LIREALRE060210
Member
Sorry for the lengthy post, but we want people's opinions/advice on our situation and what our next step should be. Here is our story to give you all of the facts first:
After much RV shopping in 2014, we ordered our 2015 Gateway 3650bh and took delivery of it in March 2015. We traded in our 2013 Keystone Vantage travel trailer on the Gateway and were very excited for our first fifth wheel and Heartland product. We spent the summer traveling cross country in the Gateway and had a great time. Upon returning from our trip, we noticed several problems with the Gateway. Problems on a RV are to be expected, however, the severity of these problems was a little unnerving. The biggest problem we are having is a roughly 5 inch long crack in the streetside sidewall that extends at a 45 degree angle from the bottom left corner of the front bedroom slide. The crack is not just a hairline/surface crack, and also appears to change slightly when hooked up to our truck versus when the trailer is just sitting on its legs. The crack does not appear to change when the slide is deployed versus when the slide is in. We have watched the crack as the slide was going in and coming out - also no change.
The other issues we are having with the trailer include (but are not limited to): several (upwards of 5) hairline cracks on each of the sidewalls of the kitchen slide, a leaking grey tank, the exterior side of the back wall bulges outwards in heat, a bubble in the exterior of the streetside sidewall has formed (about 3 inches in diameter, resembles delam), a cut in the exterior underside of the curbside bunkhouse slide (about 10 inches long) has appeared, a corresponding cut in the carpet inside of the bunkhouse, etc...
We called Heartland service and spoke with JC Chambers about our problems. He said to email him pictures of the crack in the sidewall near the front bedroom slide and he would get back to us. We took pictures of all of our issues (along with the specific pictures of the crack that he requested) and sent them to him with detailed descriptions of the issues at hand. In the email, we mentioned to him that we would prefer to bring it to the factory (at our cost) and have the repairs done there correctly the first time. He emailed back telling us to take it to our local RV dealer for a slide out adjustment & body repairs. Confused, we called JC and spoke with him on the phone where he kindly told us that the Heartland factory only works on major repairs, not to say ours isn't upsetting, but is not major enough for the factory to work on. We were shocked but understood what he was saying, despite the fact that we (in our humble opinion!) do not believe this crack problem to be slide out related. After talking with JC and telling him that we had a recall on our last travel trailer for a cracking issue in the fiberglass that was botched numerous times by our "local dealer" and a local body shop, he understood our hesitations. We also mentioned to him that we refuse to take any RV of ours to either of the Camping World locations nearby due to severe incompetence relating to a seal repair on our parents RV (leading to mold and other problems). He gave us a small list of nearby dealers to call and talk with.
After getting off the phone with JC, we began calling these dealers. One of these dealers has gone out of business, the other is a Camping World (no go for us), and the last dealer is RV Outlet USA in Virginia. We spoke with a service advisor on the phone from RV Outlet USA and told him about our crack problem and that Heartland wanted the slide out adjustment checked along with the body repaired. The advisor kindly told me that in his 10 years of work, he has never seen a slide out cause a 5 inch crack in a sidewall. Granted, he has not seen pictures of our crack or seen our RV in person, but still this is exactly how we feel about this crack, too! I guess we don't understand why this is not "major enough" for Heartland to fix themselves?
Our kitchen slide (the one that has several hairline cracks on each of the sidewalls) appears to be "tweaked" in its opening in the wall. We believe it's tweaked because on one side, the slide seals don't even touch the slide wall. The other side has the slide seals touching the slide wall. Maybe the slide is not centered in the opening? Either way, we believe this is what is causing the hairline cracking in the exterior of both of the slide walls. Will this slide not have to be removed to have a correct repair done? If so, why is this not major enough for the factory? What IS major enough for the factory?!
We are thinking if we can't go to the factory, that we need to find a dealer that has an "in house" body shop/collision center. My job is flexible and we are not opposed to driving near or far to find a trustworthy & reliable repair facility. On our travel trailer, the work was outsourced from the dealer to a body shop, and when the repairs went wrong, there were so many "hands in the pot" that nobody wanted to take responsibility and fix the problem, which left us holding the bag.
We have lots of questions, no answers, and would appreciate advice/input from anyone who's been through RV body repairs before. Will post pictures of our crack and other issues in a following post.
