36LA issues, is there a lemon law for RVs?

[Solask]

What door issue are you guys referring to specifically?

[Roger G]

I have missed my Southwind over the last nine months too. I would start with Wade Humprees, he is the head of the service dept. I have his direct line at work, but you can call the service number and ask to be transferred to him. They have done everything I have asked of them up to this point and I think they will fix you too, it's just a matter of talking to the right person. FYI, he may call you back today or three days from now but he will eventually call you back.

[Jrodrig18]

Originally Posted by Rkh

What door issue are you guys referring to specifically?

RKH, mine had a noise similar to styrofoam being rubbed. The door seem misaligned note the color of the frame fading too.


Sent from my iPhone using iRV2 - RV Forum

[Roger G]

The issue that I had was two fold. The main cause was the door opening not being parallel on each side. The point where the side wall meets the storage bay doors had shifted forward on the left side of the door when standing outside. I had a 3/4 inch gap at the latch and the door was rubbing the frame at the bottom left corner. The door was being shifted up and causing a screw head on the top right, again looking from outside, to rub the door frame. On mine, they removed the door frame, took the outside body piece between the door and the first storage bay loose and trimmed whatever was behind this so that the door opening was uniform and square. They then installed a new style door, appearantly they had changed door mfgr sometime during the 2014 model year, and repainted. It's still not perfect but it's lots better than before. unknown to me, the door latch has a double latch, if you close it softly, it will latch and then latch again if you push on it harder. My original door wasn't ever going in far enough to catch the second latch. The wood trim piece around the step opening on the inside was also behind the door frame and was compounding the problem, this was also trimmed out of the way.

[racersedge]

Iam not in this fight and have been pissed off at \tiffin at time,s myself however
I found them always willing to right a wrong and never tried to get out of it
For example.I had a windshield pop at the corners on my 2008 allegero bus at 5 years of service and they paid to fix it($616.00) Another example was when I bought the unit used in 2010 the Allegro bus decals were removed.I kinda liked them so I asked for a new decal kit I was sent a complete new decal kit free of charge.I had some windows fog after 4 years and they sent me new ones and also paid the shipping

[grizz427]

The only problem we have with the door is when we get a hard rain water washes over the top of the door and inside of camper

[Incognito.]

You would need to Google the lemon laws for the state you bought the unit in. California has the best lemon laws for motor homes. I read everyone saying why did you take it. I can tell you first hand owning a 2013 36LA for a grand total of 61 days before I dumped it, once tiffin realizes how bad a coach is communications stop and you will need to call a lawer. My unit had small issues that the dealer persuaded me they were minor new coach issues with easy fixes that turned out to be big issues. Needless to say my first trip out left me stranded for 45 days in repair shops all over Wyoming and Colorado. I'm glad I didn't drink the kool aid tiffin serves up, and having to drive to red bay every year to wait weeks-months for them to fix major defects that have plagued them now for years is not an acceptable practice in my mind. Your best bet is to cover up as much as you can and trade the unit in on another brand as quickly as possible.

[gemini5362]

What lemon laws I am familiar with involve giving the manufacturer a chance to fix the problem. You usually have to have the problem repeat itself before a lemon law would kick in. For instance the poster that had problems with a door three times. If his state had lemon laws that covered the RV then that would be something I would expect to see covered. I would make sure to file a written complaint with both the dealer and the manufacturer listing every complaint you have about your coach. You also want to list the current mileage on it when you made the complaint the first time or at least the mileage when you send the written complaint. In Arkansas the I have not researched whether or not the lemon law for cars covers RV's but for cars Whatever the mileage is when you report the defect the mileage clock stops there. You pay a milage fee which I think is somewhere around 45 cents a mile but may be less up to the mileage that you reported the problem. After you report the problem the mileage fee will be based on what it was prior to that. No matter what the mileage is after you report it.

[okgc]

and even more frustrated with the lack of "fixing" from the dealer, after 3 weeks sitting at their lot they were merely starting to order parts.

IMHO ..you have more of a dealer problem than a Tiffin problem. Any QUALITY dealer would have noticed the issues before they sent it out for delivery.

Dealers are paid a nice chunk of $$ to make sure they deliver a quality coach. I bet they even charged you for new vehicle prep.

[Jrodrig18]

Originally Posted by gemini5362

What lemon laws I am familiar with involve giving the manufacturer a chance to fix the problem. You usually have to have the problem repeat itself before a lemon law would kick in. For instance the poster that had problems with a door three times. If his state had lemon laws that covered the RV then that would be something I would expect to see covered. I would make sure to file a written complaint with both the dealer and the manufacturer listing every complaint you have about your coach. You also want to list the current mileage on it when you made the complaint the first time or at least the mileage when you send the written complaint. In Arkansas the I have not researched whether or not the lemon law for cars covers RV's but for cars Whatever the mileage is when you report the defect the mileage clock stops there. You pay a milage fee which I think is somewhere around 45 cents a mile but may be less up to the mileage that you reported the problem. After you report the problem the mileage fee will be based on what it was prior to that. No matter what the mileage is after you report it.

