Forest River Warranty! (Coachmen Galleria)

[TravelinDak]

Today I was looking through the various warranties of the vans that I am interested in purchasing. Coachmen Galleria is one of those choices and was amazed at what I found. An interesting clause that makes the warranty void! Listed under "Exclusions From This Warranty" I found that continuous occupation of your RV for more than a period exceeding 30 days or 18 days per month in two or more consecutive months basically voids the warranty. Also listed, is if the RV is Licensed, titled, registered, or insured in the name of any corporation, LLC, or other form of business or commercial entity, Your warranty is void. As i was planning on making trips throughout the US I probably would be in the RV for any of those durations listed. Any thoughts? I wonder how many of you have actually read the warranties on your RV's.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by TravelinDak

Today I was looking through the various warranties of the vans that I am interested in purchasing. Coachmen Galleria is one of those choices and was amazed at what I found. An interesting clause that makes the warranty void! Listed under "Exclusions From This Warranty" I found that continuous occupation of your RV for more than a period exceeding 30 days or 18 days per month in two or more consecutive months basically voids the warranty. Also listed, is if the RV is Licensed, titled, registered, or insured in the name of any corporation, LLC, or other form of business or commercial entity, Your warranty is void. As i was planning on making trips throughout the US I probably would be in the RV for any of those durations listed. Any thoughts? I wonder how many of you have actually read the warranties on your RV's.

There are a number of issues here.
The basic fact of US warranty law is that literally NOTHING can actually "void" a consumer warranty. So, if your contract says that, then it is against US law and cannot be enforced. Now, it MIGHT be legal for them to exclude from the warranty any failure actually caused by extended occupation. But (a) your warranty would otherwise remain intact; and (b) the burden of proof that the failure was caused by such occupation would be on the OEM, not the consumer (this makes a BIG difference when push comes to shove). It is legal for them to put limitations on the warranty, but not to "void" it.

The part about no warranty for business use, I am not sure about. It is probably legal. But even here, this isn't a matter of "voiding" a warranty. They simply are refusing to warrant for commercial use in the first place. They would argue (probably successfully) that their product was not intended for such use.

[cruising7388]

Originally Posted by TravelinDak

Today I was looking through the various warranties of the vans that I am interested in purchasing. Coachmen Galleria is one of those choices and was amazed at what I found. An interesting clause that makes the warranty void! Listed under "Exclusions From This Warranty" I found that continuous occupation of your RV for more than a period exceeding 30 days or 18 days per month in two or more consecutive months basically voids the warranty. Also listed, is if the RV is Licensed, titled, registered, or insured in the name of any corporation, LLC, or other form of business or commercial entity, Your warranty is void. As i was planning on making trips throughout the US I probably would be in the RV for any of those durations listed. Any thoughts? I wonder how many of you have actually read the warranties on your RV's.

Here's a link that addressed this subject:

http://www.classbforum.com/forums/f5...true-3966.html

The warranty provisions for the different class B builders varies wildly and IMO it is a good idea to carefully examine the fine print in the warranty provisions when making a choice for the builder:

Winnebago provides a one year/15,000 mile transferable warranty except for the Volta lithium system which has an 8 year warranty on the battery and a three year warranty on the rest of the Volta system.

Coachmen provides a one year warranty except for their Xantrex lithium system which carries a three year warranty. A complication for Coachmen is that their selling dealers have no contractual obligation with the factory to provide warranty or post warranty repairs.

Pleasureway provides a 5 year warranty but the warranty is not transferable and they do not warranty any of the coach appliances after the appliance warranty expires. The second owner has no warranty recourse.

Roadtrek provides a 6 year unlimited mileage transferable warranty including lithium batteries. There is an exception is for AGM batteries which is limited to one year. They pick up the warranty on appliances for which the OEM warranty has expired.

[TravelinDak]

They (Forest River) don't actually use the word "void" but use "Exclusions From This Warranty"

So are you saying that if I travel for let's say 60 days in my coach, and have a warranty claim against some defect, that I will be victorious in my claim?

[BBQ]

.

I would never buy a Forest River Coachman.


