Need RV service for Interstate privacy shade in Houston

[John1048]

Just acquired a 2018 Interstate GT from non-AS out of town dealer. Had a couple of items that needed to be fixed. One privacy shade was not operating so they rushed in a new motor and replaced but said they did not have equipment to set the limit on the shade's travel.

I need a qualified technician preferably in Clear Lake/South Houston area who could handle this issue. Know about Holiday World but hoping to avoid the long trip to Katy. I've seen many good comments regarding Bob Jones RV but don't know if this is something they can help with. Will contact them Monday morning.

Any other advice or guidance will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
John1048

[John1048]

Update. Contacted Bob Jones RV and they can help me with this. I was pleasantly surprised at what very helpful and Airstream knowlegeable people the staff there is. Any other recommendations for RV service people in my area will still be greatly appreciated.

John1048

[extiger]

I have used Bob Jones several times. They are great to work with. I usually work with Harry. They really understand Airstreams and do high quality work.

[Alex AVI]

Originally Posted by John1048

Just acquired a 2018 Interstate GT from non-AS out of town dealer. Had a couple of items that needed to be fixed. One privacy shade was not operating so they rushed in a new motor and replaced but said they did not have equipment to set the limit on the shade's travel.

I need a qualified technician preferably in Clear Lake/South Houston area who could handle this issue. Know about Holiday World but hoping to avoid the long trip to Katy. I've seen many good comments regarding Bob Jones RV but don't know if this is something they can help with. Will contact them Monday morning.

Any other advice or guidance will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
John1048

JOHN1048 - setting aside the question of whether your local AS dealer does quality work and/or an independent rv dealer has the capability to work on it, why is this 2018 not under warranty anymore? Was the warranty not transferred? I would think transferring the warranty is worth the transfer fee (if a fee is charged, or is it not worth it) ?

[John1048]

Good question. Selling dealer did obtain paperwork for warranty transfer. However in this instance decided not to test if warranty would cover as selling dealer installed new shade motor but was unable to calibrate travel limits. Selling dealer will reimburse expense.

Actually, a while back as I was shopping for the Interstate and trying to understand how a transferred warranty operates, I asked that question on this forum and asked if anyone has experience with transferred warranty but received no replies. Must be a taboo subject or something.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by John1048

....I asked that question on this forum and asked if anyone has experience with transferred warranty but received no replies. Must be a taboo subject or something.

Not necessarily. Many of us take very dim views of warranties because we've seen too many cases in which they were simply not honored. There's not a lot of subforum focus on the workings of warranties because it has just proved to be too difficult to make claims under them in many instances.

An example. My husband and I bought our Interstate when it was between 7 and 8 years of age, so no "global" warranty transferred. However we did replace the original Dometic fridge with a new one which proceeded to fail at 20 months of age = inside the warranty period for both parts and labor. We never made a warranty claim, however, because there were two authorized warranty outfits on the south side of Clear Lake (Dues Camping of League City and Holiday World of League City), and neither could schedule an appointment and be expected to complete the diagnosis / repair or replacement cycle inside of about 10 weeks.

Ten weeks is an entire summer!! We said screw that - regardless of what we are owed under warranty, we are not rearranging our summer because of this. We bit the bullet, ate the cost of the Dometic and bought an Italian marine fridge called a Vitrifrigo, which we completed DIY-installing on July 9, 2017.

Service delayed is service denied. IMO, it is questionable whether warranties are worth pursuing. I personally assume that they are worthless.

[Alex AVI]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

Not necessarily. Many of us take very dim views of warranties because we've seen too many cases in which they were simply not honored. There's not a lot of subforum focus on the workings of warranties because it has just proved to be too difficult to make claims under them in many instances.

IMO, it is questionable whether warranties are worth pursuing. I personally assume that they are worthless.

INTERBLOG - Are you talking about the same warranty I am talking about? OP has a 2018. The warranty that could've (or maybe was) been transferred for a small transfer fee is the Airstream & MB warranties. Definitely worth having. Not the same as extended warranties.

