Living full-time in 5th wheel

[Justbreathe007]

I am hoping this isn't a redundant question.

We have been full-timing for 1 year now but not without difficulty.  We decided on TX as out domicile and switched everything over to TX.  When we purchased our 5th wheel in California where we are originally from we were told from many people Dealers, auto insurance etc.  that we do not tell anyone that we live in out 5th wheel full-time.  Almost like it was taboo.  We listened and didn't tell anyone we did.  But, now we are in a predicament.  We traveled back to California for the Holidays last year and since we were near where we purchased out trailer, we decided to get some warranty work done.  In the process we found out that there was a major flaw in the suspension/axel of out trailer and that we could not travel in it until it was seen and fixed.  We dropped our trailer off in March and they asked do we live in it full time, our response out of fear was no.  We told them our home is in Texas.  So we are left without our home and renting a mobile home for the time being.  

Can anyone help me figure out the guidelines on telling Dealers, Manufactures, insurance companies that you live in your RV full time?  Has things changed from 2017 to now?  Our trailer is a 2017.  Can we tell them that we live in ours full time?

[sandsys]

Yes, tell them you live in it full time. Otherwise they will not feel a need to do the work quickly.

Linda

[Justbreathe007]

7 minutes ago, sandsys said:

Yes, tell them you live in it full time. Otherwise they will not feel a need to do the work quickly.

Linda

Thank you.  But, telling them will it cancel our warranty?  Do we tell vehicle insurance we live full time also?

[Big Greg]

Read the manufacturers warranty documentation, does it state not for full time use?  If not tell the dealer that so they will hopefully speed up your service.  I'd tell them your most time like many snowbirds if it said full time wasn't covered, the unit is only 2 years old so it darn better be covered for that short period of time.  Ours was a full time 5W and the manufacturers service was fast so we very seldom had the get a motel room for 1 or 2 nights. 

If your 5W has been in for service since March it's been 2 months, that's awful service.   

If you are going to traveling quite a bit you might want to replace the stock suspension system with one like MorRyde's Independent Suspension and upgrade your tires to 17.5" H rated tires.  We discovered the stock suspension systems were a serious weak point.

You can also upgrade your RV insurance to full time coverage.     Greg    

[LindaH]

3 hours ago, Justbreathe007 said:

Do we tell vehicle insurance we live full time also?

YES!!!

You need fulltimers insurance...how do you get that if you don't tell the insurance company you're fulltimers?!  Plus, by not telling them, you are, in effect, lying to them...not a good thing to do with an insurance company.

IMO, you were given some terrible advise by people who told you to never tell anyone that you are fulltimers.

As far as your warranty, your rig is now 2 years old and is no longer covered by the manufacturer's warranty, so what difference does it make that you tell RV service centers that you are fulltimers?

Edited May 31, 2019 by LindaH

[Lou Schneider]

4 hours ago, Justbreathe007 said:

I am hoping this isn't a redundant question.

We have been full-timing for 1 year now but not without difficulty.  We decided on TX as out domicile and switched everything over to TX.  When we purchased our 5th wheel in California where we are originally from we were told from many people Dealers, auto insurance etc.  that we do not tell anyone that we live in out 5th wheel full-time.  Almost like it was taboo.  We listened and didn't tell anyone we did.  But, now we are in a predicament.  We traveled back to California for the Holidays last year and since we were near where we purchased out trailer, we decided to get some warranty work done.  In the process we found out that there was a major flaw in the suspension/axel of out trailer and that we could not travel in it until it was seen and fixed.  We dropped our trailer off in March and they asked do we live in it full time, our response out of fear was no.  We told them our home is in Texas.  So we are left without our home and renting a mobile home for the time being.  

Can anyone help me figure out the guidelines on telling Dealers, Manufactures, insurance companies that you live in your RV full time?  Has things changed from 2017 to now?  Our trailer is a 2017.  Can we tell them that we live in ours full time?

A lot of the not for fulltiming language by manufacturers is due to the requirement that fulltime abodes meet HUD specifications.  Think mobile homes vs. RVs ... the first have to fully comply with HUD housing regulations while RVs aren't as strictly regulated because they are specifically designed as temporary housing.

If you don't want to state that you're fulltiming, tell the repair place you're on an extended trip.  Someone on an extended trip will be just as inconvenienced by a drawn out repair as a fulltiimer as both will have to find alternative accommodations for the duration.

For insurance purposes, check your policies.   Many specify the maximum time you can live in the unit each year, if you exceed that you need fulltimer's insurance to be sure you're covered.

Edited May 31, 2019 by Lou Schneider

[Kirk W]

18 hours ago, Justbreathe007 said:

But, telling them will it cancel our warranty?  Do we tell vehicle insurance we live full time also?

The majority of RVs only have a 1 year warranty anyway and only a few of the warranties exclude living fulltime in the. On the other hand, if you do not tell the RV insurance company then you probably won't get paid if you should have a claim and if you do make a claim it could be ruled as fraudulent and you might then be in very serious trouble! Not only do you need to tell the insurance company, you need to make sure that you have a fulltimer clause on the policy!

Most standard RV insurance policies have a limit on the amount of time that the RV can be lived in. With our current policy we are limited to a maximum of 180 nights of use per year. 

