Problems with Rv dealership

[Take Us Away Rv]

We bought new RV and sold old one.  Was excited about enjoying the new one this summer.  Took new one out for ten days and each day found things not working or not checked out.  Notified RV dealership.  Said to bring in and service would correct it.  It has been almost 2 months now and when I call service they say waiting on manufacture for some parts.  Okay has anyone had this type of trouble and what were you able to do about it. The summer is almost gone, no camping, have reservations this month and may not be able to keep them.  The manufactures and the RV dealership did not check this unit out properly before our pick up. We ordered it while it was being made, as the unit we wanted had just been sold and they said they had this unit on order.  Any suggestions.  We are so aggravated we would like to cancel the whole purchase and the loan, but do not believe we can do this.  We are asking for some suggestions. Thank you.

 

[John From Detroit]

Contact the manufacturer.

I once ordered parts via a dealer in Las Vegas.. Spent an additional week or two (Forget which) at some expense waiting for the part.

Finally told 'em cancel the order and I'll fix it later (non-essential part)
Path home took me past the factory parts store... Dealer had never ordered parts.

 

[SpencerPJ]

That stinks.
I'd call the manufacturer as well. 
Are the items awaiting parts critical to the function of the trailer?

 

[john owens]

We had similar problems so you are not alone. Our rig needed a new control for the onan genset. I called every other day for progress. They claimed the part was hard to find. I told them (truthfully) that I located the part on Amazon and I could order it and have it delivered to there shop in 2 days. Well guess what happened...they found the part later that day. Don't wait on the clowns in the RV industry. Be pro active...Good Luck with your purchase.

 

[Gods Country]

Seems to be a common problem with new RV's.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Lousy service and delays seem to be the norm these days. About all you can do is be the squeaky wheel and hope they get tired of hearing you and get the rig finished. Call the manufacturer, the service manage, the RV store owner, anybody you can to get the proper attention.

 

[Take Us Away Rv]

Thanks for all the comments.  Trying again tomorrow and then calling all the sources I can.

 

[SargeW]

Same thing happened to us with a previous rig. A major dealer in So. Cal. was horrible after the sale. Has 5 different locations. I finally took the rig (a motor home) across country to the to the manufacturer. This was after the dealer spent 2+ months lying to me about ordering parts.  The manufacturer took care of everything, no questions asked.

 

[darsben]

It is all to common and reinforces the need for everyone to do their own pre-delivery inspection and not accept delivery or pay until all work is done.
Now you are at their mercy unless you call the manufacturer and they authorize repair by a mobile repair person.

Most of us who have been owners of rigs before learn how to do the repairs ourselves or just get a mobile guy to do it.

 

[steveblonde]

I can name a few lousy dealers just like yours here in Alberta its a common issue, one dealership had a unit of mine for 3 months fixed nothing, foutunatly it was winter

 

[Isaac-1]

I hate to say it, but this seems to be the norm in the industry not the exception

 

[JudyJB]

That is very typical behavior.  Is your rig towable or driveable?  If so, go get it and use it if it is usable.  What they are almost certainly doing is leaving your rig parked somewhere in the back while they work on other RVs that they are getting paid for by the customer.  In other words, your warranty work costs them, so they work on stuff they make money on. 

Also, find out exactly what part they are waiting for and do what people above have suggested--start looking for it yourself, at the factory, online, or other local dealers.  If you find it, go pick it up or have it delivered to YOU, not the dealer!!  (I once found an "impossible to find" water pump online at Amazon and deliverable the next day. Dealer immediately was able to find one in their inventory.)

I will not go back to the Ohio dealer I bought my brand-new RV from under any conditions as they completely flunked customer service.  When it was still under warranty, they refused to fix several items because the broken whatever was my fault!!  I called the factory and ended up eventually having to go there to get things properly fixed.  Not only did the factory service place fix things right, they did not try to blame me for breaking things, and they even fixed things I did not know were broken!  Being near the factory warehouse, they also had all the parts!

I full-time and have no other home, so if something breaks and I call a dealer about it, before I make an appointment, I ask if they will have all the parts to fix it.  If not, I will take it in for a diagnosis and then order the parts myself so I know they are really, really in.  Otherwise, they will want to take stuff apart and then have me wait for weeks while they order a part I can order and have Fed-Exed to me in two days. 

 

[garyb1st]

We bought a new trailer in 2008.  Had a few problems.  Had same issue with service dept.  Our solution was to find out who was in charge and then talk directly to that individual.  After you have the initial conversation, then continue to call that individual until the work gets done. 

 

[ZinLuvR-WO]

We cancelled the sale on a new coach, thankfully things fell apart during the first 10 minutes of the walk thru.  Of course the salesman said no problem, we'll fix it.  One was a broken mirror that was on order.  Why was a mirror on order and not readily available at the factory?  Sales guy said it had beveled edges and was a "special" order.  Really?  A fuel pump was leaking oil from bad machining, warranty was fixing it, took 55 days to get a fuel pump from Cummins for an ISL450??  You can't tell me that Cummins doesn't have that fuel pump sitting on a shelf.  One thing I can tell you, your rig will sit while they work on higher paying customers.  It's hard finding someone that knows what they're doing.  I'm finding it's a lot of work, but if you want something done you have to get involved.  The girls that answer the phone at the RV repair shop that I go to now recognize my voice when I call.  I do a lot of research to find parts or solutions to problems.  NEVER, NEVER take a salesman's word for fixing something, he's got his eyes on one thing only, commission. 

 

[Bruce M.]

I buy private sale period. I hear one horror story after another on this forum about new rig dealership bad luck stories. I bought a beautiful private sale Chevelle SS 48 years ago and just purchased a beautiful used private sale Winnebago Vista T30
four months ago. I have a beautiful private sale Lincoln MKS out in the driveway, a beautiful private sale Harley Davidson out in the garage and a beautiful private sale Stingray boat sitting up in the New Hampshire lakes region. All at half the cost of new with all the bugs worked out. I have purchased dozens of private sale clean machines since that SS all those years ago. My only new purchase ever was a 1986 Sunbird Cuddy which was the worst purchase I ever made, it had a bad sterndrive design. I shop private sale over the phone using Craigslist. I don't drive around to peoples homes to look at crap. I zero in on a good one, strike a deal including price over the phone and show up with a couple thousand to firm up the deal. I have recently been buying pre-owned cars from Enterprise just for the convenience of it but I stay pretty far from dealerships. More often than not they are not your friend.

 

[Old_Crow]

I always drive to see the stuff on Craigslist.  The photos and the ads lie.
I put over 2k miles on my Jeep looking for our current coach.  Saw probably 10 coaches off CL, and rejected them for one reason or another.  Actually found the coach we bought sitting in the guys yard with a sign while on our way to look at yet another CL reject.