Viewing Before Delivery Worth the Hassle? - Page 2 - Escape Trailer Owners Community
Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×

Go Back   Escape Trailer Owners Community > Escape Community > COVID-19 | Discussion Zone
Click Here to Login
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 07-20-2022, 06:48 AM   #21
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2019
Location: Bastrop, Texas
Trailer: 2022 21C 'The QShip'
Posts: 573
If one wants to inspect at the factory is the trailer supplied with water, propane (if ordered), electricity, and everything else necessary to test all the systems?
marant is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-20-2022, 07:07 AM   #22
Senior Member
 
cpaharley2008's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Central, Pennsylvania
Trailer: Escape#5 2022 E19
Posts: 26,268
Quote:
Originally Posted by marant View Post
If one wants to inspect at the factory is the trailer supplied with water, propane (if ordered), electricity, and everything else necessary to test all the systems?
If you request water in the tank then yes, you should be able to test everything. that is what we did in May, I insured the pump and heater operated. Everything else is working as it should.....
__________________
Jim
Sometime life gets in the way of living.......
cpaharley2008 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-20-2022, 10:55 AM   #23
DT6
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: Salem, Oregon
Trailer: 2022 Escape 21C; 2018 Escape 19 (sold in 2022)
Posts: 402
Quote:
Originally Posted by marant View Post
If one wants to inspect at the factory is the trailer supplied with water, propane (if ordered), electricity, and everything else necessary to test all the systems?
Take your time and make sure all of the workmanship (doors, floors, cabinets, etc.) are all property fitted. Check the access doors under benches/beds. Run all the water and check for leaks under the cabinets and around the water pump by using a paper towel or tissue.
DT6 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-07-2023, 06:56 AM   #24
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2022
Location: Boise, Idaho
Trailer: 2015 Casita
Posts: 14
Interesting
Rbmurray is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-07-2023, 07:30 AM   #25
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: USA, Texas
Trailer: 21
Posts: 597
Agree take your time n check e everything. They forgot to run a couple of 12V runs I asked for. Reace came out and took care of them asap
__________________
REMEBER PEEPS WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND and PAYBACK is a #%$&$&
Rockhead is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-07-2023, 11:37 AM   #26
DT6
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: Salem, Oregon
Trailer: 2022 Escape 21C; 2018 Escape 19 (sold in 2022)
Posts: 402
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rockhead View Post
Agree take your time n check e everything. They forgot to run a couple of 12V runs I asked for. Reace came out and took care of them asap
I've never posted specifically about our awful pick-up experience with our 21C last September. It was 180-degrees different than the pick-up of our 19 back in May of 2019. I was so upset for the first few months I just decided to not post much, angry doesn't help, so best to wait.

The only issue we had with the 19 back in 2019 was the hitch coupler, so during the build I specifically told Samuel that we had a hitch issue last time and would like to avoid this time. Well, those were wasted words, but I'll get to that in a second.

So at pickup there were some gaps in some of the moulding that were sloppy and needed caulking. The bathroom door was not plumb to the door frame. Yet another known issue I spoke to Samuel about. So Escape seemed to fix the bathroom doorframe and door being wacky when you look at it straight-on, but when you look at it from the side or inside the bath you can see that the door does not hang straight vertically (bottom has a bigger gap across than the top) and Escape had to bend the bottom hinge for the door to close properly. I probably should have refused delivery on this one issue, but the door closed so we decided to work with it.

We checked the water and electrical systems, and Escape was nice to install my two 100Ah Lithium batteries we brought with us, but that was about all that went right.

We followed the driver to the Sumas pickup spot as the trouble continued. We went to hitch up the 21 and it would not go on the hitch. This is a mess since the driver can't bring it back, but we finally got it back across the border to Escape. They repaired the tongue latch, and about 4 hours after our original departure time we left again.

So we are at this Casino near Sumas (great spot for a first night) trying to setup, but now it's late and getting dark. Then the refrigerator begins to give us problems, beeping and finally not working. The MaxxFan would work, but after running for 2 to 3 seconds it started beeping loudly, so it had to be shut off and we had little air movement that night. There were also several minor things to fix that are probably more typical that I do not mention.

