Hi all.. We have a Class A diesel pusher and are going full time this spring. I'm wondering what fulltimers do when they have to take the RV in for service.... It can sometimes take days or even weeks to get looked at for repairs or just general maintenance like oil changes or 60,000 mile check ups.
Where do you stay? What happens to all the food in the fridge?
Thanks
Marilyn & Gene
Barbaraok said
07:13 PM Jan 15, 2015
You find a shop that will work with fulltimers, who have a place for you to park, power available, etc. and they understand you will be there everyday sitting in their waiting. Guess what, they get it done in a reasonable time frame. Key is a firm that understands fulltimers. Also most of these places take the rig in during the day, push it back out for you at night. Some even have an RV park on the grounds or next door.
Barb
bjoyce said
08:20 PM Jan 15, 2015
Barb has it right. We have been in for repair or maintenance many times in our 11 years of fulltiming and only once, and it was known in advance, did we have to move out and we moved into a residential motel room with a fridge. That was for work on the body, where the sidewalls were replaced and the DP was repainted. As parttimers we did leave the motorhome for work.
Technomadia said
09:13 PM Jan 15, 2015
We specifically seek out shops that are ok with us staying in the coach. Only once have we had to get a hotel for the night, and that was when swapping out the tires/wheels and they ran into an unexpected problem that required overnighting a part. They just weren't setup for full timers, and it was supposed to be a 1-hr quick job.
In Orlando we stayed overnight in the Cummins Onan parking lot so we were ready for them in the AM to do a service(oil change & filters) before our treck back home. It was an electric gated lot. The service manager gave me the access code ahead of time over the phone because we would be flying down, picking up our motorhome and it would be later at night. We arrived at the shop. I punched in the access code and we were in. Drove to the rear of the large paved lot and there were about 4 or 5 full serviced sites just like a camp ground. Water, sewer, power.
That was a neat service to have for your customers.
NWescapee said
07:02 AM Jan 16, 2015
Because we work out of our rig, staying in it during repairs isn't always as easy. The last repair, all the slides had to be in, the desk was inaccessible. It was a 2 day repair, so the first day we took all the laundry with us, I hung out in the truck and worked while Dale did laundry and then we went back to our campground. We had paid for our spot in a local campground, so with a folding table, a couple of camp chairs, an extension cord to plug my laptop in and our cooler with lunch, etc, we were able to just work outside. Of course, this is weather dependent and for us it was perfect. I spent 1/2 day in the cab of the truck while laundry was being done and the other 1.5 days working outside. Probably wasn't as productive but made it work.
Our solar upgrade was going to require a lot of rewiring and the noise of trying to work in my office area would have been too much, so for that upgrade we got a hotel that allowed pets. Just made life simpler.
We've also had 2 occasions where work was done by a mobile RV tech, in which case I relocated myself and the cat to the bedroom, closed the door and they did the work on the fridge, etc.
Just have to be flexible, it's going to depend on your needs. Having the ability to work while the rig is in the shop complicates things for us a bit but each time we figure it out.
LandYachty said
08:17 PM Jan 27, 2015
We have slept in the RV in the service bay, locked in the building!! No Problems. We usually do movies, laundry, and libraries when the work is being done. Only once did we have to get a motel room for the night, that was when the entire slide was off the RV.
Bill and Jodee said
08:37 PM Jan 27, 2015
If it's insurance-covered work, our policy covers the hotel - but if we couldn't find a dog-friendly location we'd work with the shop to stay in the rig
Jodee
Someday said
02:01 AM Jan 28, 2015
Spent a week in the shop's parking area, we were towed 90+ miles to in Pocatello Idaho whilst awaiting a new engine install in April 2013. Initially they mentioned motel, we said no, they provided hook ups to electric when not being worked on, even lent us their work vehicle to go explore out and about, just had to replace gas. Heavily tattooed biking crew that were fabulous beyond belief, and the price was awesome. First and only experience of being in the shop overnight(s).
BLRSmith said
09:21 AM Jul 19, 2015
That's why we got a 5th wheel :)...just saying.
bjoyce said
09:25 AM Jul 19, 2015
BLRSmith wrote:
That's why we got a 5th wheel :)...just saying.
