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Old 05-21-2007, 06:11 PM   #1
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You know, this is not easy to talk about without sounding disloyal to WRV. But our coaches seem to have many more problems, deep problems than most. I know, I know, they all have teething problems. However read all of the other coach forums. There is a distinct flavor change in the way the others discuss minor problems they encounter. We have a 03 40fdts. We had many problems when it was new. Then a period of relative calm where when we returned from a trip I would have only 5 or 6 minor items to repair or adjust. Now it has gotten worse. At 38,000 miles we have things like hydraulic hoses blowing oil all over the ground (caused by cheap hose and poor installation) and a refrigerator that is failing again for the third time. The brakes that I have always thought to be marginal and required excess foot pressure, now need new pads and perhaps Antilock problems to be repaired. We have front tires that are worn in that typical Alpine way and need to be replaced. What we seem to have is a chassis that is almost bullet proof. The rest of the coach seems to be rife with quality issues.
Be honest and read all of the other things written in the other coach forums. They seem much happier with their coaches. Their problems appear quite a bit more minor.
When you combine this with the fact that a new entity is in charge, controlling the purse strings, we have a very unsettling feeling.
Am I way out of line bring this up?
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Old 05-21-2007, 06:11 PM   #2
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You know, this is not easy to talk about without sounding disloyal to WRV. But our coaches seem to have many more problems, deep problems than most. I know, I know, they all have teething problems. However read all of the other coach forums. There is a distinct flavor change in the way the others discuss minor problems they encounter. We have a 03 40fdts. We had many problems when it was new. Then a period of relative calm where when we returned from a trip I would have only 5 or 6 minor items to repair or adjust. Now it has gotten worse. At 38,000 miles we have things like hydraulic hoses blowing oil all over the ground (caused by cheap hose and poor installation) and a refrigerator that is failing again for the third time. The brakes that I have always thought to be marginal and required excess foot pressure, now need new pads and perhaps Antilock problems to be repaired. We have front tires that are worn in that typical Alpine way and need to be replaced. What we seem to have is a chassis that is almost bullet proof. The rest of the coach seems to be rife with quality issues.
Be honest and read all of the other things written in the other coach forums. They seem much happier with their coaches. Their problems appear quite a bit more minor.
When you combine this with the fact that a new entity is in charge, controlling the purse strings, we have a very unsettling feeling.
Am I way out of line bring this up?
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Old 05-22-2007, 05:32 AM   #3
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Amen! Amen! Amen! We are in our ninth trip with our 15 mo. old coach, having approx 18,000 miles on in and a little over 5 mos. total time spent in the coach. We have yet to take a trip where we didn't have something major enough happen to inconvenience us (plus all the minor things that don't bother us that much). My husband is 70 yrs. old. We thought we were buying a coach to last us the rest of our rving years. Little did we know that it's one thing after another.

Beverly and Buddy
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Old 05-22-2007, 06:28 AM   #4
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Right on Stretch.Ater numerous birth defects being repaired on our 2005 we are now on our third set of hydraulic lines on the bedroom slide and at this point and time we are reluctant to use it and of course the required brake pressure is terrible.Now that the Monomoy Capital Partners have purchased WRV from the Doyle family what can we expect? Hope they can remedy the same old problems WRV didn't.
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Old 05-23-2007, 01:59 PM   #5
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A friend of a friend took delivery not long ago of their new, made to order coach. It has keyless entry. The mechanism fried and he could not get into his coach. Somewhat more inconveniently, she could not get out. After he lined up service, the tech went in thru the emergency window & disassembled the door, & she got out (didn't want to "escape" thru the window, as it was inelegant).

