Almost new Heartland Road Warrior owner

[twindadtoo]

We will be traveling October 12th-15th to pick up our new 2018 Road Warrior 425 and bring it home.
We are excited and nervous with all the comments about quality issues in today's quickly produced RV's.
We sold our 2007 travel trailer that we had purchased new. The only problem we had with our TT was a slide seal that went out within our first year of ownership and everything was handled through warranty with no issues. We had taken it back to the selling dealer. This time around it will not be as easy to go back to selling dealer as they are over 800 miles away from our home. There are not many 425's left at dealers any more. This layout is what is going to work out best for us.
I have talked with a local dealer that sells Heartlands but not RW. They will service it when needed but when they are busy, I will have to wait as they will be taking care of their customers first. I understand and respect this philosophy.
So, I hope that we will not have to many issues that will require a lot of the warranty.
Wish us luck.
Jeff

 

[Pokiejoe]

Welcome Jeff you will find the people here are like the best you will find .Hope to see you down the road.

 

[Oregon_Camper]

You can download my Pre-Delivery Inspection document, by clicking on the link in my signature below.

This document will take you about 4 hours to complete (don't rush it) and will ensure you understand all the operations of the trailer as well as having you inspect the trailer. This will help you find all sorts of "gotcha" stuff that might not pop up until later down the road (ie...when your 100's of miles from an RV shop). No matter what the dealer says, their PDI is will never cover everything.

Complete this PDI and get dealer to fix all issue before paying for trailer...that way the dealer is very motivated to finish.

 

[twindadtoo]

You can download my Pre-Delivery Inspection document, by clicking on the link in my signature below.

This document will take you about 4 hours to complete (don't rush it) and will ensure you understand all the operations of the trailer as well as having you inspect the trailer. This will help you find all sorts of "gotcha" stuff that might not pop up until later down the road (ie...when your 100's of miles from an RV shop). No matter what the dealer says, their PDI is will never cover everything.

Complete this PDI and get dealer to fix all issue before paying for trailer...that way the dealer is very motivated to finish.

Thank you for all of your information and work in putting your PDI together. I already have it printed and in my items to take with me. I guess the question I do have is, is it ok to let the dealer do their PDI and then us go through our PDI with your document that night? We are staying on the dealer's lot for the night and will be looking to see if there will need to have stuff fixed the next day before heading out.

 

[Oregon_Camper]

Thank you for all of your information and work in putting your PDI together. I already have it printed and in my items to take with me. I guess the question I do have is, is it ok to let the dealer do their PDI and then us go through our PDI with your document that night? We are staying on the dealer's lot for the night and will be looking to see if there will need to have stuff fixed the next day before heading out.

My recommendation is to send to the dealer. They will then know you're timeframe and they just might do a better inspection themselves, before you arrive.

Which dealer? We bought our prior RV from Lakeshore RV. Yep...drove from Oregon to Michigan and back. Kids still talk about that great adventure.

 

[twindadtoo]

My recommendation is to send to the dealer. They will then know you're timeframe and they just might do a better inspection themselves, before you arrive.

Which dealer? We bought our prior RV from Lakeshore RV. Yep...drove from Oregon to Michigan and back. Kids still talk about that great adventure.

Motor Home specialist in Alvarado, TX. Salesman told me since we have owned a camper before the PDI would only take an hour.
This is why we are staying on their property and not leaving until we are satisfied

 

[Oregon_Camper]

Motor Home specialist in Alvarado, TX. Salesman told me since we have owned a camper before the PDI would only take an hour.
This is why we are staying on their property and not leaving until we are satisfied

Hahaha.... A 1 hour PDI is for the dealer. A 4 hour PDI is for the buyer.

I state this in the PDI document, but leave kids at home if possible.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

[twindadtoo]

My recommendation is to send to the dealer. They will then know you're timeframe and they just might do a better inspection themselves, before you arrive.

Which dealer? We bought our prior RV from Lakeshore RV. Yep...drove from Oregon to Michigan and back. Kids still talk about that great adventure.

Just sent to dealer and he said they have their own PDI form they use. So, I guess I will doing myself after they are done unless the tech will use it once I talk with him.

 

[Oregon_Camper]

Just sent to dealer and he said they have their own PDI form they use. So, I guess I will doing myself after they are done unless the tech will use it once I talk with him.

The intent of sending the dealer the PDI is to inform them of the time you will need...and that you are serious about completing a detailed PDI. All dealers do a PDI...some even try to charge for it...but in the end you need to do your own (regardless if they did one) to find detailed issues.

