There's also a REV Service and Repair Center – West in Coburg, Oregon
91186 N. Coburg Industrial Way, Coburg, OR 97408
REV Recreation Group has produced over 40,000 motor coaches (class A) at REV
Decatur IN. A 2023 Fleetwood Bounder rolled off the production line March 9, 2023!
This marks the 40,000th unit the company –American Coach, Fleetwood RV and
Holiday Rambler motorized recreational vehicles in Decatur – has manufactured
since Fleetwood RV and American Coach joined REV Group in 2008. Holiday
Rambler joined REV Recreation Group, Inc. in 2013.
1420 Patterson St, Decatur, IN 46733, US TEL: (260) 728-4773
REV Service Center Decatur is associated with repair and maintenance of RV vehicles, motor homes and trailers. The service center offers repair services and parts replacement. The RV service centers also offer collision repair services to facilitate customers.
We arrived at the Service Center in Decatur, Indiana early on May 7, 2023 for our appointment at 06:00am on Monday, May 8, 2023. We were assigned the same Service Advisor that we had on our second previous trip to REV to fix our Discovery 40E, in 2017, Gregg Hancock. So, hopefully this visit will be equally satisfying as the last visit with the same Service Advisor. The Tech, Dewayne S. was new though, but we were assured that he has been at REV for a long time, so we is more than capable of fixing any issue. Below left is Greg Hancock, the Service Advisor, and below right is Dewayne S., the Tech, Service Pro. Apart from having submitted to REV the full list of issues we were visiting them to address, we also sent them many photos and videos. They allotted us with 2 weeks of service time to accomplish all the work.
Greg Hancock, Service Advisor and Dewayne S., Service Pro (Tech)
Below is the list of issues we have found deficient on our new 2023 Fleetwood Discovery LXE 44B, which as the days go by we will highlight the entries in GREEN, for work completed satisfactorily; in RED for work not completed or completed to their standards, but not to our acceptance; and in YELLOW to identify the remaining issues at the halfway point that we consider of major importance to complete (if not all is completed by the end of our two weeks time allotment.
DEFICIENCIES/COMPLAINTS
A. FRONT DOOR
1. Front Door strut is not attached
(broken plastic) and metal frame piece looks bent.
2. White stripe on inside of front
door, looks like a label edge behind frame.
3. Entry door allows air
infiltration. One day it got sucked away while underway, from frame and then
snapped back due to having deadbolt lock on; otherwise, it may have flung open.
B. COCKPIT
1. Screws heads (black round
heads) are breaking off with normal use.
2. Driver seat unbalanced, not
equal cushion support (feels like an old 2–3-year-old seat (compared to
firmness of PS seat), leaning down on inner right rear, which is uncomfortable
to drive. It is mostly felt, though not very visible, unless someone sits on
it. Difficulty to get it to lock in place to drive, swings from one side to
another. Also the seat is not as firm as the other seat cushion. REPLACED WITH ONE FROM ANOTHER 44B.
3. PS seat has wiring that needs
to be secured under the seat.
4. PS seat does not turn (locked
in place) Latch does not move. Also, it wobbles (not secured firmly to the base). CORRECTED
5. Screws holding black molding
next to windshield all starting to come out, starting on DS.
5. Condensation forms over the bottom 12”-18” part of the windshield inside, which then drains and collects on the base of the windshield at the front dash well, AS WELL as INSIDE the Mobile Eye. SAID RE-INSULATED
6. Chassis A/C blows but it does
not blow cold and adjustments seem hard to accomplish. Please check. Takes
forever (up to 10 mins) to change temperature. SAID IT IS OK.
C. SALON / LIVING ROOM
1. Nightshade behind the TV has
defects in the fabric, like breaks in the fabric. REPLACED.
2. Tray brackets on Theater
Seating are loose and pull out when attempting to remove the side trays. Because of the brackets being loose, the
table are not level, but rather slope when installed. SECURED.
D. DINETTE AREA
1. DS Rear facing window is very hard to open more than about 1”, and when forced it only catches on one side. CORRECTED
2. DS slide seems out of alignment
as it rubs at rear trim, on top, rubbing on the exterior half-bath wall by mirror,
even with the jacks down/level. RE ALIGNED.
3. Dinette tabletop wobbles. SECURED.
E. GALLEY
1. Faucet is supposed to switch between
spray and full flow with the press of the plunger, but it does not always work.
