[Adventurous Traveler]

So, the manifold was warped, I'm told by escaping hot gasses through the leak. Back to $7500 + to replace. But, be warned, the bolts are known to shear off in the head and if they can't get them out, New head will be needed! Can't get me an estimate until they know if they can get the bolts out

So, I called the Service Writer back and told her I would sell the RV to Velocity, or anyone who works there for the amount due at that time $3500 (no manifold or install yet), $4700 for pay off, and $14,000 I already have paid Velocity. No takers

I started calling dealers in the Raleigh area to see who would buy my rig. Got a couple of responses and they need exterior and interior pics. I have dozens of exterior pictures on my phone but nobe showing the inside. So, yesterday we drive out to Velocity to get some pictures. Mechanic comes out, asks how I'm doing, and tells me he was able to remove three broke off studs out of the head by heating them and drilling them out. Whew, no new head. Should be back to manifold and install Monday or Tuesday next week.

Still talking with dealers on buy out, no offer will be refused. We'll rent a U-Haul to clean out the RV and get back to WNY

 

[DonTom]

Earlier this year, there was a thread, I can't find it, that asked about travel plans for 2026.

Was this it?

-Don- Sac Pass, NV

 

[Adventurous Traveler]

Yep, exactly Don.

 

[Derby6]

I’m curious of how many miles on this rig?

 

[Adventurous Traveler]

58,500.

10 minutes ago Velocity Freightliner emailed me. They now want to replace the turbo, which worked fine before taking it to them, for another $7000!

Anyone or repair facility recommends for you to take your diesel motorhome to Velocity Freightliner, run as fast as you can!

 

[OCBlue88]

58,500.

10 minutes ago Velocity Freightliner emailed me. They now want to replace the turbo, which worked fine before taking it to them, for another $7000!

Anyone or repair facility recommends for you to take your diesel motorhome to Velocity Freightliner, run as fast as you can!

That happened to me a month ago. I took my van in for a simple transmission fluid leak at the speedometer cable. They proceeded to remove the Gear Vendors OD unit on my C6 and tell me they want to rebuild my transmission for $7k because it's shifting weird and they found some bits of metal. I asked how they saw the bits of metal when they didn't drop the transmission pan and just removed the Gear Vendors OD unit. They said they peeked in there. Huh? Transmission never shifted weird before either, and it ain't shifting weird now. I just wanted them to fix the leak at the speedo cable. Which they claimed they did...but they didn't. I ended up fixing it myself later. Unbelievable.

 

[UTTransplant]

Well, our rig is finally fixed. We will head out to pick it up some time in the middle of May after the rest of our doctor’s appointments that always happen this time of year. We actually got a nice surprise from Velocity North Las Vegas - our bill was $3,000 less than the initial estimate. New turbo, new manifold, new seals, etc. Of course I am reserving judgement until we pick it up and drive a few hundred miles, but for an 8 year old 105,000 mile rig, I can’t complain too much. This is the first chassis-related issue we have had. I thought about not posting due to the awful luck that Adventurous Traveler has had, but it probably is unfair to paint all Velocity service shops with the same brush. Now we need to re-plan our summer knowing when we can get everything back.

 

[Adventurous Traveler]

Velocity Raleigh, which has a BBB rating of B- and has several lawsuits against it, charged me $9100 + for a new exhaust manifold, and wanted another $7500 plus, before tax, to replace the turbo. I told them the turbo was working fine when I brought my rig in to them, and that wasn't the reason for it being there, so if there are any issues now, they caused it.

So, I took my RV into Velocity Raleigh for a suspected temperature sensor and wound up getting a new wiring harness, a bunch of EGR hardware, and a new exhaust manifold. This is after four other mechanics, err techs, looked at my RV. None of them detected a wiring harness or exhaust leak. Total charges were just short of $24, 000! They wanted to add the turbo repair at the $7500 figure on top of that.

After denying the turbo repair, miraculously, my RV was done by 7 AM the next morning. We left Raleigh on Wednesday, stopped at a Harvest Host outside of Gettysburg, PA, and are back in WNY today, Thursday. It drove fine!

After trying hard to sell the RV in Raleigh, even offering it to Velocity or anyone who works there for $20,000, and shopping local dealers, even stopping at a Camping World, desperate, the only way it leaves my drive will be if it sells private, or we decide to trade it in for a Class C.

 

[UTTransplant]

I am really sorry you had such a bad experience. I just noted I didn’t. We had codes and symptoms, and everything I read online and from FCCC indicated the work we had done was appropriate. It just goes to show that RVers are mostly at the mercy of repair shops when we can’t travel long distances for work.

 

[Derby6]

$20k is tempting. But my bet is my DW would not be on board. Lol

 

[Adventurous Traveler]

I am really sorry you had such a bad experience. I just noted I didn’t. We had codes and symptoms, and everything I read online and from FCCC indicated the work we had done was appropriate. It just goes to show that RVers are mostly at the mercy of repair shops when we can’t travel long distances for work.

UT, you are 100% right. We are at the mercy of the unmerciful while out on the road.

None of the codes Raleigh Velocity repaired came up at the excellent diesel shop that referred me to Velocity, nor the mobile mechanic that first took care of us in Manning, SC.

Last summer, it was the mobile RV guy from Kalispell, Montana, charging us over $3600 for brake springs, or chambers that cost $62 each, and my local diesel shop says the diaphragm goes, and they cost $6 each! When he came to our camp in St. Mary's, MT, I said I would take my RV to the closest town that had two different diesel shops, 40 miles away. He put all kinds of fear into me about traveling hilly/mountain roads with damaged brakes. So, I was at his mercy. When he was done, and had my $3600 +, he told me I had brakes and could've driven to the shops in town. I probably would have paid less than $500 for the repairs!

