Does Prime Time even have Quality Control?

Austinjenna · 09-06-2012, 11:46 AM

Crusader 298 owner here and I have never seen so many problems with a new unit.

1) During PDI while testing out the heater there is no heat coming from register, the dealer checks and the vent is crushed shut.

2). One of the lights does not work after getting home.

3). The light above the dinette has 1 bulb out, no problem..I take it out and see its an 1156 bulb so i put a new one in and nothing..try, wiggle, mess around some more and finally look at the socket. Its an 1157 socket with the wrong bulb in it. The other one was the same way as was the other units at the dealership. (BTW the other dealer units also only had 1 bulb working)

4). Main slide does not come out, maybe 1-2 feet then stops

5). Front landing leg breaks

6). Toilet leaks and needs to be replaced

7). No cable tv. The cable was not even hooked to the panel and was about 6 inches to short to even connect to the panel.

8). Every single sink leaked

9). Main slide does not come out again, same problem as before about 1-2 ft and thats it.

10). Black tank falls out..literally

11). Dump valve breaks

12). Shower will not drain into the tank first time using it

13). That metal peice that hold the spare tire on is bent like a V. Okay i thought it must have been loose and the bouncing around did it, no problem. Straighten it out and put it back on and make sure its tight..same thing happens

Also some other general complaints:
Why is it that I cant have my awning all the way out. If I open it all the way the top of the door will rub on the awning.

Why does the main slide move so ungodly slow? I know they have the new in wall motors but this thing barely moves and seems like it is struggling all the time. Dealer says thats the way it is.

This is not my first fiver and I understand all the stupid things like the tank sensors never working correctly and other piddly stuff, but this is ridiculous. Every time we go camping we come home unload and I need to drive it to the dealer for something that broke. I am sure I also left off a bunch of other things that were wrong too.

The way it is right now I would never recomend a prime time unit to anyone, and when they ask me about it I do tell them.

Dave_Monica · 09-06-2012, 12:04 PM

Soory to hear about your problems. Suggest that you send a PM to RV Guy (he works for PTM)...perhaps this camper should go back to the factory and get repaired properly.

Dave

6.4 tow rig · 09-06-2012, 06:28 PM

Well its unfortunate to see or hear about of fellow campers having issues, but you are the exception to the rule. I think I have seen one other member here who had a lot of issues with his Primetime. But other than that there are ton of very satisfied customers. Get with the dealer and see what they can do for you.

padave65 · 09-06-2012, 07:42 PM

I would definately email RVGuy with your VIN. He will beable to determine who dropped the ball. Sounds like heads should roll. I personally would rather have slow and steady with my slide out....less chance of damage during the slide.
Your awning should go out until the flap is plumb to the ground no further...My awning is the same way as is most power awnings.

Finally, friendly advice, I realize you are frustrated by all of these issues. You paid big bucks for a new trailer and you expect it to be in great shape. I recommend working with PT customer service. They have came through on numerous occasions. If you own a business and a customer blasts your company, are you more or less likely to go the extra mile to help them? Treat them the way you would like to be treated. If you were the manager and a worker drop the ball, would you like to address it? I feel confident that the person that dropped the ball will hear about your trailer.....In the meantime, I would be surprised if they do not fix every problem...becareful with the dump valves, they work their way loose in transit. If you push and pull after they have scewed out, they will break. I always screw them in before using the handles.

Crusader · 09-06-2012, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave_Monica

Soory to hear about your problems. Suggest that you send a PM to RV Guy (he works for PTM)...perhaps this camper should go back to the factory and get repaired properly.

Dave

I agree, I would send it back to the factory. Thats what I did with my 270ret. They went above and beyond the repairs for me! I will tell you now, the dealer won't get it right.

chiro · 09-06-2012, 08:35 PM

Austinjenna is not an exception to the rule. There is little to no quality control in the rv industry. I purchased a new forest river product in feb of this year. It was a $50k 5th wheel. The floor was torn,vents not working on furnace stuff falling off the unit and a whole list of other things. After fr trying to fix it and still having the same problems after a month in the shop, fr replaced it with a new one. I had to pay some extra to get the deal done but it was worth it. When I went to pick my 2nd new 5 er up from the dealer we ran the slides in and the main slide was dragging on the lineloum floor and there was a huge gouge in the stove and a few other things. This was after fr and the factory knew there were problems and they did an extra good job on this one.
I am happy that fr made a good faith effort to make the situation whole. I am also happy with the quality of the 2nd 5th wheel. It is much better than the first one I purchased.

grhodes50 · 09-06-2012, 11:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by padave65

I would definately email RVGuy with your VIN. He will beable to determine who dropped the ball. Sounds like heads should roll. I personally would rather have slow and steady with my slide out....less chance of damage during the slide.
Your awning should go out until the flap is plumb to the ground no further...My awning is the same way as is most power awnings.

