This past November we took delivery of our new 5^th wheel RV in Tampa Florida.    As we wrote in our previous post we decided to make a change and trade in our Allegro Bus for a Vanleigh Beacon 5^th wheel trailer.  We also purchased a new Ram 3500 dually pickup to pull the trailer.  The new trailer is beautiful with most of the features we had in our motorhome.  We like the roominess and higher ceilings.  It has tons of cabinets for storage and very comfortable entertainment seating and couch. 

We left New York on October 30^th and arrived in Tampa on November 1^st.  We were very excited and couldn’t wait to take delivery of our new home away from home.  Unfortunately upon inspection of the RV we found numerous issues which needed to be fixed before we would take delivery.  Minor issues can be expected when taking delivery of a new RV but I felt most of the problems should have been identified and repaired by the dealer before our arrival. They are supposed to do a complete inspection prior to delivery and it was clear they did not.  After spending seven days in Tampa waiting for the trailer to be fixed we finally got on the road. To our surprise we realized that the brakes on the trailer were not functioning.  After spending three days at a campground waiting for parts to be overnighted from the manufacturer and a mobile RV mechanic to fix our brake issue we headed south to the Keys.

Since arriving in the Keys we have identified numerous issues with the trailer, some of which are pretty serious.  We’ve been in contact with the manufacturer and they have scheduled us to have the repairs done at their factory service facility in Mississippi.  While the manufacturer has been very responsive to our calls for help I just can’t help but feel very disappointed with their quality control.  This is a high end 5^th wheel and I expected it to be built to a higher standard.  Hopefully they will make all the repairs and we will have many years of enjoyment in our traveling home.  

We recently spent some time at the Tiffin Red Bay Service Center, (Camp Red Bay as it is affectionately known), to get some new vehicle glitches repaired.  We love Tiffin and their product but they really need to come up with a better system for warranty repairs at their repair facility.

They do not schedule appointments.  You just show up and if you only have a few hours of work to be done they will complete the repairs in an express bay within a few days.   The problem is when you have more than a few hours of work to be done.  You are added to a waiting list and just sit and wait to be called into a service bay.  If a site is available, you are assigned a full hookup site in the service center lot.  If one is not available you are assigned a dry camping spot until a full hookup spot becomes available.  Sites are free if you are there for warranty repairs.

We were lucky and were assigned one of the last open FHU spots immediately upon arrival.  The bad news came when we were told it would be at least two weeks before repairs would begin.  That estimate was pretty accurate as we spent 19 days waiting for our warranty repairs to be completed.  That is really unacceptable.  Tiffin stands behind their products and will fix anything without question.  The repair process just takes way to long!

We love our coach and with the exception of the service center delays we are very happy with Tiffin as a company.

The first stop on our new journey south was at Americamps RV Resort in Ashland, VA.  Our stay was brief but from what we could see it looked like a nice campground.  It was cold so there weren’t many campers.  The staff was very friendly.   We were only staying overnight so we were given a spot up front, close to the office with plenty of room for our big coach.

We were tired from our long drive and slept good.  We were up bright and early, ate a quick breakfast, and began closing up for the second leg of our journey south.  That is when our first problem developed.  The small bedroom slide-out would not close!  It would begin to close then suddenly stop.  I tried a few times then went outside to look at the track.  The rear slides on our bus are electric so there are exposed tracks on each side of the slide-out.  I noticed a small gouge in the bottom rear track as if something was jamming in the track.  I checked the gap between the slide-out and the body of the coach but did not find anything.  I went back in and tried moving the slide in and out a few more times and it suddenly freed itself and closed completely. What a relief!  Apparently a loose screw had worked its way into the track and that is what caused the problem.  We had the slide checked at the Tiffin Service Center during our visit in April and all was OK.

Our journey south continues…