Challenger in for warranty work and service

[EA37TS]

Talked to the dealer and they received the last of the parts. During their initial work they found some condensation in the parking lights so they took it upon themselves to add replacement of the parking light assemblies to the warranty list. Turns out that when they ordered the replacements from Thor they received 2 left lights rather than a left and right.

I also talked to the service manager about the intermittent radio issue. It appears that when I dropped the coach off even though I mentioned a couple of times "looses power while driving" the master technician forgot to put the "while driving' on the service ticket. As such they did not find it necessary to drive the coach down the road to verify the problem and when they turned the radio on and played it for 3 hours while sitting in the shop and nothing happened they listed it as "not verified, no issue" Today or Monday my coach should be getting taking a trip down the road to determine the radio issue.

Right now we are looking at a March 5 pick up date unless we have the wrong parking lights again or they need to order a new radio.

Aside from the radio issue I am relatively happy with the dealers service.

[EA37TS]

Bingo!

The dealer's service tech drove the coach down the road twice. 10 minutes into the first trip the radio died. He came back hooked up some leads and a meter and went back out again. The second time was to narrow the issue to wiring or the radio head unit. Turns out it is the head unit and a new one has been requested under warranty.


Also during this call I specifically asked about the step recall and the dealer did receive the parts and has applied the recall to my coach.

[KCook]

Our dealer also replaced the head unit, I couldn't get anything to play on it.

KC

[bevedfelker]

I have an email inquiry in to Ford Corporate Customer Service right now about the wording in the warranty about the alignment within 12000 mile/12 months. When I get the answer I'll share it.

[EA37TS]

Yesterday my wife and I were driving to a nearby campground to check out their sites prior to making a July 4th weekend reservation. During our drive my dealer called and provided an update on the coach.

For the last remaining item, the Axxerra radio, Thor has approved the replacement of the radio (expected but a formality) and has shipped the new head unit to the dealer. The estimated delivery date to the dealer is March 9 and if delivered as scheduled the coach should be ready for pick up next weekend, provided there are no problems with the new head unit.

[EA37TS]

Talked to the dealer and repairs are complete. The unexpected delay was in delivery of the radio due to the severe weather in the Midwest last week.

Now my issue is getting the time this week to go inspect the coach and bring it home. Looks like Saturday may be the day if not sooner.

The dealer did email me a detailed invoice that explains all aspects of the repairs. For example here is the write-up for the water leak at the bathroom window

J# 1 75DTZ RV CONCERNTECH(S):147477 WARRANTY
WINDOW LEAK IN BATHROOM

PREFORMED WATER TEST AT BATH ROOM WINDOW AND FOUND THAT WINDOW SEAL HAD FAILED TO SEAL CAN SEEWATER FLOWING THROUGH I WOULD HAVE TO REMOVE 2 SETS OF WINDOW SEAL AND CLEAN OFF GLUE AND REPLACE W/NEW SET OF SEALS,
NEED PREAUTH FOR.5 THOR APPROVED .60 JOB COMPLETE..60

PARTS------QTY---FP-NUMBER---------------DESCRIPTION--------------------UNIT
PRICE-
JOB # 1 40259339STILE 3/4" X 6" WARRANTY
JOB #1 TOTAL PARTS 0.00
JOB #1 TOTAL LABOR & PARTS 0.00



The invoice also tells the date I dropped off the coach, when they took it into the shop, the day they requested authorization to perform the repairs, and the day they received the authorization to repair under warranty.



The dealer for my previous coach would provide an invoice but it never explained the steps taken by the technician to correct the issues. This Invoice included 19 separate "Jobs" and the details will provide me with a starting point to check the quality of the dealers repair efforts.

[EA37TS]

or those that may be interested, here is the write-up for the radio portion of the warranty work.

J#10 75DTZ11 RV CONCERNTECH(S):147477
WARRANTY
DASH RADIO LOSES POWER
HAD RADIO ON FOR 1/2 ADAY WHEN WORKING IN COACH,RADIO NAVER STOP WORKING.N.P.F.

