LazyDays RV Center, Seffner, Tampa, Florida Unsafe motorhome Seffner Florida

My RV purchase experience at Lazy Days in Seffner/Tampa, FL.

I researched many RVs over the course of a couple of years.  I am retiring from Active Duty Air Force after more than 22 ½ yrs.  I not only wanted an RV for my family to use and enjoy, but I was also going to use this RV to live in while attending Universal Technical College in Orlando, FL.  For almost 2 years this is what I will be living in while away from my family and home in Valdosta, GA.

                So I found a few motorhomes that looked like they would fit my needs/budget but most were too far away to even look at or consider.  I found a new posting on RVtrader.com that didn’t have a picture yet.  So I emailed the dealer, finding out it was Lazydays in FL, to get more information.  Well it seemed like a deal too good to be true.  The salesman, Christian Clouse, returned my email with some further description and finally with some pictures.  It did look good.  Of course it is an older model, to fit my budget, but overall it looked to be in good shape.  My wife and I made a trip down on a Thursday to take a look, which was okay, again we knew we couldn’t afford top of the line and expected some issues.  We really needed a washer/dryer since I was to be living in the unit for a long time and even though the listing said there was a washer/dryer already in the RV there was not one installed.  We ended up making a deal to split the cost of a new one at $750 apiece.  The day that my wife and I arrived, they were still going over the RV as it had just been traded in for a new RV.  They did have the front wheels off and we were told they were replacing the brakes.  The rest of the RV was to be gone through, front to back, top to bottom, so we were told over and over.  It would be cleaned and inspected for any safety issues.

                The Monday after my wife and I had looked at the RV, my friend and I went to purchase and drive it home.  Well, this is where I royally screwed up.  We arrived and eventually were able to take it out for a test drive.  They were still cleaning it and wrapping up so to speak.  The test drive went well, the engine performed to standards but little things weren’t done yet such as windshield wipers falling apart which I was told would be fixed by the time I got there.  Some things that didn’t seem like a big deal would come back to haunt me.  For a family buying their first class A motorhome, I wish someone would have taken more time with us to go over every system front to back.  I felt rushed, like this was already a done deal.  That’s when I should have put on the brakes and said I needed more time.  The guy they told me was going through the RV from front to back was never around so we got another maintenance guy to “help us out”.  First, the jacks wouldn’t operate as they should.  They had trouble getting them to work, and then they wouldn’t go up.  The maintenance guy had to pry them back up with a 2x4.  This was of course just because they hadn’t been used for a while and would need some lube and operated a few times (I was told).  But instead of operating them a few times, that was it, it was put on me taking it home.  The next thing is the air ride, which I still don’t know how to use because nobody that was there knew how to use it or show me.  I know I am an idiot for driving it off the lot. 

                So driving down the road on the way home.  The rear camera was unusable because it kept flickering in in out.  It was driving smooth, but a while later, my friend called on my dying cell to tell me that every time I made a left lane change, my right blinker was blinking and I was cutting off other drivers on I-75.  No wonder I was getting flipped off.  The sun was going down so I turned on the lights, but I couldn’t see anything.  The lights were so dim I had to leave them on brights and even then my friend said they were so dull and hardly looked like they were on.  It was dark about halfway home but I had to take in nice and slow since I couldn’t see.  As I was driving, I noticed all kinds of little issues:  lights that wouldn’t work, the plug in/lighter (couldn’t charge my phone), then after the rain started the driver side windshield wiper didn’t work.  I pulled over to a rest stop and we got it working well