Services at nonselling dealer

[setraveler]

We are moving in next year from SE to NW. We will purchase new/newer RV in SE, and plan to travel for month or so on way to new home...Selling dealer will be out of picture and while in transit and when arrive will have to use local dealers for warranty, etc. What has been the experience, to include brand names, of those whom experienced repairs, warranty, etc from other then selling dealer,

[xctraveler]

I have dealt with 2 mfgs. Fleetwood was the coach we owned the longest, it is no longer the same company that made our coach in 2004. They had parts, but were not responsive to service needs of owners. Dealers were better, at least the ones I dealt with.

Now own a Phaeton by Tiffin Motorhomes. The factory has been very helpful in replacing items that have broken through use or abuse or just failed. Under warranty they were very good, both at the factory service center and at Tiffin dealers. Have had fine support at dealers although we usually avoid them for either Freightliner for chassis/engine work or mobile techs for items that can be repaired on site. I am very satisfied with the support I have received and do not worry about being anyplace in the country when service is needed.

[setraveler]

has anyone had any experience with the mfgs and dealer issues, aka how do mfgs support the customer issues...?

[Expyinflight]

I agree with using mobile repair services. Our motorhome is a 2017. We have had it a month. Discovered a water line leaking at the water pump. Called the selling dealer....located just 5 miles from our home. First available appointment...November 2, a month away.
I called a highly recommended mobile repair guy. He was on my driveway within an hour, fixed the problem in 15 minutes total, and charged me $20.
My advice...stay away from any dealer.

[Mile_High]

Belgique wrote:

Jack_Pine wrote:
We are diving into the Class A world next year...... Where would one go for warranty or any other repairs? ....

As mentioned early in the thread, use mobile techs, many of whom are authorized to do warranty work.

X2

[Belgique]

Jack_Pine wrote:
We are diving into the Class A world next year...... Where would one go for warranty or any other repairs? ....

As mentioned early in the thread, use mobile techs, many of whom are authorized to do warranty work.

[Hikerdogs]

Jack_Pine wrote:
We are diving into the Class A world next year. All these threads have us concerned. We will be basing out of central Wisconsin. Where would one go for warranty or any other repairs? Most bad mouth CW and that is the only big RV dealer within 2 hours..................

I would check out Pleasureland RV.

http://www.pleasurelandrv.com/

They have 6 stores in Minnesota. We purchased our current RV from them and were very pleasant to deal with. If you buy a Winnebago product another option would be going to the Forest City IA the factory service center.

We started going there several years ago with our first motorhome. It's relatively close and they do excellent work. One nice thing is there's virtually no waiting for parts. They have almost every part in stock for current model motorhomes

[Jack_Pine]

We are diving into the Class A world next year. All these threads have us concerned. We will be basing out of central Wisconsin. Where would one go for warranty or any other repairs? Most bad mouth CW and that is the only big RV dealer within 2 hours..................

[Hikerdogs]

Hikerdogs wrote:

JALLEN4 wrote:

Hikerdogs wrote:

dougrainer wrote:

usersmanual wrote:
I have been involved in the RV sales and repair business since 1985
we for the most part always make money on warrenty repair but not quit at the same rate as our door rate.Sometimes we are shorted on time by a manufacturer and the next time we short the manufacturer so it all works out in the end
I have dealt with many manufacturers over the years you have to know them all to play the game

Well, I have been involved in just the DEALER SERVICE end for 37 years and I can guarantee you do not make money on warranty. Not when you add in the cost of warranty clerks and all the parts order and returns and the lower Flat Rate times involved. There is NO game. Doug

I agree totally. Anyone who has had to deal with manufacturers knows it's their game in their ball park. They set the rules to their advantage and change them at will to make sure they protect the company's bottom line.

As an example GM came out with the 350 "diesel" in the early 1980's. Originally they paid about 27 hours labor time to remove, rebuild, and reinstall an engine.

When they started dropping like flies the company steadily reduced the time paid. Within a year the rate went from 27+ hours down to 9 hours. The job couldn't possibly be done in that amount of time. Each vehicle they took in for repairs cost the dealership 18 hours in labor time. The dealership I worked for did in excess of 200 units per year. That's 3,600 hours of lost labor time. At todays labor rates it would cost a dealer $450,000.00 in labor alone. That doesn't include the time the warranty clerks spent submitting the claims, or the shop supplies used.

