Pricey repairs

[mbulriss]

Winston,

Now that we see this, no wonder that owner scared you with his tales
of expensive repairs! Interesting sales strategy on his part!

As Scott and Ralph pointed out, we all need to be educated consumers
and shop around if a quote seems to peg our BS sniffer meter. <Scott,
I hope that first guy you ran into is still holding the rusty exhaust
pipe also!>

Buddy Gregg service..... that explains a lot. I'll let Ralph comment
further on that when he gets back into town, but if there's a way to
make it expensive, Buddy's guys can do it. I asked them to check for
a suspected air bag leak in a specific bag. Their response was
$4,500-5,000 to replace all the air bags. They "wouldn't just replace
one bag". Of course they never bothered to evn look at it either!
Ralph freed up the sticky air valve for me at a Lone Star
Birds rally with a $3 can of PB Blaster (I think it was). An air
dryer filter R&R at Buddy's was I think a $600 or 700 quote (3-4 hours
labor plus $100+ parts); versus the $32 filter and the hour and a half
I took to do it myself! I work slow.....

Since the owner mentioned Cat, I will assume that the 91 in question
was an SP model. Can't speak to that model specifically; maybe Hank
or someone else can comment on the $1500 of labor to change an
alternator. I still can't fathom having to R&R the bumper to get to
the alternator, nor can I see it taking more than 2 hours total to get
that done. Makes the PT Detroits seem much easier to work on now!

The comment about the Caterpiller shop having to "fabricate tools
because they do not generally work on Bluebirds and their tools don't
work" cracked me up. That's hilarious! Now I know Harley's have some
special "factory only" tools, but I've never found anything on the
Bird that wasn't readily available in my own set of "non-professional"
tools, much less at a professional repair facility or dealer shop.

While the prior owner seems to have delighted in throwing money away,
you *can* find "competent" service facilities for more reasonable
prices. Some people only go to their auto dealers for oil changes.
Some people enjoy bragging about how much things cost them as
a badge of their affulence. Most folks on these forums are more
concerned with doing things a little more economically, and having it
done right the first time.

As was stated by several other members, you just have to be a smart
consumer and seek advice when you need it, before you throw yourself
to the wolves. I think the responses that you are seeing here should
indicate that there are other ways to be sure things are fixed
properly without just throwing $$$ at it with no questions asked.
Please don't be scared off by this one owner. I hope that you are
seeing by the responses here that the situation you have here seems to
be an anomoly rather than the rule.

Also, before you buy, you might want to consider having someone that
really knows what they are doing, thoroughly check out the prospective
Bird for you so that there are no expensive surprises.

Good luck with your hunt!

Mike Bulriss
83 PT40 "Stagecoach" - For Sale
91 PT40 "Texas Minivan"
San Antonio, Texas



