medico

I had a very poor experience with AmericaChoiceRV that I thought all readers of this forum might want to know about. First some background. My wife and I had a 2006 Country Coach Magna Rembrandt 45 foot coach that we had been trying to sell. After being unsuccessful for quite some time, including a 6 month stint at one consignment lot, we checked with AmericaChoiceRV and they said they would like to sell our coach. After parking the coach on the AmericaChoiceRV lot for a couple of weeks we noticed a 2012 Class B Airstream Mercedes Interstate Sprinter coach that we liked the look of and offered a trade. We spent a couple of hours at AmericaChoiceRV speaking with the internet manager, and then a salesman he took us to. The salesman interacted with the sales manager on our behalf. Initially we were offered $180,000 for our coach (The wholesale value they looked up was $178,850). We then negotiated a price on the Airstream. The final offer, which we accepted was $180,000 for our trade and $98,500 for the Airstream. The sales manager verbally agreed to this offer as presented. We signed the offer sheet as accepted and shook hands on the deal. The salesman took the offer sheet to the business office. The Finance Manager contacted 3 banks on our behalf and we were approved for a loan with all 3. We were taken into the finance office to sign paperwork, when suddenly the GM of AmericaChoiceRV put a stop to the deal. He said the coach was a soft sell and he could not get the wholesale value out of it. He then offered an auction price which was $30,000 less than their original offer. Our mistake was not asking the sales manager to sign the offer form as well. We expected them to honor a verbal commitment with a shake of the hands. Bottom line is we were forced to accept a deal far less than the original offer they gave us. They knew we wanted out and did not honor their original offer for our coach. Now understand, I did not state a price for our coach. They came up with the figures. The sales manager and GM both apologized for the mistake, but would not honor the original offer. I cannot recommend this dealership at all. They acted like the proverbial dishonest used car salesman! If you do go there be sure you get their signature as well as your signature on the offer sheet. We were both so shocked at our treatment we just left that day. We have never had a dealership pull something this outrageous in all the years we have been buying or selling vehicles or houses. They do not honor their offers. The method they employed was very underhanded. Visit this dealership at your own risk!

I believe stiffening the calibration board mount would be a big help. Mine can move. On one trip over a particularly rough road the calibration was thrown way off. We had to go to the dealer. They found a problem with the system and changed 2 each 7.5 a fuses with 10 amp self closing breakers which solved that problem. The coach will self level and every 1/2 hour checks the level again as long as the system is left on when the ignition key is shut off. It took a while to get used to every once in a while hearing air going out or the air pump coming on adding air somewhere, but this keeps the coach level. I have found that over time the coach does lower itself closer to the ground. We can see a several inch drop over a few months timeframe. Because of the air leveling, it is affected by air temps. and of course if we're on anything by pavement or concrete it does sink into the ground due to weight. Even on gravel I will sink in a couple inches or more over a few months. When we sat in our former driveway for one month it sunk into the blacktop about an inch. I do seem to have a problem, possibly unrelated to the leveling computer, whereby the front of the coach does not automatically go into travel height. I have to set the auto travel to Travel Mode. The rear goes to travel height, I then manually put the front to the same height. This might be related to a solenoid or something. Eventually I'll have to figure this out.

Rich, It was a fellow member I have never met that sent me a PM with the question. I am unsure how bad it gets for him. Yes, On my system the calibration is close, but does get affected more by rough roads. Like I said the mounting system of the calibration board is not very good. I did actually get the calibration procedure from CC.

I was asked by a fellow member to post how I accomplish the calibration of my HWH Air Leveling System on my Country Coach Magna. The calibration system is somewhat rinky dink to say the least on this system. It does not take a heck of a lot of bouncing around on the "fine" roads in this great country of ours to knock it out of calibration. Here is what I do if the coach is not level after doing the auto level procedure: 1) I do try to auto level first. 2) Next I will use a bubble level on the tile floor at the front of the coach to manually level front to back, then side to side. I check both the front, middle and rear of the coach. I get the coach as level as possible. 3) The inside process is now complete. 4) Find the actual HWH leveling computer. Mine is located in the front, driver's side compartment. This is a 3 level (3 circuit boards, one behind the other in 3 separate boxes held together with rubber gaskets) system. On the lower left side of the front most box are 2 screws (one Phillips and one hex screw). One controls front to back, the other controls left to right. 5) You will see 4 small LED lights on the front circuit board inside the front box. These correspond to the LED lights on the inside leveling panel. You have to adjust these 2 screws one at a time until ALL LED lights are off. Once they are all off, the system is calibrated. It takes a little getting used to. As you adjust front to back or left to right the opposite ones also change a times, so you might have to readjust slightly until they are all off. 6) The Auto Leveling System should now be calibrated.

