Warranty problems and company policies

[cjc]

I have a Showhauler garage coach conversion on a Freightliner chassis that I purchased new in 2003. Since day two, it has been plagued with one problem or another. These troubles have ranged from a bad water pump, a converter that shorted out almost all the electronic items and water heater to water leaks from several different sources which required the replacement of the wood flooring and some cabinetry. Although all of these problems have been addressed by Showhauler, some have been corrected and others are still trying on my patience, especially after several attempts have been made unsuccessfully. If one is considering the purchase of a one off truck conversion, even one made by a reputable company like Showhauler, they need to consider an important fact. You may end up with warranty problems that necessitates bringing the coach back to the factory. These trips back to the factory will not only cause downtime in the use of your coach, they will be made at your expense, both in time and money. I live more than 1200 miles from the Elkhart area and have been back to the factory at least 3 times, always at my expense in time and practically always at my expense in fuel, lodging, airfare, etc. Although it is clearly stated in the warranty contract that you have to get the coach to the factory at your own expense and will not be compensated for time or travel expenses, it quite frankly, sucks. If you purchase a conventional motorhome like a Monaco, Damon, Gulfstream, etc. chances are that you won't have to bring it more than 100 miles from your home even if you live in the sticks. I've heard of cases such as delaminated walls that required a return to the factory, but those appear to be few and far between. Although Showhauler is a reputable, knowledgeable and honest company and bends over backwards to rectify problems, it gets annoying when the problem isn't resolved and requires another return trip. When I shopped for the coach, I specifically asked the question about how warranty problems would be handled and was told that a local repair facility would take care of them. This is also what I was told at Renegade and United Specialties. However, there are repairs that the truck converter only authorizes to be done at their location and the burden is upon the customer to get the coach to their facility. One needs to be made aware of this situation before purchasing a conversion. I don't think that I've ever seen this situation discussed here in the forum. That being said, I would like to know if anyone has a washer/dryer made by Appliances International in their coach and if so, what has been your experience with it in operation as well as any situations that might have required service. Also, has anyone experienced leaks (rainwater) coming from either the Fantastic vents and/or through the plenum of the Coleman air conditioner? Although it's impossible to truly replicate a Florida tropical rain, I've tried to and found that water can intrude through the air conditioner by a means OTHER THAN the gasket. Where it is getting in is a mystery except for the fact that it doesn't appear to be from the gasket. The only time it happens is when the coach is leveled out and the a/c is on and blowing. Any ideas? A big help would be if the truck conversion company made a crowned roof rather than a flat one.

[WERA]

The last warranty issue I had Lonnie got taken care of with a local shop less than 15 minutes from me. I did take it back to SH once but had the time free to do so. I actually feel bad about the local shop since they charge SH a 90/hour shop rate for labor and once I saw the fix I could have done it myself that way - that's what I get for thinking the pro's can do it better

[Patrick]

My Show Hauler is almost a year old and the only issue I've had was on the way home from the dealer the generator exhaust shook loose and dragged the highway for 1000 miles. Lonnie shipped one out that day and I put it on myself in 5 mins. Lonnie offered to pay me labor and I declined. On the brighter side your rigs is still worth almost what you paid for it...if it was a Class A you have lost over $100,000 in depreciation. Been there done that...ass still hurts.

[cjc]

Thanks for the reply, but the reason for my posting had a two fold purpose. First, was to inform those who are considering purchasing a truck conversion that the experiences that I've had could happen to them. Overall, I'm in love with my truck even with all the problems and decided long ago to deal with the problems, get them fixed no matter what and hold onto the truck. My family and I have been able to go places and see things in a manner, comfort level and time period that we would not have been able to do in a conventional bus style motorhome. We're able to bring two Harleys everywhere and ride in the desert, mountains and shoreline. In addition, when the weather is too severe, we have a pickup available to get around. The only way you can bring all your toys with you in a motorhome is to bring a huge trailer with you and then try to find someplace to put that thing. The second reason for my posting was to find out if anyone had the same washer/dryer in their coach as I do and what type of experiences they've had with it. In addition, the current headache of rain water entering through the a/c units is baffleing to everyone that I've spoken with. I wanted to see if anyone had a similar experience and what the solution to the problem was.

