Community Forums

coachmanrvr · 01-19-2014, 06:40 PM

I'm still a fan, but man motorhome ownership is a challenge with issues all the time. We have over 25K on our 2013 QBA and she's had her share of problems. I should really shut up about this, I've been allowed and able to fix everyone of these without a trip to the dealer or the mothership. Most under warranty but now that's done. I still can't get over the hydraulic pump repair. I was more than happy to do that one myself. I don't want anyone trying to solder 20+ wires on my coach.

anotherone · 01-19-2014, 07:57 PM

Tiffin should be embarrassed.

coachmanrvr · 01-19-2014, 08:04 PM

I'd agree with the grounding issue on the hydraulic pump as well as the poor engineering on the kitchen slide out issues....the others are manufacturer issues that I'm not sure Tiffin could do anything about.

gemini5362 · 01-19-2014, 09:35 PM

I am totally amazed. You spent all of the money on a new Motor Home and then you did all of the work yourself. There are several reasons why I would not do that with the first one being that I paid a lot of money to not have to.
The second being that the instant you started working on it any are a that you touched immediately went out of warranty if they want to push that issue. If one of your soldering jobs should have problems. I am not saying you do not have skills soldering I am just saying if something happened and a fire started you might have an inssue with the insurance company. I am sure Tiffin appreciated all of the free labor you donated them. I personally would not and do not do any warranty repairs. If it is an emergency and something I can do I will do it in order to get to a repair facility if necessary but it would have to be an emergency for me to do that.

I am curious how you wired the front shades so they would not have to have a key on. If you are talking about the shades over the front window it is my understanding that they are made with a safety feature. If the key is in the on position they will not lower all the way down in order to keep them from accidentally being lowered all the way down while driving. Did you bypass that ?

coachmanrvr · 01-20-2014, 06:05 AM

Days with my coach sitting in the shop...zero.

The added benefit is I feel I know a good bit about how these things are put together. With that said, she probably found out I typed this and is ready to blow her flux capacitor on the next outing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gemini5362

I am totally amazed. You spent all of the money on a new Motor Home and then you did all of the work yourself. There are several reasons why I would not do that with the first one being that I paid a lot of money to not have to.
The second being that the instant you started working on it any are a that you touched immediately went out of warranty if they want to push that issue. If one of your soldering jobs should have problems. I am not saying you do not have skills soldering I am just saying if something happened and a fire started you might have an inssue with the insurance company. I am sure Tiffin appreciated all of the free labor you donated them. I personally would not and do not do any warranty repairs. If it is an emergency and something I can do I will do it in order to get to a repair facility if necessary but it would have to be an emergency for me to do that.

I am curious how you wired the front shades so they would not have to have a key on. If you are talking about the shades over the front window it is my understanding that they are made with a safety feature. If the key is in the on position they will not lower all the way down in order to keep them from accidentally being lowered all the way down while driving. Did you bypass that ?

johnboy99 · 01-20-2014, 01:33 PM

And when your in the middle of No-Where and something quits I don't think he will have an issue, he will fix it,
Others will run to the dealer and cry, cry, cry and complain about the bad service...
Fix it if you can...

Clayobx · 01-20-2014, 01:36 PM

Yikes!!

anotherone · 01-20-2014, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnboy99

And when your in the middle of No-Where and something quits I don't think he will have an issue, he will fix it,
Others will run to the dealer and cry, cry, cry and complain about the bad service...
Fix it if you can...

Of course ; this is exactly correct. If a screw falls out on the dash of your car you dont run to the dealer and whine about quality control ; you put it back in and go about your business.

gemini5362 · 01-23-2014, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnboy99

And when your in the middle of No-Where and something quits I don't think he will have an issue, he will fix it,
Others will run to the dealer and cry, cry, cry and complain about the bad service...
Fix it if you can...

