Regret Purchase

crmfghtr · Oct 5, 2020

In August we noticed the chloroplast sagging under the front and rear of our Landmark Concord. I crawled under neath and pushed on the center of the chloroplast and noticed it felt heavy. I then removed the bolts around the edge and about 10 to 15 gallons of gray water came roaring out. I noticed the batten insulation was soaked and mold was present under it. I removed it and called heartland. They said to take it in for service or have a mobile repair try to determine the cause. While the tank bottom was exposed, I had the wife run water in the kitchen sink. I could see water leaking from the top of the tank. The water was dribbling at the center of the bottom of the tank. Not sure if the tank is cracked or overflowing where the pipe enters the tank since i didn't drop the brace or tank. I would suspect since both gray tanks are leaking it may be a seal issue where the pipe enters the tank.
We took it 120 miles from where we are in utah to the closest heartland dealer. This is where the nightmare continues. We took it to Castle Country RV in Helper, Utah. The service manager told us right off, "why don't you take it back to the dealer you bought it from, heartland doesn't pay us enough to work on your unit". With that, I went over the issues we were having. She said it would take 2 to 3 weeks. Here we are a month later and still nothing. Fast forward to today. I called her for progress. She said there was no leak and the insulation was dry. I told her there was no insulation since it was wet and moldy I took it out. She blew up and said "you know what, come pickup your rv I'm done with it".
I have been in contact through this with Heartland service. So now, we have to pick it up with no results after 1 month and take it 500 miles back to the dealer we bought it from.
We are so disappointed that this dealership is allowed to represent heartland.

RickL · Oct 6, 2020

crmfghtr said:
In August we noticed the chloroplast sagging under the front and rear of our Landmark Concord. I crawled under neath and pushed on the center of the chloroplast and noticed it felt heavy. I then removed the bolts around the edge and about 10 to 15 gallons of gray water came roaring out. I noticed the batten insulation was soaked and mold was present under it. I removed it and called heartland. They said to take it in for service or have a mobile repair try to determine the cause. While the tank bottom was exposed, I had the wife run water in the kitchen sink. I could see water leaking from the top of the tank. The water was dribbling at the center of the bottom of the tank. Not sure if the tank is cracked or overflowing where the pipe enters the tank since i didn't drop the brace or tank. I would suspect since both gray tanks are leaking it may be a seal issue where the pipe enters the tank.
We took it 120 miles from where we are in utah to the closest heartland dealer. This is where the nightmare continues. We took it to Castle Country RV in Helper, Utah. The service manager told us right off, "why don't you take it back to the dealer you bought it from, heartland doesn't pay us enough to work on your unit". With that, I went over the issues we were having. She said it would take 2 to 3 weeks. Here we are a month later and still nothing. Fast forward to today. I called her for progress. She said there was no leak and the insulation was dry. I told her there was no insulation since it was wet and moldy I took it out. She blew up and said "you know what, come pickup your rv I'm done with it".
I have been in contact through this with Heartland service. So now, we have to pick it up with no results after 1 month and take it 500 miles back to the dealer we bought it from.
We are so disappointed that this dealership is allowed to represent heartland.

You probably won’t like my suggestion, but I’d take it back to Elkhart to the Heartland Service Center. They replaced my grey tank for our kitchen sink this past June. I’ve had the Service Center perform a number of items the past two years and have been extremely satisfied. The reason - simple. I didn’t have to listen to a dealer tell me they are waiting for parts. The parts are right across the street!

danemayer · Oct 6, 2020

Hi crmfghtr,

Sorry to hear you're having problems. Unfortunately, unlike the auto industry, in the RV industry dealers are not controlled as tightly by manufacturers. They are required to provide warranty service for the RVs that they sell. Warranty service for a unit sold by another dealer is optional. 10 years ago when we were shopping, our closest dealer made it clear that if we bought elsewhere, we should not expect them to service our trailer. They were using service as a sales tool, in a negative way. Some dealers still do so.

