The finance guy in the back room is where you gotta be careful. By the time you make it back to him your excited, anxious, and tired all by design. He's the smartest person you've met yet and is the dealers extra fee pusher. Great video guys. Always enjoy your content.
We went back and recovered $21,000 in extra coverage, ALL of which was covered by our van insurance. Some of this stuff was not even applicable to the van when I read the fine print in the “diamond tier” they recommended; things like pusher coach towing and fifth wheel axle replacement that we would never ever need. Oh, there was also this $3000 care treatment that was basically a wax job. I complained and they cut me an actual cheque.
We left our finance guy speechless. I told the sales rep I needed to move money to our account as we were going to pay cash. I wanted the amount before anything was added, as extended warranty. We told him we could put anything extra on a credit card. Told him we needed to go to the bank to do this because of the large amount. I came back with a cashiers check and it was easy to say no to all the add ons. He was not happy! 😅
We love you guys! After 6 mos with our used Roadtrek we canceled our extended warranty and got a prorated amount back. We found that the repairs we were doing either weren’t covered by the warranty or less than the $250 deductible. We decided to take the $4,000 we got back and put it into savings set aside for RV repairs.
Kinda interesting as we purchased our Winnebago Ekko from La Mesa here near Orlando, FL. We never had to wait more than 2 weeks for an appointment, and they never had it more than a week for the work. Now, most of our warranty issues were minor other than replacing the Automatic Transfer Switch. But we did avoid purchasing the extended warranty, so we will see how it goes after the one year of the Winnebago warranty is up.
Just got home from a trip to Myrtle beach from Ontario Canada. Our Ram Promaster sits for a while with out using it and after using the parking brake once, one side only partialy released and was stuck on. Never felt it, never new. Overheated, blew apart the entire brake system on that side. Three days at a Ram dealer in Knoxville and 4500 bucks later we headed home. Thirteen thousand miles on the rv and they say not covered under warrantee. Sixty five hundred Canadian! I need another drink.
I was once told that RV's are not quality checked when they leave the manufacturer. They just put them out and wait for buyers to get the work done under warranty. This is why they say it is best to buy a used RV. I love that you call your Van Mr Lemon but in total, I have had 8 different RV's. Tent trailer, Towable, 5th Wheel (3), Class C, Class A and a Class B. Two of them I bought used, and they were the only ones that were not in the shop constantly for the first year. I have had 6 Mr Lemons. I never buy the extended warranty however, they would not sell them if they lost money which means if they are not losing money on them, than you are. Great video.
I had the exact same conversation with an ex service manager at one of the massive dealers in Washington State. I don’t think there is a part of our Thor van that wasn’t touched by the warranty at the dealer. It was a total farce.
You two are my inspiration…we bought a used Sprinter RV and found black mold. We TOTALLY gutted it and started over. Now it’s awesome! And we are broke…lol
Extended service agreements are cancellable and you'll receive a refund of the unused portion of the extended agreement based on greater use of time or miles starting from day one.
Same with GAP insurance Ive cancelled many an Extended warranty (its usually a lot of phone calls and persistence as the Ext Warranty and Dealer is involved.
@Vancaskeys as a previous RV salesman, yes Cancel the extended warranty ASAP, receive your refund, and if you really want an extended warranty you can buy one without the dealer markup
I’m a long time RV owner. 8 motorhomes over 40 years. I’ve owned a number of extended service contracts. None have covered anything that’s not mechanical or electrical. My experiences: most extended service agreements only kick in when the manufacturers warranty expires. So, all my repairs the first two years would have been covered and were covered with the factory warranty. My experience is extended warranty covers about 50% of the mechanical repairs. Labor rates in Phoenix don’t seem to be in line with service contract rates. I recommend NOT buying a service agreement from the dealer. Wait until your factory warranty is almost over. After mine expired I went with WHOLESALE WARRANTIES. Most of them don’t cover maintenance items, most don’t cover diagnostic services OR anything but mechanical and electrical but may cover your appliances, etc. , unless you purchase a very expensive package. Anyway- that’s my experience , and just my opinion. One last thing: I’m retired and took my rig to the Winnebago factory for a list of things the dealer did POORLY. I absolutely loved the factory repairs. These are just my opinions. Thank you for your video.
I’ve had aftermarket warranties several times, the big shock to me was the actual coverage was not what the salesman or brochures stated. The warranties all had a clause allowing resale, meaning that you RAM warranty I bought, was sold to Guardian, and they as a new warrantee can do anything, or NOT do anything. Needed a covered engine item fail, and they denied it. After pressuring the agent she said “It’s only a $462. repair, it will cost you more to litigate than the repair, we don’t pay those. On my Mitsubishi the engine needed to be replaced at 92,000 miles, the warranty replacement offer was $1,200 from them, the cost of repair $7,000.+ In ALL instances I would have been better off taking the warranty cost and putting that into a CD or stock.
My rv contract has a statement that if you put it in storage and take collision off while in storage, you have to have a storage waiver or they will tack on their own collision insurance and you’ll have to pay about $300 more for the payment. Found out the hard way!
We had a class a diesel pusher for 6 years. End of year model but new. The first year it was in the shop for lots of warranty work. Then it was good for the next year or two. Then the costs started. We spent over 16,000 dollars on various repairs. An extended warranty might have been a good idea. I think on a class a it would depend on how long you keep it. Cause something is gonna break.
3,442 views and 441 up votes in 4 hours, OMG! You guys are popular! This was very informative. The only thing to ad is that if you are full time you will have to do repairs yourself or face months of hotel bills. Mr. Lemon is looking good these days.
So technically three different warranties you have the ram warranty coach warranty (Thor), and everything else that has a different manufacturers name on it is warranted by that manufacturer, such as batteries, water pump, refrigerator, and things like that.
Keep in mind also people are financing their warranties at an high interest rate. In two or three years that $5000 warranty is actually costing them seven or $8000.
