Need help! We purchased a new class C RV (2013 Coachmen Freelander) and went to pick it up yesterday at Boat N RV in Hamburg, PA. We did the walk thru and signed all the papers. We opened the "doghouse" to put our insurance id card in it and found a repair invoice for hail damage. This repair was done while the cab was at General Motors, before it was made into an RV. It apparently went to Coachmen after that and wasn't disclosed. It finally went to Boat N RV and was sold to us. No disclosure. We want our contract ripped up and will buy elsewhere or would also accept a discount on the purchase price. Boat N RV won't budge. Our weekend plans are ruined and we don't have our RV. It's still sitting on the lot....we refused to take it home.
Where do we stand on this issue? Has anyone had this happen to them? Are we protected by the "disclosure" law? This would entitle us to a refund.
Thanks for your help.
The dealer with whom you have a contract was likely unaware of any damage since none was supported so it would be doubtful you'd have cause to quite the contract you signed.
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The dealer "should have" been aware. They did they prep and overlooked the doghouse where invoice was put by GM. That is their error. As I interpret the law, it states "the dealer knows or should know". After we found the invoice and made them aware, they were still not willing to void the contract or offer a reasonable resolution. Another RV on their property had the same invoice in the doghouse. Of course, they took it out and I don't believe that they will disclose it to a potential buyer.
msbac wrote: .....This repair was done while the cab was at General Motors, before it was made into an RV. It apparently went to Coachmen after that and wasn't disclosed.
Unlikely the repair was done at the GM Assembly Plant.
Damage like this at the Plant would result in a scrapped vehicle as it cannot be made "as new" with minor paint repairs or a bolt-on panel replacement. That is about all they are allowed to do on "New" vehicles, ie NO sheet metal work is allowed.
Damage AFTER shipping (eg in a distribution railyard) can be repaired by a sub-contractor, but the vehicle cannot normally be sold "as new" (unless it is very minor).
Damaged vehicles are very strictly controlled and the fact it HAS been repaired should have been disclosed by the body builder (Coachmen).
I think you need to go back at them and not your dealer.
But IMHO the dealer should also be PO'd that Coachmen sold him that unit and should be batting on your team.
For the Law in PA, start here
If the site is accurate, it would appear you may have a case, depending on the cost of repairs.
Keith J.
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I believe your son already has a discussion on this subject in progress!
jb1175 wrote: Good Morning. My parents went to take delivery of a new RV last night. Went through the new user training and were about to drive off the lot. In the glove compartment was a notice from GM saying the vehicle was reconditioned after a hail storm. For good reason my parents were upset this was never disclosed prior to the sale ( they're going to be paying this off for a long time). Dealer said there was another one in the showroom. Same issue! Dealer refuses to rescind the contract or take anything off. Parents left RV on the lot and left. The RV is fixed, but you're buying brand new for that very reason...brand new.It should have been disclosed.
My question is this..Is the disclosure law in PA the same for a new RV as it is for a new vehicle?
Thank you so much for your help. My parents are getting older and this was an exciting purchase for them. I want to help them resolve it so they can get some enjoyment out of it.
My posts shouldn't be taken for factual data. They are purely fictional, for entertainment purposes and should not be constituted as actually related to scientific, technical, engineering, legal, spiritual or practical advice. Amen.
kaydeejay:The repair invoice was done by Khs Global Hail Repair Experts in Detroit, MI and the cost was $675. It seems we are good to go with this law but Boat N RV isn't giving us an answer to this question.
I'm just shocked at the poor customer service that we're getting at the dealer and the main office in Tennessee. They(Tennessee) are going to do a conference call with "the factory" and their (Boat N RV) owner to see what to do. They admit that we are caught in the middle, but we were also told that it might come to a "you just have to take it" answer. Right now we're dealing with the Boat N RV office in Tennessee as the Hamburg dealer wouldn't help us out at all. They said we had to take it. We left it there.
So is there any information about what was repaired? If there was significant repairs then perhaps you could persue gettting the contract cancelled. However, if the repair was minor then could this be much ado about nothing?
msbac wrote: The repair invoice was done by Khs Global Hail Repair Experts in Detroit, MI.
That supports my theory that it was NOT done by GM at the Assembly Plant. Most GM cutaway chassis are built in Wentzville, Missouri.
I suggest you follow up on the link regarding the PA Lemon Law in my previous post. If you have a "cost of repair" it will or will not fit the guidelines.
The key statements are"
"What that means is that a dealer is obligated to tell you if the new vehicle that you are attempting to purchase has had any damages or repairs that exceed $500 or 3% of the MSRP.
If a dealer fails to comply with the requirements of this act, the buyer is entitled to seek a refund of the purchase price of the damaged vehicle."
If close, I would argue the cost of repair as a percentage of the base chassis, not the finished RV, but that may get complicated.
Good luck
The damage was light to moderate but the fact remains that we are shelling out $60,000 for a NEW RV. We are newbies and were very excited about this new adventure. It's a huge purchase for us. The excitement is now gone.
Forgot to mention that they also didn't install our upgrades and no one called us before we went for pickup. We would have to drive the RV back there in a week or so (drive time 60 min).
* This post was
edited 08/04/12 12:30pm by msbac *
Thanks for all of your most helpful information. That's more ammunition for us to use, but I'm not very hopeful at this point. Disappointed is an understatement and our doggies were looking forward to their first camping out experience.
Just looked up KHS Global Hail Repair Experts and they are in MO! Jackpot!
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