New tt owner; need help

[Drrm80]

Hello all ,

I had just purchased a 2019 cherokee 264ck last week . We are really excited about the purchase it I need some opinions from other owners .

After purchasing from the dealer we did the walk through and everything looked fine and worked . ( could not see roof from ground and I did not think I needed a ladder to examine a brand new 20k trailer )After bringing the camper home I was doing some walking up stairs to my second floor and looked over at the camper and thought I saw something on the roof . I went back and got a ladder and looked and what I saw was a half assed patch work on the roof of my brand new camper . The dealer had never disclosed any damage was done and repaired on the unit as it is brand new , they also did a horrible job repairing it .

Now my wife and I are very upset , we really like the camper and this was the only layout of that kind in stock but to us it is not “new” as promised from the dealer . I have a phone call with the dealer Monday to discuss my options but I’m not really happy paying new prices on a repaired camper and I also don’t trust the quality work they will do after seeing th me first patch they did .

The dealer had also caused other problem down the road for me that made me dislike them . They played game on the pricing and had it priced different in 3 places and would not give me the lowest price because they had a error on their website .

What do you think I should do ? What are my options ?

[DaGrinch]

First thing I would do is take a picture of it and send it to my sales person ... ask them what they are going to do about it. Second thing I would do is find a REPUTABLE RV repair place and get an estimate.
Does your contract state "NEW" or "As is"? If it says new, then I might consider calling my bank or where it was financed, if financed, and tell them there is an issue with the contract.
Several other possibilities, including dragging it back to the dealer and demanding your money back, etc.
Others more experienced than I in these matters should be along shortly.
Larry

[DaGrinch]

Going back and rereading your post you didn't say the trailer was new. Was it bought new or used?

[Drrm80]

Sorry , the trailer was purchased brand new , and all paperwork says new . I had already sent a picture and will be talking to them Monday about it . Just wanted to talk to others who are more familiar with campers and buying process .

[Drrm80]

Originally Posted by DaGrinch

First thing I would do is take a picture of it and send it to my sales person ... ask them what they are going to do about it. Second thing I would do is find a REPUTABLE RV repair place and get an estimate.
Does your contract state "NEW" or "As is"? If it says new, then I might consider calling my bank or where it was financed, if financed, and tell them there is an issue with the contract.
Several other possibilities, including dragging it back to the dealer and demanding your money back, etc.
Others more experienced than I in these matters should be along shortly.
Larry

Should I get a quote on replacing the whole roof ? My thought is I purchased a new trailer , it should have a new roof not a repaired roof unless that is apart of the agreement .

[Drrm80]

Some of my questions

-When did this happen ?
-How long was it damaged without knowing on the lot ?
-was any further investigation done to see if any other water damage ?
-mold ?
-why was such a poor quality patch done ?
-any damage done because of poor quality patch job ?
-how long has it been patched ?
-they repaired it once , what makes me feel good that the second time they will do a good job ?
-was there a record of this repair ? Why was it not disclosed ?
- if they just patch it again what happens when their patch fails ? Is there a warranty ?

[nomad297]

It doesn’t look like a patch to me. It looks more like the remnants of caulk that once sealed the base of something that was attached to the roof. It looks like whatever was, at one time, on the roof, was ripped off. I’m not sure what would create a footprint like that, but there definitely was something there before this picture was taken.

Bruce

[nomad297]

Here you go:



Maybe this happened on your way home from the dealer?

EDIT: After looking at your picture again, I doubt you put that white piece of tape or whatever it is on there. It looks like somebody knew they ripped the antenna off, then covered the hole for the wire with that. Perhaps it happened on the way to the dealer.

Bruce

[DaGrinch]

I think nomad297 (Bruce) hit it on the head.
That might bring up a whole new set of issues.... did you hit some low branches on the way home? Any scrapes on the a/c housing? Where is the antenna wire? Did the tv's work during your PDI? Those are just a couple off the top of my head.

[Feel Swift]

Definitly that antenna in the picture but if ripped off on the way home where did the band aid that appears to be a piece of Eternabond tape come from? Is there another TV antenna on the rig? May have to call in Joe Kenda.

If that antenna was ripped off it could be a good thing as those cheap omnidirectional antennas are usually garbage unless your right beside a transmitter or within 10 miles of one

[Drrm80]

I only live 14 miles away from the dealer . All highway , I was super cautious driving because this was my first time pulling something so big . I definitely did not hit anything .

This camper did not come with any TVs so we could not check the antenna . Now that I look at my roof I do not see any antennas . Maybe that is exactly what happen and instead of replacing it they just through this patch over it ...

I feel better about this scenario than the damaged roof . I am still upset though .

[nomad297]

Originally Posted by Feel Swift

where did the band aid that appears to be a piece of Eternabond tape come from?

Exactly!

If the OP lives in Colorado Springs, Joe Kenda would definitely be the way to go.