Finally, friendly advice, I realize you are frustrated by all of these issues. You paid big bucks for a new trailer and you expect it to be in great shape. I recommend working with PT customer service. They have came through on numerous occasions. If you own a business and a customer blasts your company, are you more or less likely to go the extra mile to help them? Treat them the way you would like to be treated. If you were the manager and a worker drop the ball, would you like to address it? I feel confident that the person that dropped the ball will hear about your trailer.....In the meantime, I would be surprised if they do not fix every problem...becareful with the dump valves, they work their way loose in transit. If you push and pull after they have scewed out, they will break. I always screw them in before using the handles.

X2

Here's a link to the contact page on their web site; Prime Time Manufacturing, Manufacturers of travel trailers and fifth wheels

Good luck to you and I hope they get things made right soon.

Family Guy · 09-07-2012, 01:59 PM

I have the same problem with my awning on my 298. I think they should of raised it up 6 inches when the mount them to the trailer. Mine rubs and I hate it.
That’s interesting that you mentioned the bulbs, because I found the same thing on mine, I just replaced them and life is good. When it comes to the small stuff, I would rather take care of it myself than let other mess with it. It has been my experience that nobody is going to fix it better. However, you certainly have quite the list of hard core repairs that need to be taken care of. If that was mine, I would send it back to the factory and get a new 298.
I wonder if the lemon law would apply on this?
We shell out dam good money for these trailers, and expect some level of quality. I use my trailer for about 6 trips a summer, and don’t even want to think of what it cost per year to own, never mind having hard core problems when I do use it.
I wish you all the luck with your trailer.

ironj · 09-07-2012, 02:34 PM

i always cringe when someone comes on here with SERIOUS issues on thier new trailer, because we ALL know its gonna happen...someone, somewhere drops the ball SERIOUSLY.....is it prime to blame? forest river? the dealer who did the make ready? the owner who did the pdi??

in the end it doesnt matter, who is to blame..it just needs to be fixed, and those responsible for missing the items made aware of thier fault....from forest river on down to the owners pdi.......

i hope you are taken care of and everything is made right...obviously i cant speak for everyone, but in my case forest river, prime, and even my dealer (southern rv in tyler) has bent over backwards to address every issue i have had however small...I agree that these "lemon" trailers are not the norm...out of ALL the prime owners on this site, i know of 2 that had SERIOUS issues (many that should have been caught on pdi, but thats for another thread)..I also agree that the quality control from prime could be a notch or two better........what can you do?

Good luck, please keep us all informed on how everything works out!

southernsky · 09-07-2012, 03:53 PM

Hmmmmm.....QC problems...now go figure....
In time you will get your new trailer right. Hang in there...

Wildwood Danny · 09-08-2012, 07:30 AM

The awning manual states to retract the awning to add tension, this also will change the pitch allowing it to clear the door, maybe not how you want it to work, but it works on our LaCrosse.

Found another little problem with the LaCrosse a couple of days ago here in Sault Ste. Marie Michigan, will take it up with PT when we get back home, they have taken very good care of all the previous issues, sure this one will have a great outcome also.

I think there will be issues with most the brands, some major and some minor.

Still like my LaCrosse, still have more trips planned for the year.

Keep on RVing.

Family Guy · 09-08-2012, 08:01 AM

Even retracking the awning back a bit, it still rubs the door. I have a mark starting to show under the awning, and it bums me out.
I love our Crusader don't get me wrong, but instead of asking us about redesigning the outside kitchen, or coming out with fancy colored trailers. How about improving what the customer bring up as problems. I have memtioned before in a post about how the awning hits on a 298 Crusader, but no reply. To me these are the problems in from people who use the product that should be looked at. I have seen other Crusader trailer with awnings up much higher, and dont understand why they have it so low on the 298 ? There is room for it to moved up. Sorry for the complaining,but i wash and wax my rig regularly, and having a mark from thedoor on the awning bugs the hell out of me. I should not have to re-track a bit so it wont hit, but it still does. It just designed wrong and need to be fixed by the designers.

mister_d · 09-09-2012, 04:10 PM

That's too bad! Hopefully PT will get on this and make things right. I've experienced nothing but greatness from the company. Hopefully this won't be a new trend. I really think Quality Control and Customer Service are two of the biggest things separating them form the rest.