So, back to Escape the next morning. When we got to the parking lot it occurred to me to check the Fridge outside panel, where I discovered the Fridge was not plugged in. How hard is it to plug in a Fridge correctly? It worked when we left the first time, so it never occurred to me that it would just be unplugged. Lazy installation. They also replaced the MaxxFan, and we found they never really plugged the Fridge into the outlet, so it fell out during the short drive to the Casino. It took several hours to get everything squared away and it was late in the day again.

With not much sleep from the night before, we pretty much insisted that they put us up in a hotel for the night and they agreed.

We got the trailer home the next day where we discovered the hinges on one of the cabinet doors were not installed properly - two screws were missing. I called Escape and they offered to send me two screws. Since I'm not a warranty labor source, I took it to a local RV dealer for repair and submitted it to Escape. Again, sloppy attention to detail that was not there on our 19.

A few months later I was under the trailer and noticed one of the propane lines was kinked coming out of a distribution box. Again, Escape asked me to be their warranty labor source, and again I refused. Good thing I did because the line was cracked and ended up being a bigger repair that I had no business trying to fix. It also ended up costing about $700 to fix.

I do want to post an opinion about warranty work. I know we "can" fix many of the things that may go wrong, but my argument we should not when possible. If Escape is saving thousands of dollars of labor costs by having customers fix things there is no incentive for them to improve their manufacturing processes. So my recommendation is to take your rig to an RV dealer for warranty work. It will help the next customer buying a trailer.

One ironic note, is when we got home I found a pickup "Quality Control" Card from Escape in one of the cabinet drawers. It was unsigned.

So with all this is it horrible? No, it is still a fairly well made trailer and still better than most stick-built models. It was easy to see the attention to detail overall is not what it was on our 19, again still better than a lot of trailers out there. The components are also better. Better cabinets mostly, and some of the fixtures and appliances are much better.

Hopefully Escape is getting back to better quality control. I spent most of my career at the Department of Defense reviewing acquisition programs and I always found trouble when one company bought another and merged and then changed the manufacturing process to improve production rate and lower costs. It almost never worked out like the companies said it would, at least at first. When we were there, I asked if the production line looked anything like it did when Reece owned the company, and was told it was completely different. They also outsourced the bathroom fiberglass insert and the front storage box (a prime reason it went from about $600 to now I think $1,200, so double in 5 years. Not helpful when you outsource and it costs more, but it did free up space for more trailer production.

So overall it is still one of the better travel trailers out there, but they need to be held accountable for their workmanship. Now that Karl is gone I can only hope the next person does a better job of overseeing quality control. He may have been good at opening up options, but he let quality control slip.
DT6 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-07-2023, 01:08 PM   #27
Senior Member
 
TTMartin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2020
Location: Venice, Florida
Trailer: 2020 Escape 19
Posts: 1,265
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike G View Post
Will ETI still do corrective repairs on a trailer once it's delivered? I thought they stopped doing those. In terms of ETI's policy regarding after-sale repairs, I can't imagine why there'd be a difference between one that's accepted in Sumas versus one that's accepted in, say, Kansas City.
You can always refuse delivery at Sumas if the trailer is defective. The driver is going back to the Escape factory with or without your trailer anyway.
TTMartin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-07-2023, 05:19 PM   #28
Senior Member
 
Chasing Trials's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2021
Location: Near Asheville, North Carolina
Trailer: 2013 E19
Posts: 471
Quote:
Originally Posted by TTMartin View Post
You can always refuse delivery at Sumas if the trailer is defective. The driver is going back to the Escape factory with or without your trailer anyway.