My dealer said they did the PDI and after I went over the Bighorn, I had just about 3 pages of items to repair. It is your money (and a LOT of it) so take your time and inspect everything.

 

[twindadtoo]

The intent of sending the dealer the PDI is to inform them of the time you will need...and that you are serious about completing a detailed PDI. All dealers do a PDI...some even try to charge for it...but in the end you need to do your own (regardless if they did one) to find detailed issues.

My dealer said they did the PDI and after I went over the Bighorn, I had just about 3 pages of items to repair. It is your money (and a LOT of it) so take your time and inspect everything.

Thank you for your input. We will go through your PDI on our own and see what we can come up with, hopefully not much if any. But I know that is probably an unrealistic thought.

 

[pjones1969]

Good looking floorplan!! What color did you get?

My PDI was pretty lengthy, I arrived early and stayed late, service closed at 4:30 but the dealership was open until 7 and I already arranged to pick it up the day after so I didn’t have to bring it home the opposite direction from where we were going.

I had the opportunity to spend several hours in the unit beforehand and I gave the dealer 3 very simple items that needed attention prior to the official PDI date (couch seat back was off track, one massage controller missing and auto-level system was acting up) I then scheduled the PDI for 2 weeks later, on PDI day they gave me to 2 lower level techs, first thing when I walk in and noticed that they had not touched a thing, I told them to go get the service manager and we had a little heart to heart, then he wanted to order the parts for the couch, I reminded him of the 2 weeks and he then robbed them from another unit after saying they never do that (probably where this one went originally)

They did not want to go on the roof so I went myself and got a tube of dicor from them to patch a few little spots that were not completed, not a big deal. They did not want to fill the black, gray and freshwater tanks all the way, but they did in the end, this also gives you a chance to figure out what dump valve handles work what, I think you will have the same configuration as ours, rear gray tank will actually drain to the front sewer connection, just a heads up so you don’t get surprised.

If you got a full body paint model make sure you have all of the colors in the touch up paint kit, that stuff is almost impossible to get in small amounts, of course you are closer to them than I am. If you have a VIN already call Mike’s Custom Painting in Bremen, IN at 574-546-2161 and they should be able to give you the color codes and formulas, very nice people but the smallest I can find locally is a quart, custom mixed and about $45, my touch up kit was missing so they scrounged some up from their service bay and I ended up short the only color I really needed, I could have avoided that by checking it closer.

I failed to notice a screen that was missing from one of the windows, I took pictures and measurements and sent them to the dealer, followed up 2 weeks later and was told it’s in the mail, 2 weeks later, same story so I called Heartland with VIN and they confirmed nothing had been ordered so they sent it to me and I had it in about a week.......I’ve yet to receive the call from the dealer that it’s arrived, lol

Take your time and run everything several times, slides in and out, auto-level, make sure it doesn’t “pop”, if it does there’s a service bulletin to fix that https://manuals.heartlandowners.org...i-Stiction Fluid to LCI Hydraulic Systems.pdf

Congrats

 

[twindadtoo]

Good looking floorplan!! What color did you get?

My PDI was pretty lengthy, I arrived early and stayed late, service closed at 4:30 but the dealership was open until 7 and I already arranged to pick it up the day after so I didn’t have to bring it home the opposite direction from where we were going.

I had the opportunity to spend several hours in the unit beforehand and I gave the dealer 3 very simple items that needed attention prior to the official PDI date (couch seat back was off track, one massage controller missing and auto-level system was acting up) I then scheduled the PDI for 2 weeks later, on PDI day they gave me to 2 lower level techs, first thing when I walk in and noticed that they had not touched a thing, I told them to go get the service manager and we had a little heart to heart, then he wanted to order the parts for the couch, I reminded him of the 2 weeks and he then robbed them from another unit after saying they never do that (probably where this one went originally)

They did not want to go on the roof so I went myself and got a tube of dicor from them to patch a few little spots that were not completed, not a big deal. They did not want to fill the black, gray and freshwater tanks all the way, but they did in the end, this also gives you a chance to figure out what dump valve handles work what, I think you will have the same configuration as ours, rear gray tank will actually drain to the front sewer connection, just a heads up so you don’t get surprised.

If you got a full body paint model make sure you have all of the colors in the touch up paint kit, that stuff is almost impossible to get in small amounts, of course you are closer to them than I am. If you have a VIN already call Mike’s Custom Painting in Bremen, IN at 574-546-2161 and they should be able to give you the color codes and formulas, very nice people but the smallest I can find locally is a quart, custom mixed and about $45, my touch up kit was missing so they scrounged some up from their service bay and I ended up short the only color I really needed, I could have avoided that by checking it closer.