--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, winston barrows
wrote:
>
> < necessary? Even removing the bumper the un install and re install is
maybe 4 hours.>>
> Hi, Ralph,
> According to the owner, the book is three hours bumper off and three
hours bumper on for six hours. This is what he writes:
>
> I took my unit to Buddy Gregg, in Knoxville TN for service. $115.00
per hour. the cost of parts will not be the shock. The shock is
getting something done, done right, and done to the high expectations
that Bluebird owners possess. By way of example, shortly after
purchase, the fuel gauge went to "empty" even though it was clearly
full. Buddy Gregg traced the repair to the sensor located at the top
of the fuel tank. This is accessed through a door on the floor of the
coach, which was overlayed with 3/4 inch plywood and the marble floor.
the estimate to fix? $6-700, plus the $10.00 sending unit, but they
could not replace the marble they would have to chisel out of the
floor. Everything in a Bluebird is like that. I asked them to look at
the alternator/battery system because the green dash light sometimes
came on (which I now know is normal). They replaced the alternator.
Cost of alternator (which I now do not believe had any problems) $350;
Cost of labor to replace alternator?
> $1,500. why so expensive? because they had to take the bumper off,
and then take off all the belts and hoses in the engine. three hours
off, and three hours on ( that is just the labor for the bumper). You
don't even want to know what Caterpiller charges to look at Bluebirds.
Caterpiller likes dealing with businesses that own tractors. Hell if
you bill your tractor out for 2 or three hundred per hour, you can
afford thousands to have a GED trained technician tell you you need a
fuel filter, and then hand you a bill for $2,000, (labor at $130 per
hour) plus materials (a $75.00 filter which should have been what was
checked within the first hour). Of course, they have to bill 2 to
three hours to put paper on the floor of the coach so they don't track
in sludge, and then fabricate tools because they do not generally work
on Bluebirds and their tools don't work.
>
> The original price you pay for a Bluebird doesn't really matter
much. It is the beginning of a process that is akin to placing a
vacuum cleaner on you wallet and watching the money dissapear. End of
owner email text.
> It seems to me that part of the responsibility of this forum should
be to educate folks on the scale of economy of Wanderlodge ownership.
A lot of people think Buddy Gregg is a reputable dealership and I'm
not saying they aren't (especially since I've had no experience with
them). So my logic is if such a competent repair shop costs so much,
then what's it going to cost to go to the guy you'll educate?
>
> "Ralph L. Fullenwider" wrote:
> Hello Winston:
>
> Mike B gave you some pretty good answers to your question. And yes,
some
> repairs can be costly, no question there. Blow a 12R 22.5 tire and
wheel
> wells along with various other damage can occur.
>
> As to the pricey alternator job, I agree it was pricey but
necessary? Even
> removing the bumper the un install and re install is maybe 4 hours.
Perhaps
> something else happened, like a broken bolt that had to be drilled out.
> More than likely they 2 tech's on the job and charged for each
tech.? That
> is not right either, in my book. It would be interesting to have
seen that
> bill and what the write up was. No I am not defending that shop, in
fact I
> would be dubious of it.
>
> Part of what this and other Forums were started for was to help one
another
> as we can and also to list the "known" good shops around the Country to
> take the birds to and then on the other hand, to know what shops not to
> take them to. This Forum is intended to be a clearing house of seeking
> answers to problems and so forth. Even if your not doing the repair
work <
> which, as Mike pointed out, will save one some money> one can come
to the
> forum's to try to get a better idea of what to expect when taking a
Coach
> to a shop. Information among us, is a powerful tool, and one that
can help
> you recognize if that shop or repair facility is running high on costs.
>
> Repairs on Birds, Prevost, Newell or any high line Coach will
usually run
> higher in some respects as they are far advanced machines with more
> amenities than most others. With that advancement, comes the fact
that a
> tech has spent many an hour just learning the how the systems work and
> those systems change almost daily at times. So yes, shops do ask for a
> higher wage and get it because we are way past bailing wire and stickum.
>
> In my shop, I charge the $75.00 per hour plus parts rate and I work on
> Birds. Though, as Mike told you, I have worked on Vectra's and
bounders and
> Fleetwood products at the same price. I am also one tech that
prefers the
> customer to be with me, if he/she so chooses as I am working on
their coach.
>
> Bottom line is, information, data, questions and answers on the
forum gives
> anyone a powerful tool, and most of us have learned to use it along
with
> learning to do some things by our on hand. And in truth, most of
those that
> do some of the work, learns the systems in them, end up having a
greater
> sense of Ownership and the resultant pride that goes with. There is
nothing
> wrong with Birds and you won't find a better coach for not only fun
but
> safety out on the road.
>
> Safe travels,
>
> Ralph and Charolette Fullenwider
> Ralph's RV Solutions, Duncan, Oklahoma
> http://home.swbell.net/rlf47/index.htm
>
>
>
> At 06:50 PM 10/18/2005 +0000, you wrote:
> >I was going to look at a '91 Bluebird Wanderlodge until a gentleman
> >told me a series of horror stories about repair bills on his. Like if
> >you need to change the alternator you have to remove the bumper
> >and all the belts on the engine. He got a $1500 labor bill for that.
> >Question: are all Wanderlodges so expensive to repair? -winston
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
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