On March 15, I stated “RVing offers a headache free lifestyle.” Ha…I take that back!
What I should have said is, lifestyle as a full-time motorhome dweller will become more enjoyable; after you finish travelling from state-to-state trying to have broken items in your brand-new motorhome repaired or replaced before both, “The dealer and manufacture warranties expires the same day. This information was not shared with me by salesperson nor business manager while completing purchase paperwork for the motorhome.
I have no problem paying for efficient maintenance of vehicles I own. However, I do have a problem with purchasing a brand-new vehicle and being forced to pay for repairs for a new purchase. Once I determined both warranties were activated the day of purchase. I reached out to the Attorney General of Texas-Ken Paxton. I found him to be a great listener as well as honest.
After sharing my discovery of how both warranties for a brand new recently purchased motorhome were activated and scheduled to expire on the same date; what are my recourse and how do I deal with this?
The attorney general took a breath and spoke. “I get a lot of calls from vehicle purchasers about this issue all the time. The bottom-line is this. There is no explicit requirement for dealerships or manufacturers to issue warranties to customers for new vehicles. However, those who chose to do so, their warranties must comply with the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. I’m aware based on phone calls, most customers don’t realize the issuance of warranties benefits dealerships and manufacturers more so than customers. I recommend you try to get as many repairs done before your warranties expire.
After this conversation, I did a walk-thru of my motorhome and made a list describing every defected item needing to be replaced, ordered and/or installed. This is when I discovered, it was extremely difficult to find motorhome service centers to make repairs on my motorhome because service centers were backlogged for the next six-months or longer. Later, I determined service centers were backlogged due to high demand for motorhome by homeowners who were tired of annual property-tax increases and retirees, ready to travel.
As a result, motorhome manufacturers speedup production of these vehicles to meet buyer demand. Because of this rush, motorhome customers purchased motorhomes with an unknown array of mechanical defects requiring immediate repairs. For instance, every-time I refilled my gas-tank I smell gas in my motorhome. Once I contacted, the dealership and manufacturer regarding this issue, both blamed each other; and neither claimed responsibilities nor scheduled an appointment to quickly identify the problem to ensure my motorhome didn’t blowup or I died. They were booked three to seven months out. Everything else I could get done; I got done by travelling to repair centers still scheduling appointments, making repairs and installing new parts.
I live in South Dakota, purchased my motorhome from Motor Home Specialist, in Alvarado, Tx. I didn’t discover the smell of gas was in my motorhome because a manufacturer installer drilled a hole in my gas tank while installing the house on the chassis, which was discovered by Rich Ford Motor Company in Albuquerque, NM. Upon identifying this problem, an angry manager contacted the manufacturer, shared this finding and demanded they pay for the replacement of a new gas tank including repairs. Problem resolved.
Based on my experiences as a first-time motorhome purchaser and full-time motorhome dweller, I have learned how to perform many repairs and maintenance services on my motorhome with confidence. Meanwhile, looking back at the hard-lessons I was forced to learn not only to prevent damaging my own motorhome and tow-vehicle, but sharing information with other new-motorhome owners to make sure they don’t damage their own or mine. Through it all, my lifestyle as a full-time-motorhome dweller is still cheaper than my 30-plus-years as a property and homeowner.