Community Forums

rollondown · 08-21-2012, 03:59 PM

I decided to start a new thread instead of add on to the other one that has grown to 4 pages. Here's my question-
What years are affected by the dreaded wet floor issues?
Are some models more affected than others?
We are planning on buying used, 2006 or newer.
I looked at the service bullitin on this issue and its seems like an easy fix.

rollondown · 08-22-2012, 04:49 PM

So this must be a touchy subject.

ARRET · 08-23-2012, 08:12 AM

They have lost more business because of this one problem than anything else. That said they still make a fine RV. My 2010 has had some issues. I had the bedroom slide floor replace within a year after
I purchased it and it is now better than new because the guys in the service department are good. There fix is so so. When the slide come in it takes the caulking of. If you do what they say on the caulking the water will still come to the bottom of the slide. The stuff they use on the bottom is not waterproof so you need to keep the water off the bottom of slide. I do that with tape each time I park for a while. When they fixed bedroom bottom they doubled the bottom material. That has been two year ago and it is doing good. This is my view on the subject. Oh, and don,t forget to check the top outside corners of slide roof every time you make move of any great distance. You will need to repair the caulking probably. If I ever buy another RV I will buy an Excel.

ExcelRVGuy · 08-23-2012, 09:30 AM

It's not that this is a touchy subject.... It's just that I've addressed and acknowledged the slide floor issue in several previous threads. Our problem model years were mostly 2007 - 2009. And even though this issue gets covered quite extensively by the handful of family members who frequent this forum, certainly not even close to every unit produced was effected. If so, we wouldn't be here today.

That said, there should have been ZERO units effected. And a certain percentage of the coaches that were effected were directly our fault... but there are also a large number of units that come into our facility that have had NO customer maintenance whatsoever.

We have stood tall and paid for all... or part of the majority of coaches that have come in, regardless whether or not they were still under warranty. That decision was based partially on the amount of care and maintenance the owner displayed on their unit.

As for the "fix" being so-so, I disagree with that statement. I checked with our service dept and we have not had a single unit in for these issues that was built after the "fix" was implemented. That statistic would tend to make me think we got it right.

Arret's comment about lost business because of this one problem is probably accurate. I know of many sales that have been lost because of lack of confidence in us now.

As I've said before, we will probably have to live with that issue for some time still... and pay a price for future sales. But we continue to strive to build the best coach possible and improve our product DAILY! I believe those who have not seen OR would not consider a 2013 Excel with the many improvements we have made, are missing out on owning the best built coach available!

I appreciate those such as Arret who, even though they have experienced issues in the past, realize that we don't run from them but instead embrace them as an opportunity to improve, would have confidence enough to buy another Excel.

Respectfully,
Bryan Tillett
President

TEAMTJ · 08-23-2012, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ExcelRVGuy

That said, there should have been ZERO units effected. And a certain percentage of the coaches that were effected were directly our fault... but there are also a large number of units that come into our facility that have had NO customer maintenance whatsoever.

We have stood tall and paid for all... or part of the majority of coaches that have come in, regardless whether or not they were still under warranty. That decision was based partially on the amount of care and maintenance the owner displayed on their unit.

Respectfully,
Bryan Tillett
President

I can believe the lack of maintenance. In our travels we have noticed that many folks do not properly maintain their units. We were too in that category for a while mainly bc we were unaware of what needed to be done. There is a learning curve to RVing. With that said, on our first trip to the Excel factory, the service dept not only squeezed us in when they were booked for three months, but they also took a few hours to go over all of the required maintenance. Specifically how to clean and inspect caulk and if needed, how to strip and replace. Our coach is only 5 months old and we have been in snow and 110* heat and have around 8,000 miles on her, as a result, some of the caulking was looking border line. I have probably been a little over zealous on replacing of caulk, but if there's a hint of suspiciousness, it's gone and new stuff is getting laid down.

Sorry to high jack this thread, but I just wanted to highlight some of my observations when it comes to maintenance, especially when it comes to caulk. It really is imperative to stay on top of!

And when we are ready to upgrade, or PI builds a bigger toy hauler

, we will absolutely buy another Excel without hesitation. Before we bought ours, I heard from many Excel owners that besides superior construction and quality, the service after the sale is unmatched. I can attest to that 100%!

High jacking is over and I'm stepping off my soap box now. Back to the discussion of floors.

drfife · 08-23-2012, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TEAMTJ

I can believe the lack of maintenance. In our travels we have noticed that many folks do not properly maintain their units. We were too in that category for a while mainly bc we were unaware of what needed to be done....

My Sunnybrook travel trailer is 9 years old. I've updated the roof caulk a few times over the years, but the body caulking is still in great shape.

What am I missing?

TEAMTJ · 08-23-2012, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drfife

My Sunnybrook travel trailer is 9 years old. I've updated the roof caulk a few times over the years, but the body caulking is still in great shape.

What am I missing?

I did say I might have been a little over zealous, but just like the Service Dept at PI showed me, I cleaned the caulk with a spray bottle full of rubbing alcohol and a clean rag. Inspect carefully once cleaned. Had the techs not shown me what to look for, I would have looked at most of our caulking and said to myself that it looked good. But since I knew what to look for, if I saw even a hint of degradation it was gone and replaced with new stuff. I'm probably being overly anal but when it comes to caulk, this is your main line of defense against water intrusion.

rollondown · 08-23-2012, 07:18 PM

TJ- Thanks for the advice.

ExcelRVGuy- Thank you so very much for your reply.

I knew there was selected years but forums being forums its hard to know what to believe.
I do understand about quality, I'm in the custom and semi-custom boat business. Brooks Boatworks. So I do understand the service after the sale, as well as continual updates and product improvement.
Knowing the years doesn't eliminate those models, just requires a little more peaking into the corners.
We bought an older CarriLite as a trial rig to see if my wife and I could live in a more confined quarters with a lab and 2 cats. Now that we have about 100 nites over the past 18 months its time for an upgrade. As much as we would like to order new, its not within our budget because as I mentioned earlier I build boats for a living.

Bartle · 09-04-2012, 01:55 PM

Please advise how to receive a copy of the service bulletin referred to by ROLLONDOWN pertaining to the repair of the slide floors due to water damage.
Thanx

chief02 · 09-04-2012, 03:16 PM

www.excelrvs.com then clic Support and Resourses

rollondown · 09-04-2012, 08:08 PM

It looks like a simple maintaince or repair if the floor and wall haven't been affected yet. If they have, its up to you if you want to bite it off or not.
Knowing this was an issue, I've found several other manufactures that have similiar issues. Those guys have said "Oh Well, its out of warrenty now".