[Warpath]

cjc -

For your problems go to the forums at www.irv2.com or www.rv.net and do a search for both the air conditioner problem as well as the question on the washer/dryer, your bound to find something there. These are components found on many traditional motorhomes

Great post. It is important to provide feedback even after delivery. Great that Show Hauler is ready and willing to do what it takes to make it right. Bummer you have to do all that driving.

When I have talked with Lonnie he hated hearing that I had met with someone and mentioned I had had no problems at all with my Show Hauler. It wasn't because he wanted me to have problems, but he didn't want people to think that if they bought a Show Hauler they would never have a problem. Unfortunately, many times the problems a owner experience are components provided by outside suppliers that a manufacturer has less control over.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Bill

cjc

It's refreshing to see one honest customer on this site. I have owned many entertainer coaches. I am currently purchasing my second motorhome built on a truck chassis! Many of my coaches are lease to entertainers. These coaches travel over 60,000 miles per year. Not a single company has been trouble free. I will admit the Provost shell has been a good choice. The companies who complete the interior is another issue.

Ironically, I have found the owners who promote the motorhome venders always have a trouble free coach! LOL! For example the guys who responded to you! For the rest of us we pay for an extended warranty to cover the little stuff. As to getting them repaired on the road you are in the same boat as most customers. Good Luck! It sound like you have a Lemon! Every company large or small will create one! If you have one the odds are there is another one driving down the road. Unfortunately motorhome manufactures are not like many well known computer companies that will replace your lemon! They seem more like insures companies who hope you will grow tired of the 1200 mile trip and go away!

My advice would be to find a conversion company that does not construct the conversion using RV parts. If you decide to keep your current coach do not purchase Rv parts to repair it. The Rv parts are not made to stand the test of time.

Look at parts manufactures that offer a long factory warranty on the parts! Forget the 90 day and one year crap sold via Rv dealers and RV websites! Example: You can purchase a cheap inventor or pay a few extra dollars for a inventor with a 10 year factory warranty. The truck chassis are timeless. But do not think they will run forever without service.

Hope these hints will help you. Since 1968 I have owned coach. Not a single coach has been trouble free. I have found most units sold thru retail Rv Dealers offer to be the lowest quality. If you can afford to pay the dealers profit you can afford quality.

Good luck! Please keep us posted on if you turn your Lemon into Lemonaid!

[Warpath]

Once again Ron you look like a fool.

Maybe you need to read this --> http://truckhome.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/7146069053/...291036692#2291036692

Name one converter that boasts they use no RV parts.

Name one converter that will replace the unit if it has problems versus fixing them. And to compare a $1500 computer to a $200,000 conversion is absolutely the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.

I have my conversion on order now and I am also worried about warranty issues. But also just comming from a class A and having taken it 900 miles to the factory and having counter tops replaced and paint fixed. A year later I had paint issues in the same area called the factory was told to bring it back to Oregon so the paint shop that the factory farmed it out to could fix it. Or I could pay for it to be fixed. This was not a cheap motorhome. And yes I need spell check.

[Elburn Bill]

I had several issues with my coach and yes I had to get the coach back up to Kingsley in Minnesota for the work to be done. I knew this going into the purchase. I took care of some of the minor issues after talking to Kingsley about them first so that we were both on the same page. I also had some issues with the Volvo chassis that I had repaired at the local Volvo truck dealer. Some of those problems were a result of something that was done during the conversion so the bills were picked up by Kingsley. I don't think you would ever be able to purchase any vehicle that did not have any issues. It's just a fact of life.

The issue would be if any of these companies would deny warranty for something that should have been covered. This would be something for concern.

