2014 38br

DLRAKOWITZ · 06-14-2014, 10:42 PM

My wife and I were carriage owners for several years and it was getting to that age point to start looking for our next trailer. Since carriage went out of business out hearts dropped because we never had one problem with ours After looking at every make and model we kept coming back to redwood and narrowed it down to 2. The front living and the bonus room. After several months of debating we settled on the bonus room because we do travel with a good size red heeler and felt that room would work perfect for her kennel and it would be out of our way. The bad part of this is it has been a month now and we are finally going to able to do a walk thru of our new trailer. Our salesman was awesome but service seems to crawl at a snails pace. We purchased our trailer in Austin at explore USA and Paul was our salesman. We upgraded our trailair hitch to an airglide trailair. Purchased the washer and dryer thru them and had them install it We really wanted the residential package but this one didn't have it nor could we find a 38br that had it so we purchased another fridge to install in the bonus room and the double awnings were not the metal wrap awnings with led lights so we had that upgraded as well. We just didn't think it would take a month for them to do that work so we can actually do our final walk. It has been a nail biter since then and we are still hoping we made a great choice to compare to our 2006 carriage compass c2 35slq. Any advice we can get would be helpful on relieving our stress on this would be greatly appreciated.

Duke & Coco · 06-14-2014, 10:51 PM

I had a few problems with my rig they all have a few bugs if you have to deal with the factory Angie Cox Tech. Service Mgr. is the one to deal with. I wanted the bonus room but my gal wanted the full bath, guess which one we got?

DLRAKOWITZ · 06-14-2014, 10:56 PM

We looked at that one as well but the bedroom felt a little chlosterphobic to us. Thanks for the advice

0nTheRoad · 06-14-2014, 11:54 PM

DLRAKOWITZ, welcome to the Redwood family, flat to have you with us!!
Good luck with your new rig!!!

S&K · 06-15-2014, 02:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DLRAKOWITZ

My wife and I were carriage owners for several years and it was getting to that age point to start looking for our next trailer. Since carriage went out of business out hearts dropped because we never had one problem with ours After looking at every make and model we kept coming back to redwood and narrowed it down to 2. The front living and the bonus room. After several months of debating we settled on the bonus room because we do travel with a good size red heeler and felt that room would work perfect for her kennel and it would be out of our way. The bad part of this is it has been a month now and we are finally going to able to do a walk thru of our new trailer. Our salesman was awesome but service seems to crawl at a snails pace. We purchased our trailer in Austin at explore USA and Paul was our salesman. We upgraded our trailair hitch to an airglide trailair. Purchased the washer and dryer thru them and had them install it We really wanted the residential package but this one didn't have it nor could we find a 38br that had it so we purchased another fridge to install in the bonus room and the double awnings were not the metal wrap awnings with led lights so we had that upgraded as well. We just didn't think it would take a month for them to do that work so we can actually do our final walk. It has been a nail biter since then and we are still hoping we made a great choice to compare to our 2006 carriage compass c2 35slq. Any advice we can get would be helpful on relieving our stress on this would be greatly appreciated.

First of all, congrats! You have a really good unit! We love our Redwood and are really happy with our purchase!

When we purchased ours, it was suppose to have certain amenities, but it didn't, so the dealership agreed to put them in. It did take us about 3-4 weeks for them to finish up, and then some things were not completed; but we still took delivery knowing they would be taken care of later. We were just happy to get her home!

We bought our unit from Explore USA in Seguin, so as far as service goes, we are in the same situation. So far, we are "kinda pleased" with the service end of the buying experience. We know that the service manager at the time was a fulltimer in a Redwood and knew the unit first-hand. Then, they moved him to another service department in another Explore USA to get it up to speed. (If your service manager name is Craig Pryor, he is 'the one').

It does take time to get the appliances/equipment from Redwood. If they don't have it on hand to ship, they must wait to get it from the manufacturer too. I am still waiting on a table, but I can afford the wait.

Keep your hopes up. Soon, your unit will be there in all it's glory and it will be worth the wait.

DLRAKOWITZ · 06-15-2014, 12:03 PM

I'm afraid that when we do our walk thru and we still find things not done and we take ownership then we spend more time and money to keep bringing it back We live closer to seguin but trailer will stay in Tilden so travel is not close to Austin to make this happen. We used seguins service a couple of times before on our carriage and vowed to never return there again for very poor service and work said that was done and finding out later it was never performed and paying full price for it as well. I think that's why we haven't slept a whole lot this week because of what we have gone thru before and driving to Austin to give this one a try and even tho sales was abosolutely perfect We feel like the service is almost the same as seguin and 80 times better than San Antonio

spindrift · 06-15-2014, 12:10 PM

DLRAKOWITZ ...how old is Queso? I don't see too many Red Heelers.