I bought my Jayco from a one location dealership. They let me know that I could get service at any Jayco affiliated service location. I just need to go through Jacob to get a location of where I can go. But there are locations across the entire country. In every state. I was even able to get some work done in Quartzsite arizona. And everyone knows how tiny that town is although there are a lot of RVs that travel there each winter.
Great video, we just completed a 7200 mile trip around the US in 28 days, like you we had many of the same issues during the warranty period. you are very Luckey that you were able to take it back to you selling dealer and get the work done easily. Now our mfg warranty has expired we must rely on the extended warranty. on our trip we had to use a mobile rv repair person to fix the awning extension and the water pump died, Our RV is named lemonade, Read the warranties NOW, I fully agree that the extended warranty is no worth it. we have a thor tellaro 20A 2022 We found on our last trip that plastic storage boxes were our best friend
Thank you Bob & Hillary , For sharing your experiences and headaches owning and maintaining your RV, safe Travels, Im waiting for your next RV, will it be the EKKO, or the Leisure Travel Van Twin Bed.? Good Luck to you both.
We took ours for warranty work where we bought it and it is 2 hours away. They also took really long and didn't do the job right. So I talked to Thor and they said yes. Go to the van dealer in your town. So now we are getting work done close to home.
Extended service agreements are a way companies make instant cash. When trying to use them, companies can drag things out until a person gets tired of the B$ and walks away.
Do you think some issues were due to poor Thor quality control…LaMesa being soooooo slow….pandemic assembly? All of the above? Trying to find a coach but so many options, brands, ballooning costs…☹️. Thanks for the info you provide! Have you seen an American Coach Patriot? I don’t remember seeing one on your excursions. Thanks again! Sally in Northern California and no longer “snow bird” in Apache Junction (I just sold my little place) 😁
Yes I do. We actually have noticed the last couple of times we have had warranty work it's gotten better. We did hear our La Mesa had a lots' of turn-over and not enough people to fix the RVs but it seems to be better...I also think our Van was a pandemic van and we have had more issues than usual because of that. Congrats on selling your place in Apache Junction! We love Northern California!
Thanks, Hillary and Bob! Way helpful summary. I think in addition to being handy, you have to ask Hillary and Bob to help you clone their "go with the flow" personalities. 😂 I'm just kidding, I know you guys get frustrated sometimes and rightly so! If I were in your shoes, I think me and LaMesa would have made the evening news a few times.😉❤😅
That's a big list of warranty repairs, but at least you've stayed on top of them. We've had 2 minor issues so far - the bathroom door latch broke when we went around a turn and hit a pothole in the road ( I think that's what happened ), and we had a defective 12 volt breaker. I had the builder send the parts ( which they did right away ) and replaced them myself since that was the fastest and easiest fix for me. Plus, I now understand the van a bit better.
Hi Bob and Hillary 🤗 We also purchased the extended warranty and had dought if we really needed it . Alfred is handy also and has done some minor stuff also. We agree with you both. Helpful video. Thanks you guy's. 👍😁🤗
I bought my Scope 18a from Camping World in Manassas and brought it to another Camping World dealership closer to me for warranty work and Thor authorized it.
I understand your frustration I’m looking forward to taking my class B to the manufacturer they have promised to go over trouble shoot and repair any issues🎉❤even though I agreed to drive it from South Florida and leave it I believe they will fix it. I’ll fly back have to work and fly there to pick it up when it’s done. I’ll have to rent a car while they work it all out🫣
I like the eclair insurance policy best, will work for eclair. However depending on how used an RV is I would still consider an extended warrantee. In my case I have a faulty slide on my 2016 truck camper and I am the second owner. I have no extended warrantee but Lance said bring it in and we will fix it for free. I can't tell you how awesome I feel right now chillin at a hotel.
I have been making a future appointment with LeMesa for a date after a trip so if there is something wrong they can view the issues and order parts (setting another appointment) or fix it. It can always be cancelled if not needed. I have also had good luck calling Thor directly since a couple of things occurred on a weekend while I was traveling. Once was when the tablet died and they had a tablet sent to me directly.
We only have a year manufacturer warranty on coach. Over just a month ago. We bought extended because we are not handy. And we have 5 year extended warranty. Bob and Hillary….i am almost positive you can call up the extended warranty people and get some of your money back. I was told. Could do that and we did do that with one of our cars. You get less back the longer you wait. It was worth it for our car to get back. Our van was $4100 so i feel 5 years is good.
Hey you guys. You just paid a mint for that RV. NOTHING should go wrong with it for a long time. And as for making appointments and waiting in excess of days to get something fixed, in addition to shoddy work (roof and skylight)..... I think it is better that I do not purchase a new rig. I will end up in jail after strangling a few sales/service reps at the dealership.
Won’t they offer extended warranty closer to expiration of manufacturer warranties? We have a Ram truck & we continue to get offers of extended warranty & it is 18 months old.
