Warranty work...how long is to long?

Salt Shaker · 10-07-2014, 10:47 AM

Ok Folks,

We bought our Wildcat 313RE the first part of July. It went back in for warranty work after 2 weeks. I used it again in August and it is still in the shop. The dealer picked it up and delivered it each time. I have another trip planned in November. The dealer will deliver and pick it up again if needed.

With the fall weather I am missing those coastal runs when the weather is perfect.

How long is to long to be at the dealer for repair? The first time was understandable. The second I was a little hot and listed every item I wanted addressed. It came out to 40 pages with pics. Items from a shower door strip to crooked and warped wheel well fenders, warped slide floors and a deadbolt that doesn't latch properly among numerous other items.

How long would you wait?

Salt

Campin Cajun · 10-07-2014, 11:53 AM

My dealer had mine for 23 days. They said it was because of getting the materials/parts from FR. I didn't believe them.

I thought 23 days was way over the amount of time for the problems they were working on.

PhoneDude 8289 · 10-07-2014, 01:27 PM

Tried taking mine to a dealer about six months after I took delivery, was told it would be several weeks before they could look at it, slide wouldn't work. Looked at it myself, took pictures and ordered the part needed from Forest River. Five days later UPS delivered the part and in a couple hours I had the slide working. Wanted to take it in because of the dent on the front cap, service department didn't want to bother with it / me, didn't buy from them, fixed it myself. So far I have taken care of any issues that have come up, short of a bent frame I think I can handle most anything else.

Kevin & Judy · 10-07-2014, 02:00 PM

Had mine in 2 different dealers one in Florida and one in Michigan ,for a total of 66 days.
Finally it went to the factory for the proper repairs. 1 day.

jonrjen · 10-08-2014, 07:45 AM

The secret to warranty work it to not use it unless it is absolutely required. Many items that could be taken care of yourself and done so would save an great amount of time that it sets in the shop. Yes there are items that you can't handle yourself and do need the warranty to handle these situations.

My first warranty trip to a local dealer took 4 weeks, but this was over the Christmas Holiday which is the same time period that Forest River shuts down for a few weeks so no parts could be ordered or repair authorization given for warranty work.

The second trip for warranty work the trailer was gone for 6 weeks. We delivered it to Elkhart, IN at the Wildcat factory repair facility. We knew it wouldn't be touched for a few weeks due to the FROG Rally and all the techs being sent to do repairs for owners at the rally. Wildcat had the RV transported back to our house and parked in the driveway here just south of Dallas.

The list was completed without fail. This included replacing the vinyl flooring, repair of a sidewall crack, replacing the entire exterior side wall, painting the front faded cap, removed the instant hot water heater and replacing it with a standard gas/electric model, the entire under belly material replaced, all pretty major things in my book. I am still making a few adjustments here and there, but these are all little things that I can do without needing a warranty tech to do it.

Why do I take care of the little things myself, well it keeps my Wildcat where I can use it when I wish, rather than sitting on a dealers lot on their time frame at my mercy.

Kevin & Judy · 10-08-2014, 10:07 AM

The repairs were all major items, i fix most things but not going to pull 7 windows to reseal them, Paint work and replacing the entry door 2 times,

Burgeogull · 10-08-2014, 11:44 AM

I waited 2 and half weeks for dealer to fix my furnace.

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TURBS · 10-08-2014, 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Burgeogull

I waited 2 and half weeks for dealer to fix my furnace.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What was wrong with it?

Turbs

Burgeogull · 10-08-2014, 01:55 PM

They changed the circuit board. Took about an hour. Extended warranty allows them to come to me for warranty work. They took over 2 weeks. I'm about a hour and half drive from them.

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deartruc · 10-08-2014, 02:11 PM

[QUOTE=jonrjen;715916]The secret to warranty work it to not use it unless it is absolutely required. Many items that could be taken care of yourself and done so would save an great amount of time that it sets in the shop. Yes there are items that you can't handle yourself and do need the warranty to handle these situations.

My 2 cents from the under sized camper crew. x2. Unscrewed the door strut and moved it to keep the door from swinging into the awning arm. Rewired the stereo since it had 3 speakers tied to the left channel and only one to the right. Have a list of items found in the pdi (I know, should have left it and not took it home or paid for it without corrections first...the issue was 7 hours later and the truck and camper hooked up when we learned the keys didn't work either) to go back next Tuesday. Which is after the end of our camping season here.

Salt Shaker · 10-12-2014, 01:02 PM

Folks,

I am all about fixing things on my own, however I don't like warped decorative boards, slide outs that chip wood off the underside when they are used and sitting on an incline because the floor is on an incline.

Salt

RKR · 10-12-2014, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Salt Shaker

Folks,

I am all about fixing things on my own, however I don't like warped decorative boards, slide outs that chip wood off the underside when they are used and sitting on an incline because the floor is on an incline.

Salt

Not sure where you took it. I bought mine at Ancira in Boerne. I have only took it in once to get the bugs taken care of after the shakedown trip. Plumbing leak and a stove issue. It was in the fall last year. They had it for about 3 weeks.
I haven't had any issues since.

