Spacecraft Ownership

[Gliderguy]

In 2016 my wife and I took delivery of our 40 ft Spacecraft 5th wheel.  While the experience of designing the trailer from a clean sheet of paper was long and involved, it was, for the most part, very satisfying. We like our trailer. We paid a great deal more for it that anything "off the shelf" (except perhaps a motorhome). However there are significant shortcomings including a manufaturer's warranty that is valid for only one year. Even the very inexpensive units offer at least two years and many offer more. The design process overlooked several "engineering" issues. Specifically our fresh and grey water tankage is far too small for any extended (beyond 3 to 4 days) boondocking.  While Marsha failed to open the discussion about tank size, I too was remiss in not asking about it. One of the propane heaters was installed without any provision for return air (it didn't work very well until corrections were made). Since Greg Wallman has purchased the company, we have experienced both outstanding service and "customer neglect".  Most recently he has failed to answer emails or return phone calls as I have attempted to discuss the correction of a leak in a slide out roof caused by a construction error.  I know we are outside the warranty period, but obvious manufacturing mistakes (screw removed and hole not re-sealed) in a piece of equipment costing 3x typical need to be taken care of regardless of timing.

[Chad Heiser]

2 minutes ago, Gliderguy said:

 However there are significant shortcomings including a manufaturer's warranty that is valid for only one year. Even the very inexpensive units offer at least two years and many offer more.

I'm not sure where you are getting this information.  The standard warranty in the industry is one year. There used to be a couple of manufacturers that had two year warranties, but to my knowledge they have all reverted to one year warranties as well.  (DRV was one of these companies.)  Some components in RV's have longer warranties, but they are from their specific manufacturers, not the RV manufacturer.

[whj469]

The standard warranty in the RV business is one year. There are some companies that do 2 years and I recently read an ad for three years. I don't remember which one but even Forest River who used to let you buy a second year warranty for most towables for from $150 to $250 stopped that last year.

[slallen]

Wow, I didn’t realize Spacecraft’s warranty was only one year. We have a New Horizons and we’re very happy to have a two year warranty. 

[GeorgiaHybrid]

The roof on a SC is supposed to be a LIFETIME warranty. I would think that a slide roof would be considered to be a ROOF. Hold his feet to the fire or contact a lawyer if required. By the way, the frame has a 10 year warranty.

[Carlos]

My Keystone has three years structural, and one year everything else.  The standard seems to be one year on everything.  I know a couple of my local dealers are offering "lifetime" warranties, but I never looked at the details and limitations.

 

[rashers]

Jayco offers a 2 year warranty (original owner only) on at least the North Point & Pinnacle fifth wheels so there certainly are some out there. https://www.jayco.com/products/fifth-wheels/2019-north-point/warranty-info/. I would tend to agree that such an expensive unit should have a 2+ year warranty.

 

[Pappy Yokum]

On 4/5/2019 at 9:20 PM, rashers said:

Jayco offers a 2 year warranty (original owner only) on at least the North Point & Pinnacle fifth wheels so there certainly are some out there. https://www.jayco.com/products/fifth-wheels/2019-north-point/warranty-info/. I would tend to agree that such an expensive unit should have a 2+ year warranty.

 

My '06 Jayco Designer ("evolved" into "Pinnacle") had a 2 year factory warranty.

NEVER had any issues - never needed the warranty for anything.

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