7 replies to this topic

[violetrayes]

Just wanted to inform anyone interested in Holiday Rambler, Monaco, Navistar motorhomes that our new coach was never built correctly at the factory. For two years we had major electrical and structural problems.. a few examples: leveling system wanted to drop jacks while driving, slide out would not work unless I physically plugged and unplugged electrical wire harnesses under steps, electrical outlets worked on and off, electrical dash components(radio,camera) replaced, microwave replaced, generator never worked until fuel pump was replaced, three windows replaced, the windshield developed stress crack.

The underlying problem was that the front and back caps were never attached to the roof. Rivets in the caps never penetrated through the fiberglass causing a gap the full width of the coach (front and back caps) When it rained, water would enter through the gaps and run down the channels that hold wires thus causing electrical problems. Since air was able to enter through the gap it caused vibrations thus structural problems occurred.

Even though my coach was in the factory twice for months no one discovered the problem. While driving the coach in the rain to a dealer to get more repairs done before the warranty was to run out water started pouring out of the ceiling lights and speakers above the driver and passenger seats. By the time I arrived at the dealers I was soaked and the whole front cab was saturated with water.

You may be wondering now what happened? All I can say is Holiday Rambler, Monaco, Navistar will take no responsibility of this serious matter. Customer Service has continued to lie and cover up any wrong doing. Please do not put yourself through a nightmare like this. Look elsewhere for a motorhome.

[lforrester]

Sorry to hear about your troubles. I wish you better luck in the future.

[AndyShane]

What year?

[hermanmullins]

Welcome to the Forum.

As Andy asked, what year is your coach? If it was made before Monaco went Bankrupt you have no recourse. Sorry.

However if it was made by Navistar them your exit avenue would be to go after them under the Lemon Law, unless you live in Canada.

Overall Monaco built fine Motor Homes, however when any company goes under lots of very nice people get hurt.

Good luck and don't give up on Rving.

Herman

[greybeard101]

Yes I would also be interested in the year of your model. After 6 months in the shop for leaks and a host of other problems ( all Spring and Summer) our 2012 was released to us in early September. We had it home for 2 weeks...never drove it anywhere...... then drove it 4.6 miles to show it to relatives and the passenger side slide-out failed to retract fully...... slide out motor sensor failed. Dealer ordered a replacement and the factory sent the wrong one, note here that it takes at least 2 weeks to get anything shipped out here. So the unit sat at the dealership for another month, during which time I had them install a 145w solar panel and 1500w inverter as well as a 50 amp surge protector ( trying to keep a positive point of view ). We got the unit back on Tuesday October 23rd. It sat 2 days while we had other commitments on our time then Friday we went out to it to stock it up and since it was around 40 degrees inside I tried the furnaces. One worked the other does not. So now I am waiting for a return call from the Service Manager to get in back to them for that. I called him at 8am....it is now 9:15am.

This Navistar/Monaco/Holiday Rambler product is a piece of ****. I would never buy another product from this manufacturer. In over 7 months of ownership this product has not once served the purpose for which it was intended and for which we paid a considerable sum.

..................and, of course, The Canadian Government being what it is, I have no lemon law protection whatsoever.

[nitehawk]

I worked for Navistar in Waukesha, WI back in the 90s. The entire organization is suffering from internal rot. The political environment prevails. I ended up with a new supervisor that had held the SAME position for 19 years. If one did not go along with the management he was quickly ostracized.

Example: I outdrove the Manufacturing Manager when I subbed in the Golf League. I was constantly harassed by him by implications at meetings after work hours (and always exonerated) about not performing duties for which I was not responsible. He was (within a year after I quit) fired for losing "too many good people".

That facility was subsequently shut down and shipped to Mexico.

[bobalou22]

I have been looking at a 2012 Monaco Monarch 36SFD. I know that there is always some troubles with new RV's. Has anyone heard of any issues with this model ??

[violetrayes]

The motorhome I mentioned in my first post was a Holiday Rambler 2010 Admiral 30SFS. Before I purchased it I contacted John Hurd, head of customer service at Monaco to make sure all warranties would apply to this coach. He sent me a letter stated there would be no problems and that Monaco/Navistar would honor all warranties. I had trouble with this coach the day I left the dealer, Motorhome Specialists in Texas. I would recommend not buying from them. We traveled from Michigan in November to pick it up after a deposit and a weeks notice and it was not ready for us. Five hours later, 20 minutes down the road we returned. The weights in the slide out had not been adjusted and were causing extremely loud bangs. When they put the slideout out they damaged the trim because they forgot to push the front seat forward. Very late that evening when we stopped, the generator disconnect had not been charging the batteries so we had no power(it was too late to get in a park). When we arrived home we found out the dealer had never winterized it. This was after continuous insisting that we were driving it to a very cold state and needed it to be winterized. We stated we would NOT be using any water or toilets on our way home. The dealer nor Monaco would take responsibility for this mistake. It cost us $1700.00. As you heard in my first post it has been one problem after another. The worst thing about this nightmare is that Monaco would not stand by their product. They continued to work on it while under warranty and even extended the warranty for another major repair but in the end we lost a great amount of time and money because of their faulty product.

After the coach was saturated with rain water we were told it was dried out and would be fine. They had a representative from ServPro come in and report findings. It was stated there was extensive water damage in the rear cab possibly causing lose of insulation integrity. John Hurd insisted there was not a problem because they were drying it out with fans and dehumidifiers. We insisted they remove the ceilings and wall to locate damage and replace insulation. After speaking to the head manager Mike at the Indiana factory we found out that nothing was ever removed except the ceiling light sockets to check for water.(this was after three weeks of it just sitting there) Later that week we found out that Mike was replaced with Roger who was now assigned to our case. We emailed back and forth all our concerns with John Hurd and three other employees. They wanted to return the coach saying everything was fine and no extended warranty. We had sent them a list of 27 things besides the water to be fixed. This list was emailed to John Hurd. He forgot to give this email to the factory. So it would take another week for repairs (Our other main concern was that the jacks were still not working.)

Although we did not get to use the Motorhome much because of service time and it was a pain to have things breaking, I think the most upsetting thing is the customer service and policies this company holds. We contacted the head of RIVA who specializes in safety and motorhome guidelines. He said we had a real problem. He gave us a number of a top tech at Monaco, who gave us William Osborne's number (who is Vice President of the Monaco/Navistar RV). He was a nice guy and said he would look into it. We had to call him back a week later because nothing had been done. We told him we had continuous problems with customer service John Hurd. John would not return calls only emails. I am a not an argumentative type person I have been patient and understanding. Most of my friends think I was too forgiving. Eventually we spoke to William who told us that our motorhome has been repaired and we would be very satisfied with the work. We insisted that it has been repaired by the factory several times and was still not satisfactory and we needed an extended warranty. He said he did not have the authority to give us that. No one did.

I completely agree with the post about the company politics and the internal rot. If you have some of the same management as you did when the company went bankrupt you can see why, especially customer service. I no longer have the motorhome. I spoke to a lawyer. Michigan does not have a RV lemon law so it is harder to go through the court system. I researched many cases that were filed against Monaco and even if the plaintiff wins Monaco appeals to keep it in court so that your coach gets older and worth less. Lawyer said it could take a couple years. I was afraid the motorhome would not last long enough to drive it off the dealers parking lot without having to sink money it it for repairs. We are happy to be rid of this coach even though we were forced to take a 37,000.00 loss. I can only give you my story. I personally would not send a friend or enemy to Monaco/Navistar or Motorhome Specialists in Texas.

Good Luck!