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Thursday, May 15, 2014

Escaping The Hotel California

For many of the folks here at the Winnebago Service Center, they joke that it’s like the Eagle’s song about the Hotel California where “You can check in but you can’t check out”.  It seems like they are here for a long time waiting for their repairs to be completed.

The truth is quality repair work does take time, and occasionally parts have to be sourced from other places, like our exhaust pipe, it was a Freightliner part and had to be shipped in.

Today, by noon, all the repairs on our Journey were completed, which was amazing because we developed a water leak this morning on a sink drain.  The tech said he’d add it to the work order and repaired it, too. 

The broken exhaust pipe was replaced, complete with new clamps on each end.

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And the two loose body to frame bolts were tightened,the tech even tack welded the spacers in place to prevent them from ever falling out again.  He also even painted the spacers and bolts, a small quality touch.

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The total cost, including parts, labor, shipping and tax was $2334.00.  The labor rate here is a very fair $110/hour.  We’ve seen labor rates at other dealers in excess of $150+/hour.  The windshield was an additional $1300, paid for by our insurance company.

The nice thing about getting repairs at the Winnebago Service Center is the techs are trained right here in the latest techniques and they are very familiar with the products as well as holding RV and chassis certifications.

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  Many of the techs started out working on the assembly line and have seen Winnebagos from the inside out.  Another plus is you can get parts right here, too.  They have a warehouse full of parts the size of eight football fields.  I picked up a few odds and ends to fix a couple of minor things and a couple of spare items, too. 

Bottom line, we are very pleased with the work, it was done right the first time and the service department is very organized, friendly and keeps you well informed of your motorhome’s repairs progress.

It was worth the trip for us and we won’t hesitate to return in the future for repairs if needed.

Tomorrow we’re heading out to…somewhere.  We haven’t quite figured that out, but we know we won’t have to rush, we’ll even enjoy a little sleeping in.  :c)

Thanks for visiting and feel free to leave a comment.

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16 comments:

  1. Getting something on your motorhome fixed right the first time is quite a feat in itself. I'm guessing if you don't know by now where you're heading in the morning, you'll be plotting all night in your dreams. Maybe they'll let you hang around another day or two and take advantage of the free sites Winnebago offers. We had a couple thousand dollars worth of work done on our motorhome after we bought it and they charged us to stay in one of their RV sites.

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  2. So nice to get things all fixed up and for a reasonable price to. Now you can wander about the country again.

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  3. It is so nice to read a "Happy" repair story:o)) Glad everything went well and now you get to go play. Be sure to give us a holler when you get near the beach!!!

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  4. I'm glad to hear the repairs were completed and that you were happy with their work. Owning a RV isn't cheap, is it? Do they do repairs on other brands of RV's or just Winnebago? It's always good to keep a good place in the back of your mind.

    I know what you mean about the Hotel California. We had the same experience at Lazy Days when we bought our coach. Thought we'd never get out of there, but the longer we stayed, the more free repairs we got, so we didn't really mind. Safe travels to wherever! Smell some roses !

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  5. Yay! So since you have 'no where to go', does that mean a leisurely trip in your future? :)

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  6. Let's see.... I suppose a leisurely trip for you means you'll be in Utah by nightfall??

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  7. Always good to have your repairs completed and be on your way.
    Enjoy the "journey" where ever you go.

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  8. Glad you were happy with the work. We have only had minor stuff done there on our two Winnies so far. Who knows, maybe you will end of as an area rep:)

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  9. I think the best place to have work done on a rig is at the manufacturer. We liked our Adventurer, but needed more room (slides) and John wanted diesel. Our choices were between Winnebago, Monaco and Tiffin.

    I think all your readers should have a pool to bet on the number of miles you travel today. I'll go for 350.

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  10. We felt the same way about Winnebago in Iowa City. Worth the drive. I'll believe a leisurely drive when I see it. I'm with Judy! :-)

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  11. $110 does seem a very equitable rate. . .glad you had a good experience!

    Holiday World (a big RV Dealer in the Houston area) is advertising for RV Techs for their new shop. . .the ad says "NO RV experience required". . .doesn't that just make you feel all warm and fuzzy. . .read it for yourself if ya like: http://hwhrv.com/jobs.php?S=5

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  12. We feel the same about going to Red Bay, AL and having work done at Tiffin. The manufacturer should know how to repair their product better than anyone.
    Glad you're back on the road. I'm with Judy though :)

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  13. Glad all your repairs are done and you're back on the road.

    Seems like the majority of the time you've been on the road you've either had to be somewhere or you've been stuck in SC. Now that you're free and easy, can't wait to see where you decide to let your Journey take you.

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  14. Good service is sometimes hard to find.

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  15. Good thing you could stay for free so you could pay the bill!

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