# Warranty: An Opinion



## russlg (Jul 21, 2008)

Many times I have read on here that owners of Outback's and SOB's have been denied warranty service or are in fear of denial because they bought their unit out of state. I have a strong opinion on this matter and that opinion is based on an experience I had at work recently with two warranty situations. 
I work in the parts department for a Ford dealer in the northeast. We also are a distributor for Meyer snowplows and sanders. I recently was involved in a warranty situation where a customer bought a 2008 van from us brand new, put 110,000 miles on it and began to have an engine skipping problem. We were unable to diagnose the problem but suspected trouble in the combustion chamber and informed the customer that a teardown of the engine would be neccessary. He declined tear down when we informed him it was 50,000 miles out of warranty (warranty is 5 years/60,000 miles,whichever comes first). He found that answer unacceptable and took the van to an independent shop down the street. They also told him it needed a teardown to diagnose properly and he authorized it. 
They sent the cylinder heads out for inspection and they were deemed not repairable. The shop called me for a price on replacement cylinder heads and I quoted those at $1,600 each plus labor with just a 12 month 12,000 mile part only warranty. I recommended he quote a remanufactured Ford engine which has a 36 month/100,000 mile part AND labor warranty, good at any Ford dealer, even if installed by his shop, an independent. The cost of the engine was about $3,600. The customer called Ford and complained, Ford indicated they would do nothing for him. If the vehicle had been torn down in the dealership and not the competition down the street, perhaps they may have offered some assistance but I really doubt it. After all, the vehicle was 50,000 miles over the factory warranty.
So, we order the engine, the independent shop puts it in and we register the warranty and the guy gets his van back. He goes 2,800 miles on it in 4 days and goes back to the repair shop with a real bad rap sound. The repair shop is freaked out as is the customer but we stand behind the engine and replace the engine block with a new one, at the dealership under warranty. There is a point to this, I promise.
Around the same time, I have a guy who calls us from Massachusetts with a Meyer Sander I sold him for his dump truck that won't work. His local dealer that he did not buy from will not look at it because he "did not buy it from them". We repair it under warranty and show him in the Meyer manual where it states that (paraphrased) "all full line distributors will service units under warranty, regardless of where it was purchased" and "failure to do so could be cause for termination of distributorship". That dealer had no right to refuse him service. In the Ford example above I demonstrated how a good servicing dealer takes care of the customer, no matter where he bought the vehicle, sander, plow or rv. We may not have gotten him warranty assistance for his original concern, but we did not ignore his request. We went through the appropriate Ford channels. It would have been easy to brush the guy off. We also could have tried to refuse service to the faulty replacement engine. But Ford has a similar policy to Meyer regarding warranty repair denial. You must make an effort to take care of the customer.
So I say to any of you who bought from Holman or Lakeshore. Or who went a few towns over from "your" local dealer. Don't put up with bad service or denial. I do not have Keystone's policy manual for dealers in front of me but I would bet that there is a dealer mandate in there to service the customer, or else... If you do not get the answer you want from the dealer, contact Keystone directly. Part of being a dealer is standing behind the product when it is within the warranty period. failure to do so is bad business. The servicing dealer has an opportunity to build a relationship with you through the example of good service. Many decisions to purchase are based on price. Alot of decisions to purchase weigh heavily on service.
Don't be afraid to stand up for yourself. Don't take "No!!" for an answer. As long as your request for warranty assistance is legitimate, there is no reason for ANY dealer to deny you. The ones that do are cheating you. Don't allow it to happen.


----------



## luverofpeanuts (Mar 9, 2010)

Well said. As a person who is/may be purchasing at Holman's, I've thought about this too. I like some of the dealers closer to me, but they simply can't come anywhere close to price or don't have the units I want.....and I'd rather deal with Holman's who deserve my business because they gave me the best price up front with no haggling. I fully expect to engage local service centers for warranty work if needed, and will happily spend money non-warranty service and/or accessories. I expect to be treated just as if they are still trying to win my business.


----------



## Red Beard (Feb 13, 2010)

I agree, 
I would like to buy local. But it comes down to price!
I am looking to purchase a new Outback I am trying to allow my local dealer to provide the best price that they can. They may not meet Holman's price but I figure if they can get close ( figure gas, hotel, drive time etc) then I will give them my money. Heck they have are willing to give me a customer discount card for future purchases and throw in some goodies I think we are close to a deal. 
In the end I may make the drive to Holman's for the price but I assure you that I will take the time to establish a relationship with my local dealer before I need service. 
I feel that if I am honest with my local dealer and give them respect that they should give me the same. If not then I have no choice but to use the system to "force" the dealership into providing service.
I worked for several years in power sports service and we had the same problem. However, as the service manager I felt that it was our obligation to service units and to treat the customer fairly. But customers coming in the day before a big holiday weekend and demanding (attitude) service that had never stepped foot in out dealership before that day were met with the truth...we have a long line and you are at the back. Had that same person made contact with us prior and established a relationship with us we could have made an appointment for them had part ready etc. 
We often used our service as a selling point, our service department was the best!! We had all (6 lines) of our manufactures send the problems to us. We could diagnose and repair the problem and at the same time we would often gain a new customer. 
I know both sides of counter&#8230;. 
From the service end if you feel that you had a good service experience walk out to the service are and let the guys know that. It doesn't hurt to spend a couple of bucks on some pizza for the guys or if you an appointment first thing in the morning how about coffee and donuts. You will be remembered and the next time you need something you may find the guys very willing to help you and small item may not make it to your service bill. 
From the customer side I expect to be treated honestly, professionally and the price to be fair.
Just my thoughts from the two sides of the counter.


