2018 Winnebago Era 170x(70x) Review

[Buckaroobanzai55]

2018 Winnebago Era 170x(70x) Review:
First, I will tell you I love this van. I am writing this essay to hopefully inform people and provide some insights into my experience with this RV, and to aide in your purchasing decisions. Despite the negative parts of the review, This RV has been an incredible experience and my family has had countless memorable experiences, plus it allowed my father to travel with us for the last 5 years of his life. That being said, I feel I have owned and experienced this RV long enough to write a comprehensive review that might aid others in their purchase decision. The first thing I will tell you about considering purchasing one of these or something similar is that things WILL break. Winnebago does not use the highest quality parts on all things. But I will tell you, DO NOT purchase the extended warranty unless you live next to the dealership. The benefit to Winnebago using some cheap parts is that they are cheap to replace and almost everything is fixable yourself or by a basic handy man. And there is a youtube video to teach you how to replace or fix almost anything. For the most part, it has not been worth it to have the warranty because, to travel hours to a dealership and have someone follow you and leave the RV there for 2 months, then get a ride to pick it up, and they don’t even cover all the broken parts for reasons they don’t even have, just isn’t worth it when I can order the part for $60-$100 and change it in 30 min with one screwdriver. My first repair was the water pump died after 2 months. It was clearly a faulty pump cause these pumps are made well and can run dry. I called the pump manufacturer and talked them into mailing an exchange rather than go all the way to dealership. They obliged my request and I changed it out in maybe 30 min and it has never malfunctioned again. BTW, a new pump was only $60 if I had to pay for it. Most serious repairs will have to be done wherever you are and it will never be near a dealership. Example, I filled up with propane at a shady place and they loaded my tank with a lot of oil which blew out my regulator and propane was leaking and had to shut down the tank. I took it to a middle of nowhere repair shop for truckers and he drove out to get the part and fixed it within 2 hours and it was $190. HAD to get fixed immediately because we needed heating system and generator to operate. So clearly warranty work is usually not possible when traveling and dealership appointments usually take 3 months to get…. if I was willing to drive hours to Atlanta to get to the dealership. Clearly anyone would pay the $190 for a 2-hour repair and call it a day. I did attempt to use the warranty once. Big trip around the country in 2021 with a bunch of guys. Window cranks stripped everywhere leaving me to tape widows shut. Sewer line cracked, bathroom fan burnt out, GFI outlet that powers all outlets took a dump. Someone put wet wipes in toilet and destroyed macerator. Almost every cabinet had issues with staying up or broken latch that holds door/cabs shut broke. Electric side of heating system stopped working (30amp GFI under bed died for no reason). Electric bed motor went out of whack. Even BOTH exhaust pipe mounting straps failed for Sprinter and Generator. Had to temp strap up with plumber’s strap. I had finally accumulated enough issues to bring it for a big warranty repair and thought maybe I might get my $7k worth of extended warranty back. Well, first, the warranty company only covers what they decide to cover and most of it is parts only, not install. Long story short on this… Total repair cost at La Mesa was $4,500 and warranty covered all but $2000. They even covered the macerator. But the out of pocket was still huge and it took 3 months. The sewage hose they replaced… they replaced the original 10 foot hose with a 3 foot hose that can’t reach anything and charged $108 (not labor) for the 3 foot hose. I just finally found a Proper 10 foot replacement on amazon for $30 and installed myself. I was getting by with an oversized rigged hose till I finally found the correct size replacement. It was not standard for this RV. They never fixed exhaust pipes. Both La mesa and Mercedes said my repairs were more solid than the original parts. Not so happy about the compliment. My understanding is that the rubberized straps are important for avoiding reverberation noises radiating through the frame. But I haven’t noticed them as of yet. I didn’t push the issue because their straps clearly do not last anyway. The window cranks are a night mare. Use them and they will strip. They cost a