Community Forums

Lault · 02-09-2012, 05:59 PM

I have had close to 80 write ups on my 11 Phaeton and I was in Red Bay once and it was not that great. I have been to Lazy Days for the rest of my repairs. Much better in Tampa than RB. Work is getting done correctly, just a heck of a lot of it. But man does this thing have problems. The Freightliner chassis has been great.

P&GD · 02-10-2012, 07:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lault

I have had close to 80 write ups on my 11 Phaeton and I was in Red Bay once and it was not that great. I have been to Lazy Days for the rest of my repairs. Much better in Tampa than RB. Work is getting done correctly, just a heck of a lot of it. But man does this thing have problems. The Freightliner chassis has been great.

Yikes! Sounds like you've had your share of problems with that coach. We have a deposit down on a 2011 Phaeton. We will be moving over from Newmar so I've been watching this forum closely. Haven't seen anything close to the number of issues you are experiencing. Glad to hear that things are getting addressed to your satisfaction -- that's important. I'm presuming, based on your message, there haven't been any problems with Tiffin standing behind the warranty, right?

bigdomino · 02-10-2012, 07:58 AM

We had a new Phaeton on order too. Have been considering going with Newmar or Winn. Tour. I wish that Tiffin was not having all of these issues.

Steve

anotherone · 02-10-2012, 08:07 AM

Damn ; wished I bought a tiffin instead of this thor nightmare. Driving to Alabama would be a vacation for me. At least Tiffin talks to their customers instead of blowing them off.
The service mgr where my serrano is being worked on said a Tiffin came in because the factory told them go to the nearest rv repair facility for an immediate repair. This facility is not Tiffin authorized so he called Tiffin about doing the repair. He got Mr Tiffin who gave him a credit card number and said get it done. No hassel no problem no issues. Hello thor take note!!!!!!!!!!!

Sumar · 02-10-2012, 09:20 PM

In regards to the wi fi in the waiting room.. Yes it's there. You see many with their computers or iPads but geez is it slow!

FLSteve · 02-11-2012, 06:43 AM

Sumar ... Alvin can give everybody a "live report" as he is there right now!

Steve

OSP1268 · 02-11-2012, 06:58 AM

I would have to say that we have been very lucky with our motor home.
We have been to Lazy Dayz once for a very minor warranty repair and that was a so-so experience.
We have not had any reason to go to Red Bay as the coach performs just as it should.
If we were to have a problem, living where we do, I believe I would try and go to Land Yachts Inc. in Jupiter, FL. It's not that much difference in distance between Seffner and Jupiter from where we live. I've only heard very good reports about them and they are an authorized Tiffin repair facility.

fujii103 · 02-11-2012, 12:59 PM

We just left Red Bay after a 9 day stay.
Service there is absolutly great. They really care that you leave there
totally satisified with what they did.
Campground is great and the friendlyness is unbelieveable.
The best service of all manufacturers I am sure.
Fujii (Dave Fougere)

bigdomino · 02-11-2012, 03:21 PM

I am wondering why you had to be there 9 days? Many items to fix?

Steve

woodburner · 02-11-2012, 03:32 PM

I keep reading people with all these issues that have to go back to Red Bay but few offer any detail as to why they HAVE TO go to Red Bay to get things right. Or What are some of these issues?
I will be picking up our New Open Road next week and am becoming very concerned.
9 day stay? 80+ issues? Geezzz

And I've read the campground there is usually full with folks needing service.
That's nuts!

La-Z-Boy · 02-11-2012, 03:45 PM

I just sold my Phaeton and only live 25 minutes away from Red Bay.
In defense of the service folks there... The service dept is only busy n backed up twice a year. Once when the snowbirds head to south and once when they head back up north. Over 200 sites fill up only twice a year. If you choose to go during those times, I'm sure your visit to Red Bay would be longer. Otherwise, they do a fantastic job, quickly and thoroughly. In fact they work on other coaches besides their own. Very qualified and professional.
Jeff

buck62 · 02-11-2012, 04:07 PM

My neighbor has a 2011 Phaeton and is really disappointed in the quality compared to his Beaver that he traded in for the Phaeton. He had a list of problems that was fixed at Red Bay then the slide seals came off the slides on two slides and his converter/inverter quit working and had to be removed and repaired. We were in Florida when the slide seal issue and converter/inverter issues came up. He was going to have Lazy Days do the warranty repairs since we were in Sarasota Fl. but, Tiffin asked him to come back to Red Bay for the repairs supposely because they had the slide seals in stock. Turned out the slide seals had rusted out on the metal portion and Tiffin said they were aware of this and blame a bad batch of slide seals. I have gone over his motorhome looking at fit and finish and I do not see any thing in workmanship that is above a similar model in a Winnie, Newmar or even the Fleetwood Discovery models. I can understand Tiffin wanting to do all their repair work at Red Bay instead of some place like Lazy Days when you compare the labor rates between the two. Lazy Days is around $125+ an hour and Red Bay is probably a fourth of that rate. Big cost savings to have customers bring it back to the factory. If I found a tiffin product that I liked with the floor plan that I wanted I would not rule them out, but also I would place other brands like Winnie, Newmar, ect at the top of my list if the same floor plan and options were available.

edgray · 02-11-2012, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by woodburner

..............I will be picking up our New Open Road next week and am becoming very concerned.
9 day stay? 80+ issues? Geezzz

And I've read the campground there is usually full with folks needing service.
That's nuts!

woodburner: Congrats on your new Allegro! I hope you find it is all you hope it to be. Regarding the Tiffin service-related "campground", IMO there are several reasons it is so "popular", but none of them have anything to do with the view or the local restaurants.

1. Their reputation for fixing things correctly and at little or no cost even for coaches LONG out-of-warranty is legendary.
2. Many Tiffin owners don't wait until they can get an appointment, rather they just go sit there until they can be "worked in" to a service bay. I think the charge is only $10.00 per night for non-warranty waiting, and you are there with other like-minded Tiffin owners.
3. The complexity built into today's coaches is beyond the capability of many dealer techs, and parts will most likely have to be ordered from the factory anyway. Also, the factory techs see almost every problem on a regular basis, whereas a dealer tech may have " never heard of that before" and need to spend considerable time just figuring out what needs to be replaced. Every time I've been there, I've been amazed at the numbers of beautiful "almost new" looking coaches with license plates from practically every state, and Canada too!
4. Considering that the Phaeton & Allegro Bus have been the two top selling DP models for several years now, just the shear volumne of Tiffin coaches on the road would keep a large service facility busy most of the time. If I owned a Tiffin, that is where I would go, but then it is only a one day drive for me.

fujii103 · 02-11-2012, 07:07 PM

9 Days at Red Bay.....we had a list of a dozen things to have done. One was the Diamond Shield. When it was removed some paint came off. 4 of our nine days were watching the new paint dry before the shield could be replaced.
Dave Fougere