Thanks for the microfiber on gel coat tip. I did not know that.

A scrub brush on an extension pole may eliminate the need for a ladder. For drying, throw a towel over the end of the scrub brush and use the extension pole for drying. To get around awning covers, the ladder is still very handy. A mild car wash soap won't remove the wax as readily as dish soap will.

Many parks have people that come around quite often and offer to wash, and often wax, your coach. In our area, washing and drying the coach, including the roof is about $80. A full wash and hand wax is about $250, depending on size. Otherwise, get out your ladder and wash glove and start scrubbing.

Just a thought, when my coach would not start, found the terminals on the wires connected to the batteries were corroded and in a couple of cases almost broken through. Had the bad connectors replaced and all connections cleaned well. No more problems. This problem started as intermittent starting, just as you are describing. I let it slid until the coach would not start. DUMB on my part!

Congrats on the "new" coach and welcome to the CC family!

I think I might opt for a couple year old coach. The Essex is definitely a higher level coach than the Eagle. The Eagle is the low end American Coach. The Essex is a higher level than the Mountain Air as well. I believe the Eagle is a similar level to the Dutch Star. The Tiffin Zephyr would be closer to the Mountain Air than the Eagle. The Essex is higher than both these other coaches. Try to find a previously owned coach, about 2 years old with low miles if possible. The bugs will be worked out to a great extent with a couple year old coach.

You also could get a couple of the larger external propane tanks that you can take to a refill station. Many of my neighbors here in Central Florida have them. This allows filling the propane tanks without moving the coach since the propane tanks can be disconnected and taken to the refill station. On the 40 degree nights here we have a Dyson Infrared heater that heats out entire coach to a temp we can easily stand. I would think one of these heaters would heat your class C pretty easily on those 20 to 30 degree nights. The infrared heaters are much better than the heaters you mentioned. They are very quiet and very efficient. Get the one with the 6 infrared tubes. I found mine on sale for about $149. The small heater in the cabinets may work to keep the pipes from freezing.

I assume we are probably talking the same thing here with the Collinite wax.

The only problem with our '12 Liberty is the gas mileage. We enjoy everything else about it. It's surprising they could never get the gas mileage that some other Jeeps now enjoy.

I would like to welcome you both to FMCA. Hopefully you also joined the club! We did not purchase our first and present coach until we were ready to retire. We missed out on some of the pleasure you will now have the opportunity to enjoy this lifestyle when still young.

Many of the new 2015 Jeeps do NOT have the shiftable transfer case. This is the determining factor in 4 down towability. Even the Grand Cherokee and Wrangler can be had in models that can not be flat towed. I agree, a poor choice on Jeeps part. Many of us specifically look for these vehicles for their towability and off road capabilities.

I use Collinite Insulator Wax for my coach. One $20 bottle will wax my 45 foot coach twice. Many boaters use this wax for their high end boats. It shines very well and lasts for over 6 months in the Florida sun. This fine wax is available at most boat dealerships.

Tiffin would also be on my short list if/when we trade. Yes they went through some problems, but seem to have solved them. And yes they stand behind their products. Newmar seems a good choice as well. Both are manufactured by companies that the owners are still directly involved. This is not the case for Winnebago and Fleetwood where the owners are corporations that are NOT directly involved in the manufacture.

Vista Print was less than $15 for 500 cards. I suppose you could design a card that simulated the FMCA cards, or included your FMCA number in one of the available text fields.

Welcome to the FMCA forum. Glad to meet you.

A good PDI will not in many cases find most of the problems. Driving down the road for a few months shakes all those problems to the point they appear. The slide problems in all probability would not have shown their ugly head until after some use. Even though ALL manufacturers have problems with new product, it seems certain manufacturers have the attitude that get them out the door and fix them later. Unfortunately this means hours, days or even weeks getting major problems fixed. I have heard of more problems with Fleetwood and Winnebago than all others recently, but Tiffin went through their problem period as well, as did Newmar and most others.

Thanks for this thread. We were looking at a 2014 Tour. The Winnebago line is now out of consideration for us as well. If we ever get to CA Mike Thompson will also be out of consideration. I would also start a lemon law complaint as well as consult with an attorney about these troubles. Good luck with kicking Winnebago's proverbial "A _ _"!!!!!

Did a Google search. See if any of these help.

I can see where part timers do not use the dishwasher as often, but we will never be without one. We had a dishwasher in our SB that was used every day, and the dishwasher in our coach is used every day. I guess you do what you are accustomed to doing. The dishwasher tends to save us time to do other more enjoyable things.

I just asked my DW (Dear Wife by the way) and she said if I ever try to buy a coach without a D/W (Dishwasher) she will give me serious problems. I might find myself sleeping on the couch.

The referenced sites seem to be closed.