Alert Unintended awning deployment redux

[TJ&LadyDi]

The replacement Girard awning was installed today by Premier RV Services of Oregon in Junction City. It looks great! That said, no replacement controller or other electronics was received, so we are still using the ones that were in place when the awning unexpectedly deployed while we were pulling into a fuel stop sometime back. That leaves me a little uneasy. From now on, the awning controller will ALWAYS be unplugged when the coach is moving.

The techs at PRVS ALSO verified that there is no ACTIVE ignition interlock that cuts power to the awning controller when the coach is underway. Either Newmar did not install one, they didn’t install it correctly or the interlock has failed. Since Newmar never responded to my e-mail detailing the unintended (and, very unexpected) deployment while underway, I have no information to share on that aspect.

We’ve fought this battle to the point where it doesn’t seem worth the effort to continue doing so. We will simply report this incident to NHTSA and let them go wherever they wish with it. I’m a bit disappointed that this situation hasn’t come to a more conclusive ending. Hopefully, this won’t happen again and someone gets hurt.

This is precisely why we are giving up RVing in the coach; we no longer trust that Newmar manufactures a safe, reliable coach. Sadly, I’m of the opinion that a once-great company has fallen into the money trap and is willing to put questionable products on the market in order to keep its profit margin up. Those words will probably cost us a bundle of money when we sell the coach, but that’s the way it is.

We have similar sentiments about Spartan. The saga of not being able to turn the engine off with the key continues. The techs at PRVS called Spartan today, as instructed, and did not receive a call back. They called again a few hours later with the same result. And, they can’t get the problem to recur in the shop even though is happened again this morning, preventing me from retracting the bedroom slide. I tried for a half hour this morning to get the engine to shut off with no success. So, PRVS sent a tech out to help. Wouldn’t you know it; the second time he turned the key off, the engine shut down!

Is it any wonder that we don’t trust this 2018 Newmar Mountain Aire on a Spartan chassis? And, we haven’t even mentioned the DEF head problem yet.

TJ

 

[MapNerd]

I’m sorry to hear that you’re still not getting any kind of meaningful resolution on this @TJ&LadyDi.

I would encourage you to consider following up with Newmar one more time to fill them in on all that has transpired and maybe even send a letter certified mail to Matt Miller if for no other reason than it might get the you and the coach the proper attention so that it can at least be put in proper order for the next poor soul that buys an RV made by a publicly traded company.

 

[MapNerd]

Maybe you can trade it for a lightly used Newell like @CaptainGizmo did

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

Maybe you can trade it for a lightly used Newell like @CaptainGizmo did

Naw…we’re done with the motorized beasts! And, we’re definitely done with Newmar!!! Matt Miller doesn’t engage in customer communication. He just sits in his ivory tower.

TJ

 

[CaptainGizmo]

TJ, I can SOOOO feel your pain…more than you’ll ever know. I’ve got more energy and passion than most people half my age. Yet, our Newmar made me feel twice as old from being emotionally and physically drained.

Rather than give up, I made the decision to seek out a used Newell that we could afford. It was the best decision ever.

The only regret is no longer visiting with all the wonderful people when we visited Newmar service. Go figure.

I wish I could talk to you at Polson again. We could share stories and maybe I could talk you off the ledge!

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

No “ledge” to talk us off, @CaptainGizmo; we’ve made the decision. We’ll list our Polson lot for sale in the next week or so and, once we get the remaining issues resolved with the coach, it will go up for sale as well. We’re just tired of the hassles and want to simplify our remaining years. It has been a great run; we’ve been a lot of places and met a lot of people. Now, it is time to move to the next phase.

TJ

 

[CaptainGizmo]

No “ledge” to talk us off, @CaptainGizmo; we’ve made the decision. We’ll list our Polson lot for sale in the next week or so and, once we get the remaining issues resolved with the coach, it will go up for sale as well. We’re just tired of the hassles and want to simplify our remaining years. It has been a great run; we’ve been a lot of places and met a lot of people. Now, it is time to move to the next phase.

TJ

Understood, for sure, and we wish you the best. I’m sorry it didn’t end on a better note but I know that the great memories will far overshadow these last few.

 

[Jim]

No “ledge” to talk us off, @CaptainGizmo; we’ve made the decision. We’ll list our Polson lot for sale in the next week or so and, once we get the remaining issues resolved with the coach, it will go up for sale as well. We’re just tired of the hassles and want to simplify our remaining years. It has been a great run; we’ve been a lot of places and met a lot of people. Now, it is time to move to the next phase.

TJ

Oh no! Well I'll say that I understand your frustration. That coach was one major investment and to not trust it is a serious matter. I dumped my Blue-Tec Benz last year for (hold on to your hat) a Ford Explorer! Talk about a change! But that damn car was so undependable I considered it a major victory if I made it to town and back without the engine light coming on. Not missing that at all.

Sorry that we will never make a chance meeting out there on the open road, that would have been outstanding! But I'm sure this is not an easy decision for you both to make, but I'm sure that you wouldn't be making it if it wasn't the right one.

It'll all catch up with Newmar in the long run. To bad so many of their once loyal customers will have to take a hit before it happens.

 

[Old-RV'er]

Trust me on this. Our Alpine APEX caused more headaches than your Mountain Aire has for sure. If it went 20 miles without a problem I cannot remember it. Every single time I took it someplace, something broke, would not work as advertised, or something, the electrical QA and the wiring when assembled was a kindergarten project by 5 year old's. I personally had to fix the generator connection to the RV, because the wire nuts were the wrong size, one fell off in my hand when opening up the J-Box. Several almost fires by owners reported. The only good thing in that RV was the ISL-400 and the Allison transmission. Although it drove excellently, the prospect of every single trip causing me to pull my tools out fixed me almost on RV'ing. To get rid of it we traded it in on the Ventana, and so far, sans the rear PDM issue (which so far has NOT happened to us), the coach has performed excellently. An RV is an earthquake going down the road, and I would wager, at some point, the reason the engine will not shut off all the time is an electrical issue of indeterminate location. Once it's found, everyone will pull their hair out, wondering why did we not think of that a long time ago. That the awning extended going down the road is scary period, and no cutout from ignition switch is just bad engineering. But, money talks and everything else walks, twas me, Certified, Registered Letter to Matt Miller, with a forwarding cover letter from attorney might just get their attention. Don't count on NHTSA for anything, federal agency, trust me, 60% of those employees are worthless. But I totally understand your position, regardless of age, RV'ing is not like it used to be, and dropping everything and being able to jump in it and go, not worrying about where the day will end, well that type of travel is mostly over. To structured travel is taking all the fun out of it. Ours possibly is going on the block this fall if things proceed as difficulty as they have so far this year. Good luck and God's speed.