Community Forums

TXBart · 06-01-2019, 10:25 AM

The discussion on an earlier thread has me rethinking my Oct AIR at Middlebury.

Middlebury is ~2,300 miles round trip from us. NIRVC is 126. At $.48/mile for fuel that is $1,104 v $60.

Multiple RV parks each way to Middlebury, some of which I wouldn’t stay at except for lack of availability of anything nicer. No parks for the NIRVC trip. Add at least $500 for enroute overnights.

We stayed in the coach for our last PDI. Stay in the coach you have to vacate by 6:30 and be back by 2:30 if you want to talk to the tech. There’s only so much to see in the Middlebury area. This time we will stay at a dog friendly motel and sleep as late as we want and veg in the “comfort” of the room if we chose. Add $130/night.

At NIRVC we can drop the coach off, eat lunch with Brett and Angie, if we’re lucky enough to catch them in town, then go home. Come back a week or so later and pick the coach up.

Only regret in not going to Middlebury is not seeing Joyce. She is so busy that we feel guilty stealing more of her time than just saying “Hi.” Doing it at NIRVC you have 2 opportunities of saying “Hi” to Brett or Angie and maybe a lunch.

The AIR is no cost at Entegra and $2,500 at NIRVC but it will cost me >$2,000 to get to, from and stay at Middlebury. Which location does a better inspection? Don’t know. I was impressed with our PDI at Middlebury in 2015, I had a 23 item list and their techs found 15 more to include small wood finish issues we didn’t even notice. We have 3 items on our Cornerstone right now.

van-gogh · 06-01-2019, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TXBart

The discussion on an earlier thread has me rethinking my Oct AIR at Middlebury.

Middlebury is ~2,300 miles round trip from us. NIRVC is 126. At $.48/mile for fuel that is $1,104 v $60.

Multiple RV parks each way to Middlebury, some of which I wouldn’t stay at except for lack of availability of anything nicer. No parks for the NIRVC trip. Add at least $500 for enroute overnights.

We stayed in the coach for our last PDI. Stay in the coach you have to vacate by 6:30 and be back by 2:30 if you want to talk to the tech. There’s only so much to see in the Middlebury area. This time we will stay at a dog friendly motel and sleep as late as we want and veg in the “comfort” of the room if we chose. Add $130/night.

At NIRVC we can drop the coach off, eat lunch with Brett and Angie, if we’re lucky enough to catch them in town, then go home. Come back a week or so later and pick the coach up.

Only regret in not going to Middlebury is not seeing Joyce. She is so busy that we feel guilty stealing more of her time than just saying “Hi.” Doing it at NIRVC you have 2 opportunities of saying “Hi” to Brett or Angie and maybe a lunch.

The AIR is no cost at Entegra and $2,500 at NIRVC but it will cost me >$2,000 to get to, from and stay at Middlebury. Which location does a better inspection? Don’t know. I was impressed with our PDI at Middlebury in 2015, I had a 23 item list and their techs found 15 more to include small wood finish issues we didn’t even notice. We have 3 items on our Cornerstone right now.

What is your QUESTION(S)?

navychop · 06-01-2019, 10:41 AM

If warranty items need correction, doesn't Entegra cover repairs at a dealer? I had over $15,000 of repairs done on my 2011 Aspire and a few things on my 2015 Anthem.

brobox · 06-01-2019, 10:46 AM

Vance, just my opinion. We like going to Middlebury. We enjoy taking the tour and seeing what is being built into the newer models. Enjoy sharing ideas on different fixes with others in for service. They are usually complaining, I like to ask what it took to fix it.

Middlebury is usually on the way to somewhere. Does it make sense financially, no. Next time we will not do the 0630 roll call either.

That is a tough call, especially with NIRVC so close. For me NIRVC half way to Middlebury, so I might as well continue on.

TXBart · 06-01-2019, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by navychop

If warranty items need correction, doesn't Entegra cover repairs at a dealer? I had over $15,000 of repairs done on my 2011 Aspire and a few things on my 2015 Anthem.

Yes. That’s part of the point, Entegra covers all warranty work. Now, if I could just figure out how to get oil change, lube and Aquahot service approved as warranty items. ;-)

TXBart · 06-01-2019, 11:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BradlyHart

What is your QUESTION(S)?

No real question. Just looking for opinions which this forum is not short of. Maybe you provided your opinion with the question, my discussion kinda made it a no brainer on where I should take my coach.

Victory Blue · 06-01-2019, 11:27 AM

If you choose the dealer what happens when parts are needed?

TXBart · 06-01-2019, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brobox

Middlebury is usually on the way to somewhere.

