We just purchased our first Motor Coach a month ago. On the test drive, several of the cabinet doors on the inside were not working correctly due to a cylinder thing that kept snapping the hinge. The window wipers were also not working. We joked with our salesman that maybe that was a sign...
We traded in a 26 foot Maxim boat, a Jayco Designer 35 ft. 5th Wheel, and our beloved Silverado Crew Cab Diesel truck. Our plan is to use the Motor Home when we retire in about 10 years and start paying on it now.
We were so excited to bring it home. On the walk-through there were several issues that we felt should have been fixed before we got there. The cabinet doors still weren't fixed. The shade on the window above the sink was all bent and loose & needed to be replaced. A couple of outside cargo doors were not closing correctly. The floor creaked on the inside real bad. Also, the floor was wet under the big slide and my husband was worried it was a leak. The service center said it was just from the guys that washed it before we got there, but 3 hours later it was still leaking. My husband insisted they remove the cabinet door in there to see where the leak was coming from. There was a loose fitting that they had to fix. The ladder going to the roof had a stripped screw on it so they put that down to fix also. There was gouge in the woodwork on the trim at the bottom of the big slide. Even sawdust under it. They said they would order us a new trim board. We also noticed a few little gouges in the flooring not super noticeable that looked like they had been glued down. Looked like a woman in heels had punctured the floor. We feel that maybe you would buy a used RV or in about 10 years you would have that issue, but not in a brand new motor home. We have asked for that to be fixed even if they have to replace the floor. They put velcro on the dinette cushions but it didn't match up to the velcro on the seat it was supposed to stick to. We are going to fix that ourselves. They said they will fix all of these things when we bring it in to be winterized, but I guess we'll see. We were starting to get more and more disappointed and disillusioned but we had already bought it.
The walk-through that was supposed to be about 3 hours lasted six hours due to all the problems. We did finally get it home. We wanted to sit outside in it and test everything as we were taking it camping to a friend's over Labor Day the following weekend. Turned out the inverter wasn't working when we tried to go from gas to battery. Since we would be dry camping, this was very important. We ended up having to drive it back to the dealership the next day so they could work on it.....again.
There was a bad diod on the gas heater thing? Something like that they also had to replace.
They had it for a few more days and then my husband brought it home again. Everytime he tried to switch the battery on it blew a fuse. We had to call them again and they sent over a service tech to work on it. Turns out the Board was shorting itself out. They replaced the board and finally, everything worked as it should.
It performed beautifully while out dry camping. The battery lasted about 9 hours on the fridge and that was okay. We just ran the generator in the morning and throughout the day until it was time to go to bed.
My husband is thrilled with the Ford engine since he is a Chevy guy all his life. We couldn't afford a diesel pusher and that is what he is used to driving but it handles so well. Even pulling our car. We are very pleased with that. We love the full sized fridge and ice maker.
All in all, we are pleased with it, except for the quality workmanship. Maybe we are just comparing it to our Jayco 5th Wheel in which the craftmanship on the cupboards and wood throughout was so nice. You can tell how cheaply put together things are in this coach. There are staples and uneven doors, scrapes, and peeling wood in the bottom corners, etc. That is disappointing and we wonder what it will look like in 10 years?
If we had to do it over again? We would have bought another new truck and a new 5th wheel, but too late now. I can't say this was a pleasant experience; quite the opposite. Lots of sleepless nights and arguments and stress in the past month.
Are all Motor Coaches like this? Were we expecting to much out of a brand new one?
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