Community Forums

rvguy40 · 04-22-2012, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hellojohnny

I try and stay out of posting negative posts but I believe in hearing a balance. I sold my 2009 Allegro Bus due to it being in service for over three months to fix over 100 thing's in the first eighteen months of owning it. Tiffin has had huge structural problems recently resulting in owners having to take their coach to Redbay to fix them.

Spend some time at: tiffinrvnetwork.com and learn about what is going on. Do some historical searches for : roof radius cracks, sagging roofs, wet bay rotting, overweight front axles, etc....

I think Tiffin has great customer service, they are known to back up their warranty better than anyone etc. but before deciding to buy one know the what you are possible getting into.

Adam

There are 2 kinds of RV's...those that have issues, and those that WILL....I have a 2 y/o London Aire sitting on my lot that looks like a rain forest inside and will be totalled because of the water damage and mold...all the manufacturers have issues.. it's how they HANDLE the issues is the key.

B Bob · 04-23-2012, 11:22 AM

rvguy40 - I personally know 4 people in our small local RV club that each bought motor homes from Fleetwood and National in the 2002-2003 years. They each have between 50-70,000 miles on their coaches now. There are 3 34-35' gassers and 1 35' Bounder DP (it has 70,000 on it). These are pretty simple coaches. None of the 4 has had hardly any repairs. A few but very small minor items.

Our Affinity has had problems with the fancy stuff, the fru fru. None of the really important stuff has gone wrong. We did have one roof leak though that was caulk aging and easily repaired.

My point. I think lots of motor homes have few problems.

traccan · 02-08-2013, 05:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zippo

New is ok if you can get a good discount, other wise it's like buying a new car and taking a big hit when you drive it off the lot. New is some cases means having to make several trips back the dealer to get things gone wrong fixed. Used I like best as the break in for most adjustments and repairs are over with and the money saved from buying new can easily pay for any parts a used one might require.

Our last 3 motorhomes have been Winnebago products since 1998. The first two were bought used and very few problems, what there were I bought parts and made the needed repairs. The third MH was bought new and just to many trips to the dealer for repairs during the warranty period. Winnebago trying to blame us for some of the repairs (like the rust around the bay doors and them blaming us saying we had drive on salted roads) Truth is it had never seen a salted road with us driving it. Oh then the TV had problems and Winnie, you must have driven on some very bad roads. I don't need the Winnie hassle so Tiffin is high on the list for the next one and Winne is not even on the list.

So essentially you purchased a new motorhome from a major manufacturer for what had to have been a pretty good chunk of change, and their response to you was "oh sorry... you can't drive this vehicle for approx 6 months of the year, in 3/4 of the country and all of Canada"... my response would have been "for the amount of money I'm paying out, I expect the area around the bays to be undercoated, which is effective protection against the corrosive effects of salt". Total lack of customer appreciation with that kind of comment from Winnie.

wincrasher · 02-08-2013, 06:09 AM

Well buying new and buying used are both risky. Buying any RV is a risk. You have no idea until it's too late if it's a lemon or a creampuff. Did you know that EVERY single RV was bought new? Every one of them!

Yeah, you can spot obvious damage and abuse on a used unit, but not the truly aggravating stuff. Even an inspection will only show you that stuff is working right now - not that a death of a thousand cuts is about to begin.

I do think that some people are extremely picky because they "paid so much". Granted, it's fair to have some pretty high expectations when you pay $300k+ for an RV - but I think most people's dissatisfaction is from the way they are treated, not the fact that they are having some problems. But patience, persistence and time are prerequisites in the RV game. If you don't have them, then you shouldn't really play.

I definitely prefer new over used, regardless of the brand. I think it's worth the premium paid to know that everything has been well taken care of, by me, from day one.

traccan · 02-08-2013, 08:20 AM

Wincrasher, agree with your comments whole-heartedly.

bigdomino · 02-08-2013, 09:52 AM

I have owned two Tiffin products and a Monaco. I had many problems with the Tiffin. Monaco has been a great motorhome. A year ago we went to Red Bay and stayed in their campground while we took the tour. Many wanting to know why we were there. We were considering a new Phaeton and I backed out after seeing so many problems.

I have friends that take their coach to red bay twice a year. I have one friend who spent a month in red bay fixing problems on a new Bus. Roof rails, cut out, leaks, air conditioners not working, tile cracked etc. my Monaco has been back to the factory once.

Concerning Bob, he is a nice guy. Support is great. It needs to be considering the problems. He retired once and I think the business started to go down hill. He had to come back.

The floor plans on e Winnie are great. I certainly would consider buying it.

Clayobx · 02-08-2013, 10:12 AM

Captainron, I too would read information posted on the Tiffin Owners forum as well as the Winnebago forum. All manufactures of all RV's have QC issues some more than others. Please spend some time to research the post on the Cummins power train forum and read the response and problems that Rudy is having. Title, new ISX 500 problems. Very informative, IMO.