Raining in our Interstate - You Too??

[xrvr]

Yes, have you taken it to a dealer? You must be proactive, just complaining on the forums won't fix your leak. I like to spend my energy solving my problems rather than talking about them.

[Oldforester]

Originally Posted by avionstream

Yes, have you taken it to a dealer? You must be proactive, just complaining on the forums won't fix your leak. I like to spend my energy solving my problems rather than talking about them.

Yes, we have been to the dealer 3 times regarding leaks, but we have taken action and the leaks persist and have existed since we bought the vehicle. I've concluded from this forum, that it is not unusual, and others have had similar problems. After three trips to the dealer (who I believe the shop is quite professional and qualified), the issue is akin to an electrical issue that is intermittent and is difficult to diagnose.

What I was hoping to hear from readers, but have not, is what type of extended guarantee anyone has gotten in a similar situation. I would never buy a car if a CarFax indicated it had previously had water damage. Now I have a new Interstate which has been leaking for 4 months, and has not been diagnosed. Something was not installed properly at the factory. Am I supposed to assume the liability for deterioration (if it occurs in the future). I should not be put in a position to "carry" the responsibility for issues related to an improperly assembled Interstate.

As an analogy think of it this way. I sell you a new car. After the first rain the roof leaks. You bring it in three times, each time I say I think I found the problem, but the leak persists. What do you do? What are you legitimately entitled to, you have already taken "action" multiple times.

[Lily&Me]

Have you contacted the factory to get these issues resolved?

It is them, not us, to whom you should be talking about some kind of extended warranty.....once the issues are resolved to your satisfaction.

Please keep us posted.


Maggie

[xrvr]

Once the problem is documented under warranty even if the warranty time and mileage expires and the problem is never fixed, you hAve warranty coverage, I believe. Talk to the factory. Be non confrontational and explain the oroblem. See what happens.

[Lily&Me]

The first order of business with a genuine issue would be to get it satisfactorily and thoroughly resolved.

Minus that, you may invalidate the warranty you have, also preclude anything extended.

Please keep us advised.


Maggie

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by Oldforester

Yes, we have been to the dealer 3 times regarding leaks, but we have taken action and the leaks persist and have existed since we bought the vehicle. I've concluded from this forum, that it is not unusual, and others have had similar problems. After three trips to the dealer (who I believe the shop is quite professional and qualified), the issue is akin to an electrical issue that is intermittent and is difficult to diagnose.

....

In the interest of moving your issue forward --

First of all, I have no doubt that this leak issue occurs generally, because I have seen evidence of that with my very own eyeballs. I would love to provide substantiation but legally I cannot. I would love to show everyone photographs of a service lot chock fill of nearly-new Sprinters of all kinds, Class B's of various brands, ambulances, people-movers, paddy wagons, etc. For which I asked the CSR "Why so many here at one time?" and he replied, "This happens every time it rains." But I've been a blogger for years, and I know the rules. Private property photos cannot be published without permission.

Second of all, if you are at an impasse with your particular dealer, then it's time to invoke the old adage, "If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself." With an Interstate, that can be challenging, but it's achievable with some strategy. Here are the immediate choices that I see:

(1) If you are able-bodied and trust your own physical abilities, get up on your roof and go over it with a fine-toothed comb. Nobody is ever going to care about your investment as much as you yourself do. Even if you are not technically-inclined, looking for a roof breach is a common-sense activity. Take an eye dropper of water; put some on every penetration and see what happens. Park on a slope and do the same. You might be surprised at what you can see that others cannot.

I don't recommend that approach unless you are FULLY confident in your own abilities. The height from which 50% of all falls become fatal is approximately 11 feet; the rate of permanent disability is much higher. I do scale my own 9-foot-tall Interstate, but only because I practice yoga and I know what my limits are. I spent 90 minutes on the roof waxing it about 2 weeks ago. While up there, I saw incipient issues that are not producing leaks now, but which absolutely will become problems if I don't intervene. And this in a motorhome that was supposedly re-sealed by the seller less than a year ago.

(2) If (1) is not feasible, maybe a friend or family member could do it. Again, with tough issues, the question is - does the person care about the investment enough to devote extra attention and see what others may have missed?

(3) If both of those options are non-starters, then if I were you (or anyone else with this same issue), I would hire a third party, and WHEN they find the leak, pursue reimbursement with Airstream.

In fact if you let the warranty-honoring party (Airstream or dealer) know that you have no choice but to pursue (3), they may suddenly become more responsive.

Hope this helps! Good luck to you.

[gmillerok1]

Oregon's lemon law gives them 3 attempts to fix a reported defect.

Consumer Protection - Lemon Law

Next step is arbitration. http://www.airstream.com/wp-content/...state_2015.pdf

They are under no obligation to provide an extended warranty and I doubt that they would ever agree to it. Read the manual and know your rights according to your state's law regarding your state's lemon laws.

Perhaps, the default exterior color of Interstates these days should be yellow.

Gerald

Originally Posted by Oldforester

Y...

What I was hoping to hear from readers, but have not, is what type of extended guarantee anyone has gotten in a similar situation. I would never buy a car if a CarFax indicated it had previously had water damage. Now I have a new Interstate which has been leaking for 4 months, and has not been diagnosed. Something was not installed properly at the factory. Am I supposed to assume the liability for deterioration (if it occurs in the future). I should not be put in a position to "carry" the responsibility for issues related to an improperly assembled Interstate.

As an analogy think of it this way. I sell you a new car. After the first rain the roof leaks. You bring it in three times, each time I say I think I found the problem, but the leak persists. What do you do? What are you legitimately entitled to, you have already taken "action" multiple times.

[gmillerok1]

When I was at JC for a week, I spoke to a young man who had previously worked in production. He told me they have a certain amount of time to finish their assigned task, and then the van moves on, ready or not. If not, the installer goes with it, but then is in the way of the next crew's job. So they hurry to make sure that doesn't happen. Or don't finish it correctly in the first place, so someone else will have fix it later, usually the owner, unless it's so obvious they can't let it leave that way (for example, if they check the tanks and water pours out, or they turn on the AC and nothing happens).

And another guy in service used a power drill for the feet on the microwave when he re-installed it, completely shattering them and left them that way. I found out after I returned home. So the mindset that "if no one sees it, it's not broke" is rampant throughout the company.

Beginning my fourth year of ownership, I think I finally have a RV that doesn't have too many issues left to fix. But it had way to many to be acceptable, and it was built in 2011. If they are pushing more out the door now, I can only imagine the quality of those units suffering even more.

They understand the issue-they just don't care. Profits over quality is the rule.

[Lily&Me]

Yep.

That has been my impression.


Maggie

[InterBlog]

For this OP and others with leak issues --

I forgot to mention in my post above that you ought to pay close attention to the rest of the roof and not just concentrate on the penetration seals.

When I was on my roof a few weeks ago, I found a small punched hole that appeared to have been formed by an object coming straight down. Perhaps debris falling off an overpass, stone falling from a cliff, kid throwing a rock, heck, tiny meterorite from space - I have no idea. But this possibility might not even occur to the repair / service people if they have it in their minds that the problem must be originating with a bad seal somewhere.