Alex
After much RV shopping in 2014, we ordered our 2015 Gateway 3650bh and took delivery of it in March 2015. We traded in our 2013 Keystone Vantage travel trailer on the Gateway and were very excited for our first fifth wheel and Heartland product. We spent the summer traveling cross country in the Gateway and had a great time. Upon returning from our trip, we noticed several problems with the Gateway. Problems on a RV are to be expected, however, the severity of these problems was a little unnerving. The biggest problem we are having is a roughly 5 inch long crack in the streetside sidewall that extends at a 45 degree angle from the bottom left corner of the front bedroom slide. The crack is not just a hairline/surface crack, and also appears to change slightly when hooked up to our truck versus when the trailer is just sitting on its legs. The crack does not appear to change when the slide is deployed versus when the slide is in. We have watched the crack as the slide was going in and coming out - also no change.
The other issues we are having with the trailer include (but are not limited to): several (upwards of 5) hairline cracks on each of the sidewalls of the kitchen slide, a leaking grey tank, the exterior side of the back wall bulges outwards in heat, a bubble in the exterior of the streetside sidewall has formed (about 3 inches in diameter, resembles delam), a cut in the exterior underside of the curbside bunkhouse slide (about 10 inches long) has appeared, a corresponding cut in the carpet inside of the bunkhouse, etc...
We called Heartland service and spoke with JC Chambers about our problems. He said to email him pictures of the crack in the sidewall near the front bedroom slide and he would get back to us. We took pictures of all of our issues (along with the specific pictures of the crack that he requested) and sent them to him with detailed descriptions of the issues at hand. In the email, we mentioned to him that we would prefer to bring it to the factory (at our cost) and have the repairs done there correctly the first time. He emailed back telling us to take it to our local RV dealer for a slide out adjustment & body repairs. Confused, we called JC and spoke with him on the phone where he kindly told us that the Heartland factory only works on major repairs, not to say ours isn't upsetting, but is not major enough for the factory to work on. We were shocked but understood what he was saying, despite the fact that we (in our humble opinion!) do not believe this crack problem to be slide out related. After talking with JC and telling him that we had a recall on our last travel trailer for a cracking issue in the fiberglass that was botched numerous times by our "local dealer" and a local body shop, he understood our hesitations. We also mentioned to him that we refuse to take any RV of ours to either of the Camping World locations nearby due to severe incompetence relating to a seal repair on our parents RV (leading to mold and other problems). He gave us a small list of nearby dealers to call and talk with.
After getting off the phone with JC, we began calling these dealers. One of these dealers has gone out of business, the other is a Camping World (no go for us), and the last dealer is RV Outlet USA in Virginia. We spoke with a service advisor on the phone from RV Outlet USA and told him about our crack problem and that Heartland wanted the slide out adjustment checked along with the body repaired. The advisor kindly told me that in his 10 years of work, he has never seen a slide out cause a 5 inch crack in a sidewall. Granted, he has not seen pictures of our crack or seen our RV in person, but still this is exactly how we feel about this crack, too! I guess we don't understand why this is not "major enough" for Heartland to fix themselves?
Our kitchen slide (the one that has several hairline cracks on each of the sidewalls) appears to be "tweaked" in its opening in the wall. We believe it's tweaked because on one side, the slide seals don't even touch the slide wall. The other side has the slide seals touching the slide wall. Maybe the slide is not centered in the opening? Either way, we believe this is what is causing the hairline cracking in the exterior of both of the slide walls. Will this slide not have to be removed to have a correct repair done? If so, why is this not major enough for the factory? What IS major enough for the factory?!
We are thinking if we can't go to the factory, that we need to find a dealer that has an "in house" body shop/collision center. My job is flexible and we are not opposed to driving near or far to find a trustworthy & reliable repair facility. On our travel trailer, the work was outsourced from the dealer to a body shop, and when the repairs went wrong, there were so many "hands in the pot" that nobody wanted to take responsibility and fix the problem, which left us holding the bag.
We have lots of questions, no answers, and would appreciate advice/input from anyone who's been through RV body repairs before. Will post pictures of our crack and other issues in a following post.
Alex