Sometimes it will work as full spray, but not switch to flow. Sometimes it
works on a low-pressure spray and not switch to full spray or flow. Sometimes
it works as flow only but not switch to spray. Sometimes it works as a
half-spray, but we don’t know if those are different settings or just failures
of the spray head. Regardless, sometimes if one wants it to switch to
continuous spray one has to play with it until it decides to engage. However,
we checked it bringing shower head from the shower and it worked just fine, so
we surmise that it just needs a new replacement faucet or end piece that governs
the spray or flow. REPLACED.
2. Microwave has periodic “E-2”
FAULT, with either 50amp or generator use and sometimes even in middle of
cooking. “E-2” is NOT listed as a fault anywhere. The only way to reset it is
to unplug it and replug it in, having to start timer over again. NOT ADDRESSED OR CORRECTED OR GIVEN US AN EXPLANATION O THAT FAULT.
3. Slide window screens don’t seem
to fit on well to get into the tracks. One on forward window of driverside slide does not stay in place allowing a gap between it and window frame. Also, all windows have glue or something on them, on outside
of windows (PS window seems to have glue or a defect of glass, in the glass itself) Will take a photo of it for Service Advisor. Pls correct these issues. CORRECTED
4. Pantry door FLIES OPEN when RV
turns right. Needs stronger or alternate locking mechanism.
F. HALF BATH
1. Door striker plate not counter
sunk, so door damaged rubbing on striker plate. NEW DOOR INSTALLED.
2. Heater does not work, even with
the Aqua Hot set on Burner. Heater does not blow or heat.
3. Night shade seems to be
installed uneven. (More open on one side, less on the other). However, it might
even be that the window itself is installed ‘angled’, rather than ‘level’,
whereas the blind valance is level.
G. BEDROOM
1. Both slides in bedroom, have significant light/cold air incursion, on both forward and rear corners of the slides and some spaces along the bottom. Daylight can be seen inside and interior lights can be seen from outside at night. ADDED INSULATION
2. Mattress is damaged (torn) by
bent sharp metal edge on bed-top hinge and screws not fcondensation. MATTRESS REPLACED HINGE FIXED.
3. Constant condensation on slide wall under headboard causing damage to plywood base and keeping mattress & bed covers wet, when temp is cold and/or it rains a lot. APPARENTLY CORRECTED SO FAR
4. Both rear bedroom window sticks
(only opens @1/2”). Needs to open smoothly and all the way to lock open.
H. MAIN BATH
1. Shower cover plate @wall is
loose/separated from wall and dangling; seems like it needs to be caulked or
something to keep water from entering wall.
J. BUNKS AREA
1. One bunk mattress needs to be replaced
as it is stained/damaged from an apparent water intrusion before we bought it.
We cannot tell if it was water entering from the window, or from condensation
on that wall (the same as we are experiencing with ‘condensation’ on the inside
wall at the headboard wall and the mattress in the bedroom. Something needs to
be done to stop the wall condensation (inside), or our mattresses and bedding
will always be ruined. REPLACED.
K. ELECTRONICS / FIREFLY
(Eclipse)
1. Using the eclipse phone app to
extend the awnings do not always work. The main control panel does not work the
awnings at all. The REMOTE works sometimes, but does not seem to communicate
with the rear slide, either. This may be OE, but we want it checked and if OE, someone
to teach us how to use these or explain (logically) why it won’t connect
LOCALLY or REMOTELY. THEIR CORRECTION: Apparently the Awnings were not supposed to be shown on the Firefly main panel, so they were removed from it. The ONLY way to open/close the awnings, then, is with the Girard remote controls. Also, IF they ever won't close, (stuck OPEN) DON"T PANIC!. There are a few failsafes; one is to turn engine on and with your foot on the brake, release the parking brake and put transmission on D, release foot brake a little o move RV forward a few inches, which should automatically retract any open awnings.
2. As mentioned above, shortly after the black tank level went from 33% to 67% on the Firefly controls, both macerator toilets stopped working (no water in, no flush). On a hunch I emptied the black tank, though it never said ‘Full” or anything other than the standard 2/3 of full mark of 67%. Perhaps, the calibration of (at least) the black tank may need calibration. Isn’t it supposed to show “99%” or “100%” or “Full”, when it is full? Working as designed. They are only supposed to show 33%, 67%, and 100%, BUT Black tank will stop working the toilets long before 100%, at which time one has to dump the tank. Thus, IF planning to go on a trip lasting longer than 1 week, it is advisable to dump your black tank BEFORE you leave.
3. The other
night with the generator on at night (dry camping) the firefly monitor panels
(bedroom doorway, bathroom by sink and over bed) ALL came on, flashed 5 times
and then stayed on all night, with no way to turn them off (very hard to
sleep). They say this must have been a fluke and we have not had that issue ever again.
