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07-31-2016, 06:35 PM
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#1
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Outside StL
Posts: 208
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Factory or dealer for major body damage?
After 20 years towing and many many miles between camping and racing, I finally had an on road incident.
Short story- I'm in the right lane. Girl next to me in the left lane swerves to miss a car and clobbers the front corner and half the side of my 7 month old trailer. Everyone is fine. I could continue on to my week in the Smokies. The girl's car had to leave on a rollback.
Everything works. The slides go out. Even the midbunk slide that took a pretty good hit. The landing legs have a new squeak, but the front corner, side cargo door area and the front basement wall are a mess.
Based on my PDI with the "service manager", I don't have much confidence in the dealer I bought from fixing it. They are 2 hours away and the only Chaparral dealer within 400 miles. The factory is about the same distance.
Anyone know if the factory does non-warranty repairs?
j
__________________
2016 Coachmen Chaparral 390QSMB
2011 F350- CC, DRW, LB, PSD
2016 nights camped: 40
2017 nights camped: 16
2017 nights reserved: 30
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07-31-2016, 07:00 PM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: West Atlanta Metro
Posts: 1,235
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If the factory will do the work that is where I would take it. For this kind of repairs there is always something they missed ordering or had to be special made, at the factory it is just a matter of walking across the plant to get the right parts rather than wait for UPS to deliver what is needed. Glad to hear no one was hurt. 20 years is very good for no accidents. I was a road warrior in my working life and drove over 4.5 million miles with no accidents, had a few close calls but always alert for anything that could happen.
__________________
2014 Palomino Puma 25RS
2011 F-150 Super Crew XLT
Days camped in 2014 - 23 Camped 2015-47
Camped 2016-71, 2017-33, 2018-29 booked
KT4W
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07-31-2016, 07:12 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Southern, IL
Posts: 3,272
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Wow, Glad to hear that everyone is OK. That driver sure left some ugly on both vehicles. Since it is going to the insurance path, Have someone that is sharp check your frame and everything attached to it. That baby is to big and too new to find out that it is dog tracking.
In my my mind, I would not look for the quick fix. Look deep and hard brother.
__________________
Bob & Michelle
2016 Ford F-250 Lariat 4x4
2017 Flagstaff Super Lite 526RLWS
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08-01-2016, 05:15 AM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Ohio
Posts: 204
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Wow that's awful. Sorry to hear glad everyone okay.. I could recommend Holman rv from what I've been told they have in awesome body shop for RVs they are a chaparral dealer
__________________
2011 RAM 3500 CCLB 6.7L Cummins
2016 Jayco 412W Seismic Wave
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08-01-2016, 05:44 AM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 904
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Why not go to Forest Rivers website, get contact info and ask them directly?
__________________
former 2017 Forest River Sunseeker 2250SLE owner - replaced by a Pleasure-Way Tofino and then an Ontour 2.0
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08-01-2016, 05:47 AM
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#6
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Iowa
Posts: 1,413
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Not even a question----GO TO THE FACTORY!!!!!!
__________________
Days camping (2016)----181 days
Days camping (2017) --- 82 days
2016 Wildcat MAXX 28RKX (33' TT), 2007 13' Scamp
2015 Ram Laramie Hemi, w/air suspension
30 years RV'ing
11 different RV's
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08-01-2016, 06:06 AM
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#7
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Clarksville Va.
Posts: 10,422
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That would have to done at the factory, they do non warranty work, they just replaced my whole roof. Call the factory warranty dept for your unit, you should find the # needed in the library. I'll attach the phone #'s for you.
__________________
Coachmen M/H
Concord
2018 / 300 DSC
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08-01-2016, 07:29 AM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Outside StL
Posts: 208
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ilmor
Why not go to Forest Rivers website, get contact info and ask them directly?
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Thanks.
I didn't know if the factory did crash repair. Sounds like they do.
I plan on calling the factory this morning. The wreck just happened Saturday and I was trying to determine my options over the weekend.
I have the numbers for the factory. I have to wait to get the crash report from the police department to find out what the other person's insurance is. Cops on the scene wouldn't give me any of her info. Said I would get it "in a few days" when they had a report ready.
j
__________________
2016 Coachmen Chaparral 390QSMB
2011 F350- CC, DRW, LB, PSD
2016 nights camped: 40
2017 nights camped: 16
2017 nights reserved: 30
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08-01-2016, 07:34 AM
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#9
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Outside StL
Posts: 208
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Witch Doctor
I'll attach the phone #'s for you.
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Thanks for the link, Witch Dr.
Saved me having to try finding it.
j
__________________
2016 Coachmen Chaparral 390QSMB
2011 F350- CC, DRW, LB, PSD
2016 nights camped: 40
2017 nights camped: 16
2017 nights reserved: 30
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08-01-2016, 01:28 PM
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#10
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Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Collierville, TN
Posts: 586
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I would definitely go to factory if that is an option.
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Rudy - 10 year old long haired dachshund, RIP
2011 Georgetown 350TS
2013 Chevrolet Equinox toad
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08-01-2016, 01:57 PM
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#11
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 150
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Sorry about the accident. Glad all are ok. Another resource you might consider is your insurance company. Most major insurers have experience with independent repair shops. They can tell you which ones they send their repairs to. Some of these shops are very good and certainly will provide better service than most of the dealers.