Well if you have driven about 3K miles, that is NOT something someone should have to worry about. I have a few MAJOR problems I'm working with, like a bad scrap & hole in the BRAND NEW awning. Someone there had the awning down too low, & the spring loaded door, hit it, OR the shape looks there was weight was dropped on it, when it out! I have an E19, I KNOW to look at awning height BEFORE opening the door. Also a leaking bathroom vent. Half fills a small bucket in a good rain, a bunch of cracks in the gel coat on the roof edge radiating from the under the frig vent front. I guess where it was "forced in" it's hole, or attachment forced? They run 16+".
Chasing Trials is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-07-2023, 05:23 PM   #29
Senior Member
 
TTMartin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2020
Location: Venice, Florida
Trailer: 2020 Escape 19
Posts: 1,265
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chasing Trials View Post
Well if you have driven about 3K miles, that is NOT something someone should have to worry about. I have a few MAJOR problems I'm working with, like a bad scrap & hole in the BRAND NEW awning. Someone there had the awning down too low, & the spring loaded door, hit it, OR the shape looks there was weight was dropped on it, when it out! I have an E19, I KNOW to look at awning height BEFORE opening the door. Also a leaking bathroom vent. Half fills a small bucket in a good rain, a bunch of cracks in the gel coat on the roof edge radiating from the under the frig vent front. I guess where it was "forced in" it's hole, or attachment forced? They run 16+".
Did you pick up your trailer in Sumas? I did in September 2020. That was exactly my plan. I inspected the trailer and didn't sign off on it until I did. If there was something wrong it was going back. Unless you live in Miami or the Keys you didn't drive further than I did coming from Southwest Florida.
TTMartin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-07-2023, 07:34 PM   #30
Senior Member
 
WillyB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2020
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Trailer: "Side Effect" 2022 21C
Posts: 1,341
DT6,

Sorry to hear about your issues. I know how those things can be aggravating.

We picked up our 21C a month later in Sumas and did not go the the factory. We had some minor issues on the return trip. A couple of loose overhead door screws (fixed on the way home) and later had cracked propane hoses (Escape sent me two hose and the regulator).

I did find a spider crack in the gelcoat by the door after we returned home. It was really hard to see but it caught the light just the right way for me to notice. Escape sent be a quart of gelcoat. It was a good thing since I ended up putting a big scratch in our baby (long story) and I became a YouTube professional gelcoat fixer upper.

I was initially upset by some of the issues but having helped a friend with his new stickie a few years back I assumed there would be QC issues. He had quite a few.

All in all we really like our Escape. (aka: Side Effect)

Well, except for those darn sail switch thingamabobs.
WillyB is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-07-2023, 07:59 PM   #31
Senior Member
 
Chasing Trials's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2021
Location: Near Asheville, North Carolina
Trailer: 2013 E19
Posts: 471
Quote:
Originally Posted by WillyB View Post
DT6,

Sorry to hear about your issues. I know how those things can be aggravating.

We picked up our 21C a month later in Sumas and did not go the the factory. We had some minor issues on the return trip. A couple of loose overhead door screws (fixed on the way home) and later had cracked propane hoses (Escape sent me two hose and the regulator).

I did find a spider crack in the gelcoat by the door after we returned home. It was really hard to see but it caught the light just the right way for me to notice. Escape sent be a quart of gelcoat. It was a good thing since I ended up putting a big scratch in our baby (long story) and I became a YouTube professional gelcoat fixer upper.

I was initially upset by some of the issues but having helped a friend with his new stickie a few years back I assumed there would be QC issues. He had quite a few.

All in all we really like our Escape. (aka: Side Effect)

Well, except for those darn sail switch thingamabobs.



The gel coat crack are in a bad spot, roof edge. There is over a dozen cracks fanning out? Awning, I think will be a battle. They'll say it was me. I just dashed to my Brother's & we kept it shut, as we were putting the AC in......when I found the gel coat cracks. Then get home, to Bad T-storm(maybe wind shear?) the day before took out about 6 tree tops, & a HUGE oak(4' at the base!) that hit my neighbors shed/carport. & been that kind of weather since, possible daily T-storms. Finally had a 2 day light rain, so opened it 3'. Found the hole 2 days ago. Had to shut it today, for that line of T-storms(bunged plywood over the solar panels too). Watched it break up a hole just for us, luckily. Last I checked, one RV place 2+ months wait.................


And OH, no Trialer brakes. Lights on controller......
Chasing Trials is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off




» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Escape Trailer Industries or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 10:51 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Copyright 2023 Social Knowledge, LLC All Rights Reserved.