RV Woes Update

Photos from happier Serrano times.

Well, Bloggers its been quite a week or so. We discovered more things wrong with our Serrano since my previous post.

We had thought if Danny could dismantle the automatic steps that we could drive it over to Seffner (85 miles) to Lazy Days for repairs. It took Danny two trips to the storage facility and several hours under the rig to disable the steps. Then, he discovered the instrument panel was dead. He checked the turn signal and lights which still worked and decided that using his iphone to monitor speed and just filling up with fuel prior to hitting the road, he could still drive to Seffner. Cranked the engine to drive to nearest gas station and low and behold, it made a horrible screeching and rumbling, the Serrano bucked and refused to go more than a couple miles per hour despite pushing the pedal to the floor. Obviously, it was not drivable. Our appointment at Lazy Days was the next morning.

We called Good Sams/Camping World roadside assistance and they said the would send a tow and meet us at our storage unit the next morning. We would meet the tow driver at Lazy Days. Tow driver quoted me a price of $190.00 overage charges since they only cover 25 miles to nearest repair facility. Nearest facility in Orlando can not repair our rig; we already checked. The overage wasn't too bad so I gave the go ahead and we hit the highway.

About twenty miles out, the tow company called and said, "Oops the charge is $310.00. Driver quoted you the wrong rate and we take cash only. I had twenty dollars in my wallet. Color me unhappy. Finally I agreed to the highway robbery charge and they agreed to accept Master Card.

Lazy Days was great. They gave us a free lunch in their cafeteria and a nice place to wait for the driver. We looked at similar sizes and types of motor homes on their extensive lot and dreamed of switching. They had already contacted Thor Industries on our behalf on the warranty and repair issues. Thor called Danny and said they were sending someone down from Indiana to look at our rig since we had listed 12 items that needed repair and it isn't drivable at only ten months old. We went home.

The manufacturer's rep found more than fifteen things that need repair or replacement and green lighted lazy days to do the work. Thor is so far really trying to make it right. I don't know how long the process will take but at this point am hopeful that we will get a better than new unit back.

Here are some of the problems we found:

Unusual and excessive wear and tear to leatherette driver and co captains chairs, pantry door falling off, a/c unit drips onto the bed, nonfunctional cruise control, non functional steps and instrument panel, engine issues, leaky windows in cab area, computer tray table sticks from warping after roof leak, one outdoor bin doesn't lock properly, missing radio antenna. I don't know what else the folks at Thor and Lazy Days found yet but will keep you posted.

We do love the smooth way our Serrano drives (when it drives). The interior is very comfortable and spacious and we like the floor plan. We love the outdoor storage. We like its size at 31 feet. It has plenty of 'pick up'. We like the fuel savings of a Fred engine. So, if it is fixed and we have no further issues with it we will keep it. Thor has, so far redeemed themselves with their customer service. I recommend Lazy days. The dealer, RV One (Orlando, Des Moines and Buffalo) is still on my s--t list. I will never ever do business with them again, not no how, no way.

Hoping for a nice leaf turning jaunt to NC. Its too hot for a vacation anywhere on the east coast now anyway.

Happy trails to you.