Weekend Warrior
Last fall I said I'd post my experience with my purchase from the new Weekend Warrior so here it is. Long story short, they are no better or worse than any other RV manufacturer. They do however have a really good marketing department. The manager of the RV service center that recently performed warranty work said its a nice unit. That's the short of it. Here goes the experience.
In July 2016 we visited the factory. Things looked clean, workers appeared to be taking care of business, the sales rep (he now works for another manufacturer) took us around and showed us the units being built from where the rolling frames come in to the finished product. We saw different units in various states of completion. I had researched RV's for the past few years and we decided to put down a deposit.
During the build, our sales rep was sending us photos each week. Those were nice to get. They show where some things are that we can't see now. During the build of our unit, our sales rep left the company. An existing employee too over and did a great job. Then they hired the new sales rep. He wasn't so good. Photos were intermittent and communication pretty much ceased unless we initiated.
The sales rep notified us that our unit would be complete and ready for pick up on a date exactly 4 months after the deposit was placed. Based upon the information I had, it didn't seem like the unit would be ready so I let the sales rep know that it seemed too soon and they could take another week or two, no big deal with me. "No, no, no it will be ready on that date".
We were told where and when to show up. When we got to the factory we were greeted by the sales rep and went to a waiting room. The person that handles the paperwork and financials showed up. We were told the unit was being buffed as there were some imperfections in the paint being addressed. Chit chat and we were asked for the check.
We went to the production floor and met the production people. They had no idea we were coming in that day. Production staff gave us a tour of our unit showing us where things were and how things operated. During the tour of the unit, it turns out the microwave hadn't been vented to the exterior and there were some other issues. They pulled it outside with a forklift for us to stay the night and gave us a piece of paper and pencil to write down things we notice that need to be fixed.
It rained and wind blew pretty hard. No leaks. That was good. We had a pretty long list of stuff that needed to be fixed. Production staff came out, fixed issues and went back to work in the factory. We stayed two nights.
The second morning, I was pulling back and forth in their parking lot to adjust the brakes. noriced water coming out from the underbelly. Production staff came out, opened the underbelly, made a fix to the fresh water air vent and waved goodby. Pulled over 10-20 miles from the factory to check on something. Noticed there was still a leak. Went back to the factory. Repeat of opening the underbelly, fix and wave goodby.
200 miles away from the factory we pull in to get fuel a and it is RAINING out from the underbelly. On the way home we are noticing more issues that need to be fixed.
Fast forward to 3 months after we picked it up. We notice the black water system is leaking into the underbelly. Now we can't use it. The factory has a new warranty rep who was good to work with. Warranty rep sends me a list of RV service centers near my house. One service center said they limit warranty work and would schedule a,date months out. Another one didn't want to get involved and said they know nothing about them. Another left us hanging, no communication, didn't know when they would have an opening. The fourth service center got us in the next week and got right to work on it.
I asked to be called when they find out what the underbelly leaks were so I could see what was going on. They called the next day. Turns out the fresh water leak was the hose on the fresh water air vent. It was bent back on itself with a zip tie holding it in a bent position. As water in the fresh tank sloshed around, it drained into the underbelly. The black water tank was leaking because someone at the factory had drilled a hole in the bottom of it.
Based upon the posted cost of labor at the service center and the total cost of labor for the warranty work, I guesstimate under 3 man days of work although it took 8 weeks to get my RV back. The wait time was the factory getting the correct parts to the service center.
Before I took it to the service center, I changed the oil and filter in the generator as I didn't know what they put in there. The generator had 11.5 hours on it from our trip from the factory and getting back home. THE ONLY OIL THE GENERATOR HAD IN IT WAS IN THE FILTER!!!. I talked to the factory rep about this and she said to call Cummins/Onan. Pardon me? There is another warranty rep now so I will follow up on that with the new person.
It is a good unit but the luster was sanded off by the purchase and follow up experience with the factory.
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