Excel 2-Year Bumper to Hitch Warranty

[ChiefJohn]

PI has changed their industry leading 2-Year bumper to hitch warranty that, IMO, was a major selling point for their fifth-wheels. Effective with 2010 models, new owners may (or not) have noticed an addendum in their Owner's Manual that states:

This warranty does not cover:
"Equipment and appliances such as tires, brakes, axels, water heater, water pump furnace stove power jacks generator, refrigerator, microwave, air conditioner, electronic equipment, power converter, step, ect. Which are warranted directly by their respective manufactures. Copies of these written warranties are provided to the owner by the selling dealer at the time of the retail sale."

[Jim & Bona]

Sorry to hear this change in policy. The old bumper to hitch (all inclusive) as previously administered by PI was painless. There was one point of contact (Jack) and never an argument as to warranty coverage. I doubt the process will work that well hereafter.

Let's hope that this isn't a harbinger of further cost reductions at PI which might adversely affect customer satisfaction.

[ChiefJohn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim & Bona Sorry to hear this change in policy. The old bumper to hitch (all inclusive) as previously administered by PI was painless. There was one point of contact (Jack) and never an argument as to warranty coverage. I doubt the process will work that well hereafter. Let's hope that this isn't a harbinger of further cost reductions at PI which might adversely affect customer satisfaction.

Agree on all points! I'm disappointed that management did not post this and any other changes impacting customer service on this forum. I thought we were 'family'??

[LindaH]

IMO, that's actually not that big a change.

The Warranty card we received with our 2007 Excel says, in part:

"Component parts purchased by Peterson Industries, Inc. are covered under separate manufacturers' warranty specific to the item. If a component purchased is not warranted by its manufacturer for two full years, Peterson Industries, Inc. will warrant the item under our "Bumper to Hitch" two year "Total Trust" warranty."

Many of the items mentioned above, such as the refrigerator, water heater, stove, microwave, and axles, already have warranties from their individual manufacturers of 2 years or more. So the only thing this would affect are those items whose individual manufacturers have less than 2-year warranties.

From an economic standpoint, I can understand why Excel would make this decision. After all, do you really expect them to warranty tires for two years?

[ChiefJohn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LindaH IMO, that's actually not that big a change. The Warranty card we received with our 2007 Excel says, in part: "Component parts purchased by Peterson Industries, Inc. are covered under separate manufacturers' warranty specific to the item. If a component purchased is not warranted by its manufacturer for two full years, Peterson Industries, Inc. will warrant the item under our "Bumper to Hitch" two year "Total Trust" warranty." Many of the items mentioned above, such as the refrigerator, water heater, stove, microwave, and axles, already have warranties from their individual manufacturers of 2 years or more. So the only thing this would affect are those items whose individual manufacturers have less than 2-year warranties. From an economic standpoint, I can understand why Excel would make this decision. After all, do you really expect them to warranty tires for two years?

Linda,
Understand -- PI was noted for their "bumper to hitch" 2-year all inclusive warranty where the owner did not have to deal with individual component manufacturers. I don't know how you draw a nexus to 'tires' as an example.

[ExcelRVGuy]

Hold on a moment....

Before everyone gets all excited that the sky as we know it is falling in, why not give us a chance to show you that we're still all on the same team here and that we haven't stopped caring about you as family members.

There have been very few instances in the past 30 years I've been with this organization that we have let a customer down who has a problem. I don't think we're going to start stepping down now.

These have been unprecidented times for our industry. As I see it, a small change in our warranty program is a fair trade off for us not going the way of Teton, King of the Road, Alpha, NuWa, etc.

Things are gradually improving by the way. We currently have orders through mid February and are trying to gradually increase production in a very controlled mannor.

We appreciate each of you and will keep doing our best to take good care of you.

bryan

[greg0rn]

As a potential future owner of Excel trailer I did not get too uptight about the announcement. Our present Citation Supreme 5th wheel came with the whole bunch of individual warranties on just about every single component, including 12 (twelve) years warranty on the roof membrane!

We did not have to use any of those yet, after 5 years and at least 30,000 miles of travelling. Surely, I had to replace gears for the slideout motor, tires (happy to have XPS Ribs instead of Goodyear Marathons), and batteries, but other components still perform well.

My main concern will be the integrity of underbody, frame, walls and roof areas with good calking and ss fasteners. Truly, I will not care about Peterson's hitch to bumper 2 year warranty as long as those main elements perform well.

[BDunlap]

Bryan,

Thanks for your support. As a soon to be new Excel owner I want to thank you and all the wonderful people at PI for making a great trailer.

Bill Dunlap
Mammoth Lakes, CA

[LindaH]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChiefJohn Linda, I don't know how you draw a nexus to 'tires' as an example.

Because YOU mentioned tires in your first post!

"This warranty does not cover:
"Equipment and appliances such as tires, ..."

[BookIIRoadtrash]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChiefJohn Agree on all points! I'm disappointed that management did not post this and any other changes impacting customer service on this forum. I thought we were 'family'??

I hope this doesn't divide the family.

