Use warranty, or not?

Randalf · 02-08-2018, 03:42 PM

The factory warranty on our 38RD expires next week and I have several small issues that need to be fixed. To use the warranty, I'll have to haul the trailer 50 miles to the dealership and leave it 4 to 6 weeks while they take care of the problems.

How much sense does it make to let the warranty expire and use the extended warranty to cover the problems? There is a local RV repair shop that will let me watch and even help as they make repairs so that I can learn how to fix the problems myself in the future. The repair shop says we have a good extended warranty (Preferred), but I know there will be money out-of-pocket. However, they can make a house call to diagnose the problems, order whatever parts are needed, and then I can take it 4 miles to the shop for the short amount of time needed to make repairs. No month of waiting.

We live in the RV, but it is parked 30 feet from our house, so we can force ourselves to stay in it for a few weeks if we have to.

The main issues are:
--The gas furnace overheats the bathroom vanity. Like, REALLY overheats it! According to my temperature gun, it heats the cold water to 141 degrees, and the interior of the vanity to 166 degrees.
--The Level up system has issues, probably very minor. When operating the Level up jacks, the slides open up. It takes two of us to close the trailer-- me operating the jacks and hooking up to the truck, and my wife inside the trailer closing the slides over and over again.
--The miserable performance of the a/c units, which is probably a design issue, not something the dealership can fix. The heat pumps have no problem keeping the trailer 40 degrees warmer than ambient temperature (without using the gas furnace), but can only keep it 12 degrees cooler than ambient temperature.

So whattaya think-- use the warranty or no?

travelin' texans · 02-08-2018, 05:49 PM

You've answered your own question in my opinion, 4-6 weeks minimum at a dealer 50 miles away or 30 feet away at home. Uh! 30 feet from home without a doubt. Also the dealer is 4-6 weeks to get approval & parts then how much longer til repairs are done. The Mobil guy will most likely do a much better job, he doesn't have the sales staff bringing in more business daily.
Mine was taken to the factory once, all other issues I repaired myself with reimbursement for some, but mostly not. Being fulltime we couldn't be without for 4-6 weeks.

atom ant · 02-08-2018, 10:44 PM

The hydraulic issue sounds pretty basic and could easily get done under an extended warranty.

However the AC is a design problem (or workmanship defect) and I don't think your extended warranty would even begin to cover what the actual fix is. That is almost a return to the Redwood service center or try a home remedy. The typical issues is supply ducts running through the return air and over-use of the expanding foam around the wiring that passes through the duct. No extended warranty would cover that.

Not sure what the issues is with the Vanity, but that also sounds like design, not failure.

Extended warranties like to cover a part that is defective or broken, and the labor to fix it. They don't like to cover design issues or defective workmanship.

I would insist Redwood fix the design issues. Some here have had some fixes on the AC.

Randalf · 02-09-2018, 11:15 PM

I called the dealership and was told that my factory warranty expires on Monday the 12th. Since they can't get to my trailer before then, they advised me to call Redwood and ask for an extension on the warranty. I called Redwood this morning and a recorded message advised that they are closed today due to inclement weather, call back again on Monday the 12th.

Atom Ant, I would love to know what the fixes are for the a/c, I would gladly attempt them myself! I definitely have the badly designed duct system, and have photos to prove it. When I told the service manager at the dealership that the under-performing a/c system was one of the problems, he immediately went into a song and dance: "well, the a/c manufacturers say that if your system is cooling 10 degrees below ambient temperature, there is nothing wrong with their unit..."

Travelin' T, I've gotten drunk a time or two with the mobile guy & his daughter (who is taking over the business), and their new serviceman-in-training is my former patrol captain from my police days. That's why they'll allow me to watch & assist so I can learn to make my own repairs in the future.

Highcountrybarry · 02-10-2018, 03:14 AM

Email this man this weekend and get on the record before Monday for your warranty.

NielL@keystonerv.com

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

ted 95 · 02-10-2018, 04:35 AM

When we were out of town and approaching our warranty end. I contacted the dealer and he opened the work order and registered the items with redwood. We brought the unit in 6 weeks later and all got fixed under the warranty. There wasn't an issue.

Loving Life · 02-10-2018, 06:46 AM

Our extended warranty has proven to be a great help. It is easier to get things approved and they will allow a mobile tech to do the work--we have to pay the trip charge. Before we had work done, I called the warranty company and ask them if something would be covered. So far everything I asked, they have paid.

Randalf · 02-11-2018, 07:56 PM

Thanks everyone for your advice.

After I found out that Redwood was closed due to inclement weather, I texted the service department on Friday and requested a warranty extension. Highcountrybarry, I also texted Neil L as you suggested. Thanks for his email address.

If I do get an extension, I'll probably only use it if Redwood has a fix for the badly designed a/c duct system. If not, I'll use the extended warranty & not lose my trailer for six weeks for simple fixes to the Level Up and furnace.
Since the dealership serviceman was already saying that 10 degrees below ambient is normal a/c performance, I'm going to guess they won't offer me nuthin' in the way of a fix!

There is one possible wild card, though. On Friday I went to Lemeilleur's RV & truck repair shop in Kerrville (not the one my friend owns) to see whether they had any of the authorized anti-stiction fluids needed to alleviate the Level Up popping. Turns out no one in Kerr County has any of the three additives, so the shop owner suggested I buy online. But he also advised that he is doing overflow warranty work for ExploreUSA, the dealership where I bought my Redwood. IF I can get a warranty extension, and IF I can get permission from Redwood and/or the dealership, then I could take my RV to him (ten miles away) for only the days that he actually needs it. I'll use the heck out of my warranty extension if I can do that!

NewRW Owner · 02-17-2018, 01:00 AM

Those of us that live in areas where temps can get to 110-115 would be seriously in a world of hurt in the summer if 10 degrees under the ambient temp was acceptable. After, thanks to this group, we learned that we had to run both ACs when temps get high, ours will freeze us out. The highest temp we've experienced was 111.

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