PERIOD

[TravelinDak]

I understand the differences between the Chassis warranty & the appliances warranty, what I found interesting is that if you want to spend 31 consecutive days or 18 days in 2 or more consecutive months, you will have no warranty, according to the warranty on the coach part of the RV

[mumkin]

How would they know how many days you traveled in it... and what time period?

[avanti]

Originally Posted by TravelinDak

They (Forest River) don't actually use the word "void" but use "Exclusions From This Warranty"

So are you saying that if I travel for let's say 60 days in my coach, and have a warranty claim against some defect, that I will be victorious in my claim?

Well, voiding and exclusions are two different things. Exclusions are allowed. Voiding isn't. But what, exactly, does it say is excluded?

Why don't you post the exact text?

[Phoebe3]

Originally Posted by BBQ

.

I would never buy a Forest River Coachman.


PERIOD

Harsh.

Gotta say, The performance of my coach has been stellar as has any requested help from Coachmen. When I couldn't get my awning fixed in a reasonable time at a warranty dealer, Coachmen authorized me to take it to a local guy, send them the bill and they reimbursed me right away.

[cruising7388]

Originally Posted by Phoebe3

Harsh.

Gotta say, The performance of my coach has been stellar as has any requested help from Coachmen. When I couldn't get my awning fixed in a reasonable time at a warranty dealer, Coachmen authorized me to take it to a local guy, send them the bill and they reimbursed me right away.

Why even bother to respond to someone that can't even correctly spell the name of the company they are dissing.

[Mexray]

Probably a Whinee-Bago salesman... haha

[bobojay]

While we don't own one, we almost bought a Coachmen Crossfit a couple months ago. Anyway, in checking them out and subsequent communications and postings by current owners like Phoebe3, there seems to be a great effort by the current Coachmen brand ownership to take care of any issues that pop up. They also seem to have a process of continuous improvement, which is great.
Several of the owners I have run into online have communicated directly with the warranty director of the Crossfit and Galleria lines to get things done or to answer questions.
That's about all I can throw in here other than to suggest to the OP to contact them directly for clarification on his question....

[Djette1]

The Midwest Automotive Designs (MAD) camper van comes with a 3 year bumper to bumper warranty, and the chassis/Mercedes Sprinter has a 5 year warranty. Used it quite a bit already withing first 4 months.

[bobojay]

Originally Posted by Djette1

The Midwest Automotive Designs (MAD) camper van comes with a 3 year bumper to bumper warranty, and the chassis/Mercedes Sprinter has a 5 year warranty. Used it quite a bit already withing first 4 months.

Unless it's new for 2018, Sprinter does not have a 5yr warranty. The engine itself has a 5yr/100k warranty just like every other diesel in the USA, the rest of the chassis has a 3yr/36k warranty, the shortest in the business

[Djette1]

Ok - geez. Excuse me.... yes 5 years on the Sprinter engine. We do however have an extended warranty for 7 years(at a fantastic price). Please correct me if you know better.

[Djette1]

However, I am certain that we have a 3 year bumper to bumper on the camper van - and the extended warranty on all until 7 years.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by Djette1

Ok - geez. Excuse me.... yes 5 years on the Sprinter engine. We do however have an extended warranty for 7 years(at a fantastic price). Please correct me if you know better.

Look carefully at that extended warranty. The last I saw, MB extended warranties were inclusionary (which is bad), and not very comprehensive. In particular, they did not cover engine electronics or emissions systems. Emissions are by far the thing I would worry about most.

On the plus side, the extended warranties are cancelable, so you could get your money back if you decided to.

[Djette1]

I am fully aware and educated on extended warranties. This is an exclusionary policy – and I’m very clear on what is excluded. It is a very good policy. I did my research and investigated other companies before purchasing.

[Djette1]

Also our warranty is through an RV extended warranty company - through the dealer – not MB. Sounds like maybe you got burned on an extended warranty?

It is approved by the Better Business Bureau. Our dealer stands behind this warranty as well. It is one of their special features that they offered to distinguish them from other dealers.

[cruising7388]

Originally Posted by Djette1

Ok - geez. Excuse me.... yes 5 years on the Sprinter engine. We do however have an extended warranty for 7 years(at a fantastic price). Please correct me if you know better.

Who is the underwriter?