First, I want to say we love our new LaPalma 34PDD. But the problems we encountered on our first trip are the things you read about, and hope you never have to deal with. Why is it our major problems always seem to happen on the Friday before a holiday weekend?
The two hour drive to the campground was great. The coach handles well and has lots of power. After setting up, everything seemed to be perfect so we relaxed, took a walk, cooked dinner, took showers and we were sitting there talking about what a nice day it had been. I looked under the chair DH was sitting in and there was a flood of water coming towards me, the carpet, and the couch! I looked towards the bedroom and water was rushing out from under the entire galley area all the way into the bathroom. I quickly put down at least 8 towels while DH ran outside to shut off the water. We mopped it all up, took out all the drawers, and put the portable fan to work. By morning it was dry, but I hadn't slept well. The water was off to the coach and the ground fault did its job so we had no electricity to the galley area.
We called the dealer early Saturday morning to report the problem and ask advice. We spoke with technicians who thought the problem might be the ice maker. They said to take off the panel under the frig and look around. We didn't see a problem there, but further investigation under the sink found the small hose to the water filter disconnected. (We hadn't even used it!) DH shut off the water valve at the filter and he turned the water back on. Success! No flood! And so we decided to continue our weekend. Oh yeah, while looking under the frig it was discovered that the furnace ducts were not connected.
Throughout the rest of the weekend we found the central vacuum did not work, the DVD player froze and ejected a DVD and wouldn't take another, the rear AC did not blow air in the front galley vents, the trim around the table was separating loose, the antennae handle and parts came apart and fell to the floor, wall trim pieces were missing, and a few more minor issues. The storage bay near the water heater had water in it, after drying it out, so DH suspected another possible water leak there.
On Tuesday we were getting ready to head for home and DH had emptied the black tank, then the grey tank. He flushed the black tank with the built in hose thing-ie (I guess someday I should learn all about it?), and water started spraying out under the bathroom sink. For the second time we had a water leak in the coach! I didn't trust anything at that point and had been on the lookout when it happened. Only 1 towel was needed to clean up this time.
When we got home I called Monaco and asked what we should expect of the dealer. Shouldn't they have found all these problems during their week-long prep? I said I was ready to drive to the factory, I was so peeved.
The technician calmly said the dealer does not live in the coach and therefore some of these problems would not be discovered. He said humans build the coaches and therefore, mistakes happen. (For some reason this calmed me down, but now I don't know why it did.) He said to take it to the dealer and they could take care of it.
The coach was back with the dealer Tuesday. They called today and told us what was on order from Monaco, but that we could pick it up Saturday. They ordered a new DVD and dinette table. There were a couple minor problems caught during their prep (broken window latch, missing speaker cover, a furnace part) that we hope are also resolved. They also had lost all the owner manuals (yes, all appliance documents, everything) that a new owner should get. Somehow they put together a packet for us, but I wonder which coaches are now missing their manuals? They were supposed to order a total new set from Monaco also.
I'd like to say again that we love the new motorhome. It drove very well, it's the right size for us, the TV's, frig, stove and microwave worked well. In fact, we could have fixed most of the problems since DH is very handy, but we want the dealer to handle their responsibilities. We think that all of these issues will be resolved in a couple weeks. Then we are off to Montana for an extended trip.
Wish us luck!
We may need it!
He had turned the water off at the feed(I know I should have done that before leaving the coach), but water was still running out. So we left the service to go back to the campground and survey the damage. Horrid images of a ruined interior filled out minds on the drive home.
Linear Mode
