Custom DRV 5th wheel with problems - Page 2

terry and jo · 12-07-2013, 06:52 PM

It has been quite some time ago, but at one time, I posted the details of the warranty on the 2010 model that we have. It was listed as some items being a 1 year warranty, others were 2 years, and systems like hydraulics and such were 3 years.

Thus, I'd suggest checking with a dealer or the factory itself to see just what the warranties are.

Terry

Motor31 · 12-08-2013, 10:21 AM

Hunter, I asked a rep several years back why the change form 2 year to 1 year warranty. The answer I was given was that "quality had improved so much that a 2 year warranty was not needed". He actually said that with a straight face too.

Our time in the mobile suites is coming to a close soon, we are going to be paroled from it in the next 60 to 90 days. Right now Heartland is at the top of the list for a replacement (because finding an excel dealer is pretty tough in the areas we travel) and we have been scouting which model unit we want. Getting financing is one of the harder issues since we are full timers with no real estate property that a lender can place a lien on. Not a surprise given the economy and the way the industry has gone in the last 6 years or so.

Since we are leaving mobile suite that will bring to a close much of any reason to remain on this forum since it is almost exclusively active only in the drv area because of the shoddy quality issues. That should make some folks here rather happy.

terry and jo · 12-08-2013, 11:23 AM

Well, perhaps I should be relegated to being called a cheerleader because we've had darn few problems with our Mobile Suites. In fact, the biggest problems we've had were actually with certain appliances of the rig. Namely, the GE Advantium was dead when it first arrived and the fridge went out after only about 2 years.

However, please allow me to put a bit of perspective on forums. Forums attract a lot of interest because of two things. One, the chance to research about a product before buying with the help of owners speaking of their coaches; and two, owners are there looking for solutions for some problem that they have encountered. Because of "two," there will be more of an appearance of problems, thus a question as to the brand's quality.

I have noticed that there are likely a LOT more owners of a brand than there are participants on a forum, whether those forum participants are researching or searching for problems. While 5th Wheel Forums may be a bit off because of so many brands on the forums, most owner's forums show a different picture.

For instance, SOITC has a total member list of 1755 registered users. However, with my experience with forums, there are a huge number of folks that register just to ask one or two questions and then they are gone. In light of that, SOITC's information shows that they have 215 "active" members. My question there would be to ask, "what constitutes an active member?" If it is "active on the forum within the last "x" number of months," how accurate can that be if quite a few of those are among the number of low usage?

With those numbers, using SOITC as an example, how do they relate to the number of coaches that DRV has actually built? If DRV has built 6500 coaches, then there must be a lot of folks out there that are not having such serious problems.

Those of you that know me any by the posts on the 5th Wheel Forums and SOITC may know that I'm also a participant (and moderator) over on RV Dreams, which is NOT an owner's forum. It is made up of a lot of folks researching RV'ing and particularly full-time RV'ing. As such, they are looking for recommendations of brands that will stand up to the full-time lifestyle in an RV.

On that forum, I generally suggest that folks register and ask questions of the owners on the forums any questions that they have. I also advise them that the forums will indicate a large number of "negative" comments and questions because of the desire of folks looking for solutions of problems. Then, I tell those readers to ask one other question of the owners when they are on those owner's forums, and that question is:

"If you were to buy another RV, would you buy "X-brand" RV again, and if so, why?"

I asked that question both here and on SOITC back almost over 4 years ago and received a generally positive response from the participants of both forums. That is part of the reason we have a Mobile Suite. Now, while there are a few "really disgruntled" participants on both forums, how many are still really glad to have a DRV?

Terry

terry and jo · 12-08-2013, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by terry and jo

It has been quite some time ago, but at one time, I posted the details of the warranty on the 2010 model that we have. It was listed as some items being a 1 year warranty, others were 2 years, and systems like hydraulics and such were 3 years.

Thus, I'd suggest checking with a dealer or the factory itself to see just what the warranties are.

Terry

I just stumbled upon a link to the forum post on SOITC where I spelled out what the 2010 DRV warranties were listed as. Here is a link to that SOITC forum thread. My comment will be post number 4 and lists the things covered for each of the three years.

http://www.suitesowners.com/forums/s...e-DRV-Warranty

Terry

DAVIDnRENEE · 12-09-2013, 12:56 AM

Our new DRV RV will be our 3rd 5th wheel (2001 Jayco Designer and 2009 Forest River Cardinal). With each purchase we did extensive research and felt that we bought exactly what we wanted, spending what we wanted at the time. We were happy with and have enjoyed both RVs completely and only bought new ones as "stepping up" along the way. We sold our home in February so we will officially be "full timers." Even though we still have not taken ownership of our DRV (25 days and counting) we feel we bought a quality product (after touring the factory and speaking to numerous DRV owners). The cosmetic issues that have prevented us from taking ownership (rip in the carpet, chunk out of the island baseboard, scratch on the wood valance, a marred place on the wood plank flooring, etc) - while they are disheartening - in no way reflect the durability of the DRV product itself. It rather reflects - possibly someone's lack of taking their time (or possibly just not paying attention to the task at hand) in doing another project and damaging the floor, baseboard, valance, or whatever it may have been damaged, etc. The only major problem has been having to replace the toilet. Our dealership found that problem and is currently awaiting the arrival of a new one. They have been very good to keep us updated on their progress, and we believe there have been no other discoveries with regard to appliances, the generator, satellite, slides, etc. With respect to those items just mentioned - they are only as good as the manufacturer who makes them (even though some would probably still want to blame DRV [or whichever brand RV they happen to be installed in]). While we are disappointed that we weren't able to take ownership of our RV after the initial 4-5 day dealer PDI - we are not disappointed that we ordered a DRV. We do not regret our decision and are still looking forward to being able to leave the dealership with our 41RSSB4 secured to the back of our truck. We were merely asking (when originally beginning the thread) if anyone else had had numerous problems that prevented them from taking ownership after the dealer PDI. We truly look forward to posting our happy, positive news once we take ownership and begin our traveling journeys loving and enjoy our new DRV RV!!

