Those who have bought new Tiffin Coaches

[brandss]

Reading the forum you hear a couple of thought on buying a new coach. Buy a couple years old and let the original buyer suffer the depreciation and fix all of the stuff that goes wrong with a new coach, or, I want a coach that is brand new and no one has slept in the bed, etc.

I personally don't disagree with either but was wondering for those that have bought new Tiffins, how many of you have actually had major issues to deal with buying new? In my opinion, after a day of doing odd jobs around the coach, there are always a few things to do to a coach whether new or older. So that's why I ask about issues with major items (Air, heat, slides, engine, genny, etc).

[Dale R]

40’ QBH 2018 Phaeton, bought new with over 30 small issues. All fixed by dealer or Red Bay. But took months, total, all my fault, for staying at a dealer too long.
If you have the money plus want exactly what you want, buy from the 3, and camp at Red Bay until the issues are resolved. Being under warranty, it will not take that long. Some do prefer a local purchase for local service. That is your call. I am close enough to Red Bay not to mess with the local dealers.
If you want to wait and search for a used coach with what you are looking for, maybe settling for something not exactly what you want, (depends on your patience) willing to travel, making sure the owner has complete service records, and then getting a 3rd party inspection, you will save quite a bit.
Used coaches are selling at a premium these days.
Money vs. preferences vs. time.
Get your quote from the 3, then do some surfing...
Good Luck!

[krivanj]

Two friends, one bought a 14 Allegro Bus and one a 15 PHAETON, both new, both were back at Red bay at least three times with lists as long as 60 items.
The Allegro Bus went for the summer in 2016 to Alaska, and they drove it all the way to Red Bay instead of home to Arizona. A long list... Just sayin... but true story.

[Lt Dan]

Bought a 2017 Phaeton new in May of '17. We had maybe a half dozen minor items and two semi major. Those two were two defective radiator fan clutches, which wasn't really a Tiffin issue but they replaced both under warranty.

[garykk]

Bought a 2014 QBH, it was never back to a dealer or RB. Our 2018 Bus has been back to RB, stopped on our way home to have a broken tile fixed and ride height adjustment.

[Nildecaf]

Bought 19 Phaeton 37BH new. Was going from sticks & bricks to full time with no prior rv experience. Had 2 chassis issues on first trip - bad wire on alternator and dash ac not working properly. Freightliner warranty fixes for both.
Scheduled 1st yr travel to arrive at RB at 11.5 months. Arrived with list ~ 20 items. Most were cosmetic, but two major items were an Aquahot coolant leak into the burner chamber that reqd full replacement of the Aquahot and center bath door that wouldn't stay shut. (Not sure how the fixed that.)

[boomersooner]

Bought new 2020 in December 2019. Went to Red Bay 6 months later for a water leak, was not sealed all the way across in full wall slide (no problems since). Had other minor issues but nothing that has stopped us from traveling. We have had about 10-15 issues in 15 months of ownership, all fixed at Red Bay (except one, fixed at local dealer under warranty). Have had the full Freightliner/Cummins engine service and four corner weight.

We bought new (ordered) because we wanted everything the way we like it (colors, options, etc.). Bought from one of the big 3, drove off the lot and have had nothing to do with them since. Been to Red Bay twice under warranty. Would not change a thing and we absolutely love our RED and feel we have made the right decision.

[momdoc]

We bought ours new and now FT for the last couple of years with no major problems. Worst problem is one we have currently. We have no hot water as heater started putting fumes into the rig. Mobile RV tech coming in a couple of days to fix it.

[jpstakun]

My 2015 Open Road 32SA had zero issues.

[530ktm]

I bought ours last Sept from a Tiffin dealer in Oregon. Had been sort of looking around for something a tad shorter than the 41 foot Monaco we had. Well here it was, 39 feet, custom colors we liked and everything we did and did not want inside. Previous owner drove it once to Las Vegas and back up to Oregon because he and his wife decided they wanted a 45 footer to live in down in Vegas for 6 months out of the year. He already had one on order. He took the hit, but this was his 19th coach so he did not care, and other than a couple minor issues that the dealer fixed as well as me we have not had any issues and love it. Only had 4,200 miles on it and half were coming from Red Bay for delivery. I have purchased new one time before and would not do that again.

[jkorn]

Home is in the Seattle area. Sold or 2014 to a private party. Immediately boxed all Coach stuff and placed in home garage. Ordered a new one from Sherman, thus getting exactly what we wanted at a good price. Loaded all of our Couch stuff in a trailer and head to Sherman when it was ready for pickup October 2020. Then headed directly to Red Bay after delivery and had the FACTORY tweak and adjust as needed. Those guys were great. Can't imagine a dealer doing the same quality work needed to fix the small and a couple of the big things needed. Jeff

[zombiewoof]

Ordered a new 2020 IH and optioned it exactly the way we wanted. It was our first new coach. There is something to say about getting exactly what you want after twenty years of buying some nice used coaches. The downside is fixing all the teething issues. In the end there was one significant issue that could not be fixed to our satisfaction. We moved on and ordered a 2021 to replace it.

[brandss]

OP here and I appreciate the replies. The one thing I would worry about buying new is that we are full timers and if we had a serious issue that required a lot of time for repair, that would put a real hurt on us.

I think the best plan if buying new would be what one of you did. Purchase the unit, pick it up from the dealer, plan to spend a week or two in it as you head directly to Red Bay.

[tcgoetz]

2015 OR 35QBA:

• Driver window switch died. Tiffin sent me a new one and I replaced it.

2020 Breeze 33BR:

• Major slide rebuild before pickup.
  • New rack.
  • New rollers.
• Three water leaks:
  • Pex in wetbay split by screw.
  • Replaced leaking bathroom faucet.
  • Tightened leaking kitchen sink drain.
• AGS miswired.
• Replaced faulty air blender in dash.
• Separating seam in bathroom wall.
• Replaced scratched kitchen cabinet door.
• One basement door that wouldn't lock/unlock with the supplied keys.
• Replaced warped sink cover.

The Breeze took three PDI dates before I drove it away.