Why go back to Red Bay for repairs?

[MikeandClaudia]

Perhaps it would be a good idea for those Tiffin owners who have run across a very good dealership, to put together on this forum a list along with telephone numbers, addresses, ad perhaps service managers, so that new owners could benefit from their knowledge.

I realize that opinions and experiences differ, but anything is better than a "poke in the eye" .

[Z714X4]

Originally Posted by bbott

I agree that minor repairs my husband can do also. However sitting around at home waiting for a part that you ordered is not an option for us as we full time. So that waiting around that you did in your home, which I'm sure was a few days, was good for you but for us it would be waiting around a repair shop for those few days sitting and waiting for that part. Not the same.

Wow, I think you missed the point of my post.
I'm very happy to hear that you and your husband are close to Red Bay and can choose to go there when necessary. Unfortunately, and geographically, some of us cannot go there and have no choice but to take it somewhere else and/or wait on parts to arrive, no matter where we happen to be.
I wasn't flaming anyone for going to Red Bay, simply saying that everyone's situation is different and there are other options that don't involve traveling to Red Bay. It is simply not possible or necessary for a lot of people.

Originally Posted by bbott

When you find a motor home that doesn't need repairs, please let us all know.

I found it... MINE!! jk
I never said mine was perfect, I said "the only problems I had were easily fix(ed) by me". So while I still had problems, they were not severe enough to warrant going to a repair shop.
Also, I did not "invest in that company", I bought a depreciating asset from a dealer that was made by that company. The only investment made by me was in my family!!

I'm sorry you did not have the same experience with your coach as I did. I hope you work out the bugs and are able to enjoy it.
Good luck to you!!

[Pa Uon]

Mike and Claudia-- Great idea. I started one on service, but forgot to add phone number. I will do that. Do you think that is a good place for dealers as well, or should should their be a separate one?

[Pa Uon]

I added this info to both places in case everyone wants to put it here.

Coach Masters info is:

Coach Masters of Bend Inc.
20472 Brandis Ct.
Bend, OR 97701
Phone 541-330-6863
Fax 541-330-6883
Web site Home
E-mail coachmasters@bendcable.com

[Crasher]

[QUOTE=bbott;1999998]I see you have a Tiffin and that you are in Arizona. I'm glad that you have a local service center that you trust. Not everyone can say that.

Yes we are in AZ now until the end of the month and then we head back to our home in WI. We are lucky to have LaMesa in Tucson to take care of our needs here. I have never bought a coach from them, but they treat me as though I have. In WI, we have Kings Campers, who we have purchased three Tiffins from. Both are 45 miles from our homes. We use the MH to travel back and forth plus several side trips. We only put about 10-12,000 miles per year on it. I have it serviced and checked each summer at a shop 1.5 miles from our home. Because we are not full timing, it is easy to just drop it off when we don't need it and pick it up when done. So far we have not had anything that has disrupted our travel plans. We feel that is due in large part to the excellent pre-delivery prep Kings does.

I guess we have the best of both worlds. A great motorhome and two dealers/service centers that keep us on the road.

[bbott]

Originally Posted by Z714X4

Wow, I think you missed the point of my post.
I'm very happy to hear that you and your husband are close to Red Bay and can choose to go there when necessary. Unfortunately, and geographically, some of us cannot go there and have no choice but to take it somewhere else and/or wait on parts to arrive, no matter where we happen to be.
I wasn't flaming anyone for going to Red Bay, simply saying that everyone's situation is different and there are other options that don't involve traveling to Red Bay. It is simply not possible or necessary for a lot of people.


I found it... MINE!! jk
I never said mine was perfect, I said "the only problems I had were easily fix(ed) by me". So while I still had problems, they were not severe enough to warrant going to a repair shop.
Also, I did not "invest in that company", I bought a depreciating asset from a dealer that was made by that company. The only investment made by me was in my family!!

I'm sorry you did not have the same experience with your coach as I did. I hope you work out the bugs and are able to enjoy it.
Good luck to you!!

