Fulltiming vs. Warranty

[LNG]

I recently went to the RV Show in San Antonio and bought a Cyclone 4100 King Toy Hauler. While there I spoke directly to the Manufacturer's representative and asked about maintaining warranty if full timing. He assured me that Heartland was the only manufacturer that would not void a warranty for full timing in the unit. Has this been verified?

Thanks in advance!

Tony (LNG)

 

[jimtoo]

Hi Tony,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and to the family. We have a great bunch of folks here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge when needed.

We have a lot of folks that are full timing in a Heartland unit. I don't think you will have a problem with a Cyclone, but you might want to check with the Heartland factory. I know the Landmark, Big Horn and Big Country are warrantied for full timing.

Enjoy your Cyclone and the forum. Join us at a rally when you can.

Jim M

 

[LNG]

Thanks Jim for the reply. Since it was the Factory Rep at the RV show that I asked, I will believe it is true. I traded in a 2012 Crossroads Rushmore 35CK that I truly loved, but they declined warranty repairs due to fulltiming. I hope Heartland serves me well! So far, it seem to be a great unit!

Tony

 

[jimtoo]

Think I saw you at the show Tony, I was there Fri, Sat, and Sunday.

You may not full time in it,,, you just use it a lot. Heartland is easy to work with and the dealer you purchased from is also very good to work with if you should have problems. A lot of folks elect to do their own minor repairs and Heartland is very good about providing parts if needed. Also if your in LA and have a problem, call Heartland and they may have an independent rv repair service that will do the fixes for you with Heartland paying. Heartland is very good as long as you get prior authorization for any repairs.

Jim M

 

[Mizmary]

We've been in ours (congratulations!) since may of last year. We have only had a couple of issues so far, and so far no warrantee work has been denied.
They are great when you do have to call.

 

[Flbirds]

Love the Heartland Reps, whenever we call they are super helpful and go out of their way to resolve the issue! As opposed to our dealer, Dixie RV of NW FL, who said 'yea I remember talking to you last week, no I didn't enter it into the computer, you are out of warranty now, what are you going to do about it' . Obviously we will sing about it on all forums and write letter to their head office. Thank you Heartland for your support, issue resolved, was eventually figured out as tv programming action to get dvr to show as color instead of b&w. We have 2013 BC, full timing for 4 months and doing great!

 

[GlenStMary]

FLbirds, we bought our 2013 Landmark from Dixie RV of NW Fl as well, and we worked for over two months with the sales and service reps just trying to get a remote for our stereo (which wasn't in the coach at the delivery). We got tired of the "we are sending it" responses from the salesmen and service reps so I finally contacted the sales manager, Doug Bedore, and had him personally look into it. It took a couple of additional weeks but Doug finally came through for us. We love the Landmark but have never been back to Dixie with it for anything. I've found a really great Heartland dealer in Jacksonville and between them and Heartland we have never had any problem getting warranty work done quickly and professionally.

 

[kakampers]

To answer the OP's question...we had a 2008 Bighorn. Back then they were NOT warranted for fulltiming in writing as they are now. We had some major issues in the warranty period...Heartland was WELL aware that we were fulltiming in the unit as we brought it back to the factory several times. NOT once was it ever questioned and they covered our rig from top to bottom, both during and after the warranty period.

Their unflinching customer service to their owner's, fulltiming or not, is why we stayed with them and now own a 2013 Landmark!!

P.S....In addition, they have the ONLY customer service department that I've seen with and RV manufacturer where they answer the phone!! No machine, no recordings...they answer and send you directly to a CS Rep in your area. If you are handy, they will also send you parts so you can avoid the dealer and make simple repairs yourself. Case in point, the little motor that makes the "flames" in our fireplace went out. Contacted the fireplace manufacturer...what a run-a-round, AND they wanted $95 for a $3 motor that was just over 1 year old!! Finally called Heartland...they are obtaining motor from fireplace manufacturer and sending it to us directly...free of charge!!

 

[LNG]

Think I saw you at the show Tony, I was there Fri, Sat, and Sunday.

You may not full time in it,,, you just use it a lot. Heartland is easy to work with and the dealer you purchased from is also very good to work with if you should have problems. A lot of folks elect to do their own minor repairs and Heartland is very good about providing parts if needed. Also if your in LA and have a problem, call Heartland and they may have an independent rv repair service that will do the fixes for you with Heartland paying. Heartland is very good as long as you get prior authorization for any repairs.