I guess I don't understand your post.
cherylbrv said
04:39 PM Jul 21, 2015
Unfortunately, there have been 2 times where the rig had to be in the repair shop for more than overnight (once for almost a month). We have had to stay in hotels, although one time it was in a place near where our daughter lives so she allowed us to stay with her for about a week!
Clay L said
10:40 AM Jul 22, 2015
Bill and Jodee wrote:
If it's insurance-covered work, our policy covers the hotel - but if we couldn't find a dog-friendly location we'd work with the shop to stay in the rig
Jodee
You may already be aware of this but Motel Six allows pets. I was told by by a desk clerk that is corporate policy. They aren't fancy but served our purpose.
NWescapee said
11:14 AM Jul 22, 2015
We're just going through this again and made a rookie mistake. Since we were heading back into our old home base, we had a shop there that we knew, liked their service and trusted their service manager so it seemed like a "no brainer" to make an appointment, have them go through the diagnostic of the issue, contact our extended warranty company (they have been excellent at this in the past) and order the parts. We then scheduled the actual repair, but the last time they worked on our rig was just prior to going FT, so where to stay wasn't an issue, we just stayed in our house. For this repair, We already knew we couldn't work from the rig as this was a hydraulic issue and they would be bringing the slides in and out, raising and lowering the landing gear, etc. multiple times. We had planned to work at the local library/park near the shop.
After scheduling the appointment we learned they weren't able to let us stay on site the night before the repair due to the insurance restrictions, then we learned that they would turn off our propane and did not want the inverter running while they were working on the rig in their shop. So, we're staying at an Extended Stay Hotel that is pet friendly with a fridge so we can offload our food and have a place to work while the repair is occurring.
Lesson learned, make sure the shop is set up for overnight stays, we've always asked this before, but for some reason, since we were going back to a shop we've used before when we had a house, it never occurred to us to ask.
Hi all.. We have a Class A diesel pusher and are going full time this spring. I'm wondering what fulltimers do when they have to take the RV in for service.... It can sometimes take days or even weeks to get looked at for repairs or just general maintenance like oil changes or 60,000 mile check ups.
Where do you stay? What happens to all the food in the fridge?
Thanks
Marilyn & Gene
Barb
We've stayed up to 7-weeks 'in the shop' during our engine rebuild. Here's an article we wrote during that time period: www.technomadia.com/2013/07/our-house-is-in-the-shop-living-in-a-parking-lot/
That was a neat service to have for your customers.
Our solar upgrade was going to require a lot of rewiring and the noise of trying to work in my office area would have been too much, so for that upgrade we got a hotel that allowed pets. Just made life simpler.
We've also had 2 occasions where work was done by a mobile RV tech, in which case I relocated myself and the cat to the bedroom, closed the door and they did the work on the fridge, etc.
Just have to be flexible, it's going to depend on your needs. Having the ability to work while the rig is in the shop complicates things for us a bit but each time we figure it out.
Jodee
I guess I don't understand your post.
You may already be aware of this but Motel Six allows pets. I was told by by a desk clerk that is corporate policy. They aren't fancy but served our purpose.
We're just going through this again and made a rookie mistake.
Since we were heading back into our old home base, we had a shop there that we knew, liked their service and trusted their service manager so it seemed like a "no brainer" to make an appointment, have them go through the diagnostic of the issue, contact our extended warranty company (they have been excellent at this in the past) and order the parts. We then scheduled the actual repair, but the last time they worked on our rig was just prior to going FT, so where to stay wasn't an issue, we just stayed in our house. For this repair, We already knew we couldn't work from the rig as this was a hydraulic issue and they would be bringing the slides in and out, raising and lowering the landing gear, etc. multiple times. We had planned to work at the local library/park near the shop.
After scheduling the appointment we learned they weren't able to let us stay on site the night before the repair due to the insurance restrictions, then we learned that they would turn off our propane and did not want the inverter running while they were working on the rig in their shop. So, we're staying at an Extended Stay Hotel that is pet friendly with a fridge so we can offload our food and have a place to work while the repair is occurring.
Lesson learned, make sure the shop is set up for overnight stays, we've always asked this before, but for some reason, since we were going back to a shop we've used before when we had a house, it never occurred to us to ask.