L. A/C VENTS
1. At least one was broken, from
being forced to turn, at the dealer’s lot, and they replaced it. Some work well
(pivot). Others are totally stuck or very hard to turn and we don’t want to
break them trying to direct the flow of air. REPLACED 4 AND LUBRICATED OTHERS.
2. How do we open the air RETURNS
to be able to clean the filters. They seem almost impossible to open without
breaking them, like the air ducts. They need cleaning badly but don't come off easily. EXPLAINED: TLLhere is a place on the end of the open vents that one puts in a thin screwdriver or thin spatula and pushes in and it will snap off. Then you snap it back on.
M. FLOOR TILES
1. We were told that a few extra
floor tiles would be included with the RV, as well as grout. The grout was there
but no floor tiles at all. So, we need some extra floor tiles in case we should
ever need to repair anything. CORRECTION: The Service Advisor gave us the tiles from the wrecked RV, since they were the exact same flooring as ours.
N. HOUSE BATTERIES
1. We had a Discovery 40E which
had the two-house batteries under the maintenance free chassis batteries on a
battery slide, to be able to maintain them with water. This one is the same BUT
it has no slide, so getting to the openings of the battery is next to
impossible (maybe 1-2 holes can be accessed). How can we maintain these
batteries if we cannot see their water level to know if they need water,
without having to unbolt everything and pull the batteries out; or to be able
to fill them without overflowing them? Can a battery maintainer be added to it? If so, we'll do so ourselves. NO CORRECTION IS POSSIBLE. TOO BAD FOR THE OWNERS AS IT SAVES THEM A FEW BUCKS. Nothing can be done about it. That was just a design flaw. We will put in a battery maintainer to solve the problem.
O. PAINT ISSUES
1. Several small issues where paint was either not applied or over-painted, or has a hard/sharp protruding areas, usually on doors edges or window corners, and on outdoor TV door. Locations were identified with blue painter's tape. CORRECTED
P. SCREW HEADS BREAKING
1. We have 2-3 screw heads broken off. Screw remains but no head on it to remove it, if needed. This with just <1,500 miles, how many will break later? CORRECTED
Q. TAIL LIGHT TRIM
1. PS tail light is very loose, as if it might could fall off in future, and seems out of alignment, too tight on one side and too open on the other, unlike the DS one. CORRECTED
R. GoPilot NAV SYSTEM
It has several issues. For
example, it says that speed limit is 30 and that I am going 48mph (with an alarm)
while I am driving 53mph in a speed limit of 55mph zone. One time it said I was
traveling at 86mph CRAZY. Also gives wrong directions and at times remains stuck on last
location when underway, until a few days later. Can it be fixed, or updated, or a new (working one) replace it, or is this just the sort of BS that REV products are going to be known for now? We need a fully working GPsaidCORRECTION: They said they exchanged the SD Card for a new one and that should take care of the problems. We'll test it out in the next few months and if still not working correctly, will bring it back to them on our way to Florida, before the new vehicle warranty runs out in December 30, 2023.
S. AIR BAGS
Right Air Bag consistently seems to have less air pressure than the left. Is this normal? They checked it and said it is working correctly. NOTE: THEY LIED! TWO DAYS AFTER LEAVING REV THE PROBLEM GOT WORSE AND BY THE TIME WE ARRIVED IN STAR VALLEY RANCH, WYOMING (92 MILES FROM ANY FREIGHTLINER DEALER) THEY ONLY HOLD SOME PRESSURE WHILE UNDER WAY. WHEN STOPPING THEY LOSE AIR PRESSURE AND RV CAN BE FELT POUNDING ON FRAME, WITH ONLY SOLUTION BEING TO RELEASE PARKING BRAKE AND WITH FOOT ON BRAKE PEDAL OVER REV THE ENGINE UNTIL AT LEAST 3/4 LEVEL ON AIR PSI GAUGE IS ACHIEVED, THEN PUT IN GEAR AND START MOVING AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. WHAT A PofS THIS IS AS WELL AS REV WHO FAILED TO ADDRESS OUR CONCERN AND PUT US IN DANGER. WHAT NOW?
T. MIRRORS
1. Turned on coach and BOTH
mirrors flashed the blind spot indicators , even when underway. Had to stop,
turned engine OFF and then restarted it, to get it to stop and work right.
- 2. Mirror adjustments BOTH < > V & UP are very hard to adjust (super sensitive) in every direction, goes too far in any direction. Can they be made less sensitive to movement? ALIEVED. Much better. Seems to have been fixed.
U. CARGO DOORS
1. All need adjusting…. Some are
hard to close. The DS REAR door latch is loose (may be missing a screw) and
causes door to remain unlocked though it appears that it is locked, but pull on
bottom and it springs open. ALL ADJUSTED.
