dealers west of the Rockies for repairs

berghild · 04-17-2008, 10:20 AM

It hardly seems possible but our rig is almost 1 year old! With fuel prices the way they are we have decided to put off our trip East this year and will not be able to go to Walnut RIdge for our issues.
We would like to hear from those of you that have used dealers here in the West. Most of our issues are minor but it would be nice to establish a relationship with a concientious shop.
We have the dreaded entertainment center issues, sliding mirror is stuck, we cannot drain and flush the hot water heater, the generator prep does not start the aftermarket 6.5 Onan that we had installed...basically the generator prep was just the box installed, our ikitchen faucet is bronze, corroded and stuck.
And after every trip there is a line of dirt on the floor that runs the length of the main slide after we slide it out. THe main floor is loinoleum so it is really obvious.
And does anyone know why it is open to the storage cojpartment under the pocket door? Cold air comes through there!

Motor31 · 04-18-2008, 09:08 AM

Given what some of your issues are I highly recommend you bite the bullet and go to the factory area before your factory warranty expires. Either a warranty service center like Charger Enterprises (great folks) or one of the other major service center in the Elkhart area. IIRC your factory warranty is only 1 year on your rig.

My experience with Walnut Ridge was that they were a great place to buy from but their service side was very poor. It may have changed by now.

The most Western dealer / service provider we have used for our MS was Flint Hills RV just outside of Wichita Kansas. They took care of a black tank valve issue we had and were extremely good folks to deal with.

I have, in the past with another trailer, used Beaudry RV in Tucson. I strongly suggest you avoid them if at all possible.

It might help others with recommendations if you say where in the country you are and how far you want to travel.

berghild · 04-18-2008, 09:26 AM

right now we are In Baja Mexico. We would like to find someone West of the Rockies for these issues. I also forgot to list the manic flushing toilet with a lmind of it's own. I understand that Sealand will send us parts for the Concerto, but I feel the repair should be done by a dealer.
I have also heard that Walnut RIdge may not be the place to go. I heard good things about Paul Cross' Interstate in LaGrange, Ind.
Our other issue with travel this year is my 96 year old mother that is slipping away fast in San DIego...I don't want to be far away when that happens.
There is Wheeler's RV in Las Vegas but that's another one to avoid at all costs. I haven't heard anything about the dealer in Lancaster,.Ca or Lake Havasu. THere's also one in Salem ORego that we could mlake it to. thank you for your help, Cyndy

Glatz · 04-18-2008, 12:01 PM

I have had some out of warranty service a Robert Crist RV in Mesa, AZ and they were great. Main Street at Gilbert Road, S/E corner.

jdwilson3 · 04-18-2008, 12:31 PM

I"ll post a second for Crist in Mesa.

Also, Stalkup's in Casper Wyoming.

jaoneil · 04-18-2008, 01:36 PM

We just spent the winter in Texas, Arizona and Nevada. DH wanted new zerks for grease so we stopped in at the dealer in Lake Havasu. They were very nice but we needed two weeks to get our rig in. They had a lot of rigs set up for repairs so I think they knew what they were doing. We had heard good things about them on this forum. So we went on our way and ended up in Vegas. While at a park on Boulder Highway a place called Findlay's was recommended by a couple of RVer's so we took our MS there. They were extremely nice and professional. DH says he won't know if he can get grease in the zerks until he tries but we were satisfied with what they did.

Give them a call before you drive over. We had to wait 4 days for an appointment. Good luck and Take care.

Motor31 · 04-19-2008, 08:50 AM

jaoneil,

Sorry for the hijack of the thread. Are you referring to the grease zerks on the spring shackles of your trailer? Have you tried removing the zerks and then pushing grease through to check them? I had one grease zerk on a shackle that would not take grease. I saw it was a good zerk but no grease would flow. I had to rotate the bolt the zerk was fitted to about 90 degrees then it would take grease.

berghild · 04-19-2008, 09:32 AM

I used to live near Vegas and did business with Johnny Walker Rv....3rd generation owner/operators and the very BEST service. But I was kinda hoping to hear about Doubletree dealers. The only DT dealer in Nevada is WHeelers RV and I wouldn't take a hay wagon there for repair.