So if you are in the middle of nowhere and you need parts to fix it how will you do that. Whether you can fix it or not sometimes you still need parts. I can fix most of the things that do not need parts on my coach also. IF he would rather spend his time working on it rather than waiting for it to get fixed I understand that. I just think for the hundreds of thousands of dollars he spent that is why he has a warranty

The second problem I see is voiding the warranty. I bought a new buick enclave as a tow vehicle. Because the buick has to have two fuses pulled when you tow it I made a small circuit board with two relays. When you hook up the wiring from the bus for the tow lights it has a 12 volt switched power in that wiring. The 12 volts activate the relays which remove the fuses from the circuit. When you turn off the key in the bus or remove the connection cable the relays drop out and put the fuses back in circuit. Very simple and does nothing but automatically take the fuses out of the circuit. at 12,000 miles they had to replace all the front brake discs and right side caliper and rotor. First question I was asked was what did that board do. I told them then had to show them how it was hooked up. While they were waiting for parts I got a call telling me engineering had called and wanted to know how I had hooked up the brake lights since the enclave has computer controlled brake lights. I pointed out that I made a bar with two brake/trailer lights to fit in the receiver hitch and it was wired separately from the car. I did not use the cars lights at all when towing. They replaced the parts 8000 miles later we had to replace the back rotors, calipers and disks same exact questions except this time I had gotten smart and took the relays off before taking it into the dealer. They saw the wire going to the battery for recharging that and wanted to know what it was for. I explained it to them and told them it did not connect to any wiring just the positive battery cable. Again the questions about how I hooked up lights for towing. The point I am making is all companies look for excuses to charge for warranty work. Doing the work yourself unless you are certified in the area of the repair will void most warranties. That is not a big deal most times but on an RV some of the repair parts can be expensive. If tiffin decides you do something that was the reason for a part failing there is a good chance they will not honor the warranty.

gemini5362 · 01-23-2014, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anotherone

Of course ; this is exactly correct. If a screw falls out on the dash of your car you dont run to the dealer and whine about quality control ; you put it back in and go about your business.

Yes, If a screw falls out you put it back in. He replaced several motors. an overtemp switch. He had a missing wire that burned up a motor and several wires. That is quite a bit more than just a screw falling out.

He never answered my question about the front blinds. From the way his post reads He might have wired around a safety function.

coachmanrvr · 01-23-2014, 11:40 AM

Didn't read close enough to see your question.

I don't know what in the world you're talking about with the safety feature thing....The front blind required the key to be on to operate. There were no limits to stop the thing, the key just had to be on to move it. I made it where we can raise it up and down without the key.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gemini5362

Yes, If a screw falls out you put it back in. He replaced several motors. an overtemp switch. He had a missing wire that burned up a motor and several wires. That is quite a bit more than just a screw falling out.

He never answered my question about the front blinds. From the way his post reads He might have wired around a safety function.

djbmsu · 01-24-2014, 06:35 PM

I will add 2 more cents to the topic. We have a new 2014 Phaeton and to take it into a dealership is 95 miles one way. I didn't buy it there so I am going to get warranty service but only when they can fit me in behind their customers and I understand that. Our outside TV stopped working after our first trip. I called Tiffin and told them I do not have any problem swapping out a TV if they would send one to me, which they did. So two hours of my time, compared to 190 miles of travel, and fuel. Wait in line perhaps one day ? two days ? until it is replaced.
Personally I am very greatful that a company like Tiffin will allow a customer that will take care of these issues and be much further ahead.
I will continue to make repairs on issues that I am comfortable with making as long as Tiffin will send me the parts to do so.
Issues I am not will be repaired at a dealership.

94-Newmar · 01-25-2014, 05:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coachmanrvr

I don't know what in the world you're talking about with the safety feature thing....The front blind required the key to be on to operate. There were no limits to stop the thing, the key just had to be on to move it. I made it where we can raise it up and down without the key.

Typically, if yours are automatic power blinds with up and down limits there are 2 different set points that the blind(s) can be lowered. One for key on, and one for key off. Obviously they are to prevent accidental deployment of the blind(s) while driving - thus making you blind.. no pun intended! With they key on they are set to only deploy about 1/4 length of full drop, key off they'll go all the way to the dash.

bruceisla · 01-25-2014, 06:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gemini5362

The second being that the instant you started working on it any are a that you touched immediately went out of warranty if they want to push that issue.

I'm not sure exactly what you mean but:

Consumers are protected under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and many additional State Laws. Typically, the repair/replacement of a component does not void the entire warranty for a product. The warranty for the component and its associated or related components might be voided if that repair/replacement was the cause of an additional failure. However, the determination is usually made by the company's Warranty Administrator and many discussions may be necessary.

To put it another way, replacement of a light bulb by the vehicle owner does not void the entire vehicle warranty. Replacement of that light bulb with some device that causes damage to an associated circuit might result in voiding the warranty for the light fixture and any associated circuitry (but not beyond).

In general, the problem with any warranty is that it is only as good as the integrity of the company providing the warranty.