Edited May 31, 2019 by Kirk W

[rynosback]

Yes yes yes yes and yes to everything said above.  Be honest and upfront. This way you will get the right coverage. Saving a few dollars might cost you a lot more in the long run.

[FL-JOE]

First of all, check your factory warranty closely.  Most if not all RV manufacturers that make the disclaimer their product is not for full time living are actually referring to someone putting the thing on blocks, hooking up permanent water/sewer, and living in it like a residence.  They are not excluding full time traveling in it.

Good advise on the insurance coverage.  Full timers insurance includes additional liability coverage generally.  There are sometimes other small differences.  The biggest difference is the huge price increase when you change it over from regular RV insurance to full timers insurance coverage.  If you have a mail forwarding service or mail box express as your legal address then you should get full timers insurance.  On the other hand, if you use a relatives/friends address then who is to say you don't actually live there 2 or 3 months out of the year, therefore making regular RV insurance a possibility?  I'm not saying you should lie to your insurance company, but what if you actually visited that friend/relative on occasion?

[whj469]

If they are fixing it under warranty, I would wait until it is fixed before I told anyone anything. A lot of RV manuals clearly state "occasional use only" and they will not want to honor a warranty if lived in fulltime. The time to tell everyone that you full time in it was when you first got it and you should have got one that is for full time use. It will cost more but you should always tell the truth. "Oh what a tangled web we weave when we first practice to deceive" Good Luck

[Kirk W]

4 minutes ago, whj469 said:

If they are fixing it under warranty, I would wait until it is fixed before I told anyone anything.

In all of the years that we have owned RVs I have never had any RV tech ask if we lived in our RV or not when getting warranty service. It just never came up.

[LiveWorkDream]

Echoing what everyone else said. Don't know where you heard that bad advice and I'm sorry you followed it. We have never had a problem after telling repair people we are full-timers, either with insurance or warranty work. 

We've been 12 years full-timing and are always upfront with a shop when we call for any kind of service (which thankfully is rare). Once we tell a shop it's our residence and we are going to sleep in their yard until the job is done, they get us out of there quickly!  If they won't allow us to do that, we look elsewhere.

Good luck with that repair. Sounds awful. I'm sorry!

 

[rynosback]

23 hours ago, Justbreathe007 said:

I am hoping this isn't a redundant question.

We have been full-timing for 1 year now but not without difficulty.  We decided on TX as out domicile and switched everything over to TX.  When we purchased our 5th wheel in California where we are originally from we were told from many people Dealers, auto insurance etc.  that we do not tell anyone that we live in out 5th wheel full-time.  Almost like it was taboo.  We listened and didn't tell anyone we did.  But, now we are in a predicament.  We traveled back to California for the Holidays last year and since we were near where we purchased out trailer, we decided to get some warranty work done.  In the process we found out that there was a major flaw in the suspension/axel of out trailer and that we could not travel in it until it was seen and fixed.  We dropped our trailer off in March and they asked do we live in it full time, our response out of fear was no.  We told them our home is in Texas.  So we are left without our home and renting a mobile home for the time being.  

Can anyone help me figure out the guidelines on telling Dealers, Manufactures, insurance companies that you live in your RV full time?  Has things changed from 2017 to now?  Our trailer is a 2017.  Can we tell them that we live in ours full time?

I just re-read your statement. Has the dealer had your trailer since March?

[2gypsies]

If you've dropped your trailer off in March and are still living in a rented mobile home, you really need to light a match under the dealer. He needs to get moving on your repair.  You should have definitely told him you were full-time and that's the only place you have to live.  He could have let you stay in it on his lot until the repairs were finished and that would have made him fix it faster.  In 16 years of full-timing we never had to spend a night elsewhere. When we took it in for maintenance we always spent one night on the lot - usually with electric - and left the next morning.  You really need to push that dealer to get it done - now.

[itsabouttime]

We have had axles replaced twice, once with wheels, tires and brakes.  We found a trailer maintenance place and scheduled with them.  They ordered axles and had them in a week or so.  The actual work took about half a day and was reasonably priced, about $3k for the whole thing with tires and wheels. Look for a place that works on commercial trailers.

Russ

[LindaH]

The OP hasn't been back here to read responses since they posted their 2nd response, above.  

[Justbreathe007]

On 5/31/2019 at 2:40 PM, rynosback said:

I just re-read your statement. Has the dealer had your trailer since March?

I have been sick for the past couple of days.  The answer is yes.  I am guessing our situation is more complicated then it sounds.

[Justbreathe007]

On 5/30/2019 at 7:06 PM, Kirk W said:

The majority of RVs only have a 1 year warranty anyway and only a few of the warranties exclude living fulltime in the. On the other hand, if you do not tell the RV insurance company then you probably won't get paid if you should have a claim and if you do make a claim it could be ruled as fraudulent and you might then be in very serious trouble! Not only do you need to tell the insurance company, you need to make sure that you have a fulltimer clause on the policy!

Most standard RV insurance policies have a limit on the amount of time that the RV can be lived in. With our current policy we are limited to a maximum of 180 nights of use per year. 

Thank you for the responce.  

[rynosback]

7 hours ago, Justbreathe007 said:

I have been sick for the past couple of days.  The answer is yes.  I am guessing our situation is more complicated then it sounds.

They may just be prioritizing what work gets done first.  Taking care of there customers and then warranty work that people bought from another dealer.