New 5th wheel purchase. I think we have a lemon, need advice

[rjs3118]

We just purchased a BRAND NEW 5th wheel in Feb of this year from large and reputable dealer. I won't mention the name of the manufacturer but they are very well know and are advertised as "one of the most popular". Well, we custom ordered our trailer and was told it would be available in April/May. We picked up the trailer literally 3 hours after it arrived at the dealer (no one other than the salesman and lot employee who does the "walk through" was even in it). From the very first night we noticed a few problem, nothing crazy, we just started to make a list. However, with each day this list has grown and grown to things that should have never made it out of the manufacturers plant. Mind you, no one else even went through this so all of these issues came straight from the manufacturer.

Our issues range from:
a black water tank level that won't stay closed (yep, you guess right. Found that one out the hard way at the dump station!)
2 windows that are literally installed crooked on our slide out
every window blind being slanted
a screen door that won't stay shut
a recyliner that wont extend
stitching that is coming out of the couch
a huge water leak under the sink that required us to use all of our shower towels to soak up (the water ran down under all the wood in the kitchen, under the carpet, into the register, etc.)
a drawer that came out during travel causing the wooden framing to be broken away from the wall
a skinned propane tank cord
missing and/or crooked screws, bent metal, and so on and so on.
Mind you, we have spent 7 nights in this trailer.

We have since called our dealer and requested to speak to the manufacturer rep that they work with to show them the many issues. We were told that "that's not how it works, that all concerns have to go through them". However, on the back of the terms of sale in the "Warranty" section, it states that "it's my responsibility to contact the manufacturer to arrange for any repairs" So, now we have an appointment to walk through the unit with the dealer but we do not want to settle for secondary repairs that won't even bring this trailer to the level that it should've been when we agreed to purchased it. Also, the repairs don't even address any future water damage that may/may not show up for years.

Has anyone had a similar issue and how did you resolve it? Did you ask/receive a re-issue or re-purchase? Should we contact a lawyer to assist in this matter?

Thank you so much in advance!

[Dtank]

pickjare wrote:
Who made this RV?

Excellent question!

The OP wants to keep that..... SECRET..:h

Often naming the "offenders" (mfgr & dealer) can expedite making things right. Also, others who have had similar problems with that particular dealer/mfgr will chime in. (how solved, etc.)

Or....maybe it was a one-off lemon. No way to tell.

:?

[Wild_Card]

rjs3118 wrote:

pickjare wrote:
Who made this RV? I think it's clear all the little things missed during pdi can/will be fixed without any trouble at all.
If the windows are truly not square, as you state, then the framing isn't either I would assume. In this case the trailer is going to need major enough repairs that everyone involved would say it's probably easier for factory to buy it back. But are the Windows really out of square? Or is it trim that is out of place? An optical illusion maybe?

Two windows are slightly off. We were told by the dealer that he can show us a 200K MH that has something probably just as similar. I'm not sure that something other than an eagle eye would've noticed in a walk around but as we notice more and more things, it has forced to go through everything with a fine tooth comb.

Again, my reasoning for mentioning the things I mentioned was to show the overall build quality, and the unit as a whole.

funny you mention the $200k motor home windows. My brother has an 06 Fleetwood Revolution and a buddy just bought an 04 Fleetwood American Eagle. both have some crooked windows

[rjs3118]

pickjare wrote:
Who made this RV? I think it's clear all the little things missed during pdi can/will be fixed without any trouble at all.
If the windows are truly not square, as you state, then the framing isn't either I would assume. In this case the trailer is going to need major enough repairs that everyone involved would say it's probably easier for factory to buy it back. But are the Windows really out of square? Or is it trim that is out of place? An optical illusion maybe?

Two windows are slightly off. We were told by the dealer that he can show us a 200K MH that has something probably just as similar. I'm not sure that something other than an eagle eye would've noticed in a walk around but as we notice more and more things, it has forced to go through everything with a fine tooth comb.