In addition, there has been quite a boom in RV sales as a result of Covid-19. So even more than usual, dealers are prioritizing their service staff to support sales. And this time of year, dealers are selling off inventory making things even worse.

You might want to investigate independent service shops. With advance approval from Heartland, you could have the warranty work done at an independent shop.

carl.swoyer · Oct 6, 2020

Very sorry for all the stress involved in your purchase.

You could contact customer service and ask if the would have a transport company return the fifth wheel to the factory and make appropriate repairs.

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Flick · Oct 6, 2020

I feel bad for you that you have to deal with a problem dealership when a problem like this could be remedied rather quickly if they got on it. It’s not like you have a cracked frame. This particular Heartland dealer you mentioned will be one of the first to close when rv sales go south, and remember, everything runs in cycles.
With that being said, getting prior approval first and using an independent service company sounds like a good way to go. The repair services make their living repairing and probably will do a good job. Even if it costs you a little out of pocket, it’ll probably costs less than to take it 500 miles. Hopefully you saved a little on the purchase to justify the expense.

wdk450 · Oct 6, 2020

RVServiceReviews.com might help you find an independent servicer closer to you with positive reviews. Also, Heartland Service in the past has kept lists of independent servicers they have worked with having good results. Give Heartland Service another call and see if they can help with this.

BTW, I don't know how bad or in what part of the tank your crack is in, but I have a cracked upper part of my kitchen sink tank and have been researching online about fixing it myself. I found a YouTube video from plastics supply and fabrication chain in Northern California, TAP Plastics, with what they claim is a successful technique for repairing polypropylene tanks. Normally adhesives do not stick to polypropylene, but they found that treating the area to be adhered with a quick, light, flame changes the surface to make it no longer hydrophobic (water beading) into a surface enabling their special epoxy adhesion.
Here is a link to that video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-9yhanz5DE&ab_channel=TAPPlastics

carl.swoyer · Oct 6, 2020

zolman said:
You have a minor problem and went to a crappy dealer. For a 8 year old RV that is just a drop in the bucket if you realize some of the issues you could of had.

I believe that the rv he is talking about is a 2020

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wdk450 · Oct 6, 2020

zolman said:
You have a minor problem and went to a crappy dealer. For a 8 year old RV that is just a drop in the bucket if you realize some of the issues you could of had.

Original poster was CRMFGHTR (Crime Fighter?), not WDK450.

And I backed over a BBQ mounting post while on my life of fulltime single RVing (no backup spotters) without a backup camera (I now have one); which cracked the dishwater tank above and between the axles. I applied a special tape that I got from an RV parts place, but that fix has now failed, as have most all reported polypropylene RV holding tank fixes. Fortunately, the tank doesn't leak until it is over about 1/2 full, so I try to dump more often. A new fix is in the works.

crmfghtr · Oct 6, 2020

Thank you everyone. Can't say enough about the heartland family.
I would love to take it to heartland, that way I know it will be fixed right. We contemplated taking it there but by the time we finish here in Utah, it will be too cold. So we are putting it in storage until November. We will then take it back to the purchasing dealer in Arizona. They can have it 3 months while we visit with family. We already made the appointment.
The service manager in Helper, UT tried to charge me $163 to clean the black tank. What a joke, never authorized that. When I told her no I'm not going to pay for that, She threw the keys at me and told me to get my RV off her lot. Her lot mind you. Anyone in Utah thinking about going there for service should read this post.
Take care and stay safe,

ParkIt · Oct 6, 2020

wdk450 said:
RVServiceReviews.com might help you find an independent servicer closer to you with positive reviews. Also, Heartland Service in the past has kept lists of independent servicers they have worked with having good results. Give Heartland Service another call and see if they can help with this.

