Community Forums

Chickadee · 05-10-2011, 06:36 AM

G'mornin NEWMAR Gang!!

Well, we're now scheduled to pull in to the Spartan shop in Charlotte, Mich. on Sunday (6/12), for a general inspection and servicing appointment on our rig on Monday (6/13). They indicated we'd be able to pull into and park in their "lot" overnight Sunday so that's what we plan to do.

Anybody who's been there for service have any suggestions or advice??

Assuming no special problems are found requiring a longer stay, how many days would ya need to plan on being there for this 42 point inspection, chassi servicing, and Cummins service??

(We run a 08 EX 4502 w. 24,700 miles and 590 hours on her.)

Oh,...yeah....wife's wondering about leaving three cats in back bdrm. during time rig is in the shop. I'm wondering if I'll be able to hang around the rig during servicing in order to learn stuff and see how things are done so I might be able to do em in the future. Is this possible??

Thanks for any advice.

Steve & Lynette

Skipper 05MA · 05-10-2011, 06:43 AM

Steve, we've been there 4 or 5 times with different coaches. Parking is next to the service center...electric only. Start time is 7am. For what you listed, my experience is they can have you done in one day. In case they find anything else it may spill over. Not sure about the cats. We have a dog and remove it from the MH during service. Haven't been in the service area or seen anyone else watch but you can check with Chris who manages the center and writes you up. Hope this helps.

wa8yxm · 05-10-2011, 07:37 AM

Regarding the cats.. Wish I was close enough to lend you my kitty house.. I had to leave my Intruder in Damon's plant for 3 days (We slept in it at night but had to vacate during the day) I have a cat pen, about 4 feet by around 5 or six feet by four feet high, that fits over the dinnette.. When we first started traveling the cats were there during travel. Now they have their own hiding hole.

The bottom line was no problem.

Charlotte Mi is a great place. If you need some furnature for the house there is a company there called Charlotte Chair, My brother used to drive for them and thus supplied (Employee discount) some of the chairs and such in my parent's house.. They make funrature used in Air Force officer clubs, Executive offices and Father & Son shoe stores, among other places. Some of the best made furnature I've ever seen.

You are also just a few (relative) miles from Lansing, MI. the state capitol, There is a Flying-J in Lansing for fuel and such.. been there once (In a Mercury Tracer however)

You are also not far from Battle Creek, MI.. Home of among others Kelloggs company, And a lot of other attractions as well. I lived in Battle Creek for a number of years before moving to, and now from, Detroit.

Marshall Michigan.. Home of Schuler's (Fine Dining) Marshall Brass (RV stuff) and Progressive Dynamics (Mre RV stuff) is also nearby.. My mother did a consult for PDI once, she worked for Ronan & Kunzel (Automatic (And manual) Self closing/opening doors, and accessories, Glass basketball backbords and LOX handling and storage stuff) for many years. Only woman in the entire state to head an Accounting dept at that time.

FlyingDiver · 05-10-2011, 08:35 AM

Steve - no idea about that cats, but you can't hang around your rig while it's being serviced. Visitors are not allowed in the service area at all, unless escorted by staff. I think that would only happen if there was some problem with the coach they wanted you to see. I think this restriction was a requirement of their military contract.

Normal service as you describe will take a day or a little less. Last time we had to stay an extra night because they had to change out some suspension parts (tie-rod ends), and they couldn't get that done and do the alignment needed all in one day. We were on the road about 11am the next day.

joe

FlyingDiver · 05-10-2011, 08:38 AM

If you want to learn how to do stuff, they're having several service week events this summer.

2011 Spartan Chassis Owner Training - RegOnline

Looks like the only one with room still available is Aug 22-25.

joe

GaryKD · 05-10-2011, 10:50 AM

Hi Chickadee,
Last I knew no pets in the coach while its' being serviced. Be very careful when backing into a spot. They have large concrete posts guarding the power pedestal. Watch your slides and the concrete pedestal post. Each pedestal has one 50 and one 30 AMP plug. First in gets the 50 AMP plug. Customers are not allowed in the service area. Watch your wallet. The inside sales manager will squeeze every $ out of you he can. If you are waiting in the customer lounge, watch him do his squeezing on other customers. And they will smile while being squeezed.

