2023 Entegra Reatta XL. Major Disappointment

[jgperegrine]

I hope this post will help others avoid the disasters I have been through. I will try to keep it short, but I could write a book about my experiences with this MH. First I want to say by profession I have been a Corporate Jet Technician for over 40 years meaning I need to be able to troubleshoot and repair all the systems on sophisticated Jets.
I purchased a brand new 2023 Entegra Reatta XL 39BH in June from General RV Center in Ashland VA. This dealership only cared about receiving their money for nothing in return. The person who was suppose to show me around the MH knew nothing about the coach! I asked him very simple questions and he did not know any of the answers. This caused problems for me since the MH does not come with a manual. That's right Spartan ships you the manual weeks after you receive the MH and Entegra did not have any 2023 manuals and still don't till this very day! I was emailed a 2022 manual days later after complaining to Entegra. How can you not provide a manual with a product?There are differences between a 2022 & 2023 models. Getting back to General RV Center. I asked if the Diamond coating was applied to the MH because to me it did not feel as if it was. The person I asked looked through the paperwork and came back and said it was not applied. I told her that I paid for it. An hour later I was told that it was indeed applied, hmm. The finance manager came to me to let me know that he could not honor my locked in interest rate because of the rising rates. I asked him what part of locked in do you not understand. More to that story if someone wants to know. I rented a car one way to Ashland. I needed to return the car about 10 minutes away and asked the dealership if someone could pick me up from the rental car facility and they said no they did not have anyone that could do that!! In 2019 I purchased a 2017 Newmar Ventana from Midway RV center in Grand Rapids. What a difference, the person who showed me around that MH knew everything about it and they were always there if needed.
So, through all that i am still excited and drove my new MH home the next morning. On the way home I discovered that the generator will only run for about 10 min and quit. When I got home I discovered that it was shutting down due to overheating. After trouble shooting it on my own (no help from General RV and Cummins has not returned a call from me or Entegra till this day!) I found that the cooling system was air locked, so that was an easy fix. Then after getting the generator to run I discovered that none of the AC units would come on line. After trouble shooting with Entegra and changing a control panel I discovered that it was wired wrong from the factory! This really pissed me off because they didn't check this on a check list before leaving the factory??? Please note that if I wasn't able to do this myself the local service centers were 4-6 weeks out before they would look at it. So, I said to myself I better get under this MH and give it a good looking over. I was shocked in what I found. Loose wires hanging down, wire bundles being held up by single wires, missing insulation, trim pieces falling off, loose latches and more! If this was an aircraft it would have been grounded! I know I was a fool for not doing this before taking it home, but I thought Entegra was a reputable company. Speaking of which, in my opinion the all around quality and finish of Newmar was hands down far superior to Entegra. I drove my Newmar for one year and 10,000 and had only one minor problem. Also, in my opinion you are better off buying a used MH that has the bugs rung out, and once out of warranty you can have anyone work on it!
A few days later we left on our first trip planning to go from SC to PA and then on to Lake George NY. On the morning leaving PA upon getting on the highway the transmission started to act abnormal. I pulled off the highway and pulled into a gas station. I shut it down hoping to reset the MH and when I tried to start it again it would not start because the MH thought that the transmission was in drive. So, after speaking with Spartan and trying various things it was determined that it had to be towed to a service center. The tow was arranged through Coach-Net. So, after two days and four different towing companies (I am not kidding) my new MH was towed to a service center who said that they would get on it that afternoon or by the latest the next morning. It was towed to a Freightliner dealer because there was no Spartan dealers near by. So, there it sat for 4 days while my wife, grandkids, and my dogs stayed in a hotel before anyone ever looked at. I don't know why this service center said that they would look at it immediately and then did not. After 5 days it was determined to tow my new MH from Lancaster PA to Harrisburg. In my mind the problem had to be the transmission brain box or the controller at the drivers seat. I begged Spartan to send me the parts and I would swap them out but they would not. So, at this point we went home and a couple of days later they swapped out the brain box and it was fixed. Some lessons learned. Make sure you speak with the tow companies yourself so they know what type of equipment they need to send. Also, make sure you speak with the service center yourself. Spartan had someone drive my new MH from Harrisburg to my home in SC. Upon arriving in SC I noticed that the mud flap and exhaust tailpipe was damaged. I want to point out that Spartan genuinely cared and made great efforts to make things right. I really like the Spartan Chassis. Entegra was all for making things right as long as Spartan was paying for it. Since then we have been on four trips and on all of the trips I return home with a list of broken items. I have had terrible buzzing noises due to door awning seal coming off, windshield seal popping out in several places, broken window shades, tanks sensors failing, toilets not working, broken wash machine (still waiting for local Maytag repairman to come), intermittent electrical problems, leveling system needing recalibration, radio/nav screen falling into the dash simply by tapping on screen, cabinetry falling apart (and I was told this is the same cabinetry that is in a Cornerstone), drivers foot rest will intermittently not stow, passenger chair rocks like a rocking chair, just to name a few! Again, if I was not capable of fixing the items myself the MH would be in the shop all the time. I would also like to point out that the theater seating chairs are not comfortable at all, the headlights for the MH are not adequate, and the AC systems does not work well at all (I thinks temp sensors are poor quality and or are located in the wrong areas).I have no faith in this MH and would sell it right now if it was not for the financial beating i would take.

