Coachmen Encounter 37TZ w/ 5,324 miles

[Sultan1966]

For those who are looking to obtain any Motorhome with the Ford F53 chassis and a V10 I will caution you!!! You have been forewarned!!

Our 2015 Coachmen Encounter 37TZ with a Ford F53/V10 engine and only 5,324 miles, yes I said 5,324 miles on it...has been down for the past 10 days and at its 3rd Ford dealer in 2 states since it's block gained a fist size hole while going through a school zone in Virginia.

Yes, I email'd and left voicemails with Nate Hedges who blew me off and sent me to Jordan Ford who helped more than Nate.

We live in this motorhome as we closed on the sale of our home to full time in this rig and have been rendered essentially homeless due to 2 incompetent Ford dealers in Charlottesville and Richmond, VA.

Now we have found out from the 3rd Ford Dealer in Greensboro, NC that our home was towed from Richmond, VA to them with the driveshaft intact and not pulled which means transmission is possibly shot. I guess we will live with our 2 dogs in our 2006 Jeep Wrangler as its more reliable, even if it is a toad.

After these dealings with Ford and Coachmen/Forest River we have lost all faith with any product with a F53 chassis and V10 engine and Coachmen.

We need our motorhome in Knoxville, TN by Oct 28th as we have purchased a rig with a more trustful Cummings 425hp rig and we were laughed at when we were at the repair facility in Greensboro, NC.

Personally my wife and I don't think this is at all funny that the Ford service guy laughed at us in Greensboro when we gave him until Oct 28th since we need to turn in Coachmen/Forest Rivers motorhome with Fords POS engine for trade in on a far superior product.

Also since it was towed with driveshaft connected from Richmond, VA Ford dealer to Greensboro, NC via Fords Towing choice.. :hint: I will deal with that personally at some point... of course Ford will replace tranny as well as the engine and include full warranty for both.

Coachmen/Forest River has lost a loyal customer as we also used to own a Forest River Cedar Cedar Creek 5th wheel.

Yes, Coachmen/Forest River is as much to blame for "throwing us under the bus" against Ford with little if no assistance.

[Iggy]

Sorry to hear about your engine and the Ford dealers you found.
Has anyone figured out what happened and why?
Sounds like a new engine should be coming.
Forest River builds the box on the frame and Ford takes care of the rest so why get on Forest River?
That F53 chassis with the V-10 has been on the road for a long time and has a great track record.
You just got a bad engine as well as a incompetent tow truck driver.

I have the same engine with over 50,000 miles so I don't think you can expect every engine to fail.

I hear you and understand your out and have to figure out housing during this time. Hopefully Ford will try and speed up the repairs so you get back on the road.

Good luck.

[Sultan1966]

Originally Posted by Iggy

Sorry to hear about your engine and the Ford dealers you found.
Has anyone figured out what happened and why?
Sounds like a new engine should be coming.
Forest River builds the box on the frame and Ford takes care of the rest so why get on Forest River?
That F53 chassis with the V-10 has been on the road for a long time and has a great track record.
You just got a bad engine as well as a incompetent tow truck driver.

I have the same engine with over 50,000 miles so I don't think you can expect every engine to fail.

I hear you and understand your out and have to figure out housing during this time. Hopefully Ford will try and speed up the repairs so you get back on the road.

Good luck.

I realize what you are saying but the last time I checked a business brandname is important and if Coachmen/Forest River use subpar engines or a single engine and then "throw you under the bus" to Ford they tell me they could care less.

Yes, they are as equally as responsible as Ford and need to apply pressure or "step up to the plate" and make things right to keep brand loyalty.

I owned a 2005 Forest River Cedar Creek 37RDQS prior to this and it is not the same company...

[Sultan1966]

Still without rig/home and going on a month. Next time I will have a panic attack and run it into oncoming traffic so maybe Fords warranty "diagnostic and processing" time might be a little faster. I must mention that I do trust Ford.. with my life.. after all their new engine with 5,000 miles totally failed.
Hey..who am I to criticize?

[lbrjet]

The V10 is one of finest engines ever built. You never did mention why it failed. You are certainly unlucky as I have never heard of a V10 failure, ever, in years and years of reading RV forums.


2010 F250 5.4L 3.73
2011 Flagstaff 831FKBSS
Equal-i-zer 4pt 12K

[1nshort]

I too have had a Ford F53 V10 chasis across two motorhomes and 60k. Plus miles. Never had a single problem up and down mountains, across very hot deserts and in extremely cold climates. Not a single engine problem. This is the first engine problem I have heard about. One failure in hundreds of thousands of engines? Not a bad record. Yes, odds favor there will be a bad one. Rather than go to a general Ford dealership...go to a Ford large truck dealership. The Ford hotline should be able to help when you call and INFORM them you want a large truck repair facility. I too tried the standard Ford dealer bit and was not impressed. Did the aforementioned they handled it. It could have been worse, you could have bought a MH with the GM equivalent and been abandoned when they decided to get out of the market.

[ResQfrog]

Hate to say it but I have had a Cummins engine fail with less than 1000 miles on it, and Allison transmissions fail on delivery from the chassis builder. Even had a Detroit Diesel fail with 100 miles on it. On both of those Detroit and Cummins fixed them not Spartan or Duplex Chassis.


Also if you look at the warranty Ford is responsible for the chassis and drive train. Coachmen the box.