Newmar Furniture issues

[Filthy-Beast]

Originally Posted by Tegu

I couldn't find anything on Jeep, but I did find a few vehicle manufacture's parts warranties that state parts are covered at any authorized service location.

Back to topic. My coach was about five years old before I started having major issues with the seats. Now the sofa is coming apart. Actually, some areas of the seats, where there is nothing left of the flaking stuff, look better than the areas that still have the fake leather left. I'm thinking about getting a stiff brush and take the rest of it off. Sad thing is, I was proud to show people my Newmar, now, not so much.

The part itself might have a warranty but the labor would only be covered by the place that did the work. If go another dealer you'll pay for the labor to remove and replace the part. Many dealers pay mechanics by the book rate for the job and if a repair comes back the mechanic has to work on it the 2nd time without getting any hours.

[Tegu]

"A defective Authorized Genuine Subaru Replacement Part or Accessory will be repaired, or at the option of SOA or an Authorized Subaru Dealer, replaced using new or re manufactured parts
without charge to the owner for materials. In addition, if the part or accessory was originally installed by an Authorized Subaru Dealer, the owner will not be charged for labor. Warranty claims must be made as soon as reasonably possible after a defect is discovered, but before the end of warranty cover-age for the particular part. It is recommended that warranty claims be made at the Subaru Dealer who sold the part or accessory, although warranty claims can be presented to any Authorized Subaru Dealer located anywhere in the United States"
Just an example, but I don't see why anyone would have to drive hundreds of miles when an authorized service center is closer. Now getting into a rv center that didn't sell you the rv, maybe hurry up and wait.

[garyre]

Welcome to Chinese quality junk! Unfortuntely it has infiltrated into about every manufacturing product of our country and cannot avoid it in higher end quality rigs...

[BCook57]

Originally Posted by Peggyayer

But the way, we asked Newmar to supply us with any repair records they had on our Baystar. Since we were buying it second hand, we were concerned if it was well maintained. The Newmar dealer was also asked to give us maintenance records. Both Newmar corporate and the dealer said they could not supply us with these records. Has anyone else had this problem?

Must vary by dealer. We just purchased a used CS 3710. The dealer gave us copies of the complete service history. They sold the coach to the original owner.

I used it as a guide when I inspected the coach prior to making an offer. I can’t imagine there would ever be a privacy issue, unless the unit was on consignment.

[harleyjt]

Originally Posted by Filthy-Beast

The part itself might have a warranty but the labor would only be covered by the place that did the work. If go another dealer you'll pay for the labor to remove and replace the part. Many dealers pay mechanics by the book rate for the job and if a repair comes back the mechanic has to work on it the 2nd time without getting any hours.

Wrong. To the best of my knowledge, all OE replacement parts installed by the dealer are warranted for some period of time and mileage, parts and labor.

jt

[Filthy-Beast]

Originally Posted by harleyjt

Wrong. To the best of my knowledge, all OE replacement parts installed by the dealer are warranted for some period of time and mileage, parts and labor.

jt

You are all thinking autos where every part is sold by a manufacturing single OEM. Newmar or any RV manufacture is more of an integrator than an OEM.



If you go to Joe's auto repair and have them put in an AutoZone purchased pump, even if the pump has warranty you cannot go to Fred's auto or even a dealer repair shop and expected them to do the work for free.



Your first dealer probably did not buy the part from Newmar, so why would Newmar warranty it?

[GlampDaddy]

Newmar has offered me a 50% discount off the retail price of either new furniture or new coverings, no labor included in their offer. My question: has anyone here appealed Newmar's offer? If so, who did you deal with, and what was the outcome? Many thanks!

[Dav L]

Have you looked into having the existing covers dyed? A restoration expert essentially spray paints the worn areas which makes it look original again.
The end result is subject to the artistry of the expert.
It's not difficult to do and doesn't take a lot of time, just requires some good color blending background.

Car dealerships employ these services all the time.

[Dav L]

Originally Posted by Filthy-Beast

So you paid someone to fix something, it failed again, you expect somebody else to repair it for free?


If I take my out of warranty jeep to dealer A to fix a leaking pump and it fails again a week later I cannot take it to dealer B and expect them to fix it for no charge.

that happens ALL the time.
Yes, FCA (Jeep) will honor the warranty at the second authorized dealer for the second repair.
In a perfect situation, the District Manager would investigate and if there was a workmanship issue with Dealer A's repair, would charge the second repair back. That happens only under an extreme situation.
More typical: Dealer A fixes, you go on vacation and it breaks again in another state. Does FCA pay to tow it back to Dealer A? No, they have Dealer B in that state fix it.
Dealer B is also paid by FCA. They don't do the repair for free.

In reality, for most repairs, the dealers don't eat many repairs. The second time back was certainly for a "different" problem. The great majority of warranty and service contract repairs the dealers are on their own, make decisions that are formed by OEM policy and local dealer policies and are only watched when the numbers go out of wack compared to other dealers.

BTW, I spent much of my career involved and responsible with the above working for FCA.

