I just bought a brand new 09 Sundowner and all but 2 of the windows are leaking when it rains. I am so mad. Even the tack room door window is leaking. I haven't even used it yet! I wrote to and called both Sundowner AND the dealer and neither have contacted me yet. It is a 4-H slant load so there are 8 windows in the horse box and two in the tack area.

Has anyone had this problem? How will they fix it (assuming they will)? Will damage to the interior walls happen? The trailer is insulated all walls and roof and I am wondering if the rain is seeping in the walls as well.

I paid A LOT for this trailer and I can't believe this is the workmanship Sundowner is doing these days!

Thanks for hearing me vent.

We have been a Sundowner dealer for quite a few years, and Sundowner has always addressed our service issues with fairness (windows included).  If your dealer doesn't get in touch with you, call Sundowner corporate at 800 654-3879 and ask for Anthony Holder.  Don't despair...............they still build a great trailer!! 

Thanks for the helpful reply. The dealers service manager has been out and will return tomorrow then I will talk to him.

Antony just said to talk to the dealer in a brief email.

It is fine if they fix the issue but I am still not happy that I am going to be out $100 in fuel and 5 hours of my time driving back and forth to the dealership. Also, I will be out a trailer and missing shows while they are fixing it.

It is just wrong that a brand new trailer needs repairs. NOT happy about that at all. Don't they have the manufacturing phase down pat by now? How could they not seal the windows properly?? How do I know there is not water in the walls now?

I sold a two horse 1998 Trail-et to get this trailer. That trailer was solid, floor was never replace and not an ounce of rot, no leaks! Yes, I am still venting but I just can't believe I am returning a new 30,000+ trailer for repairs before I have even used it!

You forgot about Exiss,girl.

I guess if all manufacturers had it down "pat" there would be no need for warranty on trucks, trailers, or anything.

Is it leaking from the window itself that was manufactured by someone other than Sundowner, or is it leaking from the Sundowner installation?

That is what the warranty is there for. Give them a chance to take care of it and you.

In a future posting about Sundowners there will be a thread, "all Sundowners are junk, because my daughter's best friend's cousin, has a neighbor who read about Sundowners, and found out that all the windows leak."

The reality is, regardless of price or brand name, there will be lemons. How the situation is resolved will be the determining factor, if the owner becomes  a satisfied customer or not. We have read in other postings of new time buyers, who had issues that were favourably resolved, and how they became avid advocates of their experiences. We have also read about other owners who have had poor dealings with their purchase, and are permanately soured with the results.

It all boils down to the human element, and how well one of us treats his fellow man. In a perfect world, all the dealers would treat their customers as well as  RTSmith and Dixie Horse and Mule, and some of the others that have been consistent recipients of accolades. Some dealers however, have no scruples and are more concerned with the first dollar, instead of several later.

I hope this issue is favourably resolved, and the Sundowner owner has a life time of pleasure from his purchase. If so, this problem will quickly become a non-issue and will be soon forgotten.

Gard

You bet.

And our Sundowner, Exiss, and CM trailers have been working well, hee hee........and I hope to hear of a good outcome for the OP.  Consider this.  New homes $250,000 plus, have issues, as do new $100,000 motor homes, and even space shuttles.  It is part of the process with a new rig to work out some issues, just some are more pertinent or troublesome than others.  I, too, wish every new expensive item was trouble free, but life just is not that simple.  That is what warranties are for.  Now, the human factor of getting a local dealer to deal honorably is the real issue..........try to be courteous in explaining your distances involved and engage them in as friendly a manner as possible and hopefully they will treat you with respect and courtesy in kind.  Good luck with this.

There must be a lot of dealers on this site!

Quit making excuses for poor workmanship! The warrantee is supposed to be for the UNLIKEY event of a problem and to show the public the confidence the manufacturer has in their product. You are making it sound like we should EXPECT anything we buy to have issues.

That is BS, excuse the french. I may be aging myself but there really was a time when things were made with quality as a top priority. We are such a throw away society now but that is a whole different topic. lol

Now, as far as being courteous and professional when I deal with this issue, well of course I will be. I am a bit insulted that I am being told to 'be nice' but I am sure you mean well as you don't know the first thing about me and alls you have to go on is my 'venting' in which I expressed my disappointment and anger. Trust me, it is healthy to vent that so when you do deal with the issue, you have that off your chest already.

As for why I bought from a dealership an hour away....well we don't all live in the city.

I do appreciate the helpful input so hope no one gets bent out of shape but REALLY, we should NOT expect everything we buy to break before we even use it, that is ridiculous.

PS

Yes the windows were put in at the manufacturing plant and Yes I DO expect something as simple as sealing the windows to be a skill the manufacturer has down pat.

Hello, all I am saying is sh*t happens, and this time maybe it happened to you.  Of course no one is saying you are abrupt or rude, it is entirely possible that you are very patient, kind, and courteous.  I hate that you are having such problems with your expensive new trailer, and of course you have a right to expect either the trailer manufacturer or the window manufacturer to make this good.  Now that you have vented more than once, you may be much more at ease when you deal with whomever you perceive to be the source of your .... dissatisfaction. 

 Should the problem be taken care of, hopefully you will be so kind as to keep us informed of that, as well.

Best of luck to you, really.

Since it appears that you have already made your mind up about how you will handle the situation, why did you involve us? Do you need additional targets of which you can use to vent?

Originally written by mingiz on 2008-07-29 5:26 AM

Originally written by crowleysridgegirl on 2008-07-28 11:44 PM

You forgot about Exiss,girl.

Awww be nice... I have 2 Exiss' 1 is a 96 and has never leaked and the other an 03 that has never leaked....Or any problems with either one... Maybe I'm lucky but I would be irrate if I paid 30k for a trailer and it had those problems on the start...

I myself own an Exiss.I said that because of all of the past threads that were created that made Exiss out to be junk because of a roof leak issue.See Gard's post,that is what I meant.Just a private joke between N2Ridin and me.

That's been going on now for decades.

Exiss owners

All you Exiss owners are sitting there, smugly knowing your own secret. Meanwhile, non owners are feeling sorry for you, sharing actual compassion, and hoping your ownership isn't causing you undue stress. Your friends are offering rides, dealers are calling to see if you want to trade, non owner members in this forum say "there but by the grace of god..." every time the word Exiss is mentioned. They just know the hardships you all are enduring, and can't imagine the humiliation you must face, whenever you show up at an event with those "piles of junk". It takes a special person to brave the inequities of life with an Exiss, not everyone is up to the task.

So when are you planning to tell the truth, or are you going to continue the subterfuge? Don't you feel sorry for all those naive people?

Gard

You missed my point there. Is it the window itself that is not manufactured by Sundowner leaking? Or is the seal around the window to the skin that was Sundowners work that is leaking? That was my question. Might be a bad batch of windows from the window manufacturer itself that is creating your problem. And no, I am not a dealer, and yes, this is exactly what warranty is for. If it wasn't for occasional shoddy work somewhere down the line, there would be no need for a warranty. Everything would come out perfect and never fail.

You have my sympathy and I completely understand your frustration.  Buying a trailer is a big investment for many of us, and I imagine, like me, you did your homework and thought you were buying quality and a great warranty.  Good luck with it, but I am also in the same boat with defective workmanship which is going to to add another $10-$20,000 to the cost of my trailer.  I hope to recover through the courts, but Sundowner is not at all interested in making it right when they screw up.  I hope you have better luck. 

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