[2cyber71]

Holy cow

[mnc]

Sorry to hear about all the troubles you are having but I would have walked away the second they couldn't do a proper walkthrough and wouldn't pick me up at the car rental

[Warhorse6]

At a loss for what to say, but truly feel for you. Unfortunately what you experienced and are experiencing is becoming more common place. Have owned three new RVs and each came with issues, but nothing like you are describing. All were pre Covid era purchases. That said, trend more often than not today is quality control going down, coach complexity increasing, customer sales and service eroding, and prices going up. Not a situation that would ever convince me to buy new again. Like buying a new car 50 years ago. Until foreign makers forced US producers to raise the standards, nothing would have changed. No credible foreign competition yet in the rv world. Exactly why there will not be a brand new RV in my future. At least I know what I have and what works and what doesn’t. May not have all the bells and whistles, but what it does have works pretty good. Hope you can get a remedy to your issues.

[edgray]

WOW. That may be the worst dealer experience I have ever read about, and they are many. Sadly, the QC issues you have are not unique to your coach. Have you reached out to Entegra CS or let Joyce know about your experiences with your new coach. It should be under EC warranty, just as Spartan is for the chassis issues?

Since you are in SC, what caused you to choose the dealer in VA ? Why did you choose to proceed with the purchase after they refused to honor the "locked in" interest rate? That alone would have been red flag for me.

[Squerly]

I'm not looking for a new Entegra, but if I was, this would cure me in a hurry.

[jgperegrine]

Yes I have had many discussions with Joyce, and yes I should have walked away when they did not honor the interest rate.

[jgperegrine]

At the time the nearest dealership was in Myrtle Beach and General RV had the exact the colors I wanted. I almost did walk when they did not honor the interest rate, but we worked it down from 1% higher to less than a 1/4% higher. However, I sure wished I walked.

[Twodogs112]

Greatly saddened by your experience with entegra. I also had similar experiences with my new Forrest river 2861. I learned the hard way not to trust what the dealer says. After 9 weeks of waiting for my slide to be repaired, I contacted the Forrest River warranty rep directly. I also contacted the dealers “we care” department directly. Lo and behold the slide mechanism was fixed in 3 hours, yes 3 hours!!!!! Still waiting on slide seals and a compartment door. . 4 months on and still waiting!!!
Had a similar experience with general rv here in Florida. Extremely high pressure sales tactics and additional undisclosed costs at two different locations. Would not show me what I wanted, just what they needed to sell ( spiff). I had all my finances approved and a check in hand, ready to buy , and still did not want to sell me what I wanted!!! Ran away as fast as I could get.
With regards to your drivetrain issues, keep detailed records and photos of any problems. Look at your states lemon law regarding rv coaches. The key word to use is “inoperable “ . For some reason it really gets them moving on the repairs.
Good luck and thanks for sharing your experiences. I won’t be looking at an entegra product for our next step up.

