[David Bott]

FOLLOWUP...

Ok, well, for those of you playing along. It is time for the followup to the above posts.

As many know, Brenda and I had number of issues with our TM to the point of having to bring it to the plant so GS could work on it directly. Well, after almost 2 weeks of being their, our coach is much better shape.

The main issue we were bring the coach in for was the main slide was not coming all the way out on the bottom part. In other words, the inside top was VERY tight and the bottom sides you could put your fingers between. Now, this does not sound like a hard to thing to fix as the bottom just needed to be moved out some with the ram rod threaded shafts. Well, lets just say something did not go quite right. What went wrong? No one would say but if you look at the issues made after that point, it was not hard to figure out in my humble opinion.

3 different people worked on the slide to the point that they called in PowerGear, the maker of the slide unit. All in all, after several adjustments and part changes, including a pulley and a hydraulic rod, the slide was adjusted. However, with one remaining issue. The paint stripes in the rear part of the slide are no longer lined up. The rear end of the slide is down about 1/2 inch and can not be moved up as now it is already at max up extension. GS assures me this will not be an issue with it getting worse in the future. I however remain sure that it will as everything gives over time. It will sag and will not be able to be moved up in the normal way.

So...Most of the time spent at GS was the slide being taken in and out to find out the issue with it. When I say in and out, I mean, the slide was hyper-extended out of the side of the coach. That means that all of he internal wood trim and would have you would need to come off and go back on. This occurred 3 times and mind you that then we had wood issues as they put on differnt wood that was, well, poor. This of course was changed out.

All in all, at GS, we had...

1) Power inverter replaced as the service center in Orlando, where we were at one time, did not have the part needed.

2) The PowerTech Generator repaired as they PowerTech service center in Orlando was not open on Fridays. (Bad power controller) Note...PowerTech was great to deal with. They came out to the plant and did the repair and were very very nice.

3) Master slide fixed to 95% of us being happy with it.

4) Rear bed side slide leak repaired.

5) New master slide topper as the other one stretch and would not tighten.

6) Awning fixed as it was missing a few bushings that would keep the arm inline so it would close.

7) 2 coach batteries replaced as one was leaking.

8 ) Co-Pilot seat fixed as the front of the seat would be crushed in by the foot rest when it went back in.

I am sure I am missing something more...But those are the main things.

Along with the fixes, GS also helped us out with a few upgrades...

1) The front glass doors for the electronics were replaced with doors that had a black metal mesh. (Our design, they made it happen and did a GREAT job.) The issue is that with the glass doors no heat can get out of the electronics area which is not good for the gear used. Even more if you something that makes a lot of heat like a Hi-Def sat box or PVR as the heat can get really bad.

2) They ran an HDMI cable for the bedroom display as their is really no easy way of doing this.

3) They removed and installed a replacement KVH Sat Dome as mine had broke down yet again. (I purchased the dome, they were nice enough to pull off the old one and put the new one on.)

We thank Gulf Stream for going above and beyond with this special support.

Now with that all said....Let me tell you about Gulf Stream....

Brenda and I are happy with our pick of Gulf Stream and the Tour Master over all. Would be buy from them again or recommend them? Yes. The Tour Master coach offered more than any other coach at the time we purchased and you could not beat the price/value/features of the coach. Not sure if the same will be said for the future however seeing how the market is. Gulf Stream stood behind their product and did the service on the coach noting the issues that were made and considering what changes need to be made when they start the Tour Master line again.

They do however still have a number of places that need to improve. One of which is working more with the community that supports them and that will help them grow...The on-line community. It used to be that word of issues and what have you would only get out at rallies and then it was small groups at that. Now with the Internet, words happen at a click of a button and it can help or hurt a companies sales as a great number of people are reached. Look at the number of views of this thread alone and any one can understand that. So they need to work better with the public and support and help the communities IMHO.

After going though this for over a year, Brenda and I have our own ideas for a Tour Master Special Edition that we are going to propose to GS. This is not only based on what has taken place, but also comes about when we had looked at other coaches when we were considering dropping GS. All in all however, we are currently glad we did not.

Brian Shea, Mark, Dave, Cindy and the rest of the staff at GS, thank you for helping, and even more, listening to our concerns. When someone purchases something of this price tag, it is not a small purchase and your commitment goes a long way.

Special Regards,