CUSTEMER CALLED AND TALK TO SERVICE RIDER AND SAID THAT THE RADIO STOPS WORKING ONLY WHEN YOUR DRIVING,SO I ROAD TESTED
DOWN TO LADY SMITH EXIT 10 MILES DOWN AND 10 BACK.WITH RADIO
ON,AFTER 20MINS.RADIO DID TURN OFF HIT POWER BUTTON RADIO
DID TURN ON.WENT BACK TO SHOP AND REMOVE TOP OF DASH SO I
CAN GET TO BEHIND RADIO.TO TEST IF COUCH LOOSES POWER TO
RADIO AT PLUG SIDE I USED 2 TEST LIGHTS 1 TO RED AND 1 TO
YELLOW SIDE,I NEEDED TO SEE IF COUCH HAS A SHORT OR RADIO
SO I WEN'T ON A ROAD TEST W/BOTH TEST LIGHTS ON POWER SIDE
I CAN BE SURE WITCH SIDE HAS A SHORT.I FOUND THAT RADIO HAS
A INTERNAL SHORT AND RADIO NEEDS TO BE REPLACE.

RADIO IS AXXERA M/N:AV614BH
----------------------------
RADIO HAS TO BE REPLACE.
R&R DASH RADIO WENT FOR A TEST DRIVE AND RADIO DID NO TURN
OFF,NOW I NEED TO PUT TOP OF DASH ON.JOB COMPLETE..5

PARTS------QTY---FP-NUMBER---------------DESCRIPTION--------------------UNIT PRICE-
JOB # 10 10303055DASH RADIO WARRANTY
JOB # 10 TOTAL PARTS 0.00

JOB # 10 TOTAL LABOR & PARTS 0.00

[BillT]

Hi Dave:

I like the Pioneer radios. I've had one for years in my truck and think I'll be adding it to the RV when I get a chance. I have the AVH-4200NEX, but all the NEX units are solid.

Bill

[EA37TS]

I want to see what happens with the new radio they installed. I am picking the coach up tomorrow and bringing it back home, provided all work has been done correctly. I'll see if the radio cuts out again during the 80 mile trip back to the house.

[EA37TS]

Two thumbs and big toes up for Safford RV in Thornburg, VA.

We left the house and were in route when I called and told them we were 45 minutes out and were coming in to pick up the coach. We arrived and the coach was sitting out front waiting. Myself and the service manage walked through the coach and checked all of the repairs and everything was done in a professional manner. The service manager used a small dust pan and brush I had laying in the sink to clean up some sawdust from when the tech pre drilled a couple of holes to remount the furnace grate. Since I didn't have a trash bag readily visible he put the sawdust in his pocket until we got back outside.

My Axxerra radio did not cut out on me on the way home. When I talked to the tech he was not sure how my Sirius cables were routed so he left them outside the dash cover, but connected. That is not a problem since I want to try to hard wire in the power cord anyway.

When we arrived there was a travelling couple having issues with their Georgetown and the service manager was working them in so they could get back on the road. When we left there were 5 other RVs being dropped off for service and 2 others being picked up.

No issues what so ever with the dealer's service department.

Now it is time for cleaning, de-winterizing and sanitizing the fresh water system and getting it loaded for the first trip of the year.

[KCook]

Glad to hear!!!

KC

[EA37TS]

With my prior Forest River dealer it always took two trips. The first for the needed service and the second for them to fix what they broke doing the first service.

[bevedfelker]

Dave -- good to be getting ready to hit the road. Nothing sadder than an RV sitting in storage doing nothing. Being in Tampa even in the middle of winter we are only 86 miles from the "Happiest place on earth."

Glad they got the repairs done. When we lived in Alexandria went down to Stafford's several times just looking. They seemed to be pretty friendly & knowledgeable folks.

[jpmihalk]

Congrats on the good news! Glad the repairs went well and you are ready for the season.

[JamieGeek]

Your dealer sounds like one of the better ones by a fair margin. If only all could be so competent!

Happy trails..

[Oneilkeys]

It is good to have positive news about an RV dealer. We heard a lot f the bad things.. and rightfully so. But it is good to hear the positive ones too. Get out on the road!

[bigben]

Dave - hooah. Glad to here about the repairs going well AND a solid RV service department. We've had the same sort of experience both with Thor and Forest River. When we'd call Forest River I was never sure if anybody worked there.

Enjoy the road and the Challenger.

[EA37TS]

I was thinking about checking out an independent shop about 50 miles closer to the house but after this experience I think I'll stick with this dealer. The way I look at it is an extra hour of drive time is worth a week of fewer headaches.

I was planning to start de-winterizing tomorrow but I looked at the weather for next week and we have a couple of below freezing nights in the forecast. I guess de-winterizing will have to wait until next weekend when I get back from a business trip to the Midwest.