"I never said mine was perfect, I said "the only problems I had were easily fix(ed) by me". So while I still had problems, they were not severe enough to warrant going to a repair shop"

While I agree that no motor coach is perfect, my point being that right now, and I'm not alone in this assumption, is that something different seems to be happening to the current motor homes that are being produced right now at Tiffin. We have been here since January watching our motor home from day one of it's build. When it was done we followed it up to Davis Motor Home Mart in Memphis, TN (a very popular and well known dealership), just 142 miles away. Check engine light came on for driver. Not something that we can fix ourselves. Not something that we wanted to wait over a week to just get looked at at the local Cummins dealership. Tiffin, just 142 miles away, said to bring it back. So we did. We've had lots of problems with this new coach. Nothing that Tiffin has not been able to fix however. It's just frustrating when you purchase a new motor home and you have to get it fixed already. That's all I'm saying.

I'm glad that you have the two repair shops that you trust to take your coach and fix it right. I was just saying, like you said to, that everyone's situation is different and not everyone has that.

Safe Travels to your home in Wisconsin!

"Also, I did not "invest in that company", I bought a depreciating asset from a dealer that was made by that company. The only investment made by me was in my family!!"

I agree that we all "invest" in our family and should. However whenever we buy anything, we do invest in that company. Maybe not in the traditional sense but in a realistic sense. Our wallets do the talking and if we did not buy from a particular company, that company would go under and not exist. So yes, we all do invest in a company when we buy something. You know the old saying, "Vote with your wallet". That's all I'm trying to say.

We are enjoying the coach. We're just frustrated that we're stuck here in Red Bay because we have a failed fan clutch, our 3rd so far on this coach, with 510 miles on it. A design flaw to say the least. Tiffin is currently testing a new fan and fan clutch and we will be one of the first to get the new equipment. So here we sit in wait. I look at it this way, at least we are here and not stuck somewhere on the road and had to be towed somewhere. So their is that

I totally did not take your post as flaming people going to Red Bay. I was merely trying to state that not everyone has a reputable repair shop that they trust or have a home that they can go to and just drop off their coach. That's all.

[RKNOLA]

Hello all Tiffin People,
You are not alone! Our Thor Palazzo needed slide repairs, dropped it off at dealership. Dealership blamed all delays on Thor. When I called Thor, I found out the dealership had not even called for repair authorizations much less ordered any parts! That dealership had our coach for 6 weeks and not only did they NOT fix our slide problems properly but we found out they charged Thor for repairs that they had not even done!!
We contacted Thor and made arrangements to get our coach back to the factory in Elkhart, Indiana. (Yes during all those snow storms!!). But long story short, the repairs with Thor only took 3 weeks total. That is drive time there, drive time back and all repairs! 2088.2 miles round trip BUT the repairs were done correctly!
Yes, taking your coach back to the factory is a pain, but it cuts out the middleman!! The dealerships are making money off of these "warrenty" repairs and not doing the repairs properly!! Then to add insult to injury, they blame all delays or incorrect repairs on the factory!!
I guess my advice to any other RVer would be: call the factory and talk to them first. Sometimes the factory is more willing to accomodate their owners than the dealerships can or will. (i.e.: offers of hotel rooms, rental cars, shuttle service, etc.). The manufacturers have more to lose than the dealerships do. So, give your manufacturer a call and ask, what have you got to lose??
Oh and by the way, when our coach had to go back to Elkhart, Indiana for slide repairs, Thor paid for a shipping company to send a driver to our house and drive our coach from our house in Louisiana all the way to Elkhart,In for repairs then had a driver drive our coach all the way back to our driveway in Louisiana after the repairs were finished. Yes, we have an additional 2800.2 miles on our coach, but our problems were fixed and we can once again enjoy using our coach!

