I got a bad Interstate

[Dungrace]

What a bad day today with my 2014.5 Interstate Ext 3500. I went to pick up my Interstate from the dealership for a warranty repair after a week in the shop and 20 mins driving back home the engine got over heated. Pulled into a shopping center and saw antifreeze dripping on the ground then I opened the hood to check the reservoir. It was empty with a burnt smell coming from the engine. I had to wait over 2 hours for the flat bed to come and the next problem I encountered was the rear bumper was too low for the flat bed. Now my right rear bumper is broken thanks to the tow truck.

I got it tow to the nearest Mercedes Benz dealership and the service advisor told me if it's cause by a hose then MB will not cover the warranty repair to the motor if it is damaged. I said he is full of **** cause it wasn't my fault and hose is part of the engine and blah blah. Crossing my fingers and hope I don't get bend over and rape by MB cause so far Airstream quality is giving me a headache. One warranty repair after another and now I'm thinking to myself if the service tech at the RV dealership is messing with my Interstate.

[73shark]

What was the warranty repair for?

[Msmoto]

Telling a service advisor he is full of .... can cut you off from your only advocate with the factory. I have found it works better to simply document exactly what is said, who said it, and also exactly what happened to your vehicle. In spite of what many of us seem to experience, the dealer or service center wants us to be happy, but if pressed they can be very passive agressive.

The biggest advantage we can have is thorough documentation


Ms Tommie Lauer
Greensboro, NC
2015 Serenity 30 RB / 2008 Dodge Cummins 4 X 4
WBCCI #4165 AIR #31871

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Dungrace

Crossing my fingers and hope I don't get bend over and rape by MB cause so far Airstream quality is giving me a headache. One warranty repair after another and now I'm thinking to myself if the service tech at the RV dealership is messing with my Interstate.

In all fairness, Airstream has nothing to do with the engine's cooling system. That's all on Mercedes Benz and cannot possibly be the fault of Airstream Interstate build quality.

Every auto manufacturer has a goal of "zero defects" but that's not achievable in real life. If it was, we wouldn't need warranties. Mercedes Benz sells about 26,000 Sprinter vans in the US each year, and only a small fraction of those go to Airstream for conversion into an RV. If only one percent of the vans have a factory defect, that's still about 260 vans per year, and you just happened to get one of them.

I don't think anybody at Airstream is out to get you, and I don't think they're messing with your Interstate just for giggles. But if you think that's what's happening, then just to be sure, ask your Mercedes Benz dealer to save all of the parts they replace, and examine them yourself to see if you can spot any tampering. For example, a man-made hole in a coolant hose will look a lot different than a factory defect.

[Ron_CA]

Does sound like you have had your fair share of issues.

Hope you get it resolved quickly and are soon back on the road.

[Schu]

Have you been working with anyone from Airstream Customer Service?

[Freedom7]

In my opinion, all of MSMOTO advice is accurate and should be followed.

[John Millner]

Were your other problems with the Mercedes or the Airstream? The Mercedessprinter was designed to run for hundreds of thousands of miles with minor if any incidents if it's maintained according to warranty. It's highly unusual that a hose in a new sprinter goes bad yet it can happen on rare occasion. Hopefully that's what happened in your case and that the computer shut down your engine before any damage occurred.

[Dungrace]

I went in to get the bathroom fan replace under warranty and changing the generator oil to keep up with the extended warranty I bought.

My Interstate only has 5700 miles on it and the last time I brought it in for warranty repairs, I didn't get it back almost 2 1/2 months later. April 17 of this year it will be 1 yr since I had it and I think my Interstate been in the shop for over 4 months at the Airstream dealership. Now it's in the MB dealership waiting for them to check it out on April 7th. I hope it will be minor cause I pulled over as soon as I saw smoke coming from the hood. I'll be in shock if there are damages and MB won't cover it just because of a hose. Cross my fingers and hope my engine is alright.

[crispyboy]

Since it is so new it may have been a hose clamp that was properly tightened. Did the engine run hot very long? Did u notice it gradually getting warmer or did it get hot suddenly?
For future reference you may want to periodically check fluid levels and always look for signs of leaking after you have been parked in a spot overnight now matter how new the vehicle.

[Msmoto]

I had a vehicle (manufacturer will remain anonymous) which had an oil consumption problem. The dealer initially stated this was WNL...up to a quart in 700 miles...finally, it became just too much of a hassle to put a quart of synthetic oil in every other tank fill up.