My, my, my...

Bruce

[Chris Pastuzyn]

Definitely looks like where the antenna used to be, I wonder if the handle is still in the inside, The dealer has some explaining to do ! I'm thinking exchange the unit if possible, if the antenna was ripped off what about the ac?

[nomad297]

Originally Posted by Drrm80

I only live 14 miles away from the dealer . All highway , I was super cautious driving because this was my first time pulling something so big . I definitely did not hit anything .

This camper did not come with any TVs so we could not check the antenna . Now that I look at my roof I do not see any antennas . Maybe that is exactly what happen and instead of replacing it they just through this patch over it ...

I feel better about this scenario than the damaged roof . I am still upset though .

I would bet that it happened on the way from the factory to the dealer. The transporter probably knew it happened, then put that piece of tape over the wire hole to protect it from water intrusion, then “forgot” to tell the dealer about it. Or, maybe the dealer put the tape on and just forgot to replace the antenna before the sale. I don’t think any reputable dealer would knowingly sell you a unit like this.

Bruce

[Drrm80]

I hope no dealer would act like this . This dealer gave me a pricing run around while purchasing the thing . The price was listed on the website for 1 price , listed on the unit as another price and listed a different price on their system . They did not want to honor the lowest price because their website says that prices and info may be inaccurate on the website .

Then they wrote my sales tax check wrong to rmv and that was another headache trying to get my reimbursement back on the difference because of their documentation error .

[itat]

Like Bruce, I think someone removed an antenna and patched the remaining hole. Does the unit have a TV antenna somewhere else on the roof? That’s really weird. What’s under that patch on the ceiling inside?

Was your dealer a Camping World?

Anyway, it looks like they used a piece of Eternabond over the large hole but they probably didn’t put any caulk over the screw holes that held it down (whatever it was).

IMO you are right to start with the dealer and see if they are prepared to do the right thing. I seriously doubt that they will be willing to completely replace the roof but I’d argue that the crappy patch job has compromised the roof and it needs to be replaced. It looks like there is a wavy ripple in the roof membrane there, too.

While it may have never been previously owned, it’s absolutely not worth the price of a brand new unit with that repair. I’d try to get them to take it back and give you your money back. Maybe offer to eat a little bit of the price to entice them to do so.

Good luck. You’ve learned a valuable lesson about doing a very thorough inspection before buying a camper. I hope they make it right for you.

[nomad297]

At least this is going to be a relatively easy fix, and there’s probably no damage to the roof membrane because that caulk was (and probably still is) probably soft, so the antenna base would have come off pretty easily. At least you shouldn't be so worried about a major roof problem anymore.

Bruce

[Drrm80]

When I looked at this camper it was “ missing “ some parts , such as spare tire , a light cover and some doors on the entertainment enter . They had removed them to replace another sold camper . I’m wondering if they also removed the antenna as well themselves to replace another campers and just never put mine back .

[nomad297]

Originally Posted by Drrm80

When I looked at this camper it was “ missing “ some parts , such as spare tire , a light cover and some doors on the entertainment enter . They had removed them to replace another sold camper . I’m wondering if they also removed the antenna as well themselves to replace another campers and just never put mine back .

Who is the dealer? From the things you mention in this post and others, it sounds like it must be a Camping World.

Bruce

[Drrm80]

Originally Posted by itat

Like Bruce, I think someone removed an antenna and patched the remaining hole. Does the unit have a TV antenna somewhere else on the roof? That’s really weird. What’s under that patch on the ceiling inside?

Was your dealer a Camping World?

Anyway, it looks like they used a piece of Eternabond over the large hole but they probably didn’t put any caulk over the screw holes that held it down (whatever it was).

IMO you are right to start with the dealer and see if they are prepared to do the right thing. I seriously doubt that they will be willing to completely replace the roof but I’d argue that the crappy patch job has compromised the roof and it needs to be replaced. It looks like there is a wavy ripple in the roof membrane there, too.

While it may have never been previously owned, it’s absolutely not worth the price of a brand new unit with that repair. I’d try to get them to take it back and give you your money back. Maybe offer to eat a little bit of the price to entice them to do so.

Good luck. You’ve learned a valuable lesson about doing a very thorough inspection before buying a camper. I hope they make it right for you.

I did not purchase it from camping world . I feel much better about the situation after talking to you guys . I thank you all for that . Like you stated above I still don’t think they did a good patch job and I am worried that because of that job maybe the roof could be compromised and this makes it not worth the price of a new unit . I hope the dealer does what’s right , I really do not want to have to return this model and have to do the process all over again . This Cherokee we purchased was the only layout of that style and we really liked it . It is also the paint scheme from the last style ( red stripe rather than blue ) and we like this color choice better than the blue ones for us . I can’t imagine the dealer wants to have it come back to just sit longer ... but who knows