One of the things I have read on a lot of blogs and forums about buying an RV is that it’s not “if” you will have issues, it’s “when” you will have issues. This page is going to track the various issues we have had with our RV. As a reminder, we bought it brand new, though it had been to at least one RV show, so it has a few miles on it. Also, as a reminder, we do not currently have a truck capable of moving our RV, so getting it to the dealer for repairs is not an option.
The following issues occurred during delivery of the RV by the dealer:
- Fuse for the leveling system – when the RV was delivered by the dealer, they were able to raise the front of the RV to get it off of the truck. They suggested that leveling (auto-leveling, in our case) was best done once the slides were out. So, they went through the process of getting the slides all extended (see next bullet). Once that was complete, they were going to run through the auto-leveling process, but the leveling control panel would not turn on. After many unsuccessful attempts to make it power up, they finally got in touch with one of their experts back at the shop, who was able to tell them about a fuse that is more or less buried behind the hydraulic system in what I term the “garage” of the RV. A quick trip to the local auto parts store and we were back in business. Auto-leveling worked perfectly once the fuse was replaced.
- Kitchen drawer – one of the kitchen drawers (the one farthest away from the door of the RV) doesn’t stay closed. Unnoticed by the delivery tech who was opening the slides, it ended up getting crushed by the kitchen slide-out. It took some contortions to get it out of they way, before they were able to get the slide working again. One challenge with this process is that 3 of the slides are on the same hydraulic system, so you cannot control which one goes in and out in which order (without messing with the hydraulic system, which we didn’t want to do). Eventually, they were able to get everything working. They were able to get us a replacement drawer in the next couple of days.
During delivery, we learned that the 25′ water hose they sold me was about 2′ too short. So, we didn’t get the water hooked up at that point. Luckily, we weren’t actually moving in for a few days, so I wasn’t concerned. However, a couple of days later, when I brought another hose and hooked it up, we ran into our next issue, that I’m going to count as a delivery issue:
- Washer/Dryer hookup – when I was able to get the water hose hooked up and turned on, I heard water running through the hose. It seemed a little odd, because I didn’t think it was supposed to fill anything up, as I had it set in city water mode. Within a minute or so, one of my kids noticed water running out of the front of the RV. I immediately turned off the water and called the dealer. They agreed to come and pick it up the next morning and bring it back to their shop to figure out what happened. We had purchased a stackable washer/dryer from the dealer, and they installed it for us prior to delivery. My first inclination was to blame the washer for the issue. However, it turned out that it was actually the factory fitting that the washer was connected to that blew up when water was furnished. The dealer was able to replace the factory fittings and dry out the RV before returning it the next evening. Luckily, it was still another couple of days before we were moving in.
These are the other issues that we have experienced (or discovered) since moving in. Keep in mind, that we have been living in the RV for 3 weeks at this point:
- Bolt on side of recliners – a couple of days after moving in, I noticed that one of the two recliners was crooked. I started looking closer and realized that the two recliners are meant to be hooked together by a set of brackets. There are one set of brackets attached to the first recliner, that match up to opposite direction brackets on the armrest. There are then more brackets on the other side of the armrest that match up to opposite direction brackets on the other recliner. None of these brackets were tightened. Luckily, all of the screws were there, even though a couple of them were just freely rolling around under the chair. I was able to install them all properly except for one bracket. I tried to screw it in to the armrest, and there was nothing in the hole in the side of the armrest for it to screw in to. The other holes all had metal inserts that received the bolts. I was able to attach the other screw, so the bracket was fairly tight. However, it’s an annoyance that I’m aware of every time I sit down.
- Refrigerator, pt 1 – once we started putting food in the fridge, we discovered that it was not able to stay cold. I had it set to the highest (coldest) setting (9), and it was barely maintaining 46 degrees F. After another day, and no improvement, I called the dealership. Because I could not bring the RV to them, they explained that I would get to pay $150 for a visit from a mobile repair tech. He came out, checked everything out, and determined that the flap on the left door that is supposed to close behind the right door wasn’t consistently closing, leaving a gap in the doors. He showed us how to pull it manually closed and promised to come back the next day to fix it. The next day, he came and installed a couple of washers on the bottom hinge of the left door, and it fixed the problem. After a few days of testing, we have determined that setting the fridge at 4 keeps it between 33 and 39 degrees.
- Refrigerator, pt 2 – we still had a problem with the right fridge door. Specifically, the alarm that says the door is not closed would randomly start pinging. A simple touch on the door would stop it temporarily. We also noticed that the right door was lower than the left door. A quick trip to the hardware store for $0.50 worth of vinyl washers and I was able to implement the same fix that the left door required, and the right door hasn’t complained about being left open since.
- Porch light – after living in the RV for about a week, we noticed that the porch light no longer turns on. We had been in the habit of turning it on at night, for about 4 or 5 hours, signifying that we were home. I haven’t taken the time to check to see if its just a simple burned out bulb, or what.
- Grey tank – one Saturday, when I went to dump the black tank for the 3rd or 4th time (yes, we generate a lot of poop in my family), I followed my usual procedure. Specifically, I closed both grey tanks to let some water build up in them. We had some laundry going and someone was taking a shower, so I knew we’d get some build up. I then dumped the black tank. When the black tank was clean and empty, I re-opened the grey tanks to flush out the line with clean-ish water. However, only a little water came out. I checked the gauges, and found that one of the two tanks was 1/3 full, so I knew something should have come out. I opened and closed the tanks a few more times, and nothing changed. I ran the shower, and it seemed to come out okay, so it appeared to be whichever tank the washer drained in to that was not dumping. In the end, I waited until Monday before I called the manufacturer, followed by a call to the dealer. I learned that another $150 mobile visit was in my future. I called the dealer to get the visit set up, and the same guy who fixed our fridge showed up later that evening. In the end, we both believe it was just some kind of debris in the tank that blocked it up. After running some laundry and letting it fill the tank up to 2/3, opening the valve finally dumped the water.
Beyond the first month:
- Refrigerator, pt 3 – one night, the fridge shut off. Luckily, I noticed it within an hour or so. However, when I turned it back on, the fridge would only run on propane, not shore power. I checked all of the breakers and fuses that I could find, and even tested the power outlet behind the fridge. I think it’s a circuit board or something inside that is the cause. We have a call in to the mobile tech to come check it out. Conveniently, the fridge doesn’t use a lot of propane. After waiting for a few weeks for the parts to arrive, it turned out to be the control panel on the front of the fridge that was the cause of our power issues. All is well with the fridge now.