My manufacturers warranty is transferable. I asked the place I bought it from if the extended warranty was transferable and I didn't get an answer. In the end I found out the extended I have is NOT transferable. None of it. But. I can cancel it and get back apprx 7,000 dollars right now. If I sell it or trade it I can at least get money back. Mine won't transfer to an RV center if I trade it in either. I don't think I'll do it again. Because I'm also paying interest on that. We could probably get all of us together and open our own shop at this point! 😅😅 Thanks for the info. We just got our van back today and were talking to our repairman about whether the extra warranties are worth it! So perfect timing you two! And Bob the Builder... YES YOU CAN! 😅
I fell into the newbie’s trap… except mine was $9500… Ms. Lemon already drains me and I haven’t even camped yet. Going to Thor on April Fools Day, probably another newbie mistake ☹️
Warranty! When we bought our 2000km "almost new" used Road trek, they offered the extended warranty for $10,000 Canadian dollars. We've owned Travel trailer, 5th wheel, park model and now class B so the answer was a hard NO for extended warranty. When we bought the 2021 RT, we knew the 2 year Roadtrek warranty wasn't transferable but the RAM chassis warranty was transferable so all good. After experiencing other warranty work with trailer and 5th wheel, we aren't keen on leaving the van for weeks or lets say have pump failure and wait for the process and loose a summer or a trip? Not worth it. I'd rather fix it or get it fixed and pay and move on. In the past warranty work we've had done, there was still disappointment. A back wall of Jayco 5th wheel was replaced for water intrusion on warranty. There was more watering intrusion after because they failed to caulk around rear lights😢. Same problem of water pipe leaking was fixed under warranty, to find out it was still leaking during a trip AND also our rear breaks seized on the way home after warranty work. Also, the sofa bed came loose from the wall, that had to be fixed twice as well as the fabric wore out in one summer and also needed replacement. I can say Jayco was easy to deal with for warranty work but that was a lot of stuff and wasted time in the shop where we should have been out enjoying our unit. This resulted in me not caring for warranty and getting work done in time by people I trust. I would not give extended warranty any money.
If you know someone with a 3-D printer, you probably could just print them. I have no idea how much the 3-d materials cost, but you can make extra ones just in case.
I wonder, why the large USA Car manufactures do not sell camper-vans over their dealerships. In Europe, Volkswagen, Ford, Mercedes sell their own class-b Camper Vans over their dealerships. In case of warranty or service, you can go to , for examble, to one of many Ford dealerships for Chassis and RV issues, and they are a lot more to choose from, than RV dealers.
Like buying a new car, you can always buy an extended warranty before your mfg warranty ends. Buying warranties at the dealer is just giving them some free money.
Hey Guys, love the videos. Maybe check out Embassy RV. My girlfriend is 6'2 and we are focusing on them as they seem to have a more open layout and durability than most. Plus can get them on the Ford Transit chassis which has more headroom
Had the Trombetta solenoid go out in van causing the coach batteries to not charge while the van was running. Called Thor and they actually sent me the part. Easier to change it out than drive 120 mile round trip to the dealer. Part was $30 on ebay so I would have just bought it rather than go through the hassle of going to dealer. Saved me the drive and Thor the dealer charge. Thor customer rep took care of things. Don't know if this would have been covered on extended warranty. Took about 20 minutes to change out part. I think dealer is charging $199 an hour shop rate!!
You might want to look at the warranty closely....you might be able to cancel it and get a pro-rated refund for the remaining years left after you cancel it. We did with the extended warranty company we purchased 3 years ago....we had it for 2 years, never needed it, then sold the van so rather than transfer the warranty, we got a refund.
Number one I HATE sky lights. Being blinded in my peripheral vision is no fun. Number 2 paint it yourself. There are many auto parts stores that specialize in paint colors that will match it perfectly. Also, you may even be able to remove the part or at least mask the surrounding parts before using paint thinner to prep the surface your painting. I have a 1999 Dodge/coachmen, that is in mint condition. I needed to touch up the paint, and my paint guy also has a photo spectrometer that matched that obsolete paint perfectly.
We got the extended warranty on our Travato and we found out that once the basic one-year warranty was up there were a lot of things that weren't covered by the extended. Like the miserable Remi shades, the The, pull up blinds that lived at the bottom of the front windshield. We were sidelined by Covid until after our initial warranty was up, so the Remis broke immediately after that expiration and we were astonished to discover that they weren't covered by the extended warranty - it was gonna cost us something like $800 if we wanted to replace them. We hated them anyway so we just kept clipping a blanket over the visors and left the dead Remi shades in place. And there were other things like that just fell to us to fix because the extended wouldn't. We still had a couple of years left on the extended warranty when we sold the Travato and honestly, I don't think the new buyers cared that much. I can't say that it was a selling feature. When we got the Solis Pocket, we skipped the extended warranty, despite heavy pressure from the finance guy.
I had quite a bit of warranty work having bought a 2021 early Covid TT Aspen Trail 2340BH in like Feb 2021. It was NOT at the peak of Covid so it was built somewhat better than many foundationally but fit and finish were not great. The prices did NOT explode until later in 2021 so I got a deal to a degree compared to mid 2021 through 2022 when my 23, 600 deal would have been as high as 40K. I put a Road Armor suspension on it and timed my warranty repairs to winter and the dealer essentially kept it from Oct to April fixing stuff including the front end that was bowing in the wind. The worst issue was that the slide ripped the floor. The dealer went back and forth with Dutchmen and I eventually had to take a whole set of pictures that showed the screw hanging down that ripped it. The dealer fought over a replacement but they said no fix it. The "fixer" said it was too far gone, so back and forth. Finally it was getting to camping season and I said, just fix it. So, I got a nice V in the flooring. The lady who fixed it did a great job and pointed out the floor hadn't been glued to the floor. Don't think you are getting planks. We have always used a runner inside so you can't even see it. But I better keep it for awhile. I was fortunate that the frame, all the appliances, and the gas system etc., were solid and I put Good Years on the second year and had already done the Road Armor suspension. So, I'm good to go... But this all is the reality of modern travel trailers.
Great video. The dealers often make more thon the warranties than on the coach .. Buyer beware and do your homework before buying or just watch Bob and Hillary for life lessons 🤣🤣
My first Thor warranty visit was FIVE MONTHS! I was begging Thor to help but Thor just laughed at me. We were waiting a part and I asked if they could take the part from the factory line- Thor said (and I quote) "Those parts are for paying customers".
Two things, 1. A six day repair time is unacceptable. A six-month repair time is reason enough to never buy an RV at least from Thor and your dealer, and maybe not at all if they are all like that. 2. “We paid $5000 dollars, do you think we will get $5000 out of the extended warranty?” Insurance does not work that way. If every customer got out what they paid, the insurance company would go broke. Insurance only works if many people pay and few collect. One should ask oneself at the time of purchase, if the insurance costs $5000, do I think I might have $15,000 in repairs? If that is true, then the insurance is worth it, because a $15,000 repair bill might be crippling. This is the way it works with engine warranties. A $2000 warranty might be handy if the engine needs replacing and the cost would be $10,000. Most people never use their engine warranty, so the insurance company can tolerate paying out 1 out of every 50 engine warranties they write.