fortune to replace at dealership. You can buy cranks at Winnebago parts website for $80 each and a you tube video shows you how to change it in 30 min. there are cheaper Chinese copies that are $20 on ebay and other sites. DO NOT BUY THEM. They will strip immediately. Total scam. The $80 Winnebago part is the only decent replacement and the holes are not tapped. You will need a tapping bit to thread the hole for install. It was not difficult. Take 1 screw to auto parts store and they will get you the right tap. Long story short, Warranty is not worth the money unless you live near dealership. Most repairs cost less than the gas to get there. On the Mercedes side of things, I have had only one problem in 6 years. Throttle calibration system died. Only one year warranty on sprinter so it cost me $2400 to fix. Was a huge pain because it kept putting the RV in limp mode. Other than that, original battery JUST died on me a week ago. Lasted 6 years which is unbelievable. DBL coach batteries died and were replaced a couple years ago. Lasted maybe 4 years and were $400ea to replace at local mechanic’s shop. I have the 4x4 sprinter 3500 turbo diesel and I travel almost all in the mountains and this thing has done stuff you would not believe. Off-roading to cabins in the mountains, turning around at dead end on cliffs, getting out of ditches… this thig has done it all at 24 feet long and its remarkable. It has only been serviced maybe 3 times at Mercedes. At 45k miles and still on original breaks which just got inspected and aren’t even close to needing replacement. On 2nd set of tires which were only $250 each. Always travel with replacement door and cabinet latches. They are plastic and they will break and you either have to pull over and fix it or tape it shut or you can’t drive. If you have kids, they will slam the doors and cabinets and bust the latches. Par for the course I guess. Never try to use bathroom exhaust fan while driving. It will just strip fan blade off motor and blow smell into cabin. The power management system does NOT operate on generator, only on land hookup. So, if you run AC and try to use microwave while driving, be prepared to have to pull over and crawl under RV, remove case cover and reset breaker manually (which you can not find without La-mesa tech telling you exactly where it is). But on that subject.. I called them when it happened and they walked me through every single step of getting it working again. Literally told me to stick my hand down in there and I would feel a breaker and to flip it. Couldn’t see it. But he was right and got me back up and running. Recently my roof top AC blade snapped off and wrecked the entire unit. La-mesa just put in a new upgraded AC that is lower profile, blows harder and colder and is super quiet. Best upgrade ever! Scott at the new la mesa in Davie hooked it up big time. I did not want to deal with the warranty process which would have taken forever and still not cover labor so I just paid it out of pocket. $4k but now there is NO super loud AC and sleeping is wonderful. New AC also has smarter computer the manages the switch settings to avoid blowing GFI. Also new AC is so strong we no longer use Mercedes AC. Next project is to upgrade the Gen from the 2500 to the physically smaller, quieter, more fuel efficient 3600. The ultra quiet 2500 is NOT quiet. That is just bogus info. The newer 3600 is silent from what I have heard and will allow us to microwave and run AC together without blowing circuit breakers. I change gen oil myself now. It takes no time at all and only requires like a cup of oil. Not worth taking to mechanic. I have 720 hours on it and it still runs like a champ. I change the oil every 200 hours. I change oil on Sprinter every 10,000 miles even though it says every 16,000. Even Mercedes dealer will tell you every 10k is a better idea. On my latest trip, it began to drip sewage which got stinky. Turns out the 2 rubber couplers holding a pipe in had rotted. I got 2 new 3 inch couplers at hardware store and changed myself. Was messy but repair was easy and any plumber could fix easily. Also, recently all the writing is peeling off the light buttons. The warranty wont replace them and they cost over $100 each. I just replaced the main panel and the rear panel. still have to replace the galley light switch panel and the awning control panel. They just look like nameless white buttons now. So, I hope you appreciate this review. Anyone dropping $200k+ on an RV should have a realistic idea of what to expect and the work involved. Clearly other manufactures make higher quality products but I am still very happy with my Winnebago Era 170x/70x.