I am an aerospace engineer, an aircraft mechanic, and a custom fabricator. I have a better welder in my shop than they used at the factory and I will do the repairs myself before I make the two hour trek to the dealer – twice – to have them splatter a weak weld repair on it with the little 200 amp spool gun they have in their shop. 

If you are who you say you are, and are so gifted with so many talents, you should have recognized weak welds before you hauled the trailer two hours to your home. JMHO

Those are true enough statements.  I could have built the trailer – and am going to build my 4-horse head-to-head, but I did not have time right now to build this one.  Tracking down the aluminum extrusions at a decent price in such small quantities takes as long as fabricating the trailer. 

I should have seen the weld issues upon inspection prior to buying it.  This is my fault.  My wife decided that this trailer model was the one she wanted and the local dealer had one for a good price.  We bought the trailer on a Saturday and got to the trailer sales place about an hour before they closed and the rushed us to get the paperwork done and out so they could close on time.  I did not do a detailed inspection because I was trying to help them out. 

I am not sure how hard I would have looked at it anyway.  I went to an expo a couple of years ago where a hundred trailers were on display from many manufacturers.  I spent a full day crawling under trailers and making notes on engineering and construction specifically because I intend to build my own and I wanted to see what worked for other people.  At that time I was impressed with both the design and craftsmanship of the Exiss trailers.  Since I had already formed an opinion that they produce a good product, I likely wouldn’t have inspected it with the detail that I will now.  If I had done a better inspection I would not have bought that particular trailer.  My point in posting is that I don’t believe that the average trailer buyer could identify a cold weld joint if they looked at it. 

I suppose listing my credentials sounded pompous.  I only meant to explain that I am qualified to criticize the workmanship on this trailer.   

Chessman,

 Exiss will take care of it.  You just have to give them a chance. I know where you are coming from.  Boy did I get upset, but they fixed me up and good to go now with a smile on my face .  Go drink a beer, smoke a cig., or whatever you do to relax. They'll take care of it just give them a chance. It's easy to get on line and blast them but all in all it dosen't help.

Spooler,

Yes I could stand to cool off a little.  I was willing to excuse the little things that needed warranty work, but this is major.  What boiled my blood is that Exiss wouldn't discuss any course of action other than taking it back to the little dealer where we bought it.  I'll fix it myself and eat the cost because I don't want to waste four hours of driving to be potentially displeased with the repair.  If I have four hours to drive then I have four hours to weld.  Still, shouldn't have to do it in the first place. 

That is the hard part, buying from someone that is quite a distance away.  Someone asked why I got a certain brand of car when I exchanged the one I was driving.. it was because the dealership is 7 miles away.  I have been there twice with some minor problems they have been able to solve in seconds.  One reason, at least for cars, that I try to stay local to the dealership.  I know that is hard with horse trailers.. even dealers for us in Ohio aren't that close.

Good luck, if nothing else, Don from Dixie Horse and Mule can advise. He has been a saint for a lot of Exiss owners.  GO DON!!!

Jbsny

Oh, the dealer is the repair center for Exiss.  The guy on the phone is trained to take the best care of you he can but he probably dosen't know how to weld or fix stuff like that.  That would be an expensive paper pusher, phone service, or whatever you want to call it if they could do all of that. They just want you to get to the dealer who knows what to do to make you happy.

Geesh, I wish I would of had someone on here to give me this advice.  It would of made me feel better. I was just so mad it happend to ME!!!!!! Yeah, and my wife put in for our trailer too.  I was undecided between 3 of them so she made up my mind for me. They all were Exiss though.

  When I purchase something new, I expect to have something that will not have major issues before I even put a horse in it. I don't want to buy a new car, trailer or anything if I have to take a welder, mechanic, tire specialist etc. with me to buy it. What about the quality assurance people?

I know some people who purchased the Exiss Sport 300 miles from here and they had to take it back twice for LQ leaking.

I personally think that the dealer or company should come and pick it up to fix it. It wasn't the buyer's fault that a major and potentially dangerous detail had been missed. When I buy used (let the buyer beware) but a new purchase with a warrenty deserves better.  

Well... If I were a custom fabricator, aircraft mechanac, ect., etc. ONE look at the Exiss Trailers when I was shoping for trailers, would have scared me away. I'm a nobody, and when I was shoping I looked at the welds and Exiss was one of the worst IMO!

Suck it up, IMO you didnt do your homework.

Thanks Don. 

I called the dealer and Exiss before I ever posted here.  The Dealer has agreed to do the repair at their facility if I deliver the trailer.  They are good people with good intentions, but limited resources.  They were very quiet when I told them that I felt Exiss should replace the trailer.  They didn't offer to run that to ground for me.  It would have been nice if they had, but this is an Exiss problem and I don't expect the little dealer that sells several different brands has the pull with the manufacturer to provide much help.  I may be wrong, but I didn't get the impression that any extra effort beyond the warranty support agreement would be put forth. 

You are a hell of a guy!  Thanks for the help.  There is a certifed shop her by the airport whose work I trust if Exiss would pick up the tab and continue to honor the warranty.  I have a nightmare that I'll have ramp problems in the future and the factory will say that it is between me and the dealer who fixed it.  Likey not a problem, but we've all seen things like this happen.  The potential of voiding the warranty is the only reason I haven't gone over it with the TIG yet.  I haven't had time to call Exiss today.  Thanks again for your input and support.  Wish you were close enough to buy me next trailer from.

Yep good advice. 

A big thanks to Don.  He called Exiss and the dealer I bought from and got the ball rolling.  Exiss agreed to continue to honor the warranty if I do the repair myself and send before and after pictures to confirm the workmanship.  Additionally, I asked that they use this as an opportunity to review their factory quality procedures to help prevent this from happening again.  I work for a company that builds engines for jet aircraft.  We all have occasional quality problems.  As I said before, it is what you do about it afterwards that makes the distinction between bing OK and world-class.  I still feel like a replacement should have been delivered to my door, but I'll repair it to my own satisfaction with less frustration than I would have had without Don's assitance in mediating this.