Gemstone · 12-09-2013, 07:48 AM

"41RSSB4 secured to the back of our truck".

Assuming you are going to weigh the rig right off the lot, before any loading, would you kindly post the real weights for others to see ?

Regards
Gemstone

DAVIDnRENEE · 12-09-2013, 05:24 PM

We definitely will. We are taking our RV directly to the scales after leaving the dealership (empty). We have been told numerous times the weights (from the factory) are never accurate. With that being said the paperwork from DRV states our 41 weighs 17, 769 #. The transporter did not take it through any weigh stations, so it will be up to us to get - as close to accurate - weight as we can. The old "floor plan" brochures clearly state the 41RESB4 weighs 16,950 # (for the Elite and 15,250 # for the Mobile). So it is feasible that our Elite (including washer/dryer, satellite, Onan 6500, and other adds) might realistically weigh the almost 18K# documented. We'll let everyone know as soon as we take ownership (26 days at the dealership can counting).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gemstone

"41RSSB4 secured to the back of our truck".

Assuming you are going to weigh the rig right off the lot, before any loading, would you kindly post the real weights for others to see ?

Regards
Gemstone

DAVIDnRENEE · 12-09-2013, 05:26 PM

With regard to the cosmetic issues and how DRV RVs can arrive at dealerships with so many flaws...

We toured the factory in September, but it never occurred to us to ask the question relating to the employees' work schedule. Everyone was working - what looked like diligently -but it was early in the AM. I did read a previous post (on another thread) that mentioned the employees were allowed to leave once their job was completed while receiving a full day's pay. I have not verified that, but the consensus was the quality would possibly suffer if someone knows they get to leave early (and still get full pay) because they would "slap" the RVs together...scary thought! However, since we are still waiting to take ownership of our new RV (26 days and counting) since it arrived at the dealership. I had positive things to say about the dealership and both Kyle Miller and Chad Olinger @ DRV last night while updating my post, but today is another thing!!! We found out we are no further along today than we were a month ago!!!!!! We called Chad (head of customer service) this AM, and still haven't received a call back today (and they are closed since it's way after 4 their time)! We are beginning to rethink our DRV purchase and contemplating looking AGAIN at other high end RVs.

GlennWest · 12-09-2013, 07:55 PM

I don't pretend to know the rv industry but in my profession we get this option sometimes. We will work somewhat harder but our quality remains the same. If it didn't we would not get to come back for future jobs. You all may be reading more into this than you should. We are a "specialty" welding company and our speed and quality is our "specialty".

DAVIDnRENEE · 12-09-2013, 08:57 PM

I completely understand that in many cases the quality of the work does not waver or suffer; however, in the RV industry there may be (in fact, several of us have testified to the fact that there is) exceptions to the rule. I do not know that the option of "coming back for future jobs" is contingent on the DRV employees' quality if they are employed year round. That may be worth checking into. I do know that I was told they no longer produce 2 units a day, but rather quite a few more - leaving room for quality to suffer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GlennWest

I don't pretend to know the rv industry but in my profession we get this option sometimes. We will work somewhat harder but our quality remains the same. If it didn't we would not get to come back for future jobs. You all may be reading more into this than you should. We are a "specialty" welding company and our speed and quality is our "specialty".

5thwheeler · 12-10-2013, 11:55 AM

This is the checklist we used when picking up our Suite 7 years ago.
We gave the dealer a copy about 1 month before delivery.
Delivery day - we found 3 small items (I guess we were lucky)

We also purchased an extended warranty package - $1800. It was suggested by our dealer. Purchased from a Canadian company. Expensive, but covered virtually everything for 7 years. ($100 deductible) It has been an excellent value. With the exception of the grey water tank replacement, all issues have been with "non-DRV" items - fridge, furnace, awing, etc. We've had an excellent relationship with the insurance company.

Yes, we had our share of issues, but our rig has travelled over 100,000 miles. Do we need a new Suite? No Would we buy a new Suite? Yes, without question! (But, we'd also buy an extended warranty package)

DAVIDnRENEE · 12-10-2013, 02:07 PM

Thank you!

We have downloaded your PDI check list and will definitely take it with us once we take ownership of our Suite. Today marks the 27th day it has been at the dealership with no end in sight...yet.

With regard to your extended warranty you purchased - did it run concurrent with the standard DRV warranty or did it begin once the DRV warranty expired? Would you please share the insurance company name and number with us? Also, which plan (if several plans were available) did you purchase?

Red Ram · 02-22-2014, 11:33 PM

It is sad to read that the commitment to quality is still not where it should be with the Mobil Suites. I bought a new 36SB3 Mobil Suites in 07 and traded it off in Dec of 11. I now drive a class A Foretravel. I will not dwell on all the problems we had, but I would not buy another one.