Finding a service provider has been a nightmare. As far as asking your sales person … they lied about any authorized dealership can do the work. Our experience has been No if your didn’t purchase with them
I waited 5 months for the appointment and she's been there for 4 months getting work done. Their diagnostic ability when it comes to lithium sucks. Oh its this part; wait, install, now the next part isn't working. Repeat.
:) THANKS MUCH for sharing! So maybe extended warranty not the best idea on a new coach, BUT, if Mr. Lemon continues after initial runs out..... trade him in :) (Dazzle? :) Hope Bob got to finish his donut! ALL the BEST and Cheers! :)
Hahaha! Yes I finished my donut! You are so right...Mr. Lemon might on his last days with us if he doesn't clean up his act... LOL! Thanks Marty! All the best to you!
Extended warranties at purchase aren't worth it. First you are amortizing the $4500k you paid for the warranty with the coach for 20 years? That's more like a $9,000 warranty. if you feel you need an extended warranty, get one as the manufacturer warranty is ending (after you have shopped around for a quality provider). The other way they try to screw you is to have overlapping warranty coverage. Meaning your 4 year extended warranty started at the same time you purchased the coach, when it's covered by the manufacturer for the first 2 years. This is a common tactic by crooked dealers, they explain it away by saying the extended warranty covers more than the manufacturers "basic" warranty. . Call the warranty provider and ask how much you can get back when you cancel, might be worth it. Usually a dealership sold extended warranty is $2500 + $2k dealer profit = $4500. It's something you can negotiate aggressively on. The other thing to watch for is the $100 deductible, some are "per visit" and some are "per item". Insurance companies are business' that are out to make money, by making it inconvenient for you to fix your rig, they pocket the $$$.
Problem for me is the waiting time for warranty work ( 4 weeks minimum) seems like they want to run out the warranty. its a scam. 350$ for winterization, rip off. I do everything myself. I dedicate to be an engineer mechanic so no one rips me off. OK, have a great day. .
One more comment then I’ll move on. Keep in mind, you are paying for that warranty from Thor. Manufacturer add a cost to cover the projected cost of warranty repairs. In most cases that amount is 3 to 7% added on the cost of the RV. In the statements that they have to provide because they are public company, there is even a line item that says how much money they have in warranty accounts to cover the projected warranty cost for the next quarter of the next year
This many repairs is unacceptable, IMO. We’ve owned four different RVs with nothing close to what you’ve experienced. My goodness! At least your attitude is good.
hi cutie and handsome. Great video. these are the number I've been waiting for. thank you for sharing. my calculation for renting an rv cruise america rv c30, 4 months with 40,000 miles is $4.20 per mile. I thought about buying a ram van rv but Mr. lemon kept me up at night. I just want a dependable RV made by HONDA, TOYOTA, LEXUS or Mitsubishi.
I really need some good advice and I really like watching you both. What class of RV do you recommend for fulltime living ? I'm a solo traveler. Thanks guys.
Sad part is there are a lot of good mobile repair service companies that will come out and fix a lot of these items and do great work but they are authorized by company to do the work so they won’t paid. With the current backlog for warranty work or any work and waiting 3 months to get it looked and who knows how long if parts are needed. I feel companies like Thor and Winnebago need to recognize this issue and start authorizing mobile companies to do work. Maybe taking some business away from dealerships will get them to open their eyes and recognize they need to come up with an improved way to get more service done. Any thoughts?
So Vancaskeys has been retired? Maybe people couldn't remember how to spell it? "Bob and Hillary" is certainly descriptive enough, but I thought Vancaskeys was so darn clever.
Hi Trish! No we haven't retired it. We are still the Vancaskeys. We just changed the our profile name to our own names to make it easier for people. :) Hope you are doing good! We always love hearing from you.
I am only going to forgive you for the extended warranty blunder, and for buying a Thor ONLY because you were newbies but if you do it again I am unsubscribing!!😊
The finance guy in the back room is where you gotta be careful. By the time you make it back to him your excited, anxious, and tired all by design. He's the smartest person you've met yet and is the dealers extra fee pusher. Great video guys. Always enjoy your content.
You are 💯 correct!!!!
hi thacman i agree..
We went back and recovered $21,000 in extra coverage, ALL of which was covered by our van insurance. Some of this stuff was not even applicable to the van when I read the fine print in the “diamond tier” they recommended; things like pusher coach towing and fifth wheel axle replacement that we would never ever need. Oh, there was also this $3000 care treatment that was basically a wax job.
I complained and they cut me an actual cheque.
We left our finance guy speechless. I told the sales rep I needed to move money to our account as we were going to pay cash. I wanted the amount before anything was added, as extended warranty. We told him we could put anything extra on a credit card. Told him we needed to go to the bank to do this because of the large amount. I came back with a cashiers check and it was easy to say no to all the add ons. He was not happy! 😅
So true, I fell for it 😓
We love you guys! After 6 mos with our used Roadtrek we canceled our extended warranty and got a prorated amount back. We found that the repairs we were doing either weren’t covered by the warranty or less than the $250 deductible. We decided to take the $4,000 we got back and put it into savings set aside for RV repairs.
Kinda interesting as we purchased our Winnebago Ekko from La Mesa here near Orlando, FL. We never had to wait more than 2 weeks for an appointment, and they never had it more than a week for the work. Now, most of our warranty issues were minor other than replacing the Automatic Transfer Switch. But we did avoid purchasing the extended warranty, so we will see how it goes after the one year of the Winnebago warranty is up.
