As one of a very few consumer lawyers in Indiana, the state where 2/3 of all new recreational vehicles (RVs) are built, I get a reasonable number of calls from people all over the country complaining of defective vehicles and shoddy workmanship. The number of complaints has increased lately as the economy has been doing better. RV sales are healthy and manufacturers are churning them out as fast as they can. – Maybe not with the same attention to detail. The good news is that most of the time that people call me, they don’t need me – yet, because they haven’t given the manufacturer a suitable opportunity to fix the defects. Here are some of the recreational Vehicle manufacturers located in Indiana:

 Crossroads RV
 Evergreen RV
Forest River RV
Heartland RV LLC
Jayco, Inc.
Keystone RV
Nexus RV
The RV Factory
Thor Motor Coach
Tuscany Luxury Motorhomes

 Though there may be some cost savings in buying an RV directly from the manufacturer (usually in the Elkhart, Indiana area); there are some benefits in buying from an authorized dealer near you. The reason is that if you buy from the manufacturer, the manufacturer may require that you deliver the vehicle back to the manufacturer at your expense to fix the defects. If you complain and make a fuss, the manufacturer might relent and have you bring the vehicle into a service center close to you; or they might even fly somebody out to fix your vehicle in some extreme cases. If you buy a vehicle directly from the manufacturer in Northern Indiana, and if you can’t resolve your differences out of court, you may have to sue the Manufacturer in Elkhart County, Indiana – a county where the majority of the jobs directly or indirectly are tied to the RV industry. How sympathetic do you think an Elkhart County jury would be to your claim? We try to set up the case so we can file it in Federal Court, but that isn’t always possible.

 Understand that the Lemon Law in Indiana (and in most states) does not apply to most recreational vehicles. Your warranty protection comes from the express warranty of the manufacturer and the implied warranty of merchantability. This also means that it is a very rare situation that you can require the manufacturer to buy the vehicle back or give you a replacement. Correspondingly, if you buy a used RV, you should only expect the protection of a narrow interpretation of whatever written warranty is given, and realize that there may be no implied warranty at all. For this reason, before you buy a used RV, I recommend that you pay for a professional inspection by a member of the NRVIA (National Recreational Vehicles Inspectors Association). You can find one in your area at www.nrvia.org. If you buy a new RV which exhibits numerous an/or expensive problems relating to workmanship early in your ownership, it may also be prudent to get a NRVIA inspection. An NRVIA inspection report that backs you up takes you out of the “unreasonable owner” or “morning after regret” category.

Keep in mind, that usually if you buy a used RV, it will usually be the dealer or a third party warranty company providing the warranty, so your claim would be against the dealer or the third party warranty company. Before you hire a lawyer, it is essential that you document each defect that you want the manufacturer to address, and present your claim for warranty repair in detail and in writing. It often helps to have pictures documenting the problem. Remember the longer you wait, the more likely it is that the problem will be attributed to normal wear and tear. You have to give the manufacturer at least one (and often more than one) attempt to resolve the problem before you can turn it into a legal claim. (There can be an exception to this rule under the U.C.C. doctrines of rejection/revocation of acceptance; but as a general rule, you need to give the manufacturer a chance to fix the problem.)

Don’t rely on anything the manufacturer or dealer promises you on the phone. If you receive a promise on the phone, send the person an email immediately afterwards confirming what was said in your conversation. If you have a significant problem that still exists after the manufacturer has had the opportunity to inspect and repair the RV, you can contact a lawyer. You can contact me through my website here , or if you are outside of Indiana, you can find a consumer attorney in your area through the National Association of Consumer Advocates “find an attorney” page, linked here.

 If you are considering buying an RV, I want to point out that everything about the RV ownership experience is potentially expensive. If you have to strain your finances to afford the RV payment that you are considering, it’s probably not the RV for you. RVs can be expensive to buy, finance, insure, maintain, repair, and move. It is also potentially expensive to litigate an RV defects case. Whatever attorney you hire, it is likely that your attorney fees will be at least $2,000. You can expect tht your attorney will try to set up a claim in such a way to try to get the other side to reimburse you for the attorney fees paid; but that doesn’t always happen, and you are unlikely to find an attorney who will take on a complex RV defect case for a purely-contingent fee.

When I do a consumer case involving product defects, whether it is an RV, a car, or even an alarm system, I usually combine a customer complaint strategy with my legal work.  Sometimes the court of public opinion gives you a better remedy than the court of law.