My next unpleasant surprise

dave10a

Well-known member
My new landmark has a 6 point autolevel system-- so I thaught until I tried the auto level part. It says on the the little instuction sheet on the door to turn the unit on and simulatainulsy push the up and down buttons and the unit will automatically go to the point at which it was when unhooked. Well after I do this I get a message that says "feature not insatalled" and I have revert to the manual mode. Is the unit faulty or did I simply get sold a "bill of goods" by the dealer?
 

DougAndJudy

Well-known member
My new landmark has a 6 point autolevel system-- so I thaught until I tried the auto level part. It says on the the little instuction sheet on the door to turn the unit on and simulatainulsy push the up and down buttons and the unit will automatically go to the point at which it was when unhooked. Well after I do this I get a message that says "feature not insatalled" and I have revert to the manual mode. Is the unit faulty or did I simply get sold a "bill of goods" by the dealer?

We have a 6-point system on our Landmark. I would use the "up - down" buttons to establish the unhitch height when we are getting ready to hook back up to our truck, not when we autolevel. For that, I use the front landing legs to get height to unhitch from the truck, then move the truck out of the way. Once I've done that, I turn on the control unit (if it's not already on) then select "autolevel." The hydraulics automatically adjust at that point. Yours should work similarly.
 

krhyde

Kentucky Chapter Leaders-retired
Dave, I don't want to create a problem for anyone, but I've gotta ask, "Is your entire life one big disappointment or do you reserve it for Heartland?"
 

dave10a

Well-known member
We have a 6-point system on our Landmark. I would use the "up - down" buttons to establish the unhitch height when we are getting ready to hook back up to our truck, not when we autolevel. For that, I use the front landing legs to get height to unhitch from the truck, then move the truck out of the way. Once I've done that, I turn on the control unit (if it's not already on) then select "autolevel." The hydraulics automatically adjust at that point. Yours should work similarly.

I am doing what thae instructions says to hook back up- not autolevel. the autolevel works, but needs to be recalibrated because it is almost one degree off. I am reading the manuals I found on line to determine how to recalibrate, but I am not sure if the maunals are the same that is tailored to my unit after getting the "feature not installed" message while trying to hook up. Gawd I love this automatic stuff that is fill of twists and turns. Makes me wonder about the competence of Lipperts engineers or marketeers....
 

dave10a

Well-known member
Dave, I don't want to create a problem for anyone, but I've gotta ask, "Is your entire life one big disappointment or do you reserve it for Heartland?"


Wow that was a nasty post-- if you keep it up I will tell your mother on you.. Some day you might understand that some people, like me, don't like it when they don't get something they were told or expected they would get...
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Dave,

Call Lippert to discuss which manual matches your system, how it's supposed to work, and why you're getting a feature not installed message.

Btw, at last year's national rally, the Lippert Rep talked about the recent addition of the feature that would return the rig to the unhitched position (on the4 point system). It was apparently fairly new last June. Also there have been several recent threads on the forum about other people finding that the "return" feature either didn't do what they expected, or produced a message like yours.
 

krhyde

Kentucky Chapter Leaders-retired
Wow that was a nasty post-- if you keep it up I will tell your mother on you.. Some day you might understand that some people, like me, don't like it when they don't get something they were told or expected they would get...

You are right and I apologize. I hope you get all the problems resolved and will enjoy your new Landmark as much as we enjoy ours. Again, my comment was inappropriate. Ken
 

dave10a

Well-known member
Curious Dave, How much time did your dealer spend with you on your PDI?
.