Hey Bill Elburn! You are correct about Kinsley standing behind most of the coaches they build! One of my very good friends bought a coach that appears on the Kinsley web site. Believe me he has had a wide range of problems from roof leaks to wiring issues! He has been very happy with the service until lately. He said since Ralph sold the company to some guy from New York warranty claims have become an issue! He is selling his coach!!

Myself I own a Road Master Coach. A great coach! Bus parts not Rv Parts. But the company has closed due to mismanagement or so I was told. I am looking for another bent aluminum conversion! No Thin Tin or FRP for me! Been there done that! Does any one know of a company building 1/8 inch bent aluminum conversion.

[Wick]

" Although it's impossible to truly replicate a Florida tropical rain, I've tried to and found that water can intrude through the air conditioner by a means OTHER THAN the gasket. Where it is getting in is a mystery except for the fact that it doesn't appear to be from the gasket. The only time it happens is when the coach is leveled out and the a/c is on and blowing. Any ideas? A big help would be if the truck conversion company made a crowned roof rather than a flat one. "

CJC,
I had a a 2003 Showhauler that leaked water thru the A/C vents the same as you describe. We were parked with the units on and a storm came up with gusting winds and horizontal rain. The water leaked in thru the vents. After talking to Lonnie and trying to duplicate the leak at my shop using a pressure washer I found that I could not make it do the same thing. We never had it leak again but I found that when we leveled the coach using the hydraulic levelers on uneven ground, that the coach would flex enough to open a gap in one of the joints at the roof line. We resealed that and made sure that I did not try to level it when it wanted to pick up the whole coach.

On another point, We have had "RV's"for a long time. Our first was a 5th wheel horse trailer that we converted ourselves. We did the interior and installed the cabinets and the appliances. (I'll never "do-it-myself" again)
We had some issues with the trailer and the stuff we put in. When we bought our 1st 5th wheel camper we bought a top of the line unit and still had several warranty claims. Then on to the first motorhome....a 1998 Fleetwood Pace Arrow. After 36 trips to Ford for a chassis vibration and none of them fixing the problem we dumped it in favor of a new Monaco. We still incurred some warranty issues, some of which they said needed to come back to the factory for repair. After explainging to them that I would be capable of the repairs myself they paid me for them and we took care of them. We then moved into the 2003 Showhauler. We had a couple of warranty issues early on and one that caused us to stop by the factory for a brief time. While we were there they treated us as if we were the only customer that they had. They took care of us quickly and effeciently and even repaired a lower panel that a piece of road debris had damaged. All at no cost except our time and travel. When I sold the Coach the new owner found that while on his way home the gas heat did not work. We had never even used it. Lonnie told him to stop by and they would look at it. It was after hours when he got there and they replaced the curcuit board at no charge. When we bought the 2006 Showhauler, I had a couple things that delayed our departure from the factory, once again after regular hours. Since then we have only had a generator failure and satellite issue. Both taken care of by the respective companies ( with lonnie's guidance) in a fast and effecient manner.
So as you can see, no matter who built it you will experience some issues. As the purchaser of an RV you know in advance that some things may require you to take it back to the factory for repair. That is part of the expeience. Most of the time you can have anything taken care of locally. Overall I would say that my experience with Showhauler will keep me a Showhauler customer for life.

Wick

[chuck]

nomac:

Roadmaster changed hands, sold to a customer, and then it went away. I think they made the finest conversion on the market, unfortunatly that quality came with a very high price and not sure the market was that large, but I sure liked there workmanship and attention to detail. They used marine components for opening skylights etc, so they would not leak, 1/8 thick aluminum for the skin, and a paint job you could dive into. Had there own custom extrusions made for the flooring and sidewalls.

I have heard that the orignal owner of Roadmaster (Judd Jackson) is going to re start in the conversion business and is in the process of getting space in Blaine Mn.

I do have contact with one of his former employees and if he does start mfg. again will post to the forum.

Chuck