Jim M

Thanks again Jim.

 

[LNG]

To answer the OP's question...we had a 2008 Bighorn. Back then they were NOT warranted for fulltiming in writing as they are now. We had some major issues in the warranty period...Heartland was WELL aware that we were fulltiming in the unit as we brought it back to the factory several times. NOT once was it ever questioned and they covered our rig from top to bottom, both during and after the warranty period.

Their unflinching customer service to their owner's, fulltiming or not, is why we stayed with them and now own a 2013 Landmark!!

P.S....In addition, they have the ONLY customer service department that I've seen with and RV manufacturer where they answer the phone!! No machine, no recordings...they answer and send you directly to a CS Rep in your area. If you are handy, they will also send you parts so you can avoid the dealer and make simple repairs yourself. Case in point, the little motor that makes the "flames" in our fireplace went out. Contacted the fireplace manufacturer...what a run-a-round, AND they wanted $95 for a $3 motor that was just over 1 year old!! Finally called Heartland...they are obtaining motor from fireplace manufacturer and sending it to us directly...free of charge!!

All of this positive information about the great experiences with Heartland warranty and CS reps is very encouraging! Looks like I made a good choice this time. This is my 3rd unit and my favorite so far, especially with the Onan gen set in it and the Winegard Travl'r taking that part od the frustration away.

Tony

 

[dave10a]

Advertising full time is a marketing gimmick. I see many manufacturers claim the "full timing" thing--- even the US military and other nations claim a tent is full time rated ;-)

One must ask themselves how does a RV get "full time" status and how does a manufacturer determine how you use the RV???

 

[danemayer]

Advertising full time is a marketing gimmick. I see many manufacturers claim the "full timing" thing--- even the US military and other nations claim a tent is full time rated ;-)

One must ask themselves how does a RV get "full time" status and how does a manufacturer determine how you use the RV???

There are higher costs of warranty that come with full-time use. Using everything for 365 days/year instead of 30-40 days increases the number of failures and increases the cost of providing warranty. The increased costs are typically recovered in the price. This is part of basic service/warranty planning in any industry. Intrinsic failure rates, expected usage, and cost of repair are calculated to determine how much price needs to be added to cover projected warranty expenses.

The manufacturer may choose to use materials or parts that better resist wear and tear if the increased parts/materials cost is expected to be lower than the projected warranty cost of less expensive parts. Again, basic service/warranty planning.

I don't know if Heartland is using more durable components in the luxury fifth wheels that have full-time warranty, and I don't know how much analysis they're doing. But regardless of whether they're doing detailed cost calculations, or just high-level estimates, I'd bet they're adding the warranty cost of full-time into the pricing.

As for how usage would be determined, everyone is reluctant to drop their RV off for service for weeks to get it fixed. Full-timers often volunteer that they can't do so because they are living in the rig full time.

 

[LNG]

Yep, the business model makes sense. One thing I must hand them, although they are high priced, I made the deal feeling good about the product vs. the price paid.

Tony

 

[dave10a]

The RV's I looked at in the Tampa RV show use mostly the same components while most of them claimed full time capable--- I did notice that DRV, Lifestyle, New Horizon, Red Wood, Monaco, Jayco, Winnebago and some others use the same components and their fit and build were very good. However the ones that I thought were the most durable and would hold up the best could not be pulled with my truck and I would need at least F450 or heavier to pull them. Maybe length vs GVW is another measure of durability-- assuming good engineering and design concepts.

 

[caissiel]

My neighbor has been using his TT for 35 years every summer and fall during hunting season. Only the furnace has been repaired. To me that cheap unit is FT quality. He has not been able to find a better one lately so he is keeping it.
FT use to me is less setups, no winterizing, exposure to 4 ft of snow on the roof and accessories that are well used.
My friend with an SOB seasonal use has more problems with his that we ever had for the past 9 years while FT with one 15 year old unit and now a new BC for 5 years.

FT RV Units is very well exaggerated for buyers to spend more on very expensive units. They share the same basic RV technology.

Sent from my LG-LS720 using Tapatalk

 

[Flbirds]

What is the dealer in jax? We are camping north of the airport while working at navy base for few months. Plan on going to the rv show in a few weeks to check out the gizmos.