I think 1-2 hours and they sort of rushed through it because I don't think the person doing it was too familiar with a Landmark and they thought I was an experience RV's since I traded a motor home in on the unit and therefore didn't need much instruction. I would expect that he would use a more structured approach with a check list and make certain that I understood each item. When l left the dealer I had to drive the unit to the campground in a heavy rain storm at night and back it tight space. I am very thankful that other experienced 5th wheel people were able to help me back in. They also unhooked the hitch and level and set up the slides for me. As I pulled out of the dealer the brakes locked up because the dealer put the break away cable in the wrong spot and I sat on an busy street in rain storm trying to figure out what happen. I ran back to the dealer in the rain and they chuckled that the breakaway must of pulled out. They thought it funny, I didn't for some reason. Meanwhile in the campground I found several issues that the dealer over look like low hydraulic oil in leveling system, light in the bed room were out, the radio didn't work because the antenna was not connected and the TV would not play thought it. The DVD player doesn't work. The water pump didn't work. No manuals for several items and in particular the washer and dryer that required me to down load from Splendide the manual so the wife could to the laundry. The auto 6 point leveling system doesn't allow me to hook up to the truck in the auto mode and in the auto level mode it is not calibrated properly requiring me to manually level it. The tires were not inflated properly. The Travlair hitch the dealer installed was not inflated properly which caused the trailer bounce down the road. I filled it per mfg recommendation and works great. The Reese 20k hitch that the dealer installed had a manufacturing problem and Reese sent the dealer another one which they installed after I threatened to get my money back. The Hitch was over years old with Reese admitted they had problems with at that time-- evidently the dealer had old inventory that wanted to get rid of. Anyway the list goes on. Now maybe you will understand why I am rapidly loosing my sense of humor and why a small item like a 7 pin connector an issue is an irritation--- One can only keep a sense of humor for so long. Though all this the dealer did not return phone calls and made me have a long wait after making an appointment. So yes the dealer is bad and my only condolence is I will be 1500 miles from them soon.
 

codycarver

Founding Wyoming Chapter Leader-retired
.

I think 1-2 hours and they sort of rushed through it because I don't think the person doing it was too familiar with a Landmark and they thought I was an experience RV's since I traded a motor home in on the unit and therefore didn't need much instruction. I would expect that he would use a more structured approach with a check list and make certain that I understood each item. When l left the dealer I had to drive the unit to the campground in a heavy rain storm at night and back it tight space. I am very thankful that other experienced 5th wheel people were able to help me back in. They also unhooked the hitch and level and set up the slides for me. As I pulled out of the dealer the brakes locked up because the dealer put the break away cable in the wrong spot and I sat on an busy street in rain storm trying to figure out what happen. I ran back to the dealer in the rain and they chuckled that the breakaway must of pulled out. They thought it funny, I didn't for some reason. Meanwhile in the campground I found several issues that the dealer over look like low hydraulic oil in leveling system, light in the bed room were out, the radio didn't work because the antenna was not connected and the TV would not play thought it. The DVD player doesn't work. The water pump didn't work. No manuals for several items and in particular the washer and dryer that required me to down load from Splendide the manual so the wife could to the laundry. The auto 6 point leveling system doesn't allow me to hook up to the truck in the auto mode and in the auto level mode it is not calibrated properly requiring me to manually level it. The tires were not inflated properly. The Travlair hitch the dealer installed was not inflated properly which caused the trailer bounce down the road. I filled it per mfg recommendation and works great. The Reese 20k hitch that the dealer installed had a manufacturing problem and Reese sent the dealer another one which they installed after I threatened to get my money back. The Hitch was over years old with Reese admitted they had problems with at that time-- evidently the dealer had old inventory that wanted to get rid of. Anyway the list goes on. Now maybe you will understand why I am rapidly loosing my sense of humor and why a small item like a 7 pin connector an issue is an irritation--- One can only keep a sense of humor for so long. Though all this the dealer did not return phone calls and made me have a long wait after making an appointment. So yes the dealer is bad and my only condolence is I will be 1500 miles from them soon.

Thanks. The importance of a good PDI cannot be overstated in my opinion. Everything needs to be checked and operated and understood before leaving the lot.

I would get your list together, take a few deep breaths, have the last 6 of your VIN ready and call Heartland customer service (877-262-8032) in the morning. My dealings with them have been exceptional. If needed they will find you a service center for any warranty work.