[John1048]

Warranty transfer did not require a fee. Simple document submission.

I anticipate that all appliances and equipment with manufacturer's warranty were only available to first purchaser. I believe there should be no problem with the MB portion. I also expect that the transferred Airstream warranty (what AS built-in or installed) will be honored especially upon return to the factory/service center in Ohio.

The negative stories I have heard is the less that sterling reputation of far too many AS dealers in providing warranty or any other repairs in a timely and competent manner. Which is why I decided to buy used with low mileage rather than new. Why suffer the depreciation of a new coach when use of the warranty would be slow at best and an aggravation. Buy AS is not alone in this regards. The poor dealer service issue seems to affect the whole RV industry.

John1048

[Alex AVI]

Originally Posted by John1048

Warranty transfer did not require a fee. Simple document submission.

I anticipate that all appliances and equipment with manufacturer's warranty were only available to first purchaser. I believe there should be no problem with the MB portion. I also expect that the transferred Airstream warranty (what AS built-in or installed) will be honored especially upon return to the factory/service center in Ohio.

The negative stories I have heard is the less that sterling reputation of far too many AS dealers in providing warranty or any other repairs in a timely and competent manner. Which is why I decided to buy used with low mileage rather than new. Why suffer the depreciation of a new coach when use of the warranty would be slow at best and an aggravation. Buy AS is not alone in this regards. The poor dealer service issue seems to affect the whole RV industry.

John1048

JOHN148 - The question of whether to buy a new or used vehicle/rv is a different discussion. The issue of whether a manufacturer's warranty is worth it (from Airstream and/or Mercedes) is a separate discussion altogether. With all due espect, regardless of whether I buy new or used, regardless of problems we all experience(d) with service providers (not just AS, but independent providers as well), IMHO a manufacturer's warranty is still one heck of a good thing to have. I would not diminish it's importance during the first years of ownership and even it's impact on resale value. It seems you are not going through the warranty process and you have valid reasons. It is perplexing to me, but that's up to you. But then you have cut-off 50% of your options. That presents its own issues, as evidenced by this thread. You are actually looking for help on where to get a problem fixed that ought to be warranty work straight to AS dealership. I personally would go the warranty route. And if I am not happy with local dealer, go to another, or contact Jackson Center. My AS and personal dealer experience was rocky to start, it has gotten better, but has a long ways to go. But I am still glad I got a warranty regardless of these issues. This is coming from an engineer who is capable of re-building the entire AI house if I had to. YMMV.

[InterBlog]

I was speaking of warranties generally, either global or component-specific.

HOW long did Tayara have to wait to get their couch bolt issue fixed under warranty in Houston? Was it four months? And that's on a first-owner new unit which, IIRC, was purchased locally.

[Acheron2010]

When in doubt, head to an Airstream 5-Rivet Dealer.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by Acheron2010

When in doubt, head to an Airstream 5-Rivet Dealer.

To make an understatement, it would be a bit inconvenient in Texas, where we have 30 million people and only one such dealer, that being in Dallas (250 miles away for us).

[InterBlog]

Anecdotal example on warranty and service-related issues:

The popular IGer known as Readysetairstream just put their Interstate up for sale. I'd been following them in part because on October 7, they announced that it took SIX WEEKS to get a bad inverter diagnosed.

Wrap your head around that. Just for the diagnosis - not the repair, which took longer. They put their Interstate in the shop August 23 and did not get it returned to them in operating condition until December 6.

If that's how long it takes to get an essential component repaired, then it's arguably not worth owning a rig like that, unless you are a skilled DIYer who can manage the repairs and maintenance your own self.

That's generally the conclusion that my husband and I reached. Four years ago, we did not enter into this ownership gig imagining any such thing, but that's what we quickly concluded once we became owners. Effectively, warranties often exist on paper but not in real life.