I purchased a Pioneer Trailblazer SS171 on 5/5/22. During the 4 1/2 months that I have owned it the trailer has been back at the dealer for warranty repair a total of 10 weeks so far. Since taking ownership of the travel trailer I had to have the slide seals replaced because they were installed wrong at the factory, which caused water leaks and ruined our dinette table. It took 3 weeks to have the slide seals fixed and our replacement table took three months to be delivered. Next, our A/C did not work because it was installed wrong at the factory. This took one week to get fixed. Most recently the slide out stopped working during a 4000 mile trip to Montana. The trailer has been at the dealer for 6 weeks so far while they wait for parts to fix the slide out. Everything has been covered under warranty so far, but this is absolutely unacceptable that a brand new travel trailer has this many major failures in the first 4 months of ownership. It is impossible to be happy with a product that has been out of service for half the time that I have owned it.
Nothing but problems!
- Thread starter bdhx2
- Start date
Man that is terrible to hear. These rigs require a lot of work on your own, you need to be very handy...otherwise waiting on a dealer is as you have found out a long process. I called heartland and had the parts sent to me, and I did the work under the warranty period to just save time.
Yes, I have definitely learned that the process is extremely long and moving forward may have to accept the fact that it may be better to fix issues myself. However, it is still ridiculous that a brand new unit should have this many problems, especially considering we only used it a total of 20 days this year.
mlpeloquin
Well-known member
The factory, Heartland, does not stock parts for repairs. They like auto manufactures are on a on time parts delivery to match production. So when a part is needed, they place a new order for your repair. When the manufacture of the part finally gets to that order, then they are built. Your part is shipped to Heartland, pulled, and then shipped to you. This is not just Heartland all manufactures do this and do not stock parts. So it can be a couple of week or many weeks. The dealer is the other problem. They can take a week to several weeks just to get to trouble shoot and place the order. Then it can be weeks before they fix it once the part comes in. I learned the hard way and fix a lot of stuff my self. Heartland was good about ordering and sending me the parts. Quicker repairs happen at independent RV repair facilities. You must get prior approval from Heartland for the independent before they will cover the work.
I am certainly disappointed with the time for the repair process and understand that it is not just Heartland, but I am more frustrated with the fact that my new travel trailer has had this many problems during the first 4 months of ownership. Aside from the major equipment failures already mentioned there are several other quality and craftmanship issues with this trailer. I am simply voicing my frustration with my overall experience with my very first travel trailer. Maybe it is just my unit in particular or maybe several people have the same issues with this brand and other brands, but in my opinion it is disappointing that Heartland put this product on the market with so many major flaws.
I know when I got back into Rving 10-12 years ago or so...it was an eye opener that these rigs costing as much or more than a new car, have so many issues, and re quire the amount of tinkering that they do. I agree with you in the fact that for a new unit you have had so many issues. But you are also correct to think that the other brands also suffer the same type of issues. These are hand built units , and unfortunately they are quite often rushed thru production very quickly. If there is a next ime...do a very in depth PDI to make darn sure everything is good to go.
Not to make a bad thing worse, but be sure you check all your caulked seams for leakage. The warranties on these rigs state you need to go over every inch of a caulked seam every three months.
Not to make a bad thing worse, but be sure you check all your caulked seams for leakage. The warranties on these rigs state you need to go over every inch of a caulked seam every three months.
Bobbie1977
Member
We purchased a 323BR last week, used it a day and once it started raining noticed water at the slide corner and the floor split at the slide. Back to the dealer it went, haven’t even slept in it yet! Bad slide seal and staples through the slide floor. Our 2008 was definitely better quality, but we wanted a bigger unit. We love the floor plan, and knew to expect these new pains of ownership. Hoping to get it back to sleep in at least once before winter.
wdk450
Well-known member
One other thing that I have encountered with RV repairs is the dealers. If a new rig with a sale pending has problems that are found, repair parts, furniture items, or the like are taken from stuff ordered for existing owners, or on other demo units on the lot, so that the new sale can be completed (the sales guys get their commissions asap), and the older owner's parts are "lost".
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