Fife RV says: No warranty service for you!

[TonyMac]

Originally Posted by Mr_D

Newmar has no real say in what an independent company does unlike car dealers. You have to remember that warranty work pays far less than what the dealer charges. Why take low paying work when they can make more?

I seriously doubt that Newmar doesn't set some basic requirements on it's dealers in exchange for exclusive rights to a territory. The idea of having to take your rig back to your dealer, which could be thousands of miles away, is aweful customer support and makes the warrenty nearly worthless. So who wants to pay $200k for something that has a warrenty in one location, and what if that location goes out of business, or decides it will not support the warrenty.

[Vacay Wheels]

Originally Posted by okcnewbie

On the other hand;

I would rather have a dealer tell me ahead of time that they don't do warranty unless you bought from them,

then take the RV and put it on the low priority pile and keep it for weeks.

Indeed... Even better, they saved me the hassle of ever having to deal with them again in my life. Yay. Now when Newmar says "take it to the dealer" , I can say "I can't!!"

[RattVader]

So they're in Washington state ? Good to know...won't be moving or visiting over that way in the near future!

[UsualSuspect]

Just my 2 cents, but if I ran across a place that refused to do warranty work, I would never visit them again, even after the warranty is up. While warranty work may pay less, it does it car dealerships, then maybe they should not sell or service any units under warranty. They do get paid for the work, there is no profit in it, but just think after the warranty is up, and they are going to loose that long term profit.

[MrCosio]

I bought my Newmar from Fife RV last year. The service here is terrible in my experience, now I won't take my RV back to them on principle. I have had all warranty work carried out by another local shop and had Newmar reimburse me for the cost.

Note that there is a another Newmar dealer in WA now, but you have to trek a few hours east to Liberty Lake.

BTW - I think I was camping in the same loop as you Labor Day Weekend at Lincoln Rock!

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by TonyMac

I seriously doubt that Newmar doesn't set some basic requirements on it's dealers in exchange for exclusive rights to a territory.

Basic requirements I'm sure but not that they have to service rigs that they didn't sell. We did buy one of our two DSDP's from a dealer in Fife. But then the dealer we went to in Fife is out of business since they lost the Newmar franchise. I hope we had something to do with that!!

[jondrew55]

Originally Posted by Tranquil Jim

I had some dealings with Fife RV a few years back and it was a pretty sleaze-ball operation as far as I was concerned. I bought a new 5th wheel from them and declined...on paper...their high-pressure pitch for additional undercoating. When I went to pick up the trailer, they tried to collect nearly $500 for an "undercoating" job that I had (1) declined and (2) was done by a kid with a spray can.

When I refused to pay, they threatened to void the deal. I said, "fine...give me my money back!" They wouldn't, of course, and I drove away with a free "undercoating" job that was worth about $8, or less! Never went back for any service.

Sounds like a scene from Fargo

[Algoma]

I bought my Ventana in Florida but I am not traveling 1000 miles to get warranty work done: even the factory is closer than that! When I had an issue Newmar referred me to my nearest service center but as they were not a Nemwar dealer they could not do warranty work. I called RCDsales in Ohio and they were happy to provide warranty service even though they did not sell me the coach. Good dealers are out there!

[Vacay Wheels]

Originally Posted by MrCosio

I bought my Newmar from Fife RV last year. The service here is terrible in my experience, now I won't take my RV back to them on principle. I have had all warranty work carried out by another local shop and had Newmar reimburse me for the cost.

Note that there is a another Newmar dealer in WA now, but you have to trek a few hours east to Liberty Lake.

BTW - I think I was camping in the same loop as you Labor Day Weekend at Lincoln Rock!

Yeah, I am hoping going with the local shop and getting reimbursed will work. The problem I'm having now is that there is apparently a 'repair kit' for the broken shade. But Newmar won't send it to me directly, instead wants the shop to call for it, and the shop is not a fan of dealing with Newmar.