Again, my reasoning for mentioning the things I mentioned was to show the overall build quality, and the unit as a whole.

[rjs3118]

Blazing Zippers wrote:
It seems folks on here are not being very helpful to the OP. Some of us have to admit that we've made hasty decisions and missed items with regard to our RV's. I've been to two pushed PDI's where we were hassled and hurried. The first time, I missed items--the second, I took some time to actually check things out.
Sorry, OP. I'm facing serious issues with a Lippert frame, and not sure what my options are at this point either.

Thanks for the kind words. That's kind of how I feel with this forum at this point. I thought I would get lots of helpful advice instead of a bunch of "what were you thinkings".

Again, thanks to all those that actually offered advice.

[Blazing_Zippers]

It seems folks on here are not being very helpful to the OP. Some of us have to admit that we've made hasty decisions and missed items with regard to our RV's. I've been to two pushed PDI's where we were hassled and hurried. The first time, I missed items--the second, I took some time to actually check things out.
Sorry, OP. I'm facing serious issues with a Lippert frame, and not sure what my options are at this point either.

[pickjare]

Who made this RV? I think it's clear all the little things missed during pdi can/will be fixed without any trouble at all.
If the windows are truly not square, as you state, then the framing isn't either I would assume. In this case the trailer is going to need major enough repairs that everyone involved would say it's probably easier for factory to buy it back. But are the Windows really out of square? Or is it trim that is out of place? An optical illusion maybe?

[rjs3118]

Thanks to everyone who offered PRACTICAL help as opposed to the "why the heck did you take it" Monday Morning QB. Got to love those people.

Update: We met with the store manager from the store we purchased it and he admitted that they dropped the ball with the PDI and are already addressing that (which in all honesty, doesn't change our problems one bit). He spent a good hour with us as we pointed out each issue and he admitted that the unit has many more issues than he usually sees. However, he asked that they be given the chance to correct all the mistakes and wasn't sure if this was an issue that has a lot of tweaks or someone was in a hurry on a Friday afternoon to rush out of the factory. He did mention that there may be a chance to get out of this but he has to go through it first. However, if this unit requires this amount of work to correct (even from factory trainer techs at a dealership), why should we have to accept this on a brand new unit? We avoided a used patched up unit for a reason, why should we accept it on a brand new unit?

Anyone have experience in getting out of a unit for another one in a situation like this?

Thanks again to all those with practical advice!

[ford_truck_guy]

During our. PDI I saw a few small items that were correct at that time.. I was leaving the following Friday for a 3 weeks trip to Florida, The dealer made me a follow up appointment for the first week we get back from our trip. This way they could install the 1 item we purchased that could not get in, and to correct any issues that we may find during our trip..

We dropped it off on a Thursday, went back that Saturday to get it
Can't ask for more than that

[Champ198]

Unfortunately, you don't have a lemon. You have the typical RV that rolls of the line these days. I don't care what brand it is, they all have major issues. Some are build issues, some are design issues. There is very little accountability with quality these days. If these manufacturers let us in their plant to spot quality issues, we'd shut them down in the first 15 minutes. They don't want quality. Quality costs profit. My RV dealer has dropped major brands because they don't pay them for warranty claims or ship them replacement parts for customers in a timely manner.

[Ralph_Cramden]

fj12ryder wrote:
"You can not blame the MFG for what you didn't do, it's all on you now, as someone said good luck but I'm sure you have bought yourself a bag of worms an it will cost you dearly for your hast ..."

Actually yes you can blame the MFG for issues like this. If the trailer were built correctly the PDI would only be a formality, not a necessity. Most of the issues should have been caught during the PDI, but in reality they shouldn't have even been there to be found.

X 2,345,967

I pissed the guy off when sitting in the financing office. I took up a good 20 minutes of the guys time while I actually filled out the form, and checked off the items, that are on the PDI forms that Forest River sends with the unit. Funny how the dealer did not have that form with the tech during the PDI done previously that day, which took 5 1/2 hours. Fortunately I had been to the dance a few times before, so I knew what I was looking for.

