- Make an appointment for diagnosis with the expectation that the RV dealership will not make repairs until a later date.
- Ask questions throughout the process and do not assume you understand the steps the RV dealership is taking.
- Plan a day or two of activities to keep yourself busy and occupied while the RV dealership diagnoses and asks for warranty approval.
- If possible, get an idea of how long it will take for the parts to arrive
- Have a backup plan for how you will live without the part
- Know that you will have to bring your rig back to the RV dealership when the parts arrive
- Schedule a non-RV vacation, such as a cruise for the estimated time when the parts will be available
- Drop off your RV at the dealership before you leave for your vacation
We began to RV fulltime almost two years ago. Within the first six months, our upgraded water heater developed a leak which left us without hot water. When buying the rig we chose to have the factory water heater removed and have a tankless water heater installed. When our water heater failed, we coordinated with both the water heater manufacturer and the service department of the RV dealership where we purchased our rig. After a video chat, the water heater manufacturer confirmed a weld in our water heater had failed. We took the first available appointment to bring our rig in for maintenance, which was about a month later. We naively expected parts would be available on the day of our appointment.
Good timing
Our RV dealership has an RV park on its property. When it was time for our appointment, we took our rig to the RV park the evening before for our convenience. Incidentally, we discovered we had another maintenance issue. We found rubber pieces on the floor when we extended the slide.
Warranty issues
We learned the RV dealership applies for warranty approval with the RV manufacturer before ordering parts or developing a repair plan. Since we replaced our factory water heater, this was a waste of time. After the RV manufacturer denied the water heater repair, the RV dealership asked the water heater manufacturer for approval to replace the water heater.
The warranty approval process took longer than a day and we checked into a hotel for the evening. Now we know to ask the service representative to skip contacting the RV manufacturer when the part was not factory installed. We ultimately spent a second night in the hotel. At this point, we wished we had asked a ton of questions when we dropped the RV off. From this experience, we learned to ask ahead of time about the warranty approval process. We also learned to ask what our service representative meant when she gave us an update, so we didn’t assume we knew what was happening.
Plan activities
Having a day or two of activities to keep us busy would have taken our mind off waiting for our service representative call. Now we know when we take our RV in for service, we plan to be away all day. If possible, we also have activities we can do the next day in case the first phase of the process takes more than one day. As fulltime RVers, we always have our laundry with us. The RV dealership’s RV park has one of the nicest laundry rooms we’ve ever seen. Doing our laundry is a great way to occupy our time while waiting for RV service.
Ask questions
The next morning, we moved our rig back to the service area. Hours later, we learned the RV dealership would order parts and it would take about one month before we could have the water heater replaced. Our service representative estimated to be about six weeks for the slide gasket. We were in learning mode and we knew we would be better prepared next time.
Plan B
Fortunately, we had not yet sold our home while we were waiting for our water heater to be repaired. We were also still working at an office with excellent shower facilities. And if all else failed, we could have used the bath house at the RV park where we lived. Our repairs were completed roughly within the estimated dates.
Inconvenience of full-time RVing
Fulltime RV friends of ours had their factory water heater fail this year. Although their rig is older than ours, their water heater was still covered under their warranty. Instead of taking their rig to the RV dealerships where they bought it, they had a mobile RV repair service diagnose the problem. The mobile RV repair service is authorized to make warranty repairs with approval. Our friends showered in the RV park’s bath house. Not only was it less convenient than showering in their own rig, but the bath house water heater worked intermittently.
Discontinued parts?
After four months, our friends learned the manufacturer discontinued their factory-installed water heater . The RV manufacturer was having to modify the assembly of new rigs to accommodate a different water heater. The replacement water heater is configured differently and causes the loss of a bedroom drawer. The RV manufacturer supplied the mobile RV repair service with the replacement water heater and a false front for the drawer. Our friend’s situation made us feel every fortunate that we were only out of hot water for two months.
Not so bad for part-time RVer
Another friend also had a water heater fail in the first year owning a rig purchased new. Like us, he had his factory water heater removed and a tankless water heater installed. This friend, however, is a part-time RVer, so being without hot water in his rig was a lessor inconvenience. This friend had to wait six months to have his water heater replaced.
Self-insure?
This article just happens to have three water heater examples. I am not trying to say there is a problem with RV water heaters. None of the water heaters came from the same manufacturer. I am trying to point out that RV repairs are taking a lot longer than we anticipated when we decided to live in our RV fulltime. This has us questioning if we should self-insure rather than depend on warranties. We wonder if we were paying out of pocket if we would have experienced the delays.
Plan a cruise
We have yet to implement items six and seven. The pandemic messed up our plans to cruise while our rig was in the shop. I’d like to think we won’t have to bring our rig in for service, but that is likely to be wishful thinking. As fans of the YouTube channel Keep Your Day Dream, we enjoyed seeing the Leach family schedule their RV repairs and upgrades around their travel schedule. I’m glad to see we aren’t the only ones who have a plan for what to do when your rig is in for service.