[Filthy-Beast]

Originally Posted by Dav L

that happens ALL the time.
Yes, FCA (Jeep) will honor the warranty at the second authorized dealer for the second repair.
In a perfect situation, the District Manager would investigate and if there was a workmanship issue with Dealer A's repair, would charge the second repair back. That happens only under an extreme situation.
More typical: Dealer A fixes, you go on vacation and it breaks again in another state. Does FCA pay to tow it back to Dealer A? No, they have Dealer B in that state fix it.
Dealer B is also paid by FCA. They don't do the repair for free.

In reality, for most repairs, the dealers don't eat many repairs. The second time back was certainly for a "different" problem. The great majority of warranty and service contract repairs the dealers are on their own, make decisions that are formed by OEM policy and local dealer policies and are only watched when the numbers go out of wack compared to other dealers.

BTW, I spent much of my career involved and responsible with the above working for FCA.

Yes, I should have used my 2nd example of and independant buying a non OEM part. The world of RVs is very different than autos. The odds are very high that your first dealer did not buy the part for a 3rd party system directly from Newmar.

[tom chelbana]

We have purchased 3 new Newmar's with a LA, Essex and now a 18 LA. The 1st LA had Flexsteel real leather which was the best leather. Both the Essex and LA 2 have Villa ultra-leather which is really not leather at all. The Essex and the LA 2 had Villa ultra-leather and not the best seating and LA 1 had Flexsteel the real deal. LA 1 97, Essex 04, and LA-2 18. Would like to see Newmar go back to real leather.
Newmar Man

[lukidog]

We have a 2014 Dutch Star and are not the original owners. I do know that our unit was put into service in late 2013. Our captains chairs started flaking last winter and we called Newmar to see what they would do to help. They only offered the 1/2 off the price of replacement fabric (UltraLeather, which is NOT real leather, BTW). We also called FlexSteel and they offered to sell us replacement covers for our chairs but there was no discount involved. We ended up going to a place that does upholstery for custom cars. They gave us samples of UltraLeather to choose from, ordered the material and reupholstered the chairs, using the old covers for a pattern. They did a very nice job, cost us $1600.

Our previous coach was a 2006 DutchStar and we owned it for 9 years. The 'leather' on the furniture in it was in great shape when we traded, and I do believe the captains chairs were real leather on the seats and backs, i.e. the part your body actually touches.

Mary C
2014 DSDP

[docj]

Originally Posted by tom chelbana

Both the Essex and LA 2 have Villa ultra-leather which is really not leather at all.

I don't think anyone ever claimed that Ultraleather was real leather. It's a high quality polyurethane finished upholstery fabric. The problem is that not all urethane-finished fabric is the same. RVers tend to use the term Ultraleather to refer to all synthetic leather-like upholstery materials but most of what is used isn't the top-of-the-line product known as Ultraleather.

Coach manufacturers establish "price points" for vendor-supplied items. Vendors then bid on the products they can deliver for that price. This is true not just of furniture pieces, it also holds for things like microwave ovens, furnaces and water heaters. A company such as Flexsteel has different "levels" of chair frames which can be upholstered with a variety fabrics with different qualities and associated prices. "Genuine" Ultraleather is priced in the $65-80/yard range at the retail level. There are other "faux leather" upholstery fabrics that sell for half as much or less.

If most of a manufacturer's coaches in a given model year are suffering from poor upholstery it probably isn't because there was a "bad batch of upholstery fabric", rather it's more likely that the seating company that won the bid used a fabric not durable enough to hold up to the rigors of use in an RV. If you read the specs on commercial upholstery fabric they are full of definitions relating to the number of abrasive wipes a fabric is guaranteed to withstand. The abrasive wipes themselves are standardized and codified as to the forces the fabric will be subjected to. Higher priced fabrics are spec'd to withstand harsher environments.

IMHO the blame doesn't belong solely to the coach manufacturer or the furniture maker--it's a shared responsibility. If the coach manufacturer establishes too low a price point the vendors have to decide whether to bid an inferior product or walk away from the business. Sadly, in today's competitive marketplace I doubt that many will refuse to bid on work from a company with the stature of Newmar. So they bid to meet the price point and the customer deals with the any quality compromises that have to be made to achieve that price.

Joel (AKA docj)

[BayStarRover]

Our 2015 Newmar is, for the most part, a delight for our full-time RV lifestyle. It's our home and we take good care of it. We bought it in 2016 and started full-timing a year-and-a-half ago in 2018.
The subject of our major disappointment is the fabric that covers the couch and captain's chairs. We repaired the seat cushions for $150+ each, speculating that maybe we'd done something that caused the fabric to tear. But then, the armrests of the two captain's chairs tore too. We're not heavy folks. We are VERY careful, and we're noticing that others have problems too. Newmar contacted the manufacturer (Flexsteel) and they rejected our appeal (even with photo evidence provided). Newmar offered 50% off the replacement arm covers, estimated cost of $150 each, but we'd have to provide the installer.
Beware of the furniture quality. It's almost impossible to evaluate it but open up the seat cushions and you'll see what I'm talking about.
I'm a Newmar fan but this spoils the report that I'm giving when I meet admirers of our coach.