There are some very good (comfort food) places to eat in downtown Charlotte. Other than that there is nothing to do in the area.

Iron Man · 05-10-2011, 01:00 PM

Last year we left the cats in a kennel in the bedroom. I don't know any reason the tech will need to get into the bedroom. If you have not, get yur coach weighed. If you have weight issues they can be addressed then. I think weighing is $40.00 and they will weigh at each wheel. Do not let them add air to your tires, do it yourself. I think it was $10.00 a tire. Like Gary said they are aggressive on what "you need to have done" don't be pressured into anything.

Magic · 05-10-2011, 01:26 PM

If it comes to you needing a spot for a few days, try Eaton County Fairgrounds .... $15 water & electric only ... there's a 50a in the front row closest to the barns ......... Also on I-69 towards Lansing is Hi-way Havens Mobile home Park ask if he has spots in the park ... $15 full-hook-up ............ both places have nice people to deal with

Chickadee · 05-12-2011, 07:28 AM

THANKS ALL for your ideas and suggestions. Sure helps to get info from folks who've been there/done that.

THANKS AGAIN.

Steve & Lynette

Dav5942 · 05-12-2011, 09:38 AM

Our 50,000 mile service-we were out by noon! Watch the dip in the entrance way on the way in/out.

DonnaB · 06-02-2011, 05:10 AM

When we were last there, we had to take our cat in the car for the day. They said "No" when we asked. The 44 point inspection takes less than a day. In addition, tell them to "check all clamps". Trust me, it's very important.

Chickadee · 06-02-2011, 08:14 AM

DonnaB:

So checking the clamps is not part of this 44 or 46 point check????? Is there something special to watch for regarding clamps??

Steve & Lynette

Mr_D · 06-02-2011, 11:13 PM

I was there in 2004, at that time I had to park a few blocks away and no pets in the rig. I purposely didn't bring any pets along.
They replaced the front 12,000# IFS with a 14,600# IFS (at Newmar's expense including fuel both ways since we were overweight when it was delivered). WA law requires the manufacturer to pay for travel for warranty work if over 100 miles one way. Our dealer was 105 miles away but I never tried to claim for that.

DonnaB · 06-03-2011, 04:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chickadee

DonnaB:

So checking the clamps is not part of this 44 or 46 point check????? Is there something special to watch for regarding clamps??

No it is not. At a little over 50K miles on our 2007 (last November) we had to have our engine rebuilt (on our nickel) because the last clamp before the turbo was not tight. Not falling off loose, just not torqued tight enough. It had never been tightened from the factory (Spartan). So for 50K miles had been sucking dirt into the engine and the engine was basically worn out.

Spartan claims no responsibility and if you read your manual, all clamps are the responsibility of the owner. The manual pretty much says you should check them every time you start your engine. It is full of weasel words like that to take them out of any responsibility. Even though we had had that 44 point check done (to keep our warranty intact according to Chris McCord), clamps were not part of it. When I challenged Spartan about that, because we had had ALL required maintenance done, they said "you have to ask to have the clamps done and document that it was", more weasel words. None of the maintenance packages at Spartan or the dealers actually had a procedure for doing the clamps. They may today as when I call Spartan today, they know who we are and they are quite aware of clamps and I can tell you they were not when we first came across this issue.

You can bet we check clamps before we start out now. We actually had to have one of the clamps changed as you had to climb into the engine compartment and kind of stand on your head to get to it, so it's not like they make it easy.

Spartan did give us back about $750 for "parts compensation", which in light of the $15K and week and a half in a motel (with the cat) it cost us was a pathetic attempt at customer relations. I never expected them to pay for all, but if they had offered $2K to $3K I would have felt like they were taking some responsibility. However they didn't not, and because of this, we would not recommend Spartan in the future because they would not step up to the plate as they should have.