This kinda bothered me.
A new friend of mine just purchased a brand new 180 from https://www.couchsrvnation.com - Couch's She drove from Las Vegas to Ohio to buy it and then stopped close by here in NJ, new pod in tow. A novice rv owner, she relied on her own research and manufacturer and dealer to guide her. I'm sure she's one of hundreds, if not thousands who depend on professional guidance.
She contacted me to help walk her through some things she wasn't clear on. Kinda fun to play with a brand new 180. She thought she had been given a thorough walkthrough. She hadn't.
Propane system was explained but not even turned on (stove, water heater, fridge). I purged the lines for her, started and verified HW system, stove, fridge and heater. Couch's should have done that.
When the FW system was demonstrated, they did it via city water hookup. Never even turned the pump on. There were other things, but this turned out to be the most egregious. Fortunately, she was camping nearby.
She filled her FW tank for the first time. I had mentioned that she may need to run with the HW faucets open for a bit to fill the 6 gallon HW tank. She called and said it had been running for a while and was still just spitting mostly air. Same with cold side. Hmmmm.
My first thought was they (Couch's) left the antifreeze sucker hose valve open during the walkthrough. Silly thought as they didn't do a winterization walkthrough. Over the phone I walked her through where it was and what to look for. I suggested she look at the pump filter also to make sure it wasn't loose or clogged. She checked it out and said that it looked fine, the valve was in the proper position and the filter was too tight to get off. I decided to go have a look...
It was a little baffling at first. BTW, the water pump on a brand new 180 is very quiet. When I turned on the faucets they just spit and spattered like the pump was running dry. The FW tank was full. I stared at the pump for a minute and saw the problem. You probably will too:
When I grabbed the antifreeze hose, the tank supply host popped right off the valve. The clamp wasn't even crimped! It was just sucking (mostly) air.
OK, so Forest River made a silly, but consequential mistake. But worse was that Couch's should have caught that on walkthrough. A fifty cent hose clamp easily fixed the problem, but it should not have left the lot that way.
I guess I'm bringing this up because I have heard too many stories of people who have little or no clue about the rv they just bought, much less its systems. Yes, there is a certain amount of personal, buyer beware responsibility but given the lack of manufacturer QC I would think both buyer and seller would benefit from a complete and thorough walkthrough and systems check *before* the unit leaves the lot.
I hope someone from both Forest River and Couch's occasionally reads this forum.
fred
------------- 2014 RPod 178 => https://goo.gl/CV446f - MyMods and Buying Habits
2008 4Runner Limited 4.0-liter V6
Yes, those are wild ponies dining on grass while dumping tanks!
|