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08-01-2016, 02:56 PM
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#12
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 166
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I am surprised the police wouldn't give you her driver info (name and insurer). I thought that was standard procedure. Anyone know?
__________________
2014 Signature Ultralite 8280ws
2013 Chevy 2500 Duramax
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08-01-2016, 02:59 PM
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#13
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Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 218
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wobbles
Wow, Glad to hear that everyone is OK. That driver sure left some ugly on both vehicles. Since it is going to the insurance path, Have someone that is sharp check your frame and everything attached to it. That baby is to big and too new to find out that it is dog tracking.
In my my mind, I would not look for the quick fix. Look deep and hard brother.
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Something like this happened to my TT last year. Except it was parked on the parking pad behind my house. Driver lost control and hit the front right corner. The adjuster said it could be fixed, my dealer took one look and saw that the frame was bent. It would not track straight. It ended up being totaled. Call the factory, damage might be more that what you can see.
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08-01-2016, 05:19 PM
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#14
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Outside StL
Posts: 208
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rollingdunder1
Another resource you might consider is your insurance company. Most major insurers have experience with independent repair shops.
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I called my insurance today. They didn't have any suggestions other than say the damage had to be more than 70% of the MSRP before it would/ be totaled. I doubt it gets into the $40k range.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bplantcjf
I am surprised the police wouldn't give you her driver info (name and insurer). I thought that was standard procedure. Anyone know?
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I thought it was also standard. My insurance agent said he wasn't surprised. Something about privacy laws now. I did comment that the girl bouncing off the trailer wasn't very private.
I called and talked to Joe at Coachmen. He referred me to Bob Jewell who runs the repair section. I sent Bob some pics after I talked to him. He seemed to think it was repairable. I have to drive the 45 minutes back to the Alcoa PD tomorrow to pick up the crash report. Then I start the calls to the girls insurance and see how that goes.
j
__________________
2016 Coachmen Chaparral 390QSMB
2011 F350- CC, DRW, LB, PSD
2016 nights camped: 40
2017 nights camped: 16
2017 nights reserved: 30
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08-05-2016, 12:56 PM
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#15
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Michigan
Posts: 146
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Bob's the man. Very nice guy, will due you right. Dealt with him once before, with great results. Been there over 30 years, but hurry supposed to be retiring at the end of the year.
__________________
2011 Coachmen North Ridge 290RKD 5'er
2005 Dodge quad cab dually diesel 6'spd manual
1 weird cat with an occasional attitude problem.
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08-05-2016, 04:11 PM
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#16
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Clarksville Va.
Posts: 10,422
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I would go with the factory the down time will be minimal compared to the stealer. Stealers always forgets to get something ordered and then the finger pointing and, then 1 week turns into 6 weeks. When something get done at the factory, it been my experience, that you get it back better then new, and ON TIME...
__________________
Coachmen M/H
Concord
2018 / 300 DSC
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08-05-2016, 09:33 PM
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#17
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Outside StL
Posts: 208
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Here's the latest update.
The other persons insurance is being good so far. Since it isn't a standard car/truck, they have an estimator group collecting details (pictures I've sent them at this point) to come up with an estimate. I told the person handling the claim that I was going to have the factory do the repair. She said, no problem. We are negotiating how it is going to get there and back (350 miles each way). The factory is also working up an estimate based on the same pics.
I also talked to Bob on the phone again yesterday. He thinks it should take about 2 weeks to do, but some of that is dependent on his fiberglass person's availability. He is planning on cutting out the creased filon at the very front edge and glassing in a new piece. The other alternative would be replacing the whole side. I'd rather not have to do that. Bob said they've replaced many sides, but he's confident I'll never be able to tell this one has been repaired.
Since it is still camping season and the trailer is usable, Bob has me on the schedule for the first week of October. He said it should be done before they start salting the roads.
j
__________________
2016 Coachmen Chaparral 390QSMB
2011 F350- CC, DRW, LB, PSD
2016 nights camped: 40
2017 nights camped: 16
2017 nights reserved: 30
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08-05-2016, 09:53 PM
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#18
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 948
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Have friends that went to Alaska, along the way a post jumped out in front of them and creased the whole side of a brand new Cedar Creek. They took it to the factory and they did an excellent job. So watch out for jumping posts north of the border.
__________________
Lowbubba
What could go wrong?
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09-17-2016, 10:51 PM
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#19
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Member
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Everywhere, USA
Posts: 84
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Just saw this! Seeing your pics makes me cringe. I'm glad no one was hurt, and that you seem to have been taken care of.
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09-18-2016, 06:07 AM
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#20
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Charlotte, MI
Posts: 226
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kenz
Bob's the man. Very nice guy, will due you right. Dealt with him once before, with great results. Been there over 30 years, but hurry supposed to be retiring at the end of the year.
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Bob retiring is very sad news.
__________________
2011 Brookstone 354TS
2013 F350 SC 6.7 DRW
Swivelwheel 58DW
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