V. ENTRY STEPS
1. There are exposed screws (or something else) that is
causing dimples and rust on steps. CORRECTED
W. GENERATOR SLIDE
1. The Generator
Slide is jammed and will not open. We
had to have a Mobile Tech open it for us in order to reset the Generator
Breaker. After resetting the Breaker and
ensuring that the Generator was working properly, we closed the Slide. It jammed shut again. FYI, we have been reimbursed for the Mobile
Tech’s bill, but the Slide mechanism still needs to be fixed. It needs to slide AS EASILIY as on any other NEW RV. CORRECTION... SLIDE MADE TO MOVE EASIER, BUT LATCH NOW WON'T STAY LOCKED. IT KEEPS COMING UNDONE, THOUGH THANKFULLY SLIDE HAS NOT SLID OUT ON ITS OWN.
X. RECALLS
Have all Recalls or Product Updates been addressed, as per the letter submitted. THEY SAID YES.
Y. PAINT
1. Issues have been marked with blue tape and discussed with the lady at the Paint Dept. ALL CORRECTED "FAIR".
Z. EXTERIOR TV
1. The right hand latch does not LOCK. The key will insert like the other side, but it does not turn the lockset to lock. It does close though, so probably needs a corrected lockset. RIGHT HAND LOCK REPLACED.
QUESTIONS FOR GREG/TECH SUPPORT
ASIDE FROM WARRANTY ISSUES
We are considering the possibility
of:
1. Modifying the cargo bay doors to an all-electronic On/Off, (as we used to have on a Tiffin Phaeton 40IH) where they can ALL be locked and unlocked from a central remote switch at the door entryway or through the front door lock/unlock switch. That was so convenient. Dan Schaffner was going to get a quote but we never got one.We never got an estimate from Dan, on this
2. We would like to get some of the wallpaper fabric to be able to make modifications or repairs. THEY PROVIDED IT.
LIFE AT THE REV SERVICE CENTER DURING OUR STAY.
Week 1 at the REV Service Center, our typical days are:
05:00am - Wake up to feed and walk Roxy, and get the RV ready to be picked up for service.
06:00am - Dewayne/Tech picks up our RV and takes it into service.
06:00 to 03:00pm - We 'hang out' at the Customer lounge until it's time to return the RV to us at 3:00pm. The Customer Lounge area is quite nice, really, but it's just the waiting all day without much of anything fun to do that makes it hard. There are two floors, but we are limited to the first floor, due to Roxy. Pets are not allowed upstairs, which is carpeted and much nicer than the first floor. See photos of the upstairs (large) and the downstairs (smaller and brighter). However they also have an outside sitting area, clean restrooms and even a Laundry room with 2 washers and 2 dryers, for guests (completely free) for our laundry, since the RV sites are Electric (50A only), no water or sewer at the campsites. Down the street there are two dump stations to dump your Grey and Black tanks and fresh water available to fill your fresh water tanks. Not as comfortable as a campground site where water and sewer are included at the campsite, but after all this is just a service facility, NOT a campground. (Note, however, that at Tiffin in Red Bay AL they do offer individual sewer and water along with 50A electric. However, unlike REV and most other service centers, Tiffin does not offer appointments for service. It's a first come, first served, and often one has to wait 1-2 weeks before they will fit you in, so these services are more needed).
03:00pm to 06:00am We're on our own to relax and get ready for another grueling day of hurry up and wait.
.jpg)
.jpeg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
On Wednesday, after two grueling days of sheer boredom with nothing to do all day, we decided to take a trip to Fort Wayne to the Petsmart/Banfield store, to get Roxy two more bags of her Veterinary dog food, so we would have enough to get back to Wyoming and for some time there until we go to Idaho Falls again.
Thursday and Friday were pretty much the same as Monday and Tuesday, except that on Tuesday we did go to have breakfast at Richard's Restaurant in Decatur. It was OK (3 stars 💥💥💥). Bill had his usual... Country Fried Steak and Eggs with hashbrowns, and Mary had 2 eggs with ham and hashbrowns. The cook apparently has never heard of "sunny-side up eggs" so he served 2 fried eggs. The Horseshoe Café in Etna WY still has the best 'Country Fried Steak and Eggs', in Bill's mind.
