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jondrew55 · 01-15-2016, 07:30 AM

While looking into extended warrantys on the new coach I'm about to buy I found out something very interesting regarding the existing warranty that I assumed would just transfer to me as the second owner. I knew the Fleetwood warranty had expired back in June of 2015, but I assumed the Freigtliner and Cummins warranties would be transferable. I decided to call Freightliner to confirm this and see how much was left on the vehicle. When I gave the guy the VIN of my chassis, he told me that the original owner had never registered the vehicle with Freightliner, therefor it was not active and could not be transferred to a second owner. So according to him, somehow we need to get the original owner to go back and register the vehicle with FL before I buy it.

This was quite a shock as I "assumed" that this is something the dealer you buy the vehicle from is responsible for. I know I never registered my current coach with Fleetwood, Freightliner or anyone else. The fellow at FL said this is a very common issue and they see it all the time.

I called the dealer I'm about to buy the new Discovery from and told him they need to get this taken care of immediately as its a deal breaker as far as I'm concerned.

Anyone else ever experience something like this?

jondrew55 · 01-15-2016, 08:23 AM

Well maybe I solved the problem. I called Freightliner and they gave me the number of the original Dealer in Michigan (General RV). I spoke to Morgan and explained the problem. She looked up the VIN and said she'd call me back. Within 30 minutes she had found the original paperwork and said she had emailed the information back to Freigtliner and I could expect the warranty to be activated within 24 hours. I called Freightliner again and they said to call back later in the day (since the office is in Oregon) and I should expect to be able to confirm the warranty being activated by then.

So hats off to Morgan at General RV and FL. Very responsive and helpful.

And a word of caution to anyone buying a used coach that the think still has remaining warranty. Call the coach manufacturer, the chassis manufacturer and the engine manufacturer to confirm an existing warranty is in effect and transferable.

Gary RVRoamer · 01-17-2016, 09:14 AM

Normally the selling dealer would register the warranty, with both the RV maker and the chassis builder. But some are lax and don't bother, and sometimes it just gets forgotten, so it's always wise to check when buying, new or used.

I've not actually heard of a warranty denial because of this, but the factory will assume the chassis build date is the "in service" date unless the original dealer registers the sale date as start of warranty. Maybe Freightliner has a policy about this now and would actually deny a claim? But you no longer have to worry about that.

**CLIFFTALL** · 01-17-2016, 09:29 AM

There may be some warranted items that are not transferable. They usually state this in their manual.

jondrew55 · 01-17-2016, 10:01 AM

I'd be very suprised if FL denied a claim if this happened. But now that I know about it, it's going to get resolved before I sign on the line otherwise I have zero leverage. Especially since I'm probably not going to do an extended warranty.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary RVRoamer

Normally the selling dealer would register the warranty, with both the RV maker and the chassis builder. But some are lax and don't bother, and sometimes it just gets forgotten, so it's always wise to check when buying, new or used.

I've not actually heard of a warranty denial because of this, but the factory will assume the chassis build date is the "in service" date unless the original dealer registers the sale date as start of warranty. Maybe Freightliner has a policy about this now and would actually deny a claim? But you no longer have to worry about that.