That’s a problem, Middlebury tends to not be on the way to anywhere for us. It may be different if we could combine it with another destination.

02trader · 06-01-2019, 12:10 PM

In the spring of 2018, I spent almost three weeks between warranty work in Middlebury and some warranty & service work in Charlotte. If you have even a spec of "gearhead" in your DNA, there are at least three "must see" destinations in and around Middlebury.

1. The Auburn-Duesenberg-Cord museum in Auburn, Indiana is epic! About 100 cars on two floors of the old Auburn manufacturing facility...it took me two days to get through them all. And there is a parking lot with electrical hook-ups right across the street...and you can park there for free!!!

2. There is a regularly scheduled car show in Middlebury...I think it is weekly on Tuesday night...at the large hotel/restaurant facility on the main drag...it's a short drive or a slightly longer walk from the Entegra Service location.

3. The Studebaker museum in South Bend is well worth the trip. Lots of great old cars from days past when this brand was a real player in the auto industry. After the tour, have dinner at the Tippecanoe Lodge...it's a great old stone building which was built by one of the Studebaker brothers as his residence but later converted into a great restaurant.

I expected to be massively bored between my service appointments but ended up having a good time visiting these historic sites from an automotive industry long-gone.

EVsCoach · 06-01-2019, 12:18 PM

1/2 dozen or the other! Combined with seeing new sights, even short diversions, can be a plus. Just a matter of convenience.

royals1212 · 06-01-2019, 12:32 PM

I had my 2015 Aspire AIR performed at NIRV at Lewisville. The first one Brett did. The price seems to be pretty expensive especially if they are getting paid for the warranty work. I think you might want to call and negotiate a better rate. Something like labor for warranty work is deducted.

Just a thought

Gary.Jones · 06-01-2019, 01:28 PM

Vance

I ended up essentially having two PDIs (AIRs) done in Middlebury on my 15 Anthem. First one was unscheduled and necessitated by a massive water leak in the roof that was behind the walls in the front cabin. Dee and I were there two to 3 weeks as they had to tear out major stuff from the coach to get to the wetness and get it all dry and then water test it to ensure that they had all the leaks cured. The second was the standard 2 year AIR. Again, we stayed in Middlebury about 2 weeks while they worked on the coach every work-day from morning to night. This time there was painting to be done and time in the paint shop but a good 7-8 days of active fixing problems.

Now my experience is that they found multiple problems that I did not even know existed (many of my LEDs out in my stop lights, for example, which I had never seen since Dee does not drive the coach and I cant see that when driving. Also they found maybe 12-15 things that I did not have on my list. Both in the amount of time and in what they found and fixed and I didn't know existed, I felt very happy with Entegra's service in Middlebury. Neither visit were particularly on our way to anywhere and the first one forced us to cancel a week in Hilton Head (at our expense) which was a huge disappointment.

Now, to each his/her own, but we love to explore PA Dutch/Amish life. We drive the country side and see how the group exits without many modern conveniences. He have seen hundreds come together to see a play which was a thinly veiled excuse to give a widow some money. Its really fascinating. And I can listen to the clip-clop of the horses hooves on the highway for hours. We also visited Notre Dame, and Elkhart and several other cities. We are not much on plain German food, but we found some excellent Asian restaurants (usually one good one per city)(Trip Advisor and Yelp are your friends for food), and Newmar, and Spartan, and every other RV manufacturer near by. We will bite the bullet and make the drive back to Middlebury even if it not on our way to where we are planning on going that trip. Also, I think we save a good deal of money by having their techs do the job. We will most likely go...

Gary

TXBart · 06-02-2019, 04:41 PM

Robin and I have been discussing it. We have total faith in NIRVC and see them several times a year, one way or another but the only way to renew our membership in the Entegra Family is to visit the Mothership and see Joyce’s smiling face. Plus, all time and miles in the coach are good!

We will be heading to Middlebury this fall unless a doctor changes my mind!

Gary.Jones · 06-02-2019, 05:42 PM

You have made a wise choice....

And, it doesn't matter, but I had 20-22 years of German food cooked by my mom whose maiden name was Hartzell (anything German about that name??). German dairy farmers..... so we had lots of German food. I now prefer almost anything other than German food. (Sorry Germans, no offense intended....)

There is lots of interesting stuff to see in that area. Have fun.... don't rush! Don't be afraid to get out of Middlebury also. Lots to explore in Northwest Indiana.. Without a doubt, the most fascinating thing we saw last time was an Amish woman/family who have a small herd of camels (yes, camels) that she makes various skin lotions and other ointments out of camel's milk..... She and one camel had a tent right outside of the Rise-N-Roll bakery. Bet you never expected to see that in Middlebury, right?

Gary