Just got home from a trip to Myrtle beach from Ontario Canada. Our Ram Promaster sits for a while with out using it and after using the parking brake once, one side only partialy released and was stuck on. Never felt it, never new. Overheated, blew apart the entire brake system on that side. Three days at a Ram dealer in Knoxville and 4500 bucks later we headed home. Thirteen thousand miles on the rv and they say not covered under warrantee. Sixty five hundred Canadian! I need another drink.
Sick how people get taken from these large companies, definitely a flaw and they should have covered it. It's mechanical.
I was once told that RV's are not quality checked when they leave the manufacturer. They just put them out and wait for buyers to get the work done under warranty. This is why they say it is best to buy a used RV. I love that you call your Van Mr Lemon but in total, I have had 8 different RV's. Tent trailer, Towable, 5th Wheel (3), Class C, Class A and a Class B. Two of them I bought used, and they were the only ones that were not in the shop constantly for the first year. I have had 6 Mr Lemons. I never buy the extended warranty however, they would not sell them if they lost money which means if they are not losing money on them, than you are. Great video.
I had the exact same conversation with an ex service manager at one of the massive dealers in Washington State.
I don’t think there is a part of our Thor van that wasn’t touched by the warranty at the dealer. It was a total farce.
You two are my inspiration…we bought a used Sprinter RV and found black mold. We TOTALLY gutted it and started over. Now it’s awesome! And we are broke…lol
Extended service agreements are cancellable and you'll receive a refund of the unused portion of the extended agreement based on greater use of time or miles starting from day one.
Thanks for this great info!
Same with GAP insurance Ive cancelled many an Extended warranty (its usually a lot of phone calls and persistence as the Ext Warranty and Dealer is involved.
@Vancaskeys as a previous RV salesman, yes Cancel the extended warranty ASAP, receive your refund, and if you really want an extended warranty you can buy one without the dealer markup
I’m a long time RV owner. 8 motorhomes over 40 years. I’ve owned a number of extended service contracts. None have covered anything that’s not mechanical or electrical.
My experiences: most extended service agreements only kick in when the manufacturers warranty expires. So, all my repairs the first two years would have been covered and were covered with the factory warranty.
My experience is extended warranty covers about 50% of the mechanical repairs. Labor rates in Phoenix don’t seem to be in line with service contract rates.
I recommend NOT buying a service agreement from the dealer. Wait until your factory warranty is almost over. After mine expired I went with WHOLESALE WARRANTIES. Most of them don’t cover maintenance items, most don’t cover diagnostic services OR anything but mechanical and electrical but may cover your appliances, etc. , unless you purchase a very expensive package.
Anyway- that’s my experience , and just my opinion.
One last thing: I’m retired and took my rig to the Winnebago factory for a list of things the dealer did POORLY. I absolutely loved the factory repairs.
These are just my opinions.
Thank you for your video.
I’ve had aftermarket warranties several times, the big shock to me was the actual coverage was not what the salesman or brochures stated. The warranties all had a clause allowing resale, meaning that you RAM warranty I bought, was sold to Guardian, and they as a new warrantee can do anything, or NOT do anything. Needed a covered engine item fail, and they denied it. After pressuring the agent she said “It’s only a $462. repair, it will cost you more to litigate than the repair, we don’t pay those. On my Mitsubishi the engine needed to be replaced at 92,000 miles, the warranty replacement offer was $1,200 from them, the cost of repair $7,000.+ In ALL instances I would have been better off taking the warranty cost and putting that into a CD or stock.
My rv contract has a statement that if you put it in storage and take collision off while in storage, you have to have a storage waiver or they will tack on their own collision insurance and you’ll have to pay about $300 more for the payment. Found out the hard way!
We had a class a diesel pusher for 6 years. End of year model but new. The first year it was in the shop for lots of warranty work. Then it was good for the next year or two. Then the costs started. We spent over 16,000 dollars on various repairs. An extended warranty might have been a good idea. I think on a class a it would depend on how long you keep it. Cause something is gonna break.
3,442 views and 441 up votes in 4 hours, OMG! You guys are popular! This was very informative. The only thing to ad is that if you are full time you will have to do repairs yourself or face months of hotel bills. Mr. Lemon is looking good these days.
Haha! Thanks!
I recently discovered your channel. Thank you for sharing information about the true cost of purchasing and owning a camper van.
Our pleasure!
So technically three different warranties you have the ram warranty coach warranty (Thor), and everything else that has a different manufacturers name on it is warranted by that manufacturer, such as batteries, water pump, refrigerator, and things like that.
Super helpful and informative video! Glad Bob didn’t break the new $40 vent covers. Thank you for sharing your experiences. Cheers Bob and Hillary!
Keep in mind also people are financing their warranties at an high interest rate. In two or three years that $5000 warranty is actually costing them seven or $8000.
I bought my Jayco from a one location dealership. They let me know that I could get service at any Jayco affiliated service location. I just need to go through Jacob to get a location of where I can go. But there are locations across the entire country. In every state. I was even able to get some work done in Quartzsite arizona. And everyone knows how tiny that town is although there are a lot of RVs that travel there each winter.
Great video, we just completed a 7200 mile trip around the US in 28 days, like you we had many of the same issues during the warranty period. you are very Luckey that you were able to take it back to you selling dealer and get the work done easily. Now our mfg warranty has expired we must rely on the extended warranty. on our trip we had to use a mobile rv repair person to fix the awning extension and the water pump died, Our RV is named lemonade, Read the warranties NOW, I fully agree that the extended warranty is no worth it. we have a thor tellaro 20A 2022 We found on our last trip that plastic storage boxes were our best friend
Oh wow. Sorry that happened. Love that your RV is named Lemonade 😂🍋 7200 miles is amazing!
Thank you Bob & Hillary , For sharing your experiences and headaches owning and maintaining your RV, safe Travels, Im waiting for your next RV, will it be the EKKO, or the Leisure Travel Van Twin Bed.? Good Luck to you both.