How many years can a dealership sustain those kind of losses and survive?

That is simply not an accurate account nor an accurate assumption of lost money by the dealer. Twenty-seven hours was never an accurate amount of time to R&R an engine. Yes GM did reduce the amount of time on engine replacements of both diesels and a similar problem with Vega engines. The time reduction was based on new training, experience, and newly developed special tools. Any time allowed can be challenged by a dealer and GM will do a time study in their shop that is equipped as a normal dealer's shop should be. I have actually been in Detroit and watched a time I challenged and came away with a whole new understanding.

I agree it's an extreme example of dealers getting the short end of warranty work, but it did happen, and wasn't a pleasant experience. Obviously neither you or usersmanual never went through the experience.

In addition you missed the part where I said the engine was being rebuilt. It wasn't a simple situation of removing one engine and replacing it with another, or even installing a new short or long block. It was a case of totally disassembling the engine, cleaning the block and reassembling it with as many new parts as necessary.

In all cases the piston rings, rod and main bearings were replaced as well as the cam bearings. The heads had to be checked and often replaced due to warpage. In some cases the main bearing journals had cracked. In those cases the dealership lost all the time the technician had into the disassembly process, and was paid only to remove the engine and replace it with a short block.

We had one case where the car had been to an independent shop. The engine had been removed and disassembled down to the last nut and bolt before the owner started screaming. In that case GM paid only for building a short block and reinstalling the engine. They claimed they were paying less because the engine had already been removed and disassembled. In that particular case it took the technician nearly as long to build the short block and install the engine as it normally would have taken to rebuilt it. Most of the time was spent searching through a dozen boxes for the parts and going to the parts department to order the missing ones.

I was there and saw it happen. I had to fight with the factory rep on an almost daily basis. As a result the dealership I worked for wasn't nearly as receptive to warranty work on diesel engine equipped autos purchased from other dealers as they had been in the past

While they legally couldn't turn down warranty work they did limit their exposure by dedicating only 2 technicians to the diesel debacle. They were the resident "experts' and were booked weeks and sometimes months in advance. The dealership wasn't willing to take on work that cost it money every time it came through the door. Especially when in many cases the job had been turned down by the selling dealer using the claim that they were "too busy" to take on additional work.

[Hikerdogs]

Deleted Duplicate post

[xctraveler]

Re Engine/Trans: Most dealers are not setup for that kind of work in any event. For Ford I would look to a Ford Truck shop and for Freightliner I would look to a Freightliner Oasis Shop. Have used them wherever I have wanted service. Usually spend the night in their lot and get in line first thing in the AM. Full service completed in 4 to 6 hours.

[setraveler]

Many decades back I was Regional Warranty Manager for major outdoor type international corporation. I was the one who approved/rejected/question the work. WE also "Certified" mechanics that impacted their labor warranty payments. My experience was way to often shops with no factory trained people, complained the most about what W cost them. The were dealers that welcomed the work as 90% of time lead to more sales and recommendations to friends to buy there.
Warranty was based on all reasonable investigation of issue, trained mechanics, tools needed at job and supplies on hand, parts on site. The better shops with least complaints across the board, did warranty work with attitude it lead to future sales.All had very good service managers with full support of owners and sales. Of course their customers came first, and they explained such, but did no attempt to stiff others.
That was decades ago in another similar type of industry, I wondered how it now is with RV as if we buy in SE, move to NE,reality is en-route and when finally moved, am somewhat concerned as to warranty, and further work. RV's rather complex so lots of separate areas for W, and wonder how well the "out the door and not our issues anymore dealers, or nationally franchised dealers, really operate. I had bud with $150K boat have all kinds of serious issues with W when he moved it from NE to SE..But it seems the "Mobile techs" that are certified by manufactures seems way to go unless we could find great dealer with well run shop at end of move., but about the eng/trans?
I know what to look for as far as shop conditions, attitude and service, setup and such from previous time in another similar industry.. and wonder what RV is like, but suspect approach to W not bought at dealership has not changed much for some who fail to note potential follow on sales. PS. been to court on a few in previous job, interesting stuff.