[davydee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LindaH IMO, that's actually not that big a change. The Warranty card we received with our 2007 Excel says, in part: "Component parts purchased by Peterson Industries, Inc. are covered under separate manufacturers' warranty specific to the item. If a component purchased is not warranted by its manufacturer for two full years, Peterson Industries, Inc. will warrant the item under our "Bumper to Hitch" two year "Total Trust" warranty." Many of the items mentioned above, such as the refrigerator, water heater, stove, microwave, and axles, already have warranties from their individual manufacturers of 2 years or more. So the only thing this would affect are those items whose individual manufacturers have less than 2-year warranties. From an economic standpoint, I can understand why Excel would make this decision.

I've noted across a few other forums that other manufacturers are considering this if they having started already. I'm use to it as we owned an orphan TT for the previous couple of years. I get the sense that manufacturers are experienced issues when dealing with appliance manufacturers who are not "honoring" their warranties. However, we recently had good success with going directly to an appliance manufacturer.

Our vacuum cleaner died in October. I took it to the local RV tech when my simple plugging and unplugging of the vacuum didn't work. Sort of a restart / reboot, if you will. After checking the wiring, the local RV tech call Red Devil, they gave him more trouble shooing to do, and he found that the circuit board was bad. Red Devil sent a replacement circuit board and paid for the labor. However, this positive experience is an exception in my dealings with most appliance manufacturers.

Bryan, I understand your position. However, many of us are use to the experience we recieve when having a vehicle repaired. The satellite radio in our tow vehicle died over the summer. I dealt completely with Ford in getting that radio repaired. I didn't have to talk to Panasonic at all. Us users have come to expect that as the norm. Our natural tendency is to expect that from the RV industry as well. This expectation includes those appliance manufactureres. As you talk to them, please remind them of the RV user's expectations. It's bad enough that you had to deal with (and correct) my issues over the summer as we were receiving incorrect diagnostics from an RV tech (that cost you time and money). But neither the RVer or any RV manufacturer should have to put up with poor response by the appliance manufacturers.

David

[ExcelRVGuy]

Davydee,

Thank you for your concern. My assumption is that when your satellite radio broke down in your Ford, you did not call Ford Motor Company about your radio. Instead, you took it to your local dealership and they took care of the repairs for you.

It works the same way with your Excel. If your radio breaks, you should take it back to your Excel dealer, and between your dealer and Peterson Industries, we will make you whole again. Most of the warranty change will have a greater effect on your dealer and P.I. than it will on you.

I hope that makes sense.

Thank you,
Bryan

[davydee]

Good point, Bryan - I did go to a dealer vice directly to Ford. Missed that completely. David

[bigmichael]

[QUOTE=ExcelRVGuy;580715]Davydee,

Thank you for your concern. My assumption is that when your satellite radio broke down in your Ford, you did not call Ford Motor Company about your radio. Instead, you took it to your local dealership and they took care of the repairs for you.

It works the same way with your Excel. If your radio breaks, you should take it back to your Excel dealer, and between your dealer and Peterson Industries, we will make you whole again. Most of the warranty change will have a greater effect on your dealer and P.I. than it will on you.

I hope that makes sense.

Thank you,

I guess I'm now a little lost as to what in fact the change in the warranty is or isn't.

When this thread first began, I was under the impression that the two year bumper to bumper warranty would no longer be covered by PI if the equipment, appliance, whatever, carried its own warranty supplied by the manufacturer of that particular product. Thus, if a non-PI component in my rig acted up, and was covered by that manufactures warranty, I would deal with that manufacturer. If that manufacturers warranty was less than 2 years, than the two year PI bumper to bumper warranty would no longer apply, rather, whatever the manufacturer's warranty was.

As an example, for my "08", some but not all of the items that would be less than the two years had this change been in effect then, would include the ceiling fan (1 year) Fiberglass sidewalls (1 year) LP gas system regulator (1 year) Monitor panel (1 year) Home Theater system (1 year) Sink and Vanity (1 year) and so on.

So the reply on the Ford example has me thinking I may not have understood this change from the get go. My Ford has a 3year/36000 mile bumper to bumper warranty (and then of course a longer warranty on the engine) But in any case, anything that occurs during that first 3/36, regardless of who made the component (tires and regular wear items perhaps the exception) are fixed by Ford. But if I understand the change, this will not be the case with the new Excel warranty. It will be covered only for the period that the manufacture warranties it for.

The other most obvious concern I would have is the expectation of going back "to my Excel dealer". While we had an Excel dealer within about 100 miles of our stix and brix, which is where we bought the rig, we then went full-time. We are now in situations lots of times where we don't have an Excel dealer anywhere near even 100 miles to us.

Again sticking with the Ford example--we need to work to find a town that doesn't have at least one Ford dealer that can fix any problem on my truck under the 3/36 warranty.

So have I totally misunderstood what the change is for the future, that it is no longer a total 2 year bumper to bumper and how a requirement to deal with various manufacturers will affect full timers in particular?

Please set me straight if I have this all screwed up.

Thanks