Thank Gemini, I will be sending both the letter. The coach doesn't meet the 3 times portion but it meets the more than 21 days of down time.

Let's see what happens after


Sent from my iPhone using iRV2 - RV Forum

[KJB]

Originally Posted by okgc

IMHO ..you have more of a dealer problem than a Tiffin problem.

I agree. Although it does seem strange to me that Tiffin does not have nearly as much control over their dealers as GM had over me when I was a new car dealer.

[Roger G]

I have had some experience with the lemon law in Ms. A few years ago, we purchased a new Jeep Grand Cherokee. In the first 7000 miles, the fuel pump failed five times. Each time the purchasing dealer would replace it and was billing Chrysler over $1000 each time. After the last time, I called the 1-800 number in the owners manual and asked for an arbitrator to review my case. I had all the receipts when we met him at the dealership. He was from another state and wouldn't even give his whole name , just his qualifications as a master mechanic. He heard my side and then asked the service manager his side as he was the only person representing the dealer and Chrysler. He said that each time the computer told them the vehicle had low fuel pressure and replacing it solved the problem. The arbitrator then said and I quote, " dumb***, did it not occur to you that there was a cause for the bad fuel pumps after the second one! did you think you got five bad fuel pumps in a row?" He then called the dealer owner in and told him to write me a check for the purchase price less .35 per mile. I don't remember what the number of repair attempts was required before an arbitrator would review the case, four I think, but the selling dealership and or Tiffin will have to make several attempts to repair a motorhome before you would have a case. I think Tiffin would send for the MH before they let it go that far, they put too much into their service reputation to just ignore the situation. Believe me, I know the frustration of spending $100k plus on a new coach and spend the first year back and forth to either the dealer or Tiffin, but I have resigned myself to see this through at least as long as it's under warranty. If I'm still having problems at one year, I will consider cutting my losses and trading but most of my problems where not directly related to Tiffin but to components that are used by multiple manufactures. A list of my problems;

1. Front thermostat was bad, spent a night in it with an interior temp of 46!
2. Interior LP gauge registered full all the time, ran out!
3. LP gas leak detector would alarm constantly and would not reset, the tank was empty see #2.
4. The entry door was binding, difficult to open and close, and squeaked while driving. Tiffin replaced the door with a new style door and repainted the door.
5. Upon arriving home and inspecting the door, I found that they had damaged the the surrounding wall, instead of repainting
this area, someone took black silicon sealant and smeared about a 3/4 inch wide band around the door to try and hide the scuffs. I took it back and had the door removed again and repainted the surrounding wall.
6. When they installed the door this time, I told them that the gap between the door and frame would be uniform and consistent or I would refuse it. They took me at my word, some genius decided that the door wasn't right and needed adjusted with a hammer and a screw inserted at this point. You can imagine what the aluminum door frame looks like after being struck with a hammer. He at least painted over the dents. I now have a written guarantee to replace the door again free of charge as long as I own it. The average person never would notice this but I know it's there.
7. Satellite remote transponder failed and was replaced.
8. While returning from a trip, the engine began to run hot and before I could find a place to pull off, it had gone into safety mode and would not run at much above an idol. It turn out that the bottom radiator hose clamp had never been tightened from Ford. We had driven over 1500 miles with the radiator hose clamp locked in the open position.
9. I hope there is not one!

[wa8yxm]

"IS there a lemon law for RVs" is a legal question and thus the only things I can say are:
1: Seek professional help (Speak with an attorney) and
2: This type of law varies from state to state.

You may have a case under your state's consumer protection laws and/or the uniform commercial code, but again you will need professional help. These laws can serve you wel it pays to know them.

That said Bob Tiffin gets very good reviews.. Your dealer may be slow to order parts but keep talking to Bob.. He might just surprise you and drop in on the dealer.. With his pointed toe shoes on (All the better for kicking you know what) I know of many cases where, for example, an auto dealer was motivated by the customer contacting the company.

A very funny story has a auto Exec holding a press conference, he picked a reporter at random and ask if had any complaints... Well, as a matter of fact....

By the time the press conference ended the dealer had called the reporter's wife, A porter had delivered a loaner car and picked up his car for repair and a factory engineer was en-route the dealership to supervise and assist.

Keep on Bob, he's your friend, since you are his customer.

[Tony Lee]

Originally Posted by wyorancher

Why don't you just pick up your MH from the dealer and drive it down to Tiffin? Stay there and let them fix it. I have found in the past, if all else fails, a trip to the manufacturer is well worth the trip. Don't know about Tiffin, but many manufacturers have RV facilities at the factory with full hookups. They work on the RVs during the day and tow it back for you to sleep in at night, and have waiting rooms during the day. Waiting rooms are pretty plush. We have done this with two different RVs and it is surprising how many RV friends you meet in those lounges while waiting.

Why not let the dealer do it. After all, you have paid him already to fix the manufacturers mistakes as part of his markup so why spend your own money all over again to try and end up with the quality motorhome you already paid for.

By doing this, you are saving the manufacturer the cost of having effective quality control. They rely on you to fix half the problems and that just leaves them the other half to deal with.