Re: Reputation of McMahon RV - California?
By the way, 'brand new' class A's require very little 'expected' maintenance. This will be laid out in the owner/user manuals which come with the unit. Of course, you will need to check fluid levels and air pressure and the like before you start out, but this is more of a 'take off checklist' than maintenance. There may be a 'break in' maintenance interval where you tighten things and/or replace fluids/filters after a few thousand miles, but after that it tends to be more standard intervals, on the order of yearly/15K miles.
However, 'new' class A's often have some degree of 'unexpected' maintenance. These are things which got by the spotty quality control which seems to pervade the industry. Therefore it behooves you to do a very thorough inspection of the unit before you contract to buy it, and make sure that any problems are listed on the sales contract with the agreed to resolutions. A key fact about buying motorhomes (or other vehicle for that matter) is that if it is not part of the sales contract, it is your problem, not the dealers. Next, it is wise to buy from a dealer who has a transfer lot so you can live in the unit for a few nights before completing the deal and accepting delivery. This gives you the best chance of making sure that nothing is 'marginal' and that any contracted repairs were done adequately. Once you drive off the lot, you are at the mercy of the warrantee, which is of variable usefulness.
Therefore, do not accept 'ah, that is covered under warrantee'. Maybe it is, but the warrantee is only as good as the company providing it and the company doing the work. Many people get entirely satisfactory results from warrantee work. There are a few companies who do not provide adequate warrantee service, and many shops who can't or won't do adequate warrantee work. And there are some units (lemons) which cannot be gotten into adequate shape even with the best manufacturer and service support.
I have heard of cases where people have bought a new motorhome and have had no problems whatsoever. There are more cases where they have problems, some handled well under warrantee and others they have had to live with or get fixed on their own. And there are cases of lemons which never seem to work right. I know of one lady who paid over a quarter million dollars for a motorhome and has not been able to use it once in the year and a half since. The engine blew up while they were delivering it, and it has been sitting in various service departments, or being driven (more often towed) to service departments ever since.