By Russ and Tiña De Maris
Imagine yourself towing your travel trailer, or motoring your motorhome, in unfamiliar territory. You’re thousands of miles from “home” and that dreaded “Check Engine” light comes on. Is it a serious problem, or something you can skate through until you get back to a familiar mechanic? Maybe you’ve got a code reader – or you could be like us, last week. Pulling a grade along Oregon’s I-84, our transmission “set a code,” throwing us into limp mode. We limped our way into a campground, and then began the process of trying to find reliable help to sort out our problem.
Friends with local knowledge help us out
Not too many miles “over the hill” were some acquaintances. A phone call provided a reference to a mechanic “behind us” about 30 miles. We were happy for the help, and wondered just what we’d do if they hadn’t been able to give us a reference. Or, worse yet, what if we didn’t know anyone in the area who could even point us in the, hopefully, right direction.
It hasn’t been the first time that we’ve had trouble on the road. Just a few months ago, we blew a fuel line in the middle of the hot California desert. Again, a friend who at one time lived in that little community responded to our call for help. He went so far as to roust the owner of a shop that he knew away from his lunch table and down to the shop. A day later, we were back on the road, and we feel pretty certain the help from our friend also kept the bill down a bit.
Can you help?
If any of this strikes a chord with you, maybe you can help. As part of our RVtravel.com RV Consumer Support efforts, we’d like to build a database of places you know to be reliable. We’ll break it down, state by state, town by town, and provide names, telephone numbers, and addresses. We’ll also keep it up to date by checking in on a regular basis to make sure the shop is still there, and operational. Maybe when you’re looking to find reliable help on the road, you’ll be able to find a shop, an RV parts dealer, maybe even an urgent care facility that can help.
And yes, in this matter of finding reliable help, we’d like to do a bit more. We’d also like to hear from you about places that are best avoided. We could call it the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly RV helpers list.
We can all use a little help, so take a minute and drop us a line using the form down below. We’ll put our database together and let you know where to find it.
Please tell us the name, city, and state of the outfit you think other RVers can get reliable help. Or, for that matter, tell us about places you feel they should avoid. Tell us why you think the company is good or bad, and provide an experience if you have one.
Related
New RV Consumer Support column – We need YOUR help
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A great idea!! Would you consider including Canada in the same survey/report?
Would very much love to see this in the future.
The GMC Motorhome International organization has a great help for their owners. It’s called, “The Black List”, named after Roger Black, who started it. If you drive a GMC Motorhome (1973-1978), you never leave home without it.
That design would be a great starting point.
I’ve been told that RV Service Reviews is no longer being maintained but most of the businesses listed there along with the reviews are still accurate. It’s a huge data base.
I was going to mention them, I have referred numerous folks over the years. If it is in fact not being maintained, maybe Chuck could get the Originator to release it…..just a suggestion.
That’s a great idea, hope the Editor follows up on this!! I’ve used them several times and very grateful for some kind of help finding the better shops.
I have tried several times recently to contact them and to post a review with no success on either. Disappointed as I found it to be an excellent resource in the past.
Worth noting – for motor-home owners, any engine or chassis issues are best addressed by a truck shop. Few RV Repair shops really have that kind of expertise.
I can’t tell you where to get good service but if you’re traveling I 24 through TN and have a problem around exit 114 keep going, you will not get it there.
Fantastic idea! I hope that you will provide a reviews section with star ratings and comments so that even more detailed information can be provided
Absolutely a great idea! I would even be willing to pay for such valuable, accurate information.
Excellent idea.
Would love to see this happen. We are full time RV’S and many times have needed help. References would be a wonderful help. How do we get started.
I’m a member of FMCA and they have such a listing section on their site. May only be available to members, not sure.
Howard:
Thanks for the suggestion. It looks like that listing is available only when one logs in. So we’ve got to assume it’s for members only. I wasn’t able to access it from the general fmca web page.
OK, wasn’t sure. I think FMCA is a good deal if you travel far from home. If something happens they will get you home, your family, pets and RV. This comes with membership. We almost used it this year when my wife tripped and broke her wrist. We were in Chicago and live in Southern California. She needed surgery right away. I had time to drive home to get the surgery.
Any reason for not getting the surgery in Chicago?
We didn’t get the surgery in Chicago because we didn’t live there, home is Southern California.. We were concerned about follow up and it turned out she needed a second surgery to get everything fixed.
When faced with a need to acquire the services of a RV tech, I ask the management of the park we are in. They know from experience who’s in the area and best at getting you back on the road.