How many first time or uninformed buyers have that paperwork just handed to them for a signature along with the purchase paperwork? I'd bet many.

[fj12ryder]

"You can not blame the MFG for what you didn't do, it's all on you now, as someone said good luck but I'm sure you have bought yourself a bag of worms an it will cost you dearly for your hast ..."

Actually yes you can blame the MFG for issues like this. If the trailer were built correctly the PDI would only be a formality, not a necessity. Most of the issues should have been caught during the PDI, but in reality they shouldn't have even been there to be found.

[ChuckV1]

Our issues range from:
a black water tank level that won't stay closed

When doing PDI you should have pulled an closed at least twice, it a new trailer there should not have been anything in it

2 windows that are literally installed crooked on our slide out
every window blind being slanted

Again during PDI with tech you should have seen this an commented on such to be repaired or trailer sent back to MFG 😞

a screen door that won't stay shut

Again during PDI did you not open an close the screen door to see if it was warped

a recyliner that wont extend

Again didn't you sit in the recliner to see how it feels or look at the
stitching that is coming out of the couch

Didn't you look at the furniture, see if it was ripped or the stitching coming out


a huge water leak under the sink that required us to use all of our shower towels to soak up (the water ran down under all the wood in the kitchen, under the carpet, into the register, etc.)

you needed to turn on the water both hot and clod to see if they even worked thus you would have seen the leak 😞

a drawer that came out during travel causing the wooden framing to be broken away from the wall

Always check drawing to make sure the are closed and tight, this on on you not the MFG

a skinned propane tank cord

Again during PDI you should have seen this

missing and/or crooked screws, bent metal, and so on and so on.

Again during PDI you should have seen all these things, we spent over 5 hours during our PDI, turning, twisting, pulling, looking over every inch of out new trailer ...

Sounds to me you were so excited to get a new trailer you pulled up, hooked up, signed on the dotted line and zoomed out the gate which the salesman an his buddies were laughing with you money in hand ...

You can not blame the MFG for what you didn't do, it's all on you now, as someone said good luck but I'm sure you have bought yourself a bag of worms an it will cost you dearly for your hast ...

Safe travels I hope if it dozen't fall apart 1st Ugh

[thirtydaZe]

My wife and i had a similar situation where we felt we were sold a lemon. It was a palamino sabre, or first fw,

We did our pdi, and knew going in it was only a side step from our tt, not really an upgrade, however we had a bunk house for our boy, and it was a fw so we were happy.

We were leaving for a 2 week vacation abot 30 hours after bringing it home. That night after doing a bunch of work we discovered the shower floor was cracked.

Once we traveled, when we got to our first night destination and opend the slide, huge gouge in the floor, light fell from the ceiling, closet wall fell into the cap, basement floor pulled up due to bulging fresh water tank.

Throught the vacation, water leakes in the basement, from sinks, and then finally fridge issues.

Our dealer was diligent in ixing everything, every time, i have no complaints.

This year, we took it out late april, problem free, then didnt use it till june. It wasnt long after getting it home, the fridge wouldnt turn on again, and never came on, so pist off, i canceled the trip.

Ended up just trading, its been about 6 weeks, and regularly check, but its never shown back up on the local market.

If your dealer is reputable as you say, hopefully you'll have everything fixed under warranty. We had bought an edtended, so nothing was an issue and we had to ise it. We bought an extened on our new camper, im way more confident about this unit.

Sorry for your troubles.

[ol_Bombero-JC]

Lwiddis wrote:
"won't mention the name of the manufacturer but they are very well know" (sic)

Why? If if you wish to stand up and speak out, then do so.

X2

If you name the dealer and the mgr - you may/will find others who have had similar problems with them - nothing improper to do same on the forum.

On the other hand - maybe you are the exception.

No way to tell w/o that info..:h