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Old 01-04-2018, 10:29 PM   #29
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I substantiate it by thinking "how many things have been needed on my house since I built it" PLUS "how many things have two of my cars needed since purchasing them?" Because that's kinda what the RV thing is. A small house plus two cars worth of mechanicals.

Let's see, today I put two batteries in two of the cars (realllllly cold out there!!!)
Yesterday repaired two flats in one of the cars plus one TPMS sensor.

and on and on....
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Old 01-04-2018, 10:45 PM   #30
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Thank you for your service, Susan!! Interesting question. For us, no show stopping problems in three ownerships.

RVs are complex machines. Two major sub-systems (chassis and coach). Dozens of systems within each one. Hundreds of potential failure points. To borrow the phrase... There are several thousand parts flying in close formation provided by the lowest bidder. The repair and logistics support is, more often than not, early 20th century and lacks the organization, sophistication and often, the professionalism of car dealerships. Individual experience varies.

They are not Toyotas, Hondas or Subarus and neither is the customer care and support on par with the rest of the motor vehicle industry.

Also, consider the "human factor". Not everyone has the same temperament or skill set. So what to me may be a blip in ownership (the GPS needed a larger microSD card) to another it is the sinking of the Titanic. Yes, I'm skilled and aggressive enough to tackle any issue. And I now have enough "smarts" and experience to recognize when to give that problem to someone who can fix it and the hardest thing I do is stick my credit card in a reader.

Part of that human problem is undefinable to me. My equipment, cars, trucks and RVs have always performed well. But, I treat them well and use them as intended. OTH, I've three brothers. Two can easily break anvils. The other would not know it is broken...and wouldn't care. So a lot of this boils down to understanding all the systems in your RV and treating them with respect. Developing workarounds and MacGuyvers to keep things going or get you home is part of the game.

If there's something that rubs my fur the wrong way, it is having a preventable failure because of a crap engineering plan or shoddy execution. Two case studies on our present RV. The mfgr made a nice water closet with all the controls in one place. They put cheap, small brass valves in the drain lines. After 1 1/2 years the valves froze due to calcium build up and the tiny valve stems sheared off or the cheap plastic handles angered out. Great idea. Jack-leg execution. And there is no easy access to the valves and PEX lines!!! I fixed them. No valves. Failure proof and easy to drain the system. The other example is failure of the LP regulator times 2 because the coach builder used the wrong material in an LP hose. Hose was eventually replaced under NTSB recall but I Had to buy the regulators. Again... Good idea. Bad execution and zero QA/QC. Both cases were annoying because they were preventable.

My FiL had several RVs. He said that an RV is a box with 99% of the parts inside. It is a kit. Some (re)assembly IS required. Amazing insight. He was correct. But, being a Navy Chief...he was never wrong.

Stuff gets missassembled. Stuff breaks. Stuff doesn't work when you need it. I just fix it. Repair or replace it. Or, develop a work around to get us home.
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Old 01-05-2018, 12:20 AM   #31
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Bought ours last weekend in February 2017 with delivery 1st week in March. First three trips were the learning curve. The single return to the dealer was to repair a broken fiberglass tab on a light on the front of the cap. I could have done the repair, but since it was a water intrusion location if not done right, I took it back to the dealer. The worst issue I have had is a leaking Lippert jack line. Lippert sent out a replacement hose as soon as they had the info that they needed. I have a service center appointment for last week in February. Everything on the list is cosmetic. I have done minor stuff like replacing the flexible water hoses under the kitchen sink, install the Progressive EMS, and did abrasion control around wires and hoses come up into the slide.

Since we bought it, we have probably spent more nights in the coach than S&B.

I do know that ours was one of, if not the first one with our floorplan and it was destined for the RV Show in Raleigh where we bought it.
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Old 01-05-2018, 05:20 AM   #32
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Most important thing to remember when looking through iRV2 is that this is primarily a place to look for help with problems. I use it to educate myself about things and add a few tidbits for fixes. Been RV for a very long time from tents on the \ground to an older Diesel Pusher from what someone else titled the Golden Era of RV. It is a great place to ask question about stuff you are looking at and have concerns Good Luck thee are more of us out there wit h no problems than those with problems.
That said be assured things will go wrong. Richard
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Old 01-05-2018, 06:49 AM   #33
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I've done a lot of stuff to my coach since acquisition Spring of 2011. 95% of which was very optional and not really needed but there have been a few items that if I didn't have the self sufficiency to fix would have needed profession support to correct. Biggest was the throttle servo motor that failed 3 miles from home while getting fuel and required a tow. Figured it out myself but probably would have taken a tech no more than 2 hours to resolve.