Thank you!!! You might be right 😂
Great info guys! I always felt getting the Extended Warranty on my car that somehow I was getting sucked in to getting something I didn't need.
Thanks! Right! Same!
Yes Thor honors service at any authorized dealer. Have been to several while traveling and Thor has covered
Thanks for sharing your frustration! I am going through the same process now on warranty repairs. Glad I am not alone.!
Ugh sorry! You are not alone!
A clay bar from an auto parts store will remove that overspray, just use some spray wax as a lubricant while removing it.
Seriously, thank you. 😊
How have you handled roof inspections? Trying to avoid any leaks so need advice on what to actually look for and what to use.
We took ours for warranty work where we bought it and it is 2 hours away. They also took really long and didn't do the job right. So I talked to Thor and they said yes. Go to the van dealer in your town. So now we are getting work done close to home.
Extended service agreements are a way companies make instant cash. When trying to use them, companies can drag things out until a person gets tired of the B$ and walks away.
Ugh...this is just sad
I wish this video discussed costs (if they were written on La Mesa’s invoices)
Do you think some issues were due to poor Thor quality control…LaMesa being soooooo slow….pandemic assembly? All of the above? Trying to find a coach but so many options, brands, ballooning costs…☹️. Thanks for the info you provide! Have you seen an American Coach Patriot? I don’t remember seeing one on your excursions. Thanks again! Sally in Northern California and no longer “snow bird” in Apache Junction (I just sold my little place) 😁
Yes I do. We actually have noticed the last couple of times we have had warranty work it's gotten better. We did hear our La Mesa had a lots' of turn-over and not enough people to fix the RVs but it seems to be better...I also think our Van was a pandemic van and we have had more issues than usual because of that. Congrats on selling your place in Apache Junction! We love Northern California!
Thanks, Hillary and Bob! Way helpful summary. I think in addition to being handy, you have to ask Hillary and Bob to help you clone their "go with the flow" personalities. 😂 I'm just kidding, I know you guys get frustrated sometimes and rightly so! If I were in your shoes, I think me and LaMesa would have made the evening news a few times.😉❤😅
Have you added any extra security locks on the van?
Sliding Door
Back Doors
No…we probably should.
That's a big list of warranty repairs, but at least you've stayed on top of them. We've had 2 minor issues so far - the bathroom door latch broke when we went around a turn and hit a pothole in the road ( I think that's what happened ), and we had a defective 12 volt breaker. I had the builder send the parts ( which they did right away ) and replaced them myself since that was the fastest and easiest fix for me. Plus, I now understand the van a bit better.
You do have a great van Craig! Glad to hear it's going so well :)
Hi Bob and Hillary 🤗
We also purchased the extended warranty and had dought if we really needed it . Alfred is handy also and has done some minor stuff also. We agree with you both. Helpful video. Thanks you guy's. 👍😁🤗
I bought my Scope 18a from Camping World in Manassas and brought it to another Camping World dealership closer to me for warranty work and Thor authorized it.
I understand your frustration I’m looking forward to taking my class B to the manufacturer they have promised to go over trouble shoot and repair any issues🎉❤even though I agreed to drive it from South Florida and leave it I believe they will fix it. I’ll fly back have to work and fly there to pick it up when it’s done. I’ll have to rent a car while they work it all out🫣
I like the eclair insurance policy best, will work for eclair. However depending on how used an RV is I would still consider an extended warrantee. In my case I have a faulty slide on my 2016 truck camper and I am the second owner. I have no extended warrantee but Lance said bring it in and we will fix it for free. I can't tell you how awesome I feel right now chillin at a hotel.
I have been making a future appointment with LeMesa for a date after a trip so if there is something wrong they can view the issues and order parts (setting another appointment) or fix it. It can always be cancelled if not needed. I have also had good luck calling Thor directly since a couple of things occurred on a weekend while I was traveling. Once was when the tablet died and they had a tablet sent to me directly.
This is so brilliant. Thanks for sharing!
We only have a year manufacturer warranty on coach. Over just a month ago. We bought extended because we are not handy. And we have 5 year extended warranty. Bob and Hillary….i am almost positive you can call up the extended warranty people and get some of your money back. I was told. Could do that and we did do that with one of our cars. You get less back the longer you wait. It was worth it for our car to get back. Our van was $4100 so i feel 5 years is good.
Hey you guys. You just paid a mint for that RV. NOTHING should go wrong with it for a long time. And as for making appointments and waiting in excess of days to get something fixed, in addition to shoddy work (roof and skylight)..... I think it is better that I do not purchase a new rig. I will end up in jail after strangling a few sales/service reps at the dealership.
Won’t they offer extended warranty closer to expiration of manufacturer warranties? We have a Ram truck & we continue to get offers of extended warranty & it is 18 months old.
My manufacturers warranty is transferable. I asked the place I bought it from if the extended warranty was transferable and I didn't get an answer. In the end I found out the extended I have is NOT transferable. None of it. But. I can cancel it and get back apprx 7,000 dollars right now. If I sell it or trade it I can at least get money back. Mine won't transfer to an RV center if I trade it in either. I don't think I'll do it again. Because I'm also paying interest on that. We could probably get all of us together and open our own shop at this point! 😅😅 Thanks for the info. We just got our van back today and were talking to our repairman about whether the extra warranties are worth it! So perfect timing you two! And Bob the Builder... YES YOU CAN! 😅
I fell into the newbie’s trap… except mine was $9500… Ms. Lemon already drains me and I haven’t even camped yet. Going to Thor on April Fools Day, probably another newbie mistake ☹️
Warranty! When we bought our 2000km "almost new" used Road trek, they offered the extended warranty for $10,000 Canadian dollars. We've owned Travel trailer, 5th wheel, park model and now class B so the answer was a hard NO for extended warranty. When we bought the 2021 RT, we knew the 2 year Roadtrek warranty wasn't transferable but the RAM chassis warranty was transferable so all good. After experiencing other warranty work with trailer and 5th wheel, we aren't keen on leaving the van for weeks or lets say have pump failure and wait for the process and loose a summer or a trip? Not worth it. I'd rather fix it or get it fixed and pay and move on. In the past warranty work we've had done, there was still disappointment. A back wall of Jayco 5th wheel was replaced for water intrusion on warranty. There was more watering intrusion after because they failed to caulk around rear lights😢. Same problem of water pipe leaking was fixed under warranty, to find out it was still leaking during a trip AND also our rear breaks seized on the way home after warranty work. Also, the sofa bed came loose from the wall, that had to be fixed twice as well as the fabric wore out in one summer and also needed replacement. I can say Jayco was easy to deal with for warranty work but that was a lot of stuff and wasted time in the shop where we should have been out enjoying our unit. This resulted in me not caring for warranty and getting work done in time by people I trust. I would not give extended warranty any money.