[markpj23]

JP I'm sorry you're going through this crap with a brand new MH. Last one we bought new had a few issues but nothing like this. Also not the first time I've heard bad things about General RV centers. I will not set foot in one.


Thanks for sharing - I wish you luck in getting to the point where you can enjoy your new coach.

[AZ RV'r]

First, let me say how sorry I am to hear about your issues.

I could share my RV horror stories and you wouldn't feel like you're the only one. I had a 2019 Fleetwood I bought brand new and after TWO trips from Phoenix, back to the factory in Indiana, with four pages of typed repairs needed... I just gave up. I sold that "purchased-new" Fleetwood coach 14 months ago, and ended up buying a 1998 Prevost bus conversion. So many posts on here daily with common things breaking... I just chose not to have those breaking items in my current coach. I don't have DEF its an Detroit Diesel Series 60, no swing out steps at the door, no slides (...Yes you read that right, no slides), no leveling jacks (Has air leveling), copper piping thru out, residential electrical system with residential breakers (no fuses) ... and tons of other good stuff. I could probably fix 95% of the RV by going to a Home Depot. I don't know how many owners were before me but I "zero'ed" it out and everything is up to date. I've owned it a year now and NOTHING has broken... and I mean NOTHING! Good luck with your coach and if in a few years you give up like I did, I suggest you look at some of the "highest-end" old ones.

[brobox]

Having the same background as you, but only 4 years USAF, and basically the same problems with my 14 as you, it didn't take much to see this would be an ongoing problem. The advise I can offer is take it back to Entegra ASAP. I did that with my 14, six weeks at Entegra and Spartan, I picked up a coach as it should have been delivered. They took care of the problems so professionally, I have purchased #2 and 3 Entegras. A trip to the factory is well worth the effort.
They offered to deliver the coach, but I decided to pick it up and spend a week in the coach before leaving. Well worth it and Shipshewanna is a great place to spend a week. The jack motor failed the first night there, the fault of Equalizer working on the Jacks.

[jgperegrine]

I forgot to mention something very important in my previous post yesterday about my 2023 Entegra Reatta XL nightmare.

I am 5'9 and it is impossible for me to adjust the steering wheel where I can see the whole dash and be comfortable to drive. This is even with adjustable pedals. I can only see half of the dash. So, important information like the tire pressure monitoring cannot be seen. I am constantly leaning forward to see the whole dash. I think this is a real safety issue. The steering needs to able to click down one more click and or capable of moving forward another inch.

I have spoken to Spartan about the steering wheel and they said there are not additional adjustments that can be made.

[buddy110]

Originally Posted by brobox

Having the same background as you, but only 4 years USAF, and basically the same problems with my 14 as you, it didn't take much to see this would be an ongoing problem. The advise I can offer is take it back to Entegra ASAP. I did that with my 14, six weeks at Entegra and Spartan, I picked up a coach as it should have been delivered. They took care of the problems so professionally, I have purchased #2 and 3 Entegras. A trip to the factory is well worth the effort.
They offered to deliver the coach, but I decided to pick it up and spend a week in the coach before leaving. Well worth it and Shipshewanna is a great place to spend a week. The jack motor failed the first night there, the fault of Equalizer working on the Jacks.

I will echo Chucks advice. Since the OP has already established a relationship with Joyce I would set it up with the mothership. Give them a list, walk them through each item and leave the coach. They will fix everything, the coach will be as it should have been upon delivery. I can't say enough good things about their service department. Top notch all the way