I wrote a letter documenting the entire history, especially adding oil in zero degree weather in a snow storm in Detroit in January, and asked if this excessive oil consumption could be a safety related issue as I was doing lots of traveling to distant places, many times adding oil in filling stations late at night. The letter was first to the dealer and the response, finally, was an "oil consumption test" where the dealer began replacing a quart of oil each time I brought it in with the light on. This resulted I an engine rebuild, now at nearly 30,000 miles, and I was provided a rental during the time the car was worked on.

New engine...about 300 miles per quart....so, the factory sent a short block, this second rebuild was a success, no oil consumption.....but, small filings were found in the oil at first change.

Fortunately the dealer agreed to help me sell the car, and it sits on his lot waiting for a buyer today.

My interactions have always been positive and non accusative when discussing this, although my thoughts have been along the lines of litigation. Sometimes life gives us a poor deal and IMO we do not get what we expect, but just need to accept that this is what life is about and be grateful we have even been given the bad experience. Some folks do not have more than a bicycle to get themselves about, not to imagine a motorized vehicle. This fact is not easy for me to accept but seems to help me to not get too aggressive when my expectations are not always met.😬


Ms Tommie Lauer
Greensboro, NC
2015 Serenity 30 RB / 2008 Dodge Cummins 4 X 4
WBCCI #4165 AIR #31871

[paiceman]

Anytime a vehicle breaks down it's a problem, not only for the individual but for the dealer as well. Your service adviser was correct and your warranty so states. However, by kissing his hind you might get some reprieve. I managed a company for a long time and had vehicle techs work for me. I know that if a customer was nice to them they did work under warranty that was not warranty work. We would have meetings with their supervisors and at times me or my VP to discuss the cost to the customer - their comeback as always, "they were nice, good people and we saved the customer". Hard to argue with that, so when this type of work was done and I found out we charged the work to the sales person.

No company I can think of intentionally damages a vehicle or any part of said vehicle unless someone really irritates them. I suggest you check out the state you live in lemon laws. In several states through arbitration you might end up with a new unit. But your recent complaint has nothing to do with AS and everything to do with Benz.

Best of luck

[Bikerbill]

Have you called the Mercedes Customer Service 800 number and documented it with them. I had issues last fall with my new Mercedes Roadtrek and it was at a MB dealer for 4 weeks until they finally diagnosed the problem. Originally it was showing as a DEF problem but ultimately it was NOX sensors. And now the problem with MB has national status for NOX issues.

I documented with the Cust Service and had a corporate representative I could bounce my comments off also. They did get involved and I did get some "favors" from them for the future.

[timhortons]

There's no engine warranty on a year old interstate ?

Somebody is responsible.

Just keep moving up the food chain. Politely as you can.

I'd be pretty irritated too if my 120k nearly new van had a self destructing engine !

Is it possible that someone at the dealership left something drained and or disconnected ?.

I be been done with Mercedes 20 years now, from bad experience with maintenance, etc. Only just experimenting again with a Germany vehicle now after that crapfest. I feel like that company really rides on marketing and past reputation.

Hopefully they get you engine stabilized and out enjoying the vehicle. Its a fleet vehicle so it must be possible to get it to some level of working ness.

All the MOHOs seem to have maintenance issues up the wazoo, talking to someone who had just picked up a pleasure ways sprinter from the factory . First stop after a 20 hour drive home was to the local dealership to fix 3 or 4 things broken on that first trip. Owner was completely unfazed like this was most normal thing in the world.

These levels of reliability and quality control are a disgrace. Like the domestic large truck makers who got religion on diesel all at once and seem to have thrown whatever was in the parts bin in at the last minute.

[Schu]

Could you give a phone number or email and I will have someone from Airstream contact you?

[Ray Eklund]

With Airstream on the nameplate... I believe it IS an Airstream problem. Airstream should make the paper work decisions if the Interstate is still covered under warranty.

My 2014 Airstream International has so many components from so many companies, from so many countries... why should I be begging the dealership for warranty repairs, when the local dealership should be doing the footwork? I would be frustrated as well. I am not a mechanic, body shop examiner, leak sourcing expert, compression/pollution/oil consumption engine expert.

Idiot Gauges indicate a problem AFTER the fact. Those of us who actually DID KNOW how to fix a vehicle in the driveway in the 1960's and 1970's had older, non warranty vehicles as we could only afford a well used vehicle and kept them running by on the job self training. I cannot change a spark plug today... or diagnose a computer module error... so those self repairs are getting more difficult.