**Terier** · 09-09-2012, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Family Guy

Even retracking the awning back a bit, it still rubs the door. I have a mark starting to show under the awning, and it bums me out.
I love our Crusader don't get me wrong, but instead of asking us about redesigning the outside kitchen, or coming out with fancy colored trailers. How about improving what the customer bring up as problems. I have memtioned before in a post about how the awning hits on a 298 Crusader, but no reply. To me these are the problems in from people who use the product that should be looked at. I have seen other Crusader trailer with awnings up much higher, and dont understand why they have it so low on the 298 ? There is room for it to moved up. Sorry for the complaining,but i wash and wax my rig regularly, and having a mark from thedoor on the awning bugs the hell out of me. I should not have to re-track a bit so it wont hit, but it still does. It just designed wrong and need to be fixed by the designers.

I can understand how disappointing it must be not to get a reply to your awning problem. No matter how hard we try to keep up with posts there will be some that get lost in the line up as new posts come in. Sometimes it can help to follow up on an unanswered thread/post to bring it to the front of the line again.

I wish I had an answer for you but sounds like contacting RV Guy in a PM might be worth trying.

Austinjenna · 09-09-2012, 06:37 PM

Well we just came back from a camping weekend..and nothing broke LOL. This is the second camput in a row where I could bring it home and not unload and go to the dealers for them to fix something LOL. Hopefully everything is fixed. I still dont think the tv cable is fixed properly as we were only able to pull in 3 channels, my neighbor said he had about 25 and the other neighbor said about the same thing.

Hopefully things may be looking up.

Family Guy · 09-10-2012, 09:29 PM

Listen, I have the 5th wheel that I love and that accommodates my camping style with my family. I have owned a few different 5th wheels, and will be purchasing a new one in a few years. I would purchase another 298 Crusader again for my next trailer without a doubt, but would like to see some what I call flaws in the design of the trailer changed before I purchase my next one. I would also like to give Prime Time some feedback from someone who uses the product. Now, if they choose to change anything, or respond to my post, that’s up to them. However, if I’m saying “ why did they do that” or “ why is this this way” other are probably saying the same thing. Case in point with the awning hitting the door, and bums other owners out. And to be honest, if I look at a 2015 Crusader 298 and noticed some of the same things that drive my nuts about my 2011, and didn’t give feedback, I would have myself in part to blame.

J_KHawthorne · 09-16-2012, 07:43 PM

Hope you can get these (and any other) issues resolved in a timely manner to your complete satisfaction.
If your dealer can't get things right, then go to Prime Time direct.
They have an excellent reputation for taking care of their customers when they get wind of a problem!
Good luck, and I hope you post follow-ups here on your progress!

paulahov · 11-28-2012, 10:43 PM

Hi All! This is my first post and I found this forum by searching for Crusader awning problems. We have the 2012 298BH and our's rubs horribly. We have went back to our dealer who contacted PT and was told there was nothing they could do. Our sales rep has gotten further involved and we are now in contact with a PT rep who keeps saying that is the way these awnings are mounted. He is asking for pictures of our problems so hopefully we can get it resolved. We have looked at several BH 5th wheels and none have the awning bar mounted so low. Even PT's sales brochure has a higher mount, go figure!

You can see in the picture how it rubs. We even took a video where you can really see the bump move back and forth. We can retract to make it stop but then we cannot hang lights as the opening moves to far inward. I sure hope we can get this resolved.

Also, since this one is new to us, does anyone's a/c fan run constantly once the furnace is put on? Our's did that thsi weekend even when the furnace would kick off, the fan went non stop.

Thanks for any advice or tips that you all can share.

Dave_Monica · 11-28-2012, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulahov

Also, since this one is new to us, does anyone's a/c fan run constantly once the furnace is put on? Our's did that thsi weekend even when the furnace would kick off, the fan went non stop.

Welcome to the forum!

You have to switch the fan control on the thermostat from Hi/Lo to Auto then the A/C fan will only come on when it's running. The furnace fan is independent of the thermostat.

Dave

paulahov · 11-28-2012, 11:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave_Monica

Welcome to the forum!

You have to switch the fan control on the thermostat from Hi/Lo to Auto then the A/C fan will only come on when it's running. The furnace fan is independent of the thermostat.

Dave

I was able to do that on previous campers but this one has an odd thermostat. You press once for hi/lo fan, twice for a/c and then a third time for furnace. It has a light that shows up to let you know what setting you are using. Then another button is used for the temperature setting. Maybe we are doing something wrong and I'll double check with the dealer. But this weekend when I pressed the button for furnace the fan never shut off. I didn't mind it while the heater was running but when it kicks off and the fan still runs it get a bit cold.

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