DLRAKOWITZ · 06-15-2014, 12:16 PM

Between 3.5 to 4 years of age. But the bad part is every year we go see the vet and he keeps saying 11 more years for her to calm down. Oh well she is our love of our life and hope my wife doesn't get another one because I like what hair I have left and I know two heelers in a confined space will not be the best idea

spindrift · 06-15-2014, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DLRAKOWITZ

... I like what hair I have left and I know two heelers in a confined space will not be the best idea

I hear that. I know they can be a handful if not routinely exercised. You're lucky...a great dog. Good luck with her.

johnboytoo · 06-15-2014, 07:37 PM

IMHO....
ExploreUSA's focus is purely on sales and service is the last thing on their mind...(But MOST of the rv dealers are like that...)

too bad, because service can be a cash cow if done correctly...

but when you call and ask how long is your backlog and before answering they ask "Is it warranty", then you know the answer will be 6 weeks to LOOK at it... and another 3 weeks to work on it... and two more trips when they didn't fix it

DLRAKOWITZ · 06-15-2014, 11:04 PM

I hat hope tomorrow everything is just done right. And we can take it home with us finally. But they are saying it will take close to 3 hours for a full walk thru with us.

0nTheRoad · 06-16-2014, 04:27 AM

Sounds like they are just doing the orientation of all the systems, if you want to do a more through PDI you'll probably have to do it on your own. They should not object to this, if they do...beware!!! Take you time and make sure you spend as much this as you feel necessary before signing off on the PDI...and make sure all is well or they have a plan for fixes before settling up $$$!!!

Good luck, and enjoy your new Redwood!!!

Oriana · 06-16-2014, 07:09 AM

The other forum has a great PDI checklist you can download to assist in completing a thorough inspection.

johnboytoo · 06-16-2014, 02:04 PM

If there are issues, be sure and get a signed list of what needs to be corrected...

In the Auto industry, they call it a "We Owe" as in we owe you something...

DLRAKOWITZ · 06-16-2014, 11:00 PM

Well after a long walk around our new Redwood we decided NOT to take delivery of the unit until it is done correctly. First of all, the pin box installed was the wrong one we paid for. They put on the air bag unit and not the airbag with chuckplate. Second problem was the fridge for the bonus room. The fridge or salesperson ordered was to big 18 cubic feet which took up half of the space of the room and if we added the kennel which is 37x25x27.5tall you could barely get in thru the back door. Third was a simple every day thing for them. It was filty on the inside and outside had wax residue all over it and water spots and streaks all over it, no biggie but a 100k unit should look like a 100k unit once you first puck it up. And last was a flaw from the factory and beware of this one. The rear door opens upwards and doesnt have a latch that secures the bottom of the door. So when you lock it it locks the top of the door but the bottom you can easily lift up and stick your hand in their and take out what you stow in there. And for here is another flaw we found out that we use and others might not. We use our open air antenna alot at our ranch and use cable at psrk sites. In order to use your booster for antenna it is located the bedroom behind the tv. And you have to take it off the wall every time you have to push the button to turn on and off the booster to use either one. They are fixing that as well to make it easier. What a day. Kinda let down after going thru that.

0nTheRoad · 06-16-2014, 11:16 PM

Some of these issues are somewhat understandable, Redwood's lack of QC is apparent.

BUT shame on your dealer!!!! They should have caught the issues from RW and for sure shouldn't have presented you with a dirty coach. Had they done their job they would have caught the manufacturing issues and had them corrected or at least told you what they were and explain how to remedy.

Very sorry for your disappointment but did the dealer have a solution to these issues?

DLRAKOWITZ · 06-16-2014, 11:32 PM

Well as for the rear door compartment. They contacted the factory and sent them photos of it. Solution but still don't know if it's a fix yet till parts come in is that redwood has two differents styles for the rear door one is it opens towards the top which is the one I have and the other is a swinging door that swings towards the 50 amp plug. They are ordering that door and putting that one on mine saying it will fit but no sure till that comes in and amazes my doubt. Two is the booster plate for cable / antenna. They are mounting it in the bookshelf next to the tv which has a door to hide it and running the cables back thru to the other side to the back of the tv. They fixed that already and looks good and a hell of a lot easier to get get to. For the fridge. We went shopping and found one a lot smaller and will do for now. My wife went to go pick it up and brought the kennel with her so they can have both if them to do a custom shelf for it all. Will post photos once all that us complete. As for the pin box... I don't know what they are going to do about that and one more thing I forgot to mention. We were missing the air mattress that goes with the couch. I thought redwood did away with that because of warranty issues but ours has it but missing the mattress that goes with the couch. No answer about that yet I wish I didn't have to go to work tonight because I could use a drink right about now.

Oriana · 06-17-2014, 07:12 AM

As Chuck mentioned, really bad show on behalf of the dealer. If they didn't clean the inside, what exactly did they check during their dealer inspection.

When we picked up our coach it was gleaming inside and out.

Good luck getting the issues resolved.

Any chance of including a photograph of the rear door issue.

DLRAKOWITZ · 06-17-2014, 09:20 AM

I just wanted to get out if there after the time I had. When they call for a re inspection, I wil try to take a photo of another coach that ha the same problem and show the other pic of what they are going to change it to. For cleaniness, they still had winterizer in the system and a stain in the ring of the sink from it, there was a thin layer of dust over everything. Main table you sit at to eat was covered whith dust as the day it was put in probably, facia missing on steps, and gouges from the washer and Dreyer being installed. Carpet mismatch were hidden safe goes Dust on both TVs that was visible from about 5 feet away Just to start on

DLRAKOWITZ · 06-18-2014, 03:42 AM

I think my wife is starting to get cold feet about the trailer now. I think what went on yesterday has taken a toll on her. She just wishes if we had the time and money we would of driven to the factory to see one being built and had one truly customized there. I think Exploreusa just ruined the buying experience for her.

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