On Thursday evening, we tried the Wings, Etc restaurant about 1 mile from the service center. Bill ordered 'Fish & Chips', and Mary a Philly Steak and Cheese sandwich. She said hers was decent, but Bill's was not. The fish was a small portion and the fries were soggy, and the coleslaw side was dry and un-flavorful. We called in the order and when we went to pick it up the service to get it was non-existent. We were told by an employee that we had to ask for it at the Bar, but the girl at the Bar was standing with her back to the clientele and never acknowledged us standing there, waiting on her to turn around... so finally we had to call her to our attention. We would not give this place any more than 2 stars 💥💥. There is a Chinese take-out next to Kroger that last time we were here in 2017, it was really good. Others say that there are several good restaurants (an Italian and a Mexican). Our go to restaurant here, 'Gianni's' closed a few years ago (in 2020 we believe).
Friday afternoon finally came and we had TWO WHOLE DAYS to rest, before it starts all over again. On Monday we will try to arrange a meeting with Gregg Hancock, our Service Advisor, to touch base on the remaining work that still needs to be done, and advise him what we consider are the priorities, highlighted in yellow, which when completed we are willing to call it good so we can leave, as much of it is probably just 'Operator Education', or stuff that Bill can fix himself.
05-22-23 Yes, we were delayed again...
Surely you have heard of getting off early for 'good behavior', well we must have been bad, because we got to stay even longer than anticipated. The work that was supposed to be finished by last Friday, so we could be on our way back to Wyoming, was delayed yet again due to the paint work not being done on time. Then by the end of Monday, the finished work was again delayed from the paint work not being done right and still leaving about 8 different spots that had issues. So Tuesday they finally finished the paint work, BUT the issue on the damaged driver's captain's chair was still unresolved. Never mind that we had reported it to REV since the beginning of February, when we made the appointment to come to the Service Center in May. Knowing that those seats take 4-6 weeks to be shipped to them, they did not order them then, waiting until we got here. Even though we have been here for close to 3 weeks, there are still no seats available to replace our seat with.
During this time (last week) a 2023 Discovery LXE 44B, the same model as ours, and even with the exact same paint job and the exact same interior colors came in after getting involved in a wreck, while being transported to a dealer. Though the entire front end was damaged on it, there was no damage to the steering wheel/pedals or to the captain's chairs, so we asked if they could swap us the driver's captain's chair on that RV for ours. They 'heed and haawd' and said they weren't comfortable using those chairs because of having been in a wreck (even though there was no damage to them and the driver was not hurt), so come Tuesday evening Mary was getting really upset and decided to go Mama Bear on the Service Advisor, Greg Hancock, dragging him to our coach and making him sit in the driver's seat, asking him if he felt that it was justifiable to make Bill drive for another 1,700 miles back to Wyoming, just because REV failed to order the seats when they should have, even though there is already another new chair in good shape, in the wrecked RV. He agreed that he wouldn't even drive to Ft. Wayne (35 miles away). So Greg went to bat for us with Matt Brames, the Service Manager, who on Wednesday morning came over to try our seat, and he too agreed that not to find a solution right away would not be safe for us, so he finally agreed to swap the two seats. So now we have to wait all of today (Wednesday) for that to be done. Yet it will be worth it, as this seat has full firmness support and does not lean to either side. Bill tries not to cause waves and deals with the problems as they are, but Mary has a shorter fuse and will force an issue, when the gentler approach fails to get the job done.
So now we are faced with needing to decide whether to leave here on Thursday and have to drive to Wyoming (1,700 miles / 5-6 days) through the holiday (Memorial Day) weekend, or hang out in the Service Center parking lot until Sunday, to avoid the holiday weekend traffic. The next post will tell which option we took.
Still, despite all the hardships (especially getting up at 5:00am M-F to have our coach picked up at 06:00am, and then having to sit in the customer lounge ALL DAY until 3:30 to 4;30pm, we are thankful to REV and our crew... Greg Hancock (Service Advisor), Dewayne S, (Service Pro/Tech), Craig (the Painter) and even Matt Brames (Service Manager) for all the work they did to fix our coach of all its issues. Now we are confident in it being worthy of its usefulness to enjoy RV'ing on it. Also want to give a shout-out to thank Glenda (Customer Service Lounge Receptionist) for her constant attentiveness and always coming by to pet Roxy and coo over her. She is a great ambassador for REV. IF you are having to take your RV to REV for service, just prepare for having to be ready to hand over you RV by 06:00AM daily and not get it back until around 3:00pm. However, there are 6 computer desks and lots of sofas and TVs. Some people even take their pillow and blankets to sleep on the sofas. There is also a large refrigerator with ice and a microwave and vending machines.
IF you have any questions about REV Service Center in Decatur IN, you are welcome to write us and ask us. Our email is roughingitgently@gmail.com
NEXT POST: Paroled - On our way back home to Star Valley Ranch, WY.
.jpg)
