Community Forums

ClintMyra · 03-06-2012, 01:53 PM

Washington state lemon law doesn't cover travel trailers. How to find reputable attorney? 6 month old Dutchmen Rainier. 7 times into shop. 3 times for slide leaks. 4 times for components. 22 days and counting sitting at the shop. Camping season is about here and we've no confidence it will be uneventful as it should be with a new trailer. Oh and we only use it about 12 nights.

450Donn · 03-06-2012, 02:05 PM

Like you found out there is no such thing as lemon laws on RV's.
You might try the tactic several people have. That is, get a couple of large pieces of card board, paint a giant lemon on them, and park your trailer on a public street in front of the dealership and place the signs on it. I'll bet it wont take very long for it to get fixed. BTW this is totally legal as long as you are on a public road.

OneRVer · 03-06-2012, 02:10 PM

Contact the Washington State Attorney General and the Better Business. This has helped me before. The Attorney General is running for Governor so he might put out a little extra effort.

Mr_D · 03-06-2012, 02:23 PM

Forget the BBB! We did for stolen property while in a dealers lot plus other things. The dealer told the BBB that they had contacted us and we said it was all taken care of which was a total lie. I wrote a letter of protest refuting the dealers letter. The BBB said the case was closed as far as they were concerned.

As to Lemon Law in WA, that's right TT's are not covered. The house portion of a MH is also not covered and the chassis only if it's safety related.

Dunner · 03-06-2012, 07:47 PM

Call a local TV station. They get things done.

easdsa · 03-06-2012, 08:25 PM

The next time you talk to the dealership, mention the following letters: ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX, NBC. You might be surprised at how quickly things move then!

We did that a number of years ago, and got a VP out of a meeting to refund $0.01!

bdpreece · 03-06-2012, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClintMyra

Washington state lemon law doesn't cover travel trailers. How to find reputable attorney? 6 month old Dutchmen Rainier. 7 times into shop. 3 times for slide leaks. 4 times for components. 22 days and counting sitting at the shop. Camping season is about here and we've no confidence it will be uneventful as it should be with a new trailer. Oh and we only use it about 12 nights.

The more you can do to get your story before the people the better off you will be. Think park it on a main drag with something that looks like a bomb in it and a sign on the side. Make sure you have a box with wires showing, the press eats it up. [Moderator Edit]

Arch Hoagland · 03-06-2012, 08:56 PM

Have you contacted Thor? I had a dealer problem big time on a new trailer and so I called Thor to complain.

Thor said take it anywhere to get it serviced, that was authorized, and they would take care of it.

I did and they did.

GPW · 03-07-2012, 06:11 AM

If there were Lemon Laws on trailers , the Manufacturers would quickly be bankrupt ... None seem to be QUALITY made anymore , everything on a “price point” ...

450Donn · 03-08-2012, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bdpreece

The more you can do to get your story before the people the better off you will be. Think park it on a main drag with something that looks like a bomb in it and a sign on the side. Make sure you have a box with wires showing, the press eats it up.[Moderator Edit] .

Doing something like this will GUARANTEED get their attention. And the attention of the police and homeland security who will haul your butt off to jail. About $10,000 later you might get bail and another 20K in lawyer fees might get you off the hook.

ClintMyra · 04-04-2012, 08:39 PM

With it back in a new shop for ongoing leaks we have ordered a 3X3 vinyl sign with a giant yellow lemon on wheels to hang on the front when parked and in the back window when towed. Hoping to save others the expense and grief we're still going through after nearly 6 months.

Mr_D · 04-04-2012, 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClintMyra

Washington state lemon law doesn't cover travel trailers. How to find reputable attorney? 6 month old Dutchmen Rainier. 7 times into shop. 3 times for slide leaks. 4 times for components. 22 days and counting sitting at the shop. Camping season is about here and we've no confidence it will be uneventful as it should be with a new trailer. Oh and we only use it about 12 nights.

Our DSDP (well over $210,000) was in the shop for 118 days out of the first 315 days of ownership. And we never mentioned getting a lawyer to get it fixed. Dealer falsly claimed that we told them they could keep the rig as long as they needed and that they had called us numerous times to pick it up. We never received any calls while home and my answering machine records all phone calls even if it only rings once. Finally ended up driving it from WA to IN to get it fixed. However, part of our problem was the 12,000# front axle and the rig weighed 12,050 with nothing of ours in it and before we ever got aboard.

cwoelkers · 05-29-2012, 02:47 PM

DO NOT BUY DUTCHMEN!! We just bought a Dutchmen Komfort 3130 in Feb 2012. We took it to a local lake for our first trip out to test everything. It rained pretty heavy this weekend and unfortunately it rained inside the camper as well. The bedroom cabinets were pouring water to the point I had to wring out towels over and over. We finally packed up in the rain and took the 5th wheel to the dealer. The dealer submitted a warranty claim to Dutchmen to remove the front cap and inspect everything inside of it. Dutchmen refused and told them they will only allow the cap to be “loosened” to inspect. I contacted Dutchmen to tell them I wanted the cap removed but got nowhere! Not only did I get nowhere but both people I spoke with were extremely rude. Their customer service is horrible and like nothing I have ever dealt with. If you read the warranty they have many things written to release them of liability. For the obvious reason of our camper leaking everywhere on our first trip out (2 month old camper) I would be very hesitant to buy anything from Dutchmen but after dealing with them over the phone I would never again purchase from them and would recommend looking at other manufactures!! BTW...this was not our only problem the first time out. The water pump didn't work as well as 12 other things on our list!

ClintMyra · 05-30-2012, 06:57 AM

Sorry to hear of your problems. We also had a HUGE list of problems first trip out after paying $400 for a pre-delivery inspection! We got the distinct impression from Dutchmen that they didn't care about their reputation (they already got our $$) and refused to have the factory go over it. Decided to call a lemon a lemon and traded it after 7 months at a huge loss to us for a JAYCO. So far it's terrific and what we should have done originally. We just couldn't see where we would ever trust the Dutchmen out on the road or even be able to use it since it was now spending 3 weeks at a time in the shop, home a day or two and back in.