Sent from my high tech gadget

Green Drake · 10-14-2014, 08:23 AM

In our experience you get quicker service at the dealer you bought it from. I fix the basic stuff myself. Slide issues (of which there have been several) at the dealer. I'm forever amazed at the lack of Quality Control at the factory level. FR used to have a good reputation but they have slipped a lot IMO. Not surprised that Chris left.

Salt Shaker · 10-17-2014, 11:18 AM

It's been at the dealer since our shakedown trip. The brought it back once and dropped it off so I could make a run to the coast. It's at the purchasing dealer. They are waiting on parts from Forest River. I purchased it in July a little over 4 months ago.

I talked to the service tech. They have been pretty up front. Forest River sent the wrong parts and now we are on a waiting game again...ridiculous.

Salt

goduc · 10-17-2014, 11:36 AM

If they brought it back so you could take a trip in it then why didn't you keep it and use it till the parts came in?

Salt Shaker · 10-17-2014, 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goduc

If they brought it back so you could take a trip in it then why didn't you keep it and use it till the parts came in?

I was under the impression after talking with the factory that it would be taken care of in short order.

goduc · 10-17-2014, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Salt Shaker

I was under the impression after talking with the factory that it would be taken care of in short order.

Understandable.

gthomp10 · 10-18-2014, 12:06 AM

I've had it trying to get my Fifth Wheel fixed. So much for warranties. As far as I'm concerned they aren't worth the paper they are written on.
Purchased our 282RKX in November 2013. During the walk through we noticed several places where there were dings and scratches. The tech touched some of them up with wood finish. One in a cabinet door was pretty deep. He took notes and said he would order a replacement door. Many calls later, we gave up. It obviously isn't going to be taken care of.
First trip out in March I noticed that I couldn't get my X-Chock between the tires on the roadside. Works fine on the curb side though. Obviously, one or both axles are out of alignment. Took the RV in to the dealer we bought it from and dropped it off. Got a call back a few days later saying that one axle was 1/2" off and they submitted it to the manufacturer to get the okay to fix it. I called at least once a week and when I finally got through to someone, they would tell me that they hadn't heard back yet. I the first part of June and told them I was coming to pick up the fifth wheel because the camping season was passing by and I was tired of waiting. They said they would call when they received word from the manufacturer.
All through the summer I called two to three times per week to see if they had heard anything. Couldn't get a call back. When I finally got through to them they said they still hadn't heard anything. I finally left a comment on Wildcat's Facebook page asking for help. About 2 weeks later I received a call from the manager of the service dept saying that they were tired of waiting to hear from Lippert and were just going to fix it and worry later about the warranty. He said it would take about 2 hours to fix. I tried for several weeks to make an appointment to bring it in but as usual, could not get a hold of anyone and couldn't get a call back. I finally just took it in and dropped it off on Monday, Sept 22nd. I told the receptionist that this had been going on since last spring and please make sure Josh, the manager knew that I had brought it in. I also mentioned that the rear stabalizers stopped working. I didn't hear from them so I called on Wednesday to find out what was going on. The manager didn't even know that the fifth wheel was there. The next day a tech called and said that even though the axle was out of alignment, it was within Lipperts specs so they would not warranty it. He said the stabalizers had a blown fuse that he replaced. He transfered me to the receptionist in the service dept and she repeated that Lippert would not pay for the repairs and that the fuse was not covered and I would have to pay for that.
I went in the following day to pick it up. The service dept manager was there and I unloaded on him. I said "You told me that you were tired of waiting for Lippert and that you were just going to fix it." Josh denied saying that. We had a few more choice words. The receptionist asked if I still wanted her to call me when they heard from Lippert. Josh said "No, don't bother!" and threw my key at me.
Obviously I will never set foot on the dealer's lot again. And, when it comes time to upgrade my Fifth Wheel, Forest River will probably not be on my list of manufacturers to choose from.

mike3510 · 10-18-2014, 12:34 PM

Just got our 344QB back from Camping World a few days ago. Dropped it off there on 8/12/14. That was for the third time. Mostly for same items. We bought it on 3/13/14. Out of the 7 months we've owned it, they've had it 4. A dinnette window only opened part way. I thought maybe an adjustment. No, had to order new window. They said factory was closed 2weeks over July 4th.
Picked up camper for short trip then they called and said parts were in. Took it back and weeks later they called and said new window was broken in shipment. Picked it up again for another short trip. Took it back and then they kept it 2months…
We've missed almost this entire camping season. All of summer when grandkids were asking "when are we going camping?" Needless to say I'm so teed off at CW, it will NEVER go back there and I will never make a purchase there again.
Top it off, I had foot surgery a few weeks ago so now I'm down to just looking at it in our driveway…

2014 Wildcat 344QB
2004 Ram 2500 4X4 Cummins
Ryde-Ryte Air Bags just to level
Bunch of Friends and Grand-Kids.

BigJohnD · 10-18-2014, 12:59 PM

Unfortunately, we will probably see more and more of these stories, as production is at an all time high, and we all know, the more you build, and the faster you build, the more mistakes will be made. This is one of the biggest reasons, we are standing back and considering taking a different approach now. Camping in the temporary rig in the signature, has been quite peaceful. My wife even made mention last trip, that it was one of the funnest trips we've had this year. Nothing broke. When things happen, I handle the work, since I did the conversion. But, that said, nothing has went wrong. Things work better when you do them yourself, because you know that YOU will take pride in your work.

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