Were you in the Canyon Star with your kids? Nice rig! I wanted to stop by and say hi, but whenever I was around there you guys were inside and I didn't want to just drop in unannounced. What a great park. We are debating going back there for our October long weekend. That or Lake Chelan.

[Vacay Wheels]

Just wanted to circle back on this thread, now that all is resolved. I was able to get my rear AC replaced and windshield shade bar fixed under warranty at Auburn Kent Valley RV in Kent. I just have to say these guys were fantastic.

One interesting note for Newmar owners: Newmar apparently covers the full cost of the repair without quibbling with the shop, as opposed to some other manufacturers who pay only what’s on their fee schedule, without regard to how difficult the repair actually is.

All the details here: Auburn Kent Valley RV | Vacay Wheels

[osok]

Originally Posted by twojayhawks

I couldn't disagree more. Newmar has plenty of say and I suspect they would weigh in. Of course warranty work is done at a break even/loss for a dealer but that is the price for having the line. The retail sales, parts, and non warranty is the prize and you don't get that without choking down the warranty.

Not my experience. Newmar customer service made a call on my behalf to attempt warranty service at Ancira RV in Texas with me also on the phone. Ancira told me and Newmar customer rep. they would not take my vehicle for warranty because I did not buy from them. Newmar rep. says okay and then ask me where else I would like to try to get warranty work and we will call them. End result I had to drive several hundred miles to a dealer for my warranty work when at the time I was 1 mile from Ancira. Newmar has no control over dealer warranty work.

When I was ready to order my DS guess which dealer did not get asked for a quote.

[lakebuster]

I had the same problem, down in Louisiana. Now they have agreed to do work after 3-way call with Newmar, but we do not have that warm and fuzzy feeling!

[gremlin]

Originally Posted by Vacay Wheels

Just wanted to circle back on this thread, now that all is resolved. I was able to get my rear AC replaced and windshield shade bar fixed under warranty at Auburn Kent Valley RV in Kent. I just have to say these guys were fantastic.

One interesting note for Newmar owners: Newmar apparently covers the full cost of the repair without quibbling with the shop, as opposed to some other manufacturers who pay only what’s on their fee schedule, without regard to how difficult the repair actually is.

All the details here: Auburn Kent Valley RV | Vacay Wheels

Good to know about the Local option. We bought ours from Guaranty in Junction City Oregon and were very happy with them, I was planning on just going down there for service.

[Steady_Rest]

Originally Posted by gremlin

Good to know about the Local option. We bought ours from Guaranty in Junction City Oregon and were very happy with them, I was planning on just going down there for service.

We also bought ours at Guaranty RV and recently returned for repair of a couple of dented floor tiles. Did not mind, for the brother and I made a short vacation of the ordeal. I did not notice the dented floor tiles, because they were only visible with the slide out and we only had the slide out in the dark of night. The Guaranty RV service dept. however did notice the problem upon delivery, but evidently there was a communication lapse between sales and service.
We rented a car and a motel for a day while there and stayed in Eugene. Service dept. called the following morning stating the rv would be ready in an hour and wanted us to return so we would not incur additional rental car fees. After returning they said it would take a little more time for additional adjustments they wanted to make to our mh and we ended up relaxing in their parts store cafe for 3 hours. The service mngr apologized for the additional delay and said he would take care of all the rental car charges for our inconvenience. I was pleased that they were going over the rv so thoroughly and told him I was not in the least bit bothered by the delay. He replied that, "He appreciated our patience, it is refreshing, which is not always the case with some of our customers". So no rental car charges.
Prior to this, the sales mngr had agreed to my request for an option be ordered that our mh lacked and sent to my home and be charged only their cost for this part. This for the inconvenience of my driving to Oregon for a repair that was caused by their internal miscommunication. He said "Sure that is a reasonable request, we can do that". This saved me hundreds of dollars that I would have been charged by Newmar. I was treated very well, with a friendly attitude, by all the staff of Guaranty RV handling this repair. Left there quite impressed with their after purchase service.
Thank you Vacay, for providing the information on where we can locally get our Newmar products serviced. Kent is only 20 minutes from me, much more convenient.