I failed to notice a screen that was missing from one of the windows, I took pictures and measurements and sent them to the dealer, followed up 2 weeks later and was told it’s in the mail, 2 weeks later, same story so I called Heartland with VIN and they confirmed nothing had been ordered so they sent it to me and I had it in about a week.......I’ve yet to receive the call from the dealer that it’s arrived, lol

Take your time and run everything several times, slides in and out, auto-level, make sure it doesn’t “pop”, if it does there’s a service bulletin to fix that https://manuals.heartlandowners.org...i-Stiction Fluid to LCI Hydraulic Systems.pdf

Congrats

Thank you for your words of wisdom. We are getting a black & orange full body paint. I was nervous after reading some of the reviews that were not from the MHS website. But, I came to the conclusion that after we leave there we more than likely won't be back there for any other work. I am hopeful that the local dealer will be helpful and willing to work with us when needed. Hoping that we get someone to do our PDI with some knowledge about our unit.

 

[BusManRG]

Thank you for your words of wisdom. We are getting a black & orange full body paint. I was nervous after reading some of the reviews that were not from the MHS website. But, I came to the conclusion that after we leave there we more than likely won't be back there for any other work. I am hopeful that the local dealer will be helpful and willing to work with us when needed. Hoping that we get someone to do our PDI with some knowledge about our unit.

Just a reminder that with prior approval from Heartland, you can probably take your rig to any repair center for work. In fact, our dealer recommends it since they know we have quite a drive and they have a long wait just to get in, let alone repair. Just call Heartland with your vin and tell them where you would like to go. Chances are they will approve it. We called the repair guy first just to make sure he could get us in and was willing to do Heartland warranty work.

Also, a 1 hour PDI is barely enough time for them to show you how your systems work, let alone do a thorough check of the rig. AND if you have good friends that will work for food and beer, take them with you. You love this unit, they don't. That set of disinterested eyes was great to have with us. They found things both mechanical and cosmetic that we would have missed.

Sandy

 

[twindadtoo]

Just a reminder that with prior approval from Heartland, you can probably take your rig to any repair center for work. In fact, our dealer recommends it since they know we have quite a drive and they have a long wait just to get in, let alone repair. Just call Heartland with your vin and tell them where you would like to go. Chances are they will approve it. We called the repair guy first just to make sure he could get us in and was willing to do Heartland warranty work.

Also, a 1 hour PDI is barely enough time for them to show you how your systems work, let alone do a thorough check of the rig. AND if you have good friends that will work for food and beer, take them with you. You love this unit, they don't. That set of disinterested eyes was great to have with us. They found things both mechanical and cosmetic that we would have missed.

Sandy

Thank you for your comments. I have contacted a local Heartland dealer, they don't sell RW's, they told me they would be happy to service my rig. But, if they are busy they would take care of their customers first. I wouldn't know where else I could / would take it. There are dealers around but I don't trust them. I don't know of any service centers. in our area. I'll try to research and see if I can find a service center somewhere close.

 

[BusManRG]

Thank you for your comments. I have contacted a local Heartland dealer, they don't sell RW's, they told me they would be happy to service my rig. But, if they are busy they would take care of their customers first. I wouldn't know where else I could / would take it. There are dealers around but I don't trust them. I don't know of any service centers. in our area. I'll try to research and see if I can find a service center somewhere close.

"Service center" maybe a misleading. Think private repair shop, not a dealership of any kind. The shop we've been using has 4 bays. It's the owner, one other master mechanic and a tech. He also does mobile repair, but we would have to pay for his travel time. The warranty work we are talking about is usually the type of stuff that needs to be done in the shop anyway.

Sandy

 

[twindadtoo]

"Service center" maybe a misleading. Think private repair shop, not a dealership of any kind. The shop we've been using has 4 bays. It's the owner, one other master mechanic and a tech. He also does mobile repair, but we would have to pay for his travel time. The warranty work we are talking about is usually the type of stuff that needs to be done in the shop anyway.

Sandy

I understand now, Thank you
Jeff

 

[Bob&Patty]

Any time their is a part ordered, never believe a dealer that they ordered the part. Call HL service and ask them if the part was ordered and when it will be shipped. You can also have HL send you the part and install it yourself.

 

[twindadtoo]

Any time their is a part ordered, never believe a dealer that they ordered the part. Call HL service and ask them if the part was ordered and when it will be shipped. You can also have HL send you the part and install it yourself.

Thank you
Jeff

 

[TxRoadWarrior362]

Congrats on your new Road Warrior! Safe travels coming and going.

Tim