BTW, I don't know how bad or in what part of the tank your crack is in, but I have a cracked upper part of my kitchen sink tank and have been researching online about fixing it myself. I found a YouTube video from plastics supply and fabrication chain in Northern California, TAP Plastics, with what they claim is a successful technique for repairing polypropylene tanks. Normally adhesives do not stick to polypropylene, but they found that treating the area to be adhered with a quick, light, flame changes the surface to make it no longer hydrophobic (water beading) into a surface enabling their special epoxy adhesion.
Here is a link to that video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-9yhanz5DE&ab_channel=TAPPlastics

First thing my certified plumber son told me was "full replace" if there were any cracks or damage to the tanks. He got a good look at them after delivery when I dropped the chloroplast to see how/where everything was. Now I found a crack in the rear kitchen tank just yesterday so I'll need a new tank though I'm not surprised. He was pretty adamant there is no way to 'fix' polypropylene damage permanently though it may hold up as a temp fix until a new tank is installed. Just use caution when figuring out how long any adhesive will hold up.

crmfghtr said:
Thank you everyone. Can't say enough about the heartland family.
I would love to take it to heartland, that way I know it will be fixed right. We contemplated taking it there but by the time we finish here in Utah, it will be too cold. So we are putting it in storage until November. We will then take it back to the purchasing dealer in Arizona. They can have it 3 months while we visit with family. We already made the appointment.

Take care and stay safe,

Pretty good idea if you can swing it but disappointing at the same time to be down that long on a new rig. Make a full list of everything you'd like the original dealer to check tip to tail, if anything comes up it's already there and Heartland will work with them to make it right.
Up in our state, there really weren't any Heartland authorized dealers and service/repair shops when I took delivery though I did find an excellent independent repair shop that Heartland was willing to work with. Service came in $800 lower than what Heartland authorized, had it done in 5 days in spring (busy season) so Heartland added them to their reference list.

sengli · Oct 6, 2020

All of our batt insulation was wet on the first towed home from the dealer. As it was pouring down rain, and the rain blew past the coroplast above the tires and filled it. That batt insulation never went back in either. Thats the one thing since we have gotten back into the RV lifestyle that is so hard to believe, and is so un-settling. Even if you take it back to where you bought it, their service still might be questionable. And trying to to take to a dealer that didnt sell you the unit, they can just flat out turn you away. And as you found out, they even have to be nice about it.

The comment, unlike buying a car is so true. These things cost like a house, but have the warranty like a stolen car if your dealer is a zero. I cant say enough about infinity RV repair in Goshen, Indiana. They are factory authorized, and seem to be pretty upfront and honest. Obviously they arent very close for you. I went there as the factory, turned me away for warranty repair's.

carl.swoyer · Oct 7, 2020

sengli said:
All of our batt insulation was wet on the first towed home from the dealer. As it was pouring down rain, and the rain blew past the coroplast above the tires and filled it. That batt insulation never went back in either. Thats the one thing since we have gotten back into the RV lifestyle that is so hard to believe, and is so un-settling. Even if you take it back to where you bought it, their service still might be questionable. And trying to to take to a dealer that didnt sell you the unit, they can just flat out turn you away. And as you found out, they even have to be nice about it.

The comment, unlike buying a car is so true. These things cost like a house, but have the warranty like a stolen car if your dealer is a zero. I cant say enough about infinity RV repair in Goshen, Indiana. They are factory authorized, and seem to be pretty upfront and honest. Obviously they arent very close for you. I went there as the factory, turned me away for warranty repair's.

When my coraplasti was damaged on a road trip last year my belly filled up with water and all the insulation was wet. I removed the skinny insulation from Heartland and I installed r13. (Along the chassis I glued styrofoam panels.) But I did it above the trusses with fence wire. I made a loft with fencing wire zigzagging back and forth and now the r13 is above the coraplasti. So now
there's an air pocket between the coraplasti and the insulation. I'm about two inches above.

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Regret Purchase

crmfghtr

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RickL

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danemayer

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carl.swoyer

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Flick

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wdk450

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carl.swoyer

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wdk450

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crmfghtr

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ParkIt

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sengli

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carl.swoyer

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