Coach: a Prevost @ $1.2 million, with most of the bells & whistles, but probably not all. I guess that should teach them about buying a cheapo coach.
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Old 05-23-2007, 02:43 PM   #6
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Mike, I am not certain but I believe the word might be unelegant. This could be incorrect as I have stopped traveling in those circles. I don't recall whether the door did or did not work as I have never been in one.
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Old 05-23-2007, 02:59 PM   #7
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Maybe it is outelegant as she was trying to get out
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Old 05-23-2007, 03:10 PM   #8
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Stretch, I do not think your letter was at all inappropiate nor do I find it out of line. I do not have the mileage on our coach that you do but we have had our share of problems. To our benefit our problems were resolved with very little trouble because of our dealer and definitely WRV. Two issues have never been resolved. The TV's are still not working properly and the brakes are truly a real issue to push. Our coach is a 2005, 34'FDDS. They will stop the coach and very well if you truly exert a tremendous amount of pressure. My wife tried driving the coach in a very large parking lot and really felt quite comfortable until it came time to stop.The amount of pedal pressure she needed to exert was truly beyond her feeling safe driving the coach. Even holding the coach at a standstill was an effort and as she pointed out if she relaxed slightly the coach was going to move forward rapidly. I have reduced my idle to 500 RPM's.
I have, like yourself read the other forums and some of their issues. The big thing I noticed was the lack of reoccurrence of problems. I believe that is the big issue as well as the size of the problems which seemed to be considerably less than ours with the Alpines. The brake issue I had listed twice to our dealer and they indicated once was a wheel cylinder leak and the other was they needed to be bled. Neither of these corrections had any affect on the amount of pressure we have to exert to stop the coach. I briefly spoke to WRV about this issue and really did not resolve anything. I did not say much in the past as I felt it was typical, but know reading some of the folks that have replaced the master cylinder and the power booster I have become aware that this is a problem and some people have found a solution.
I believe that your letter is well stated and very much appropriate. I think many other owners if as you say "be honest" we will hear a great deal more. I think with the new entity in position of WRV and the hopes that it will improve substantially that these problems should be addressed first. In following the forum I have read that some folks with 2007 units are experiencing some of the same old problems that a good many of us have had in the past. I hope that many other comments will be made in reference to Stretch's letter.
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Old 05-23-2007, 07:43 PM   #9
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Ted- Elocutionary research indicates inelegant to have current usage, not archaic, arcane or antiquarian, and to be an adjective meaning "Lacking refinement or polish; not elegant." Unelegant is not entirely dissimilar tho in current times somewhat commonly confined to describing mathematical circuitousness in deriving a proof. Although my copy of the Oxford English Dictionary is a bit dated (1971), it shows unelegant as "obs.," indicating obscure and arcane, and only lists usages of the word prior to the year 1759.
All of this dramatically increases the esteem in which I hold you, Ted, as I respect my elders, and it would appear you have accumulated nicely in excess of two and a half centuries of wisdom. And of course I realize the question is a bit, shall we say 'inelegant,' but just how old are you and what is the secret of such bizarely incredible longevity? Are you perchance, from Transylvania?
Respectfully yours, Mike
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Old 05-24-2007, 08:46 AM   #10
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Dear Stretch, I am so sorry for the difficulties you are experiencing with your coach. The wrong size hoses were used on your 03 coach. HWH has replaced many of hoses on 03 coaches of many brands. regarding your brakes if somehow they were contaminated by a foreign subtance, It can cause premature wear on your brakes. How can I help you to resolve your coach issues? call me if I can help. Lindsay Hargett 541-915-2768
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Old 05-24-2007, 08:54 AM   #11
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This message is for Buddy & Beverly, I sure wish I could get you to come out to the west coast for a service visit. I do not believe your coach has ever had a proper pre-delivery inspection. I think if you came out we could resolve your issues. Lindsay
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Old 05-24-2007, 11:31 AM   #12
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Ted III:
Even holding the coach at a standstill was an effort and as she pointed out if she relaxed slightly the coach was going to move forward rapidly. I have reduced my idle to 500 RPM's.
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ted
How/Who reduced your idle to 500 RPM? Did that make a major difference at standstill?
Does your engine still start easily?
I think my 650-700 RPM at idle is way to much for an engine that tops out at 2100 RPM!

Can this be set at WRV or is Cummins the only one that can reset the idle???
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Old 05-24-2007, 11:39 AM   #13
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For those of you who don't know Lindsay, he and his company are great supporters of the Alpine Socal group, and Alpine Coach in general. I would urge you to call him just for advice if nothing else. He does know the product, and who to call at WRV.

I have never taken my coach to him for service. I am almost ashamed to admit that in three years and 30K+ miles I have not had any problem with my coach significant enough to warrant a drive to Oregon or to the factory in Yakama.
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Old 05-24-2007, 09:48 PM   #14
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For all of you concerned with service issues - let us add our 2c's worth. Lindsay jumped through hoops and bent over backwards to get our issues taken care of with warranty work on our Apex back in March at Guaranty. We have driven from S. Ca to Junction City for Guaranty to do our work and we have been very pleased with their professional Technician (Bobby was WONDERFUL) and with their Body Work Dept. Our only problems were with WRV sending the wrong things or sizes.

Last August we tried to talk Beverly & Buddy into going to Junction City for their work instead of Yakima but she was reluctant because they didn't buy it from Guaranty. But Guaranty knows the Alpine Coach and probably have one of the best relationships with WRV - so making an appointment there just makes sense (in our opinion).

Inspite of our many issues on our new coach that were nearly all Quality Control issues (or rather lack there of), we LOVE our APEX!
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