[JALLEN4]

Hikerdogs wrote:

dougrainer wrote:

usersmanual wrote:
I have been involved in the RV sales and repair business since 1985
we for the most part always make money on warrenty repair but not quit at the same rate as our door rate.Sometimes we are shorted on time by a manufacturer and the next time we short the manufacturer so it all works out in the end
I have dealt with many manufacturers over the years you have to know them all to play the game

Well, I have been involved in just the DEALER SERVICE end for 37 years and I can guarantee you do not make money on warranty. Not when you add in the cost of warranty clerks and all the parts order and returns and the lower Flat Rate times involved. There is NO game. Doug

I agree totally. Anyone who has had to deal with manufacturers knows it's their game in their ball park. They set the rules to their advantage and change them at will to make sure they protect the company's bottom line.

As an example GM came out with the 350 "diesel" in the early 1980's. Originally they paid about 27 hours labor time to remove, rebuild, and reinstall an engine.

When they started dropping like flies the company steadily reduced the time paid. Within a year the rate went from 27+ hours down to 9 hours. The job couldn't possibly be done in that amount of time. Each vehicle they took in for repairs cost the dealership 18 hours in labor time. The dealership I worked for did in excess of 200 units per year. That's 3,600 hours of lost labor time. At todays labor rates it would cost a dealer $450,000.00 in labor alone. That doesn't include the time the warranty clerks spent submitting the claims, or the shop supplies used.

How many years can a dealership sustain those kind of losses and survive?

That is simply not an accurate account nor an accurate assumption of lost money by the dealer. Twenty-seven hours was never an accurate amount of time to R&R an engine. Yes GM did reduce the amount of time on engine replacements of both diesels and a similar problem with Vega engines. The time reduction was based on new training, experience, and newly developed special tools. Any time allowed can be challenged by a dealer and GM will do a time study in their shop that is equipped as a normal dealer's shop should be. I have actually been in Detroit and watched a time I challenged and came away with a whole new understanding.

[xctraveler]

If a shop is so busy they only do warranty work on units they sold I don't want them working on my rig anyhow. They probably don't have adequate staff/space for the work they are doing. We use mobile techs and shops that are in areas where many RVers are snowbirding or otherwise coming from other places. They are not partial to units they sold. Some dealers belong to "service groups" that promise service like home wherever you are. I find Coach-net can get me the service I need almost anyplace in the country. We are seldom near our selling dealer, don't want to be between November and April as he is in Niagara Falls 🙂

[usersmanual]

Hikerdogs wrote:

dougrainer wrote:

usersmanual wrote:
I have been involved in the RV sales and repair business since 1985
we for the most part always make money on warrenty repair but not quit at the same rate as our door rate.Sometimes we are shorted on time by a manufacturer and the next time we short the manufacturer so it all works out in the end
I have dealt with many manufacturers over the years you have to know them all to play the game

Well, I have been involved in just the DEALER SERVICE end for 37 years and I can guarantee you do not make money on warranty. Not when you add in the cost of warranty clerks and all the parts order and returns and the lower Flat Rate times involved. There is NO game. Doug

I agree totally. Anyone who has had to deal with manufacturers knows it's their game in their ball park. They set the rules to their advantage and change them at will to make sure they protect the company's bottom line.

As an example GM came out with the 350 "diesel" in the early 1980's. Originally they paid about 27 hours labor time to remove, rebuild, and reinstall an engine.

When they started dropping like flies the company steadily reduced the time paid. Within a year the rate went from 27+ hours down to 9 hours. The job couldn't possibly be done in that amount of time. Each vehicle they took in for repairs cost the dealership 18 hours in labor time. The dealership I worked for did in excess of 200 units per year. That's 3,600 hours of lost labor time. At todays labor rates it would cost a dealer $450,000.00 in labor alone. That doesn't include the time the warranty clerks spent submitting the claims, or the shop supplies used.

How many years can a dealership sustain those kind of losses and survive?

That example is so far off base its not funny.its a ridiculous example and most unlikely not true.Not sure why I bother to reply sometimes. I laugh at posters whom tell me as a dealer what I do or don't do and what I make or don't make on warrentys when you have no idea what your saying or who your talking to or about.
You know nothing about my dealership or how we deal with a manufacturers and their warrentys.I don't get rich but I can sure as hell tell you we don't loose money and that's a fact jack.nuff said on this