Good luck
 

porthole

Retired
Dave, two thoughts for your LevelUp.
The recalibrate is a fairly simple procedure and is in the instructions. There several varieties of the LevelUp but for the most part the controls are very similar.

Do you have the rear electric stabilizer jacks? That makes a difference in the procedures.

Here are the instructions for recalibrating.

ZERO SETTING THE CONTROL
1. Turn “ON/OFF” button “OFF”
2. Push “FRONT” button 10 times,
3. Push “REAR” button 10 times
4. Control will flash and beep, LCD says “ZERO POINT CALIBRATE”
5. To memorize this level condition , press “ENTER”
6. LCD says “ZERO POINT STABILITY SUCCESSFULLY SET”
7. The control will then turn off.
8. Turn “ON/OFF” on to commence operation.


Keep in mind, you are not calibrating to level, rather you are calibrating to a reference.

Meaning - if you manually adjust the trailer perfectly level - then recalibrate, the LevelUp during the next "auto-level" sequence will attempt to auto level to that set point.
If you manually have the trailer not level and then recalibrate, the set point will be "not level"

A good example, I asked Bob, the designer of the LevelUp, what his idea of level was. His reply was the coach is level when "I crack an egg and it stays in the center of the pan".

I countered with my idea of level is when the coach is slightly nose high and door side high, allowing the AC condensate to run off the left rear roof gutter.

He said, no problem that is what he calibration feature is for.

Something else to keep in mind, the LevelUp has a limit of what it can self level at. There will be times you will have to tweak it manually.

As to the "auto hitch up" feature. You may find that is not a really useful feature after all. When you tap the keypad combo to get the un-hitch the traielr will raise to a point above where you actually disconnected. So the bottom line is that you are still going to use the front jacks manually. My thoughts are I just use them manually all the time.
 
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CliffP

Well-known member
Thanks. The importance of a good PDI cannot be overstated in my opinion. Everything needs to be checked and operated and understood before leaving the lot.

I would get your list together, take a few deep breaths, have the last 6 of your VIN ready and call Heartland customer service (877-262-8032) in the morning. My dealings with them have been exceptional. If needed they will find you a service center for any warranty work.

Good luck

This is great advice Dave, if we had your experience my wife would know better than to ever let me go in to Camping World again. She has seen my reaction in similar situations, well not nearly as bad as yours. Which Camping World was that? Hope Heartland gets you set up with a better dealer to take care of things from here on. Good Luck! It can only get better from here.
Cliff
 

2psnapod2

Texas-South Chapter Leaders-Retired
Buyers need to be aware that the Dealers only mission is to get the paperwork signed and the unit off the lot. Do to this forum, I armed myself with a very lengthy PDI spreadsheet that I used to go over each and every item in the coach. If I light did not work or there was a soiled spot on the couch, I found it. The dealer even had to bring in a can of spray starch to fix one of the day/night shades. Us buyers need to arm ourselves with all the tools to battle the enemy! So please don't think I am attacking anyone here, but if you don't go prepared and hold your wallet close until you are completely satisfied with your new coach, DO NOT LEAVE THE LOT!!!

That being said; once you do leave, if you do not have a good dealer you are going to be left on your own and not very happy. So just remember that you bear some of the blame here. Suck it up and go make your dealer do what they were suppose to do in the first place.

Once again please don't think I am attacking you, as that is not my reason for posting this. But to maybe help another buyer to not have these issues. Good luck with your new home on wheels and hopefully you can get to enjoying it soon.
 

KiwiRVer

Active Member
Hi Dave, I have noted the same problem with the auto-hitch procedure and the advice I got from Lippert was to manually raise the front above level before trying the auto-hitch. My response to that was that it is not then an "automatic" procedure then, is it? What's more it still didn't work so I have reverted to Portholes method and just do the hitching manually. It is actually so fast it is not really a problem. I also have a much larger problem with the Level Up system at the moment so I am not worrying too much about this one. That is detailed in another thread.

//heartlandowners.org/showthread.php/22190-AutoLevel-Failure-Part-2

Cheers
Craig
 

dave10a

Well-known member
Buyers need to be aware that the Dealers only mission is to get the paperwork signed and the unit off the lot.
enjoying it soon.

