New crescendo owners nightmare

[chhiii45]

My wife and I, after months of looking, decided to purchase our first new class A. We bought a 40 foot Gulfstream Crescendo bunkhouse model. It has been a nightmare from the get-go.

First off, when we arrive at the dealer, Johnson RV sales, Portland Oregon, to pick the unit up, they inform us there is a problem that has just happened with the brakes coming on intermittently. They had the coach for about 3 weeks before we arrranged to pick it up, so you can imagine my dismay that this problem just arose! Regardless, they kept the rig for about a week trying to fix the problem.

When they had it fixed they agreed to deliver it to my house. I left work early to be home when it arrived, in the meantime, that same day, I delivered to the dealer a cashiers check in full payment. They were late, no surprise, and then I get a phone call that the same brake problem has occured again and they turn around t go back to there shop. this was a wednesday and my wife and I had a scheduled 4 day camping trip already planned. Obviously that was interrupted as well.

They took the Coach to a freightliner service facitlity nearby and they kept it for another week trying to again solve the problem.

This friday they again said it was fixed. I arranged to meet at the repair facitlity to drive it home with one of the service people from Johnson RV.

All went well until i got it home and they had left. I put the slides our just fine, put them back in to take my wife for a ride, and when we returned to the hosue the slides would no longer go out!!! They spent all day saturday trying to fix the problem to no avail.

So here I sit with a very expensive coach sitting in my front yard that I cant even sleep in.

I am polling this group to see if others have similar problems with Gulfstrean and or freightliner! I hope I havent made a wrong choice in buying this RV.

I look forward to your replies to this post.

:( :?:

[11B]

No mistake its a great coach. Make double sure the drivers seat is all the way forward or your slides won't open or close. There is a swith on the drivers seat that is easy to get to and may need to be tinkered with.

[RJ82much]

I wanted to suggest the same. I nearly took off on a 100 mile trip to my dealership, in a rage, because my slides wouldn't go out. I assumed the worst.

Fortunately, I thought back over my very short (& I thought unnecessary) PDI instruction & moved the seat forward - wala, all fixed.

BTW, the parking brake "on" is also an interlock for some functions. I think it is the levelers, though could be for all hydraulics. I take no chances; parking brake on, then seat forward whenever setting up & tearing down.

[chhiii45]

Thanks for the 2 replies to my post. The service man was here today and it is fixed!!!! i even moved the coach and tried again, it worked again.

I had the same memory(vague) about moving the seat forward and I did do that to no avail. I am not sure what they found to be the problem but I am just glad it is over and I can use the RV this weekend to attend my sons wedding.

thanks again, I hope I dont have to post with problems again soon.

chuck :D

[sueandjerry]

We also bought our Gulfstream from Johnson RV Sales in Portland, OR. Unfortunately we live in the greater Seattle area so it was not a close trip. They wanted us to sign the paperwork and pay for the motorhome before we even got to look inside! I refused so they reluctantly let us take a quick tour before we paid for it. We have had nothing but a complete and total lack of response from them dealing with every problem we have had. I would never recommend them to anyone.

Good luck!

[rdlamb]

chhiii45:

Welcome to the site. Lots of great GS owners here who can help you with your problems.

Nice that your problems are fixed. Expect some more, unfortunately it comes with the RV, no matter who the manufacturer may be.

After a few hundred miles, tighten your waste plumbing. Especially the drain under the shower and bathroom sink.

Check all your fluid levels. Your slides run on hydraulic fluid, which may need to be topped off.

Be sure to check the water in your batteries. Who knows how long they have sat before installation, then how long they sat in your coach. Best to check before they die an early death.

Likewise with your tires. Make sure they are aired up to max cold psi.

If you have an Allison transmission, they may still recommend a filter & fluid change at 5000 miles.

If your dealer has not supplied you with all the manuals for your coach, get ahold of them and make them get the manuals to you. Invaluable for keeping up on maintenance.

Again, welcome.

[David Bott]

Welcome to the Gulf Stream Club. You are NOT alone. Not by a long shot. I take it you missed my thread and our issues. (It is the most read thread on this site it seems by the counter.)

viewtopic.php?t=1249 (http://www.gsowners.com/viewtopic.php?t=1249)

In fact, we are now heading to SC to the Freightliner Service and Training Center this coming Tuesday. Still does not drive right after all we have been through. They assure me "THEY" can fix it.

All in all, both Gulf Stream and Freightliner have been very good to deal with with the issues.

[RayChez1]

Glad to read that you got your brakes working. I was just wondering what the problem might have been. Was it an air leak somewhere in the system?
I was also going to recommend on your slide problem moving the drivers seat all the way forward to activate the slide movement. I saw a couple of tech's at a Freightliner shop in San Diego wrestle with a Gulfstream coach for hours and they could not make the slide work. I asked them what they were looking for and they told me they couldn't make the slide work. I told them about the seat and they looked at each other. They said they felt small after a customer had to tell them how to operate the slide. LOL!
The new Crescendos are a nice looking coach. Hope you have got as good a coach as our Scenic Cruiser. It has been a very good coach since we bought it new in 2003. :D