[edgray]

Originally Posted by RKNOLA

Hello all Tiffin People,
You are not alone! Our Thor Palazzo needed slide repairs, dropped it off at dealership. Dealership blamed all delays on Thor. When I called Thor, I found out the dealership had not even called for repair authorizations much less ordered any parts! That dealership had our coach for 6 weeks and not only did they NOT fix our slide problems properly but we found out they charged Thor for repairs that they had not even done!!
We contacted Thor and made arrangements to get our coach back to the factory in Elkhart, Indiana..................... 2088.2 miles round trip BUT the repairs were done correctly!........Oh and by the way, when our coach had to go back to Elkhart, Indiana for slide repairs, Thor paid for a shipping company to send a driver to our house and drive our coach from our house in Louisiana all the way to Elkhart,In for repairs then had a driver drive our coach all the way back to our driveway in Louisiana after the repairs were finished. Yes, we have an additional 2800.2 miles on our coach, but our problems were fixed and we can once again enjoy using our coach!

I'm VERY happy to learn THOR took such good care of you and repaired your new coach under warranty. I'm assuming they also paid for the fuel, in addition to saving YOU all that driving. I hope we continue to hear more stories like yours, because that would indicate the manufacturers are "owning" their mistakes and doing everything they can to satisfy their owners. I hope you remain happy with the repairs and enjoy your coach.

Unless you signed some sort of confidentiality agreement, why not post the name of the lousy dealer? Seems to me they need to be exposed. Ed

[caninecop]

Originally Posted by Pa Uon

caninecop,

That is a great suggestion on this thread ! Should we start another on shops where people have had good/ bad service on their Tiffins?

Which shop have you used?

I live in Southeast AZ the shops I use for repair, anything above the chassis I use D&J on Hwy 92 in Sierra Vista and anything else I use Freightliner on Tennessee St in Tucson.

[Sammie]

We are enjoying the coach. We're just frustrated that we're stuck here in Red Bay because we have a failed fan clutch, our 3rd so far on this coach, with 510 miles on it. A design flaw to say the least. Tiffin is currently testing a new fan and fan clutch and we will be one of the first to get the new equipment. So here we sit in wait. I look at it this way, at least we are here and not stuck somewhere on the road and had to be towed somewhere. So their is that


Brenda, Would you please keep us posted on the fan clutch and how the new one (once installed) works out. I am considering ordering a new 2015 Bus 37AP and would like to make sure this problem has been addressed before purchasing.

Thank You,
Sammie

[papaw1]

Does this problem involve buses other than the 45'?

[itgeekgal]

Two thumbs up for the Cummins Service Center in West Sacramento, CA for those of you who have chassis issues and don't want to head east. They did a great job for us, charged a reasonable price & even offered to let us stay at their facility overnight when passing through the Sacramento area.

[RKNOLA]

Originally Posted by edgray

I'm VERY happy to learn THOR took such good care of you and repaired your new coach under warranty. I'm assuming they also paid for the fuel, in addition to saving YOU all that driving. I hope we continue to hear more stories like yours, because that would indicate the manufacturers are "owning" their mistakes and doing everything they can to satisfy their owners. I hope you remain happy with the repairs and enjoy your coach.

Unless you signed some sort of confidentiality agreement, why not post the name of the lousy dealer? Seems to me they need to be exposed. Ed

The work was done at Berryland Campers in Ponchatoula, Louisiana. We also got the "you didn't buy the coach here" treatment! We bought the coach at Johnny Bishop RV in Columbus, Mississippi. They probably would have helped us with a repair, but they are 4.5 hrs away so that is why we opted for Berryland since they are 1 hr. away.
Yes, Thor has been good to us, but I still wish the Allegro 33AA had been available when we bought the Thor Palazzo. My husband's brother has a 04 Allegro Bus, he bought it used and other than a couple of headlight issues he hasn't really had any problems with it. Oh well, hindsight is 20/20!!
When you start feeling blue because you have issues with your coach, take a gander at the threads about the Thor Palazzo. You will feel much better!!

[bbott]

Originally Posted by itgeekgal

Two thumbs up for the Cummins Service Center in West Sacramento, CA for those of you who have chassis issues and don't want to head east. They did a great job for us, charged a reasonable price & even offered to let us stay at their facility overnight when passing through the Sacramento area.

Good to know. Thanks for putting this out there. We'll have to mark them on our Cummins book as a good place to stop.