We’ve just spent the first two weeks in our new DP. This purchase may have been the biggest mistake we’ve ever made. It’s left us thinking “what’s the big deal” and wondering if we really traded “up”.
We did a lot of research, and realized the coach we really wanted would never be in our budget, so we determined the items we’d compromise on and found what we thought was a great coach at a fair price. We negotiated a good deal, made the commitment and bought a used 2014 Tiffin Phaeton 40 QBH. We chose Tiffin because of reputation, loyal owners, the personal approach of company management and coach value/design.
The walk-through was interesting. Most of our questions were met with “read the manual”. It was disappointing. Fortunately, this is not our first coach otherwise, it would have been VERY overwhelming. Even a question about winterizing was met with “we’re down south, we don’t worry about that.”
After the walk-through, the first shock came when we discovered that the gas unit we traded had more storage than this DP unit. Some of the issue was related to the size of storage containers and the related size of cabinets and storage compartments. In the long run, this is forcing us to do an overdue purge.
The next shock came when we went to leave, discovered a check engine/stop engine error and required a tow to a Cummins shop where they found a torn apart wiring harness under the coach. After a repair, we were on our way.
Shock three was the ride. I had always heard the DPs were smoother, quieter and easier to drive. I’m not sure what others are driving, but this is the roughest riding coach I’ve been in and the cab may be missing the engine noise, but road noise is loud. The unit takes road bumps worse than our previous coach. The rough ride caused the light over the dining table to nearly fall on the floor as the support nuts loosened.
As we traveled into the cold weather, we noticed the traveling environment was getting more and more uncomfortable; if the furnace is not on in the back, there is a VERY cold breeze coming into the driver’s compartment from the back of the coach.
We really like the idea of having a pullout desk in front of the passenger, except that this drawer does not latch and is constantly coming out to visit.
My wife has developed a system; she simply uses the footrest on the passenger seat, and kicks it closed when it reaches her feet.
At a rest area, I discovered the backsplash in the half bath is separating from the wall. Overnight we learned that the inverter won’t run the coffee maker, and that there is apparently no heat in the water bay as we had a freeze in 20 degrees. This water issue surprised us because we understood this coach was suitable for winter travel.
Interior cabinets have strange designs. Some have ridges in the back, making it almost impossible to rest an item flat. One evening while attempting to rearrange cabinets, the hinge ripped off one of the overhead cabinet doors.
When we got home, we were in for another surprise in that the propane furnaces stopped working in 10 degrees; regulator froze. However, they also seem to not like this colder weather as even when there is good propane flow to the stove, the furnaces constantly shut down. Out came the electric heaters so we could stock the cabinets with the hinges falling off. Very frustrating! After some investigation and assistance from the dealer, it appears the problem is propane without some additive which prevents freezing in cold weather. We also heard from Tiffin on this; a good sign.
Of course, all these issues can be handled with the extended warranty we bought, except that the warranty company won’t honor it because the coach is already under warranty from the previous owner.
I should mention this coach has a great shower head, really comfortable mattress and an ice maker that kept us in drinks during the evenings …. We needed them because our relax-time prior to bed is normally watching TV, but that was not possible because the bedroom TV doesn’t work!
Sometimes waking up in a tent floating on an air mattress doesn’t seem too far away from what this new coach is offering!
Time for some patience!