RV Breakdowns - What to do?

[MinnesotaBob]

I have had several onstar moments, one was as good as it gets and the other two they were worthless. Even on I-35 in Iowa. Google and patience. The staff at the Convience store/gas station in Iowa knew old guy that is mister dependable for a tow on my Suburban. So I will definitely call fuel stops near me next time. I got caught with my RV fuel filter plugging up going down road near Ames, Iowa in zero degree weather. Calling truck service businesses made me feel like a leper once I told them I was an RV. Finally a private business had pity on my let me overnight in his lot and pulled the fuel filters off and replaced them in the am. Ran genny all night to stay warm. I now can replace my filters on the road with my own supply. It gives me shivers to travel in that kind of weather, because odds are the service stations are full of rigs with similiar cold weather issues.

[Brian O]

Couple of years ago while driving west on the Trans Canada highway near the Saskatchewan/Manitoba border, at about 1:00 PM on a Saturday, the engine on our RV just quite. I rolled to a stop on the shoulder and checked the things I could think of that might be the cause. My wife called triple A for a tow. She told them the we were a class A and gave the GVW. She got the run around about what they covered. From 40 miles away they sent an undersized tow truck which the driver had to take back and get a different truck.

While waiting I called Ford's RV hot line to see if there might be something else to check. A real Ford mechanic called back in 10 minutes. He gave me a couple of things to check and then ask how many miles were on the rig. I didn't realize it was still under warranty. He stated "this is clearly a Ford issue and we will make sure your towed to a campground or Walmart or somewhere safe and we will take care of the problem." AAA towed us 2 miles to a campground and over the phone made sure we knew 1 tow was all that was covered.

Monday morning Ford set up a tow to one of their heavy truck dealer. Even though we were closer to Winnipeg they towed us about a 140 miles to Regina (our direction of travel). The dealer was waiting for us. The mechanic hooked up his computer and found a failed fuel pump module. We were on our way in about an hour.

I certainly learn about the coverage and customer focus of both AAA and Ford. We now have a Tiffin diesel but I still have a great deal of respect for Ford.

[ArkansasRomr]

I have a good, reliable and decently priced RV service center that also has a couple mobile units that will travel the state of Arkansas.

BCRV repair located in Cabot, AR (30 minutes northeast of Little Rock)
501-593-8776
Speak with Patrick

[TheRogues]

I have used Coach-Net for years and am more impressed with them than Good Sam. Just make sure you buy the level of plan you need.

[rk911]

Originally Posted by ArkansasRomr

I have a good, reliable and decently priced RV service center that also has a couple mobile units that will travel the state of Arkansas.

BCRV repair located in Cabot, AR (30 minutes northeast of Little Rock)
501-593-8776
Speak with Patrick

please post them in RVServiceReviews.com

[PORCHDOG]

I had an incident with Coach Net. I blew out the hydraulics in a campground and couldn't move the RV. I called Coach Net and they sent a mechanic from Arkansas Mobile Fleet Service, Inc. 165 County Road 434 Jonesboro, AR 72404-7619 that told me he was a truck mechanic and did not know anything about RV's. He demanded $60 for the call and I paid him expecting to be reimbursed by Coach Net. I ended up making the repair myself. When I requested payment from Coach Net they said that they had already paid them and denied my claim. I contacted AMFS and they would not answer my calls after they knew I wanted my money back. I filed a claim with the Little Rock AR Better Business Bureau but they could not get AMFS to respond either. Eventually Coach Net paid me. They are a top notch company! Be aware, if you do business with Berry Wewars dba AMFS in Jonesboro, He will never get my business again!

[THenne1713]

Lesson I learned years ago, always ask the wife to help give visual inspection. (or find a dropped/ lost part); (Sometimes), "what is this?"... "Why does this look funny?" … "Does this look right?" is the simple solution (I) was overlooking...

[Linda Bohr]

There is a great resource being overlooked in this thread. Farmers. Farmers deal with engines of every sort. Diesel and gas. They will know how or know who can see you if it is chassis work or something they don't have the tools to fix. (Highly unlikely.) They can phone a farm equipment place, who is usually on a first name basis with them and the equipment dealer can at least diagnose the problem. We and and our kids are a farm family. I don't think there is a motor or engine made that my boys can't fix. They grew up taking farm equipment apart and putting it back together. They can weld and do many jobs that city people have to rely on service people for. So if you are in the "middle of nowhere", drive to a farmer's house and ask. He won't mind and is usually a good source of knowledge. And for that matter, his wife may know as much as he does and will see that you get help. Support your local farmers. Without them, you won't have much on the table.

[ArkansasRomr]

Great idea Linda!

I will definitely write that in my marble box.

[Taarnac]

I feel your pain. I've fulltimed for about 20 years and work from home. Currently, I'm still living the nightmare after having been towed 4 times in 2 weeks, living out of a borrowed small RV, waiting for my engine to be replaced for the second time. I've tried to keep a good attitude but after paying more than the coach is worth for the first repair, only to have to have it re-done, with my vacation and my visiting brother's vacation ruined, I'm experiencing an attitude adjustment. Mr. nice guy went on vacation and never returned I'm initiating a lawsuit against the original mechanic in S. Cal. Anyone have any resources that I could draw upon?
One lesson I learned from wanting to be ready to go in case of an earthquake or fire, is that when fulltiming - everything you own is in one place and if you don't have access to it, then you're SOL - so much for being prepared...

[pwhittle]

I have had good success with the TruckDown application. It uses your GPS to locate nearby mobile mechanics.

Paul