When the local RV Sales/Warranty has to find the problem, work with the manufacturer, resolve the issue, have the owner bring the trailer/RV/whatever back and forth, or have it sit all Summer waiting and waiting... you do feel violated.

I prefer to fix the small stuff on my Airstream Trailer. It might even cost me a few dollars out of my pocket. I am not happy about it. My 2014 Airstream had some small issues that I could easily take care of. It should NOT have. The excuse that the trailer is complex is a terrible excuse. Glad it is not a private aircraft...

My Toyota Tundra while traveling had a small pool of antifreeze below the radiator when new. It was NOT the hose, as I first expected... the plastic radiator had some flaw. Miller Toyota in Albuquerque, NM was the closest dealership and three miles away from the Sandia Casino parking lot where we spent the evening. I pulled the trailer into their parking lot and the dealership immediately agreed there was a leak, minor but still a leak. I detached the trailer at the location, the Tundra was taken into the shop and a replacement radiator installed... the SAME DAY with no appointment.

I would expect the SAME with my Airstream emblem go cart, trailer or RV. The customer deserves to be given immediate attention. Even if the customer is unhappy and vents... these people should understand. I feel that the majority of RV dealerships give the number one attention to SALES, while emergency repairs for those on the road are... time wasters with their limited staff. IF we have a problem with our trailer, I will hold off for work in Tucson, AZ as there are some well run operations there to handle any problems.

Yes. Be firm as a customer and to the point to have a problem solved. One way or the other. If you are in the right... step up the pressure and the rhetoric. Contact the Better Business Bureau... this will get a response from the "member" if they are a member of the BBB.

I remember the "bumper to bumper" warranties. The warranty parts and repairs are already built into each vehicle, trailer, component, or cost of labor... already. YOU have paid for this... "free warranty protection" on a new purchase. Right... I had a Chevrolet dealership pass me off as a fool on my first new pickup purchase in 1970. The 12 month/12,000 mile warranty expired, the problem persisted, I repaired it myself. The Air Conditioning was shot that Summer, as well! Persistent rust spots occurring on the driver's door the second year, etc.

I bought my first Toyota in 1972 and am driving a 2014 Toyota today. General Motors had expressed in the news that they wanted to attract younger individuals to purchase a new GM vehicle... which I was in 1970. All my vehicles up to that time were GM products. All, yet used. I wrote the President of GM some years ago about what this dealer "did for me under warranty" and the list of Toyotas I purchased since then... he offered an "employee price on any GM vehicle". Sorry... you missed the boat and never regret the change. If the vehicle does not break down... the warranty is a total NON ISSUE. That is why I still have Toyota products. GM going under... served them right.

Now to try to cut this short, which is difficult. Some owners are totally incompetent and pretend to be ignorant of flashing warning lights, smells, sounds that are not right, etc. etc.. There are idiots among... us. I have met some. Since I was the not the brightest LED in the classroom, I succeeded because I had common sense that exceeded the norm. I am no genius... but when I describe a problem on the Forum... I try to give each and every detail WHY, WHEN and WHAT I did in the chain of events. If someone leaves out these on a thread... I begin to suspect that this individual might have to take some responsibility for not paying attention. Not necessarily this Thread... but the small minority of "idiots" make up the greatest majority of complaints and problems discussed. I am ignorant of electronics, but when something electronic goes awry... I look forward to hearing LEWSTER stepping in and "educating" electronic idiots like myself. He is an asset to this Forum.

OK. I am going back into my hibernation and getting ready for this year's travels in our Airstream.

[73shark]

I seriously doubt Airstream is going to have any interest in an obvious MB problem.

[Msmoto]

When I see a post from someone who has connections, I mean real connections, at Airstream I would jump on this. I suspect the path to a reasonable solution is to be found by contacting Schu.

[John Millner]

In my humble opinion, waiting that long for warranty work and an oil change is unacceptable. Does Airstream corporate know about this? What was their response? I too took mine in for minor work and had to wait two months. Not acceptable, the dealer was apologetic and the next time I brought it in was much quicker in handling the problem. Without identifying the dealer may I ask what state they are located? Hopefully this isn't the norm for Airstream dealerships.
I enjoy my Interstate even with the few problems I've encounteted.

[Mjgman]

Whenever I have to take mine in for either scheduled maintenance or warranty work I always tell them I'm going on a trip and give a date that I need to leave by..

Not sure if I've just been lucky or it actually works because I've never waited for very long to get it back..