Other items over the years that come to mind -
Entry stairs gear box failure
AC/DC converter charger failure
Awning material degraded with age
Rear view camera monitor died of old age
Slide drive motor Jesus bolt snapped
High wind removed the awning
Door lock broken, twice
Absorption fridge died (highest material cost failure to date)
Toilet flush valve cracked, twice
Power steering pump leak
Generator choke failure

Overall considering we've never had to end an outing early or cancel an event and only one tow in the 158 trips, 338 nights, consuming 6355 gallons of fuel while covering 45184 miles I'm more than satisfied with the coach.
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Old 01-05-2018, 07:16 AM   #34
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I had a few minor issues in the first year that my dealer 45 miles away handled easily. I also made a modification to the suspension that I wanted. Since then, other than replace one electric shade, it has been annual service and just add fuel with a road to travel. 45,000 miles and a Happy Camper.
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Old 01-05-2018, 07:21 AM   #35
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My signature says it the way I see it.
That said, we have only thought we would have to cut a trip short one time. The fridge stopped working on propane. After some poking and prodding, it turned out to be just some rust flake shorting out the spark gap. A vacuum and blow out with compressed air and we were on the road again.
Happy Glamping.
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Old 01-05-2018, 08:04 AM   #36
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I have all the service/repair records since new (22yrs worth!). 22 yrs, 159,000 miles and five major incidents:
1- fuel shutoff solenoid failed (wired open and replaced at campsite)
2- fridge died - needed new control board (the black box)
3- water pipe broke - fixed at campsite
4- generator quit making power - needed new voltage regulator (what a horrible drive home in triple digit heat)
5- constant voltage solenoid (for chassis) quit - replaced at campsite (engine died driving down the road!)

The above list doesn't seem very long but the list of maintenance is pages long and 5 digits money wise.
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Old 01-05-2018, 08:35 AM   #37
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We full-time in our 2004 Newmar Mountain Aire DP (92k miles) and the have had no problem I couldn't fix. The biggest was when the Norcold died, but I removed it and installed a residential refrigerator myself. I have made some preventative plumbing changes, put in a new dash stereo, installed a new coolant recovery tank on the Cummins 400ISL, removed the Diamond Shield and replaced the skylight over the shower and on the two Fan-tastics because the PO had painted them white. All easy stuff for anyone with a little mechanical ability and nothing worse than problems with our old S&Bs.
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Old 01-05-2018, 09:08 AM   #38
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One good rule of thumb that I remember from my marketing days is an unhappy person will tell 7 people of their negative experience, but a happy person will only tell 2 people of the positive experience.
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Old 01-05-2018, 09:21 AM   #39
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Our Newmar DS 4369 was new Mar 2017. We had the wonderful opportunity to get it in Sept due to the misfortunes of others. We have only had the opportunity to put about 3.5 K miles on it, but haven't had any major issues:
1) Got recalled remote controlled window shade motors replaced.
2) Had the broken cable on Steering wheel adjuster replaced.

I'm knocking on wood every other word, to keep the streak alive!
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Old 01-05-2018, 09:49 AM   #40
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Well I've always told folks thinking about the RV life style "you gotta be a little handy" or you will be left high and dry. I bought a 5 year old class A and it is now 10 years old and most of the electrical stuff I have been able to handle. For me, it isn't so much the cost of a repair( although that is a factor I am not wealthy) but the inconvenience. Last summer we drove down the Oregon coast and over to Redding and then on to HWH in Iowa because our jacks quit. I could't figure it out but after seeing the repair at HWH ( 190.00) it was a problem the average guy probably wouldn't have caught. Anyway , it didn't hold up our travels. I carry some Oasis parts with me and that has saved our butts on two occasions (extra ignitor and relay) but only because I was able to put the parts in myself. Owning a motor home is an adventure and I have had many but nothing that ended our trip because I knew a little bit about attacking the problem. jmo mark
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Old 01-05-2018, 10:54 AM   #41
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Here's a little bit of pile on to some of these comments. We bought a very used 2000 Winnie gasser. Other than having to actually do 15 years of neglected maintenance and replacing tires and batteries, all probably original, we have only had the occasional component breakdown. For example, even though we have replaced/upgraded the a/c compressor, we still no dash heat/ac; this is an on-going frustration. This brings up another frustrating issue of "who at the factory was the idiot that installed, wired, or hooked-up this <fill in the system name>?" We are still learning to accept this as "an RV thang". So far, other than that, we have performed most maintenance and most genuine repairs or replacements, mainly because we are retired and have limited income to give away to shops. This gradual peace of mind was because of the amazing info we get on IRV2 and from YouTube how-to videos (we watch several videos of the same repair to get different insights, and for reassurance). The final comment relates to tinkering. We have tinkered with the inherent handling issues of the 2000 Workhorse chassis, sway bars, tires, suspension, steering, etc. We also have upgraded/replaced several comfort/convenience things like TVs, lighting to LEDs, etc. So, in summary, you can get as involved as you like with repairs/maintenance, but I would suggest if the issue involves safety (for example brakes, engine, or electrical failures) and it is not for comfort or convenience then consider professional help. We took our RV to a shop to replace the entire braking system. We are not all ex-truck mechanics or electricians or plumbers, and we all have some level of mechanical ability. Just like with an S&B you just have to decide your own level of comfort with your ability to resolve the issue at hand. IRV2 is a great place to begin when trying to determine if you can do what needs doing on your RV. Good luck.
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Old 01-05-2018, 11:27 AM   #42
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I use to post how I had great trips with no problems. Then one person complained that I was bragging and belittling everyone with problems. But things are still cool with my ride and I just got back from a trip from NJ to Alabama and back to NJ. Got back in time for this cold snap. Yep I winterized it as soon as I got home.
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