Sold me a 2018 and got a 17

[gary d]

Purchased a 35m Windsport at rv show. It was sold as a 2018. When I went to have it inspected I was told by tech that it was a 2017. Not too happy. Has anyone encountered this situation. Any advice. Thanks

[jpmihalk]

It could be a 2018 house on a 2017 Ford chassis. That is not uncommon. We have a 2016 Hurricane built on the older 5-speed 2015 F-53 chassis.

[Pete'sMH]

Unless you’ve got something in writing saying you purchased a 2018 you might be out of luck. Model years seem to be more fluid in this industry than in, say, the auto industry. Still, I’d be fuzzed too. On the other hand, depending on your state maybe taxes will be less since it’s a year older....

[tnedator]

Originally Posted by jpmihalk

It could be a 2018 house on a 2017 Ford chassis. That is not uncommon. We have a 2016 Hurricane built on the older 5-speed 2015 F-53 chassis.

How can you tell what year the chassis is? Unless I'm missing it, I don't see a year on the Ford sticker in the cab.

[Wonderdog]

My Axis is a 2017 built on a 2016 E-450. Slight difference in oil change mileage I believe but it has a 6 speed transmission. So it's later 2016.

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by tnedator

How can you tell what year the chassis is? Unless I'm missing it, I don't see a year on the Ford sticker in the cab.

The VIN

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by gary d

Purchased a 35m Windsport at rv show. It was sold as a 2018. When I went to have it inspected I was told by tech that it was a 2017. Not too happy. Has anyone encountered this situation. Any advice. Thanks

There's an entire thread about this. If you were sold a 2018 model it should be registered at the DMV as a 2018 Thor Motorcoach but realize the chassis is probably a 2017. That's normal in the motorhome world.

[JamieGeek]

Originally Posted by tnedator

How can you tell what year the chassis is? Unless I'm missing it, I don't see a year on the Ford sticker in the cab.

Use any of the online VIN lookup tools and type in your chassis' VIN.

Its very common in the RV industry for the chassis to sit around: The factory gets a bunch delivered and then doesn't build the house on it for a while.

Every few months someone posts about this, hence there have been many threads about it.

Here is one of the more recent threads about it: http://www.thorforums.com/forums/f17...gned-8540.html

[jpmihalk]

Originally Posted by tnedator

How can you tell what year the chassis is? Unless I'm missing it, I don't see a year on the Ford sticker in the cab.

In our case, it was easy since the 2016 F-53 was the first year of the new 6-speed transmission. Ours is a 5-speed. There is a Ford web site where you can take the VIN and it will break down the build date and details of the stripped chassis that was provided to Thor for the build. Checking ours provided the F-53 build date as April 2015.

[Chance]

A lot has to do with timing because many RV manufacturers started making 2018 model year motorhomes before Ford even started making the 2018 chassis. Beyond that the pipeline has to be filled, so maybe as many as half of motorhomes end up built on previous-year chassis relative to house model year.

[Laco]

Very common to buy a motorhome for a given model year, and the chassis its built on is a year older. Our previous DP was a 2006, but was on a 2005 Freightliner chassis. Our current Gemini is a 2017, mounted on a 2016 Mercedes Sprinter chassis. Mercedes considers it a 2016, to everyone else its a 2017.

[gmc]

Originally Posted by gary d

Purchased a 35m Windsport at rv show. It was sold as a 2018. When I went to have it inspected I was told by tech that it was a 2017. Not too happy. Has anyone encountered this situation. Any advice. Thanks

The important part is to be sure it does get titled as a 2018... As that is the RV manufacturer's designation.

Resolving at initial title is easier than fixing later.

[rstewart06]

I just went thru this and started the last post on it. Mine was sold as a 2017 but titled as a 2016. After contacting the dealer it was taken care of and they got me a new title showing 2017. They chassis was a 2016.

[Cason61]

Originally Posted by gary d

Purchased a 35m Windsport at rv show. It was sold as a 2018. When I went to have it inspected I was told by tech that it was a 2017. Not too happy. Has anyone encountered this situation. Any advice. Thanks

Yes. Different circumstances though and different place (Oklahoma). I don't like it either but only thing I can do is to take all my repairs elsewhere.

[Laco]

Vin number will tell you what year the chassis is, though its not at all uncommon for a 2018 motorhome to be built on a 2017 chassis. My 2017 Gemini is built on a 2016 chassis, but the vehicle is sold as a 2017. Registration says its a 2017, though Mercedes calls it a 2016.

[PaulH]

One year out ? You're lucky, our Gulfstream Independence was bought brand new in 2010 the UK from the main (only) Gulfstream dealer, after a few weeks of ownership I found it to be a 2007 !!

[Bob Denman]

The model year is set by the manufacturer of the RV, and not by the chassis.

Our 2018 Outlaw has a 2017 chassis hiding underneath... DMV titled it as a 2018 without even blinking an eye!

[minpintft]

This is not unusual....it was built on a 2017 chassis but will be registered as a 2018

[Thehobe1]

We also bought a 2017 Thor but the chassis was a 2016. I was told thus is normal and it sounds very plausible to me. Take a look at all of the chassis sitting at the Thor plant awaiting house assembly. It take Thor a few months to go through the incoming vehicles, lengthen the chassis and then build the house on top.

[azadv]

Checked the VIN on the 2017 Outlaw 29H I'm picking up about 1000 miles away at a dealer in OK in about a week, confirmed the Ford chassis is a 2017 on it. The Ford VIN check site didn't list the transmission details, but after reviewing the pics of the dash online and seeing the manual drive modes of 1,2,4 the E450 manual indicates the 6 speed has 1,2,4 and 5 speed has 1,2,3. So my new Outlaw has the 6R140 6-speed