Larry Stransky
Google
We purchased our Crusader 5th wheel in April of 2024. We were happy with the purchase price we were able to negotiate with the dealership. The purchasing process was quick and efficient.
Hours after leaving the dealership we discovered a leak under the kitchen sink. I looked at the drain pipe under the sink, it had a section of PVC pipe seamed with JB Weld. We called RV Mart and said we were bringing it back the next day. We did, left it for the day and picked it up. Got back to the RV park, turned on the water and it was still leaking. Called RV Value Mart service, they said, bring it back tomorrow. We came back with it on day 2, the tech said, "we are a small shop, I don't have the parts on hand, I'll just cut it out of one of the other RV's in our lot and replace into your unit." They did, we left, and it did not leak after that.
Day 2 of ownership we discovered a crack in one of the tinted windows. Missed during our 1 hour walk through. An email went immediately to Kristin, who replied back, "don't worry about it, it's under warranty for a year, bring it back to us and we will submit a warranty claim." Six months later I reached out to Kristen to schedule that repair. She responded back, CSI denied the warranty repair and recommends you report to your insurance company." I emailed Kristin and said, "this is really unacceptable, please reach out to your boss or the owner of RV Value Mart and tell them this needs to be absorbed by the dealership then, it's just good customer service. Kirstin never responded back. I called my salesman Tony, left him a voicemail message asking for help, Tony never returned my call.
We soon discovered all four RV tires had such little clearance and were rubbing the RV's underbelly. The sealed underbelly (four season model) had been worn away above each tire from the rubbing, exposing the raw plywood floor above. This was a design error and huge safety issue. We only had a half inch of clearance. This was never caught at the dealership before releasing it to us. We chose to work directly with Forest River and had the unit repaired to our satisfaction, not at the dealership, in our driveway. Forest River and Lippert were both AMAZING. I immediately gave Forest River a five star Google Review for their excellent customer service.
While Lippert was at our home and the tech was under the unit, he asked if we had work done to the rear stabilizer. I said no, why? He showed me the rear driver's side was bent and had been welded very poorly, not a Lippert factory job. He also pointed out the frame was bent as a result of whatever trauma had been done to initially break the stabilizer. This was not disclosed to me at the time we purchased the unit. How do I know the repair was done at Value Mart prior to our purchase? Forest River told me a warranty claim was put in by the dealership the day after I purchased it. It's in the computer. It was already in my possession, no one ever disclosed the issue to me and they were requesting warranty work, i'll let you draw your own conclusions.
A few months after taking ownership I decided to take off the spare tire cover to see what brand tire I had and to make sure it was inflated. There was a used tire mounted, with rocks in the treads with scratched tire rims that did not match my other four rims? I have brought this to Kristin's attention in two different emails, she has never responded to the specifics of the used tire.
Lastly, our unit came with a Lippert Tire Pressure Monitoring System. I attempted to hook it up while at the dealership, unsuccessfully. I asked the tech to please show me how to use it. He spent about 15 minutes trying to get it to work, ultimately could not. His explanation to me was, "these never work, there is a component inside the tire on the rim which has a battery. The batteries always die, you need to remove the tires and replace the battery. Did he offer to do that? No.
This was our experience.
