So, are you wondering what we are going to do about our motorhome problems? Well, so are we. There are no good or cheap solutions. We’ve spent loads of time reviewing our insurance, we’ve made two trips to dealers for estimates, we’ve spent hours reviewing the problems and we’ve spent countless hours noodling the question. I’ll have to admit that I have not always been ‘in the moment’ when we’ve been hiking, sometimes I’m reviewing our options in my head as I put one foot in front of the other. We finally made a decision. But, first, let’s review the problems.
First we had an awning just fall off the side of the RV as we were driving down Hwy 169 south of Ogden, IA. The awning ripped but the metal struts were intact and can be used again. Unfortunately, those same metal struts made several gouges in our RV when they fell off. So, there is also body work.
Secondly, our slide cables broke, though, after much work, we were able to get our slide in. However, the slide will need to be taken off the motor home, the cables repaired and the slide reattached to the side of the motorhome. And, how does one live in a motorhome with a slide that doesn't move out? It’s pretty tight and I have no room on my side of the bed since the slide with the wardrobe is right next to the bed. But I can slide in from the bottom. Of course, when the slide is being repaired we’ll have to find some place to stay and our extended service plan gives us a daily stipend for room and board. However, we’ve been told that the whole process ‘might’ take upwards of 19 hours or labor.
Thirdly, Gary noticed that the gasket on the driver’s side on the front windshield was slipping down. Below you can see the shiny green top of our RV, the black gasket which goes around the windshield, the white unpainted fiberglass which is now showing because the window is slipping and Gary’s putty knife showing that there is a gap here. I was sitting inside the RV when Gary asked me if I could see his putty knife. Shucky darn, I could, right up there above the driver’s seat. Well, now we’ve found out that it’s not the gasket but the actual windshield is slipping down, a not unheard of problem with RV’s.
The first two problems are easy to understand and reason why they happened. Fix the cause, fix the problem and you’re on your way. However, the window problem is a bit more serious. No one seems to know why it is happening and then how to fix it so that it doesn’t happen again. They can fix it but, not knowing the cause, can’t guarantee it in the future. We had a friend who had just bought a new-to-her RV and was driving it for the first time over the mountains from Yuma to San Diego when the windshield came out. How scary is that? We sure don’t want that to happen to us.
Finally, we need to have some work done on our roof where the gel coat on the sides, front and rear attaches to the roof coating. They are separating and need to be fixed.
Then just as we thought we were done with problems since we’ve had 3 major ones in the last 2 months (don’t things come in 3’s?), Gary discovered a small pinhole leak in our ice maker hose. He’s fixing it now and should be finished but he actually had other things he wanted to do today. Don’t ask if he gets tired of fixing problems - the answer is yes. But, every house has problems and especially if it rolls down the highway. We know people who have had to have their air conditioning, their roof, their furnace and one ceiling in a lower level room replaced and fixed all in the last 5 years. And that was in a new stick-built house that was standing still, not rolling down the highway.
So, we’ve been noodling all this over in our minds for the last few weeks. We’ve been to several shops, had several opinions, talked with our several insurance companies (did you know that if an uncovered part of our motor home breaks and damages a covered part that the damage is now covered? Huh? Yeah, if an awning (uncovered) breaks and gouges the side of the motorhome (covered) causing bady damage, the body damage is covered? And, the awning is part of our regular collision and comprehensive policy where as the slide room is part of our extended care policy. Lions and tigers and bears, oh my. How does one ever figure this all out?
And that was just the point - how does one? Well, we figured it out and it was to buy a new RV. Well, it’s new to us. Yep, a new RV. we found a 2009 Winnebago Journey with only 21,000 miles on it. It’s in great shape and nicer and plusher than the one we have now. And, hey, it doesn’t have any major problems. We noticed some things that the previous owner had left in the motorhome which indicated that he or she did not trade it in but had given up motorhoming. We found out later that he had bought this RV and then his wife had come down with some health issues and couldn’t continue to RV.
Do I think this new RV will be perfect? Do I think it will be problem-free? Nope, but, maybe the problems will be smaller, be less expensive, be less time consuming and not happen all at once. However, we actually think that this motorhome is pretty well built and won't have the problems that our current one has. The line around the RV industry is that the Iowans who build the Winnebago line of motorhomes ‘come to work.’ But there are no guarantees. But, again, we were a bit leery of getting the Simba fixed and not knowing if it was ‘fixed’ for good.
Interestingly, we’ve had no major problems with the Simba until now, whereas most people have some problems right away. I guess they hit us all at once. When you think of cars being made on an assembly line by robots, you think that all parts are made and assembled the same. And, they’re governed by rules and regulations and tested for safety lots. Of course, if a part goes wrong on one vehicle and it has to be recalled, thousands are recalled. Well, RV’s are all one-offs. There are no assembly lines with robots and everyone is made differently. No two are the same. There are very few rules and regulations and safety measures coming down from the government. Shucks. And, we got caught.
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