Warranty service

[Dave__C]

Have any of you had good luck getting warranty
(or non warranty) work done at a dealer other than where you purchased? Is it like car dealerships where it doesn't really matter where you bought?

[OnNTwo]

I have tried with 3 motorhomes over 11 years and was successful only once with Tiffin. Winnebago and Thor refused.

[CC38EL]

Have had RVs for over 30 years and it amazed me at how the sales people always said 'warranty coverage nationwide'.

What they meant is....'yes, you have warranty coverage nationwide AFTER we work on those that bought from us'. I've gone from 'next week' to 'next year' in the same conversation when scheduling warranty service.

One thing I try to do is contact the manufacturer for assistance. That ties in to the dealer where I'm trying to get service. Sometime it helps.

Its definitely not like auto dealers. Just my .02 worth.

[happy2rv]

Most RV dealerships aren't happy about servicing units sold elsewhere. The most unprofessional cussing, screaming, tantrum I've ever seen is when we first purchased our Bounder and had a roof leak. We bought it a dealer about a 12 hour drive away, mainly because our local Fleetwood dealer didn't handle Bounders. When we discovered the leak, I called the service department at our local dealership and they made an appointment. When I showed up for that appointment, the service manager had a come apart right there in front of me screaming at his staff as to why they would allowed me to schedule an appointment ahead of "their" customers. They finally did at least work on the roof leak, but didn't address some smaller warranty issues that I had to take it back to the dealer I bought it from for.

Warranty and service work is kind of hit or miss at a lot of dealerships, even for units purchased there. Search through the forums for tales of people who've had their RV at the dealership for repairs for weeks or months at a time.

Independent RV repair shops or mobile techs are probably the most responsive because service IS their business.

Once we had such a warm welcome at the local dealership and I got most of the initial issues resolved, we found a local independent shop that Fleetwood approved to perform warranty work. Not sure if they still do that, but it's worth checking.
Also worth noting that most coach warranties are of somewhat limited value. There's no such thing as a "bumper to bumper" warranty on an RV. Most new coaches are covered for "manufacturer defects" for 12 months. Engine and drive train are usually covered longer, but many dealerships don't do that type of work anyway. A lot of them will refer you to a truck shop for engine and transmission issues.

[sbleiweiss]

As has been said, some dealers won't service you and some will put you last in line. But honestly, in 6 years of RVing and 80,000 miles coast to coast, I have found many dealers that were perfectly nice about servicing us with no prejudice because we and our rig were strangers. Have I just been lucky?

[Dave__C]

Thanks all. Despite the scary responses, we went ahead with a purchase today from a dealer that's not exactly local, but at least not too far. It's a 2 hour drive when there's no traffic (like now during the Covid crisis). I guess we'll find out how the local dealer treats us before too long. I asked the deal we bought from about this and they admitted that people who didn't buy from them will go to the back of the line. And the way he said it made me think they will then keep getting bumped by the local customers that come in while they're in the queue.