I guess I should accept responsibility for allowing the dealer take advantage of me. I purchased two motor homes from two different dealers and they did and excellent job for delivery which probably made me more trusting of a dealer. I purchased this unit from Camping World thinking they we more customer and service oriented and I would have the advantage of a large so-called respectable dealer network nation wide. Boy was wrong about that. I suppose there are Good Camping world service organizations out there, but are they willing to correct and deal with issues caused an errant dealer. This in my next question because I am on the road and now at their mercy. I did call Heartland and they gave me dealer information in my home town, but I doubt they will correct any issues caused by the Camping World service. Anyway I was hoping to get a unit that would be hustle free by I guess that is wishfull thinking. I can't fault Heartland because the unit is built well and I agree that the issues I having should have been corrected by the dealer. My suggestion to Heartland is to find a way to have more sway for the dealers to represent their products. I do have a problem when Heartland tells me "that they have no control or influence of dealer service."
 

2psnapod2

Texas-South Chapter Leaders-Retired
Yes I also agree that there needs to be more control of the Heartland Product by the Heartland Company. They should be able to make a dealer work with warranty items more effective or drop the dealer as an authorized dealer. If they want to sell a good product then they should have to provide quality service to the Heartland Customers. After all we are buying a Heartland because of Heartland not because the dealer sells them. Most go out looking to buy what they want. JMHO......
 

wildwolfproducts

Well-known member
.

I think 1-2 hours and they sort of rushed through it because I don't think the person doing it was too familiar with a Landmark and they thought I was an experience RV's since I traded a motor home in on the unit and therefore didn't need much instruction. .

Sorry to say this, But you should have make sure (YOU) were ready for the PDI to be done not the dealer. Plus you felt as though you could unhook level or anything else before leaving there lot. Did they even show you how to work the auto level?
I wish I could say I feel for you, But I can't do it. sure do feel bad for any company that has to deal with you though. After looking at every post you have made. I get a feeling your only here to cry about issues that's your fault. But always feel its the other persons issues.
Have a great day, and hope you get everything worked out. But please next time take the extra time and check it out rather then being in a hurry to get gone.
Pete

PS buying from a local dealer does allow you to go back to them. Rather then be 1500 miles away and try to get someone to fix what they did not sell.
 

JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
Sorry to say this, But you should have make sure (YOU) were ready for the PDI to be done not the dealer. Plus you felt as though you could unhook level or anything else before leaving there lot. Did they even show you how to work the auto level?
I wish I could say I feel for you, But I can't do it. sure do feel bad for any company that has to deal with you though. After looking at every post you have made. I get a feeling your only here to cry about issues that's your fault. But always feel its the other persons issues.
Have a great day, and hope you get everything worked out. But please next time take the extra time and check it out rather then being in a hurry to get gone.
Pete

PS buying from a local dealer does allow you to go back to them. Rather then be 1500 miles away and try to get someone to fix what they did not sell.

Ouch! Not quite a flame, maybe a little smolder, though. But I tend to agree with most of what you say, particularly the first paragraph.
 

57chevyconvt

Well-known member
"Hind Sight" being 20-20, my first experience with buying a RV was a very similar unpleasant experience with the person doing the dealer walk around for instructions for the "How's and What's". Lots of things were running through my head as a new owner as to what and how to operate this new house on wheels. Having learned my lesson for the second time around, I noted in my correspondence with dealer at the time of order placement for the new BH that I would be staying in the RV on his site for two nights so that we had time to digest all the information that was shared during the walk around. The extra time to get familiar with the new trailer really paid dividends. One thing that I have learned about Heartland is that they are there, where ever you are, to assist in solving any problem. I am confident that if I am on the road and need some dealer assistance, I can either get on the phone with Heartland or log on to this forum for the location of a reliable dealer that will take care of my needs. I believe that there are a lot of good guys and gals out there to assist whenever the need arises.
 
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