I like the look of the Thor plans, but I am too old to be dealing with these issues. I do love your videos.
Thank you 😊
Those donuts look so good!
🍩🍩🍩
If you know someone with a 3-D printer, you probably could just print them. I have no idea how much the 3-d materials cost, but you can make extra ones just in case.
I wonder, why the large USA Car manufactures do not sell camper-vans over their dealerships. In Europe, Volkswagen, Ford, Mercedes sell their own class-b Camper Vans over their dealerships. In case of warranty or service, you can go to , for examble, to one of many Ford dealerships for Chassis and RV issues, and they are a lot more to choose from, than RV dealers.
Read the extended warranty fine print. It may be possible to get a refund on this warranty. May not be 100 percent but worth checking.
Like buying a new car, you can always buy an extended warranty before your mfg warranty ends. Buying warranties at the dealer is just giving them some free money.
Ugh. You probably are right. 😞
Hey Guys, love the videos. Maybe check out Embassy RV. My girlfriend is 6'2 and we are focusing on them as they seem to have a more open layout and durability than most. Plus can get them on the Ford Transit chassis which has more headroom
Had the Trombetta solenoid go out in van causing the coach batteries to not charge while the van was running. Called Thor and they actually sent me the part. Easier to change it out than drive 120 mile round trip to the dealer. Part was $30 on ebay so I would have just bought it rather than go through the hassle of going to dealer. Saved me the drive and Thor the dealer charge. Thor customer rep took care of things. Don't know if this would have been covered on extended warranty. Took about 20 minutes to change out part. I think dealer is charging $199 an hour shop rate!!
Hi guys, have you had to use any of the Ram warranty or has it been all Thor?
You might want to look at the warranty closely....you might be able to cancel it and get a pro-rated refund for the remaining years left after you cancel it. We did with the extended warranty company we purchased 3 years ago....we had it for 2 years, never needed it, then sold the van so rather than transfer the warranty, we got a refund.
Can you get the insurance refunded. I did that on my ford edge. When we traded it in for a newer one
Number one I HATE sky lights. Being blinded in my peripheral vision is no fun. Number 2 paint it yourself. There are many auto parts stores that specialize in paint colors that will match it perfectly. Also, you may even be able to remove the part or at least mask the surrounding parts before using paint thinner to prep the surface your painting. I have a 1999 Dodge/coachmen, that is in mint condition. I needed to touch up the paint, and my paint guy also has a photo spectrometer that matched that obsolete paint perfectly.
We got the extended warranty on our Travato and we found out that once the basic one-year warranty was up there were a lot of things that weren't covered by the extended. Like the miserable Remi shades, the The, pull up blinds that lived at the bottom of the front windshield. We were sidelined by Covid until after our initial warranty was up, so the Remis broke immediately after that expiration and we were astonished to discover that they weren't covered by the extended warranty - it was gonna cost us something like $800 if we wanted to replace them. We hated them anyway so we just kept clipping a blanket over the visors and left the dead Remi shades in place.
And there were other things like that just fell to us to fix because the extended wouldn't. We still had a couple of years left on the extended warranty when we sold the Travato and honestly, I don't think the new buyers cared that much. I can't say that it was a selling feature.
When we got the Solis Pocket, we skipped the extended warranty, despite heavy pressure from the finance guy.
I had quite a bit of warranty work having bought a 2021 early Covid TT Aspen Trail 2340BH in like Feb 2021. It was NOT at the peak of Covid so it was built somewhat better than many foundationally but fit and finish were not great. The prices did NOT explode until later in 2021 so I got a deal to a degree compared to mid 2021 through 2022 when my 23, 600 deal would have been as high as 40K. I put a Road Armor suspension on it and timed my warranty repairs to winter and the dealer essentially kept it from Oct to April fixing stuff including the front end that was bowing in the wind. The worst issue was that the slide ripped the floor. The dealer went back and forth with Dutchmen and I eventually had to take a whole set of pictures that showed the screw hanging down that ripped it. The dealer fought over a replacement but they said no fix it. The "fixer" said it was too far gone, so back and forth. Finally it was getting to camping season and I said, just fix it. So, I got a nice V in the flooring. The lady who fixed it did a great job and pointed out the floor hadn't been glued to the floor. Don't think you are getting planks. We have always used a runner inside so you can't even see it. But I better keep it for awhile. I was fortunate that the frame, all the appliances, and the gas system etc., were solid and I put Good Years on the second year and had already done the Road Armor suspension. So, I'm good to go... But this all is the reality of modern travel trailers.
Great video. The dealers often make more thon the warranties than on the coach .. Buyer beware and do your homework before buying or just watch Bob and Hillary for life lessons 🤣🤣
😂😂 things not to do by Bob and Hillary
I heard that some of these manufactures don't pay enough for the hours it actually takes for the repairs so they rush trough everything.
