Factory Service May Be The Answer

June 18, 2009

485

June 18, 2009

The Lug_Nut view.

Motorized recreational vehicles are not a daily driver, and in general are used infrequently, usually only for vacations or a weekend get-away. In fact, the average RV in the United States travels about 4,500 miles per year. Many times mechanical issues can spoil or cancel an otherwise great trip. Unlike an automobile, you can not just rent a like unit or get a loaner while the vehicle is being repaired. You then become dependant on how fast the issues can be addressed and fixed.

So you take it to your local dealer and hope they can get right on it. You have a slide problem, a refrigerator that stopped cooling and an awning that has a bent arm. As a general rule most dealers assign one technician to work on your rig. Even if they start on the unit that day, usually not much is done except the diagnostic part of the issues. Next there are parts that are usually required. Again, unlike an automobile dealer that generally stocks most parts, the RV dealer does not. This is due to the vast number of parts, assemblies and components that go into making these vehicles. So, you may well be further delayed while the needed pieces are located, shipped and received.

Okay, on day three the parts have arrived. Hopefully the technician is free to get them installed. Most of this day is lost in receiving the items, rescheduling the tech and preparing the install. Sometimes the parts received are not correct or are not complete and require further time to source. During the repair, often the tech is called away to deal with a minor issue, like an adjustment on a unit that they recently sold and had stopped by. This can easily account for a loss of an hour or more of that service day.

Some adjustments to the frig seal and to the upper vent have proved ineffective in correcting the lack of cooling. The factory now authorizes the replacement of the fridge complete and prepares to ship one to the dealer. It should arrive in about three days.

The slide parts are installed and all seems to work fine. Unfortunately the factory recently made a slight change in the installation method of a bracket and did not yet convey this modification to the field. The slide may again fail in future due to this omission.

The new refrigerator finally arrives. In changing out the unit, a window must be removed for access. The window seal is damaged during the removal. The dealer does not have a new seal in stock and would require another day to get one. They install the window and repair the damaged seal. This may well leak in the near future.

The total man hours required for all the work is about 26. The RV in this scenario could take about 8 or 9 business days to complete. Two issues may develop in the near future: one of them, a repeat, the slide failure; and the other a window seal leak.

So, how would the same scenario work out if it were taken directly to the factory. Well, first the unit would be taken into the shop in the early morning, on time. Generally this is the normal procedure as factory service is by appointment only and their schedules are both well planned and somewhat back-up buffered. Once in the shop, many times three different technicians, or in some cases teams, go to work on each of the issues. Diagnosing the fault is done very quickly as each tech is usually very familiar with exactly how it is made, installed and works. The decision to replace the refrigerator is made within an hour and the removal of the original unit starts immediately. They have units in stock and will have the window out, the units swapped and the window re-installed by mid morning on day 2. The damaged window seal is replaced from stock at the same time. The awning arm is assessed and replaced within 3 hours on day 1. The slide is repaired with the newest modified bracket. There is no interruption from other customers as all service is by appointment and the service department is not accessible. It is completed on day 2.

For the factory service all three items were addressed and repaired or replaced in two days. This is about 25% of the time required by a dealer. The actual amount of labor required was about equal, except for the diagnosis which was twice as fast at the factory. Parts availability and shipping times were responsible for most of the additional time needed by the dealer. Additionally, in this scenario, the chance of future issues was reduced substantially using the factory service.

This in no way says that dealers do not do a good job at multi-issue corrections. In fact there are dealers that may be able to deliver factory-like service, but they are in the minority. The others may do a very good job, but, due to parts inventory, skilled labor availability and the wide variety of makes and models, the turn around time generally does not meet customer expectations.

Newmar, for one, has recently offered factory-type service at their Napanee, Indiana plant for “orphaned makes”. These are other make coaches and trailers that are currently unsupported due to their builders being insolvent or have ceased operation at this time. To date, few have taken advantage of this. While, granted, it does not cover any warranty work, for their experience, the skilled talent set offered, and the speed of service, it’s probably well worth it. Additionally, Newmar’s service, when all is said and done, in my opinion, is very well priced, far cheaper than most dealers.

Now, granted, the scenario I have used is somewhat an extreme case, but certainly not unheard of. Some of the assumptions made may not be applicable in all cases and do not necessarily indicate or express a service baseline.

So, for those that have experienced both dealer and factory service, what is your opinion? If you have not, I would still like to hear your take on this.

With Another View of Service – Lug_Nut – Peter Mercer