missourijan · 04-22-2008, 04:47 PM

Don't know how far west you want but Young's RV in Lancaster, CA are great. We had a black tank valve issue (yuk) that we tried to get fixed in Springdale, AR, they assured us it was. Nope! Anyway, Young's RV had just become a Doubletree dealer the month before. We are fulltimers and they were accomodating. They had to figure out how to get paid, thank you Kent! They had to send someone on a 100 mile roundtrip to get a new valve. I could go on and on.

kfrimr · 04-24-2008, 03:16 PM

I have found a great resource for looking into service

http://www.rvservicereviews.com/Index.asp

This web site gives personal reviews of experience individuals have had with service providers. I have used this when ever I needed service. I checked here first to find a dealer that people were generally please with. I also wrote a review following each visit for service.

Kent

berghild · 04-24-2008, 04:10 PM

thank you for that tip. I will keep it for future reference.
For this service though I only want to use a Doubletree Dealer. I can't tell if any of these are Doubletree dealers. Since it is our 12 month service we thought it would be best if we were with someone that was at least somewhat familiar with the unit. If we could we'd go back to Indiana..then if there is a problem we can go straight to the factory.
After this we will go to this link that youj gave us. thank you.
Cyndy and HOward

SuiteWheels · 04-24-2008, 05:28 PM

berghild, my d/h and son just returned from Lake Havasu to take our 38RLS to have some minor issued done while still under warranty. It cost us over $400 in gas (we are in CA) but worth every penny as Joe the Service Manager is just great and so is his team. Hubby was very pleased with all the repairs they did for him, plus some extra work, like putting on the seamless seal (at no cost to us).
We did purchase our unit there and felt it was the best place to take for the work we had done. Fixing the sink, rebuilt my shelves (have more room now) putting on new fenders, fixing dresser drawers as they were broke off rail and repairing skyline cover in shower. Checking roof where my husband repaired it and said he had done a good job so that was a done deal. I have recommend Sunshine Dealership in AZ to lots of folks! :)

berghild · 04-30-2008, 02:24 PM

Youngs in Lancaster is out of business. DH says havasu is out of the question. trying to find out about Wheeler's...used to be the worst place to go for service. thanks Cyndy

Lauren · 04-30-2008, 10:08 PM

Robert Crist in Phoenix refused to do warranty service on my MS because I did not buy it from them (there was a good reason I and many others would not buy from them). It may have changed in the last 6-8 months as far as them servicing units not purchased from them as my issue went to the top of Doubletree and they had a "discussion" with Crist.

I had the warranty work done by LaMesa RV here in Tucson - not a DT dealer - and they worked with Kent and Tom and it was the best experience I have had with repairs in 10 years of RVing. Great people.

Carny Bill · 05-01-2008, 08:25 AM

I was under the impression that all dealers that handled double tree were required to do warranty work even if they did not sell the unit?????

Lauren · 05-01-2008, 08:31 AM

That is supposed to be true. But "Slick" (the reason we did not buy there nor have others - he is like the Sales Mgr or something) made sure I did not get service. This sent rumbles after I raised heck with DT. It's a long story about that guy and all.

Anyhow, Kent and Tom told me I could get repairs anyplace - just have them call first. I have had work done by three different places, submitted the bills to Kent and never paid one penny - always got 100% back from them.

Carny Bill · 05-01-2008, 08:38 AM

under stood.....

berghild · 05-01-2008, 01:40 PM

I have made appointment with Wheeler's in Las Vegas...now Camping World....they were happy to make the appointment.
I did call regional sales manager first and said to let him know if there were ANY problems.
I did not buy from Shunshine RV in Havasu and sales guy pitched such a fit that I am afraid to try and get service there...it is a small place and I am pretty sure that we would run into him...too bad because I have heard good things about their service department.

Lauren · 05-01-2008, 03:07 PM

We did buy at Sunshine and it was a great experience; the salesman we bought from has since left. Service Dept there is small but very good; we were only there once as we were close and had something that needed immediate attention (check valve in water heater failed). We drove there, they dropped everything and took care of us so we could be on our way. But, in general, just too far to go - LaMesa is Tucson (non DT dealer) is outstanding.

Carny Bill · 05-01-2008, 11:18 PM

If I may ask, what were the sympom when the check valve was out???