My first Thor warranty visit was FIVE MONTHS! I was begging Thor to help but Thor just laughed at me. We were waiting a part and I asked if they could take the part from the factory line- Thor said (and I quote) "Those parts are for paying customers".
Oh no! I’m so sorry! That’s not ok.
Another reason my next RV will not be a Thor.
I had the same issue with my Jayco/Entegra.
Two things,
1. A six day repair time is unacceptable. A six-month repair time is reason enough to never buy an RV at least from Thor and your dealer, and maybe not at all if they are all like that.
2. “We paid $5000 dollars, do you think we will get $5000 out of the extended warranty?” Insurance does not work that way. If every customer got out what they paid, the insurance company would go broke. Insurance only works if many people pay and few collect. One should ask oneself at the time of purchase, if the insurance costs $5000, do I think I might have $15,000 in repairs? If that is true, then the insurance is worth it, because a $15,000 repair bill might be crippling. This is the way it works with engine warranties. A $2000 warranty might be handy if the engine needs replacing and the cost would be $10,000. Most people never use their engine warranty, so the insurance company can tolerate paying out 1 out of every 50 engine warranties they write.
Finding a service provider has been a nightmare. As far as asking your sales person … they lied about any authorized dealership can do the work. Our experience has been No if your didn’t purchase with them
The primary job of an ESP "adjuster" is to find any reason.. even make it up... to deny a claim. HAVING the esp does not mean things will get fixed.
I waited 5 months for the appointment and she's been there for 4 months getting work done. Their diagnostic ability when it comes to lithium sucks. Oh its this part; wait, install, now the next part isn't working. Repeat.
:) THANKS MUCH for sharing! So maybe extended warranty not the best idea on a new coach, BUT, if Mr. Lemon continues after initial runs out..... trade him in :) (Dazzle? :) Hope Bob got to finish his donut! ALL the BEST and Cheers! :)
Hahaha! Yes I finished my donut! You are so right...Mr. Lemon might on his last days with us if he doesn't clean up his act... LOL! Thanks Marty! All the best to you!
Extended warranties at purchase aren't worth it. First you are amortizing the $4500k you paid for the warranty with the coach for 20 years? That's more like a $9,000 warranty. if you feel you need an extended warranty, get one as the manufacturer warranty is ending (after you have shopped around for a quality provider).
The other way they try to screw you is to have overlapping warranty coverage. Meaning your 4 year extended warranty started at the same time you purchased the coach, when it's covered by the manufacturer for the first 2 years. This is a common tactic by crooked dealers, they explain it away by saying the extended warranty covers more than the manufacturers "basic" warranty. .
Call the warranty provider and ask how much you can get back when you cancel, might be worth it. Usually a dealership sold extended warranty is $2500 + $2k dealer profit = $4500. It's something you can negotiate aggressively on.
The other thing to watch for is the $100 deductible, some are "per visit" and some are "per item". Insurance companies are business' that are out to make money, by making it inconvenient for you to fix your rig, they pocket the $$$.
Problem for me is the waiting time for warranty work ( 4 weeks minimum) seems like they want to run out the warranty. its a scam. 350$ for winterization, rip off. I do everything myself. I dedicate to be an engineer mechanic so no one rips me off. OK, have a great day.
.
One more comment then I’ll move on. Keep in mind, you are paying for that warranty from Thor. Manufacturer add a cost to cover the projected cost of warranty repairs. In most cases that amount is 3 to 7% added on the cost of the RV. In the statements that they have to provide because they are public company, there is even a line item that says how much money they have in warranty accounts to cover the projected warranty cost for the next quarter of the next year
This many repairs is unacceptable, IMO. We’ve owned four different RVs with nothing close to what you’ve experienced. My goodness! At least your attitude is good.
hi cutie and handsome. Great video. these are the number I've been waiting for. thank you for sharing. my calculation for renting an rv cruise america rv c30, 4 months with 40,000 miles is $4.20 per mile. I thought about buying a ram van rv but Mr. lemon kept me up at night. I just want a dependable RV made by HONDA, TOYOTA, LEXUS or Mitsubishi.
Drive your Asian car to location, get a motel room...no warranty, no muss, no fuss. Costs way less than being saddled with rv payments and all.
Do you live in your van full time?
No we do not.
I really need some good advice and I really like watching you both. What class of RV do you recommend for fulltime living ? I'm a solo traveler. Thanks guys.
What happened to the vancaskeys?
Regardless of all the updates, Mr. Lemon is still one of the best looking RV's on the road.
😊
Never buy extended warranty !
Sad part is there are a lot of good mobile repair service companies that will come out and fix a lot of these items and do great work but they are authorized by company to do the work so they won’t paid. With the current backlog for warranty work or any work and waiting 3 months to get it looked and who knows how long if parts are needed. I feel companies like Thor and Winnebago need to recognize this issue and start authorizing mobile companies to do work. Maybe taking some business away from dealerships will get them to open their eyes and recognize they need to come up with an improved way to get more service done. Any thoughts?
I was thinking the same thing. Next time I would call Thor and ask them if they would cover the mobile repair
❤ love Ya Both
Awww 🥰 ❤️❤️
So Vancaskeys has been retired? Maybe people couldn't remember how to spell it? "Bob and Hillary" is certainly descriptive enough, but I thought Vancaskeys was so darn clever.
Hi Trish! No we haven't retired it. We are still the Vancaskeys. We just changed the our profile name to our own names to make it easier for people. :) Hope you are doing good! We always love hearing from you.
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
❤️❤️❤️
Oh Thor😠
My mantra is never buy an extended warranty.
Rattle can.
You get what you pay for...........
hi cutie, Hillary I like your manicured pink nails.
I am only going to forgive you for the extended warranty blunder, and for buying a Thor ONLY because you were newbies but if you do it again I am unsubscribing!!😊
We will unsubscribe from our channel as well if we buy a Thor again 😂
Better hope nobody gets on your roof and sees it.