----------



## daslobo777 (Mar 24, 2007)

Technically they don't really deny the service, they just make it an inconvenience to get an appointment in a timely manner. There is a keystone number to call if you are not getting your warranty service as I recall seeing that when we got something on our extended warranty. We have one dealer who sells outbacks in AZ, but there are many repair shops qualified to work on keystone so as much as we would like to give business to the local outback dealer sometimes we just don't. I figure they must not need the money. The Outback dealer could not get us in to even assess the front cap delamination for several weeks...not repair just look at it. Another local shop was willing to look at it same day or whenever was convenient for us. Yes, saving lots of money does drive the decision but people do move. I find it funny dealers are like you didn't buy your trailer from us....maybe we just moved from another state and had the trailer. Being in AZ, maybe someone is a winter visitor only and needs service. I find it odd that they don't think and take the opportunity to say they didn't buy their trailer here, let's give them great service so next time they come here to buy. Our first time scheduling an appointment, we were told we would be put at the bottom of the list for not buying from them. Like I had mentioned in another post, we did give this dealer the opportunity to price match with us including the cost of us shipping the trailer here not just lakeshore's trailer price (total cost we paid to our door). They said there was no way I was getting it for that price and something about needing to feed their family.

Cristy


----------



## clarkely (Sep 15, 2008)

I have had nothing but good experiences so far....... i bought new September 08 At the Hershey Rv Show, a local to me dealer was there. I asked them if i could buy from them, they told me No, unfortunately Camping World had the rights to the line at the show, but what was i buying for...... i told them, and they told me they currently would not be able to match it. I bought it at Hershey through Camping world. I took it to my local dealer for warranty work, they took incredible care of me, going out of their way and above and beyond (Fretz, Souderton, pa). They later dropped keystone, and another dealer down the street took on keystone...... i also had them do warranty work.....they said "sometimes the work required exceeds the warranty coverage" (didn't say but insinuated because i did not buy from them)..... i told them only to do what they could afford to do covered by keystone and i would give them a sequence of what to do and i wold do the remaining work...... bottom line came around .....they did it all anyhow.

Last week i emailed keystone about my decals peeling 5 months out of warranty....... i got an email and subsequent phone call......very kind cordial gentleman told me they were out of the "keystone Warranty", but they aree covered for 5 years from the Decal supplier and gave me the contact info.

I contacted that company, they responded promptly asking for all the specifics and pictures an address..... i gave them the info. Hopefully i will see decals i the next couple of weeks.

I just wanted to share some positive keystone warranty experiences....
\
clarke


----------



## webeopelas (Mar 11, 2006)

I have never had warranty work refused, but I have been put to the end of the line a couple of times. Not much I can do about it moving every 3 years in the military.

One dealer did everything right and eventually got a repair covered even though I was out of warranty (turns out the problem was a manufacturing defect), but took 4 months to do it. Luckily it did not affect any of our camping trips.

And then you run into a dealer like I have now, that took my trailer in, gave me an honest appraisal, and when I contacted Forest River, they paid the $1100 dollars to the dealer for front cap fiberglass repair even though it was appraised as being cosmetic at this time.

I just can't believe buying at the dealer gives you that much more clout. If they are going to screw one, they are going to screw all, and if they take care of local customers, they take care of all customers.


----------



## Red Beard (Feb 13, 2010)

A good point about the decal being covered by the actual decal manufacture as this relates to many of the systems/items that make a TT. 
The TT manufacture only covers things they manufacture walls and some other things...EVERTHING else falls on the supplier to warranty, suspension, tires, HVAC, battery, stove, fridge etc. 
If you can have the supplier of your system say the fidge cover/repair the problem you may be better off.

Now I am going to add another twist to this whole warranty thread....you may be able to have warranty work completed at a dealership that does NOT CARRY KEYSTONE/OUTBACK. THAT IS 100% fact!









In my research







towards the purchase of a new Outback I was given this information from a dealer that does not carry Keystone or Outback. He said they often make a call and are given the ok to complete the warrenty work from manufactures they do not carry.

I am already working on building a relationship with a SOB dealership 15 min from the house that I have heard does good work.

Getting so close to pulling the trigger on a new 250RS just have to put the little details to rest.


----------



## twincam (Jan 11, 2010)

We purchased from Lakeshore rv and have had warranty repairs done locally without any hassle, I believe that if you respect your local dealer and dont waste their time when shopping they will usually be glad to help out. IMHO


----------