 

[garyb1st]

Sorry to read about your motor home troubles. As Pam suggests, if you can find a way to continue RVing, you should give it a shot. I'm 83 next month and can't imagine not being able to continue this life style. But then other than pretending I know what I'm doing with all my power tools while at the SB, I really don't have any hobbies to keep me busy.

We're on week 5 of a two+ month round tripper to visit my daughter in the Midwest. Our Pace is 20 years old. It has 80,000 miles on the clock and I've thought about what I'd do if I was faced with a similar situation. I've told myself, if the engine failed or we suffered an equally disastrous event, I'd just leave it, rent a trailer the Jeep could pull, load it with the valuables and head for home. That would work for a few months.

At the end of the day, if I live another 10 years, (my mother made it to 99) and it's not in a bed at an assisted living place, I'd go stir crazy wondering what I'm going to do. My wife's an avid reader. She's fine sitting all day with a book. I'm not.

 

[Adventurous Traveler]

Sorry to read about your motor home troubles.

Thanks, Gary!

While we were still in Raleigh, we took a walk to Falls Lake, which is where we were supposed to be camping for 8 days. Every day, my DW and I felt like crap because of the aggravation, understatement?, that Velocity put us through.

But, during our walk in the woods, it occurred to both of us that we love the outdoors too much, and we aren't ready to give it up. We love to hike, kayak, road bike, and last fall I bought us neat E-bikes, and AM coffee at a campsite while maple bacon is cooking nearby.

So, our motorhome is for sale on Facebook Marketplace, we won't take it out of the driveway, and we are working with a couple of dealers looking into a used Class C. We aren't in a hurry to make any kind of deal. Gosh, I hate shopping for an RV.

Interesting side note, a fellow down in Alabama has the same coach I have, only a different color. We have communicated by PM on the Forest River forum over the years about our rigs. He told me that his local Freightliner dealer, who does his oil changes, said he needed an exhaust temp sensor and a new exhaust manifold. He told them no thanks. He has put over 3000 miles on his RV with the check engine light on, with no effect on its performance.

 

[garyb1st]

Just read this thread again. This should be required reading for all new RVers.

Shortly after I joined the RV Forum, I read about a couple who lost the engine of their newly purchased diesel motorhome. They were recently retired and new to RVing. Their motorhome was only a few years old when they bought. IIRC, the cost of a new engine at the time, maybe 15 years ago, was about $25,000. It's the one thread I remember every time I consider buying a used diesel.

I recently started using a Truck Repair Shop for service. Their primary business is with large over the road trucks. They have limited experience with RVs so not familiar with some systems. What I find shocking about this thread, other than all the huge repair bills, is Pams post re: the hourly labor charge by the facility in Las Vegas. $260 an hour. That's very high compared to Los Angeles where most RV repair facilities are around $200 an hour. My shop recently increased their rate from $175 to $200.

Seems to me, something is rotten in Denmark.

 

[UTTransplant]

I realized I should post a follow up on our completed repair at Velocity North Las Vegas. The engine works seems to have been done fine. New VGT and new manifold, all that matched what we had read was appropriate for the codes we had and the symptoms. But they were not careful with the non-engine systems. They managed to pull a wire from the connection block that controlled the cruise control and therefore the high idle. Since I couldn’t prove they did it, I had to pay the fee for them to isolate the problem and fix it. Sigh. Then on our second night out, now 250 miles away from NLV, we discovered they had unbundled the wires connecting our Vroom slide. The wires were so loose they fell out of the rig somewhere along the road, and they were broken as they dragged on the highway. Kevin tried just mending them, but something about the continuity is an issue. The Vroom installer said we need new cables, and he could mail them. Kevin says the space is just too tight, so we will just live without the one slide until we get this done during our previously planned Red Ba, AL trip in October. Sigh. Oh, and I was slightly off on the price for labor. It is ONLY $250 for RVs instead of the $260 I thought I remembered.

 

[garyb1st]

Back in the day, we bought a new 2005 Ford F250 diesel. It had the relatively new problematic 6.0 engine. IIRC, an excellent International engine Ford tweaked to increase the HP and Torque. It was an ongoing nightmare for Ford from its introduction in mid 2002 to 2006.

Part of the problems was the mechanics who worked on the new engine. They did not have adequate training to service them properly. So many times, the repairs simply did not work.

Our problem that left us stranded near Scotty's Castle in Death Valley. An O-ring in the high pressure fuel pump. When the engine was hot, the O-ring would fail. As a result the high pressure fuel pump could not build enough pressure to start the engine. As soon as the engine cooled down, it would start just fine. That's what happened the day after we had it worked on by Friendly Ford of N Las Vegas. It started right up the morning after we were towed into the dealership. They said everything was fine. We left.

An hour after leaving, we stopped at the Bass Pro Shop in Las Vegas. We were in the shop for maybe a half hour. When we got into the F250 we had the same problem. The F250 would not start. Back to Friendly Ford. After 3 days it was fixed. Took 11 hours to fix it. The issue was simple. The O-ring couldn't stand the heat. The expensive fix was the amount of work getting to that penny part.

That's a long way to getting around to my point. It seems logical to me that repair facilities have mechanics who aren't adequately trained on the newer engines. Ford followed the problematic 6.0 with the problematic 6.4. They finally got it right with the 6.7. But the pissing contest that plagues the industry continues to exist. More horsepower and torque than our competitor.

Dealers are between a rock and a hard place. Untrained mechanics who unknowingly cause more problems as they fix the ones they're working on. And those costly fixes come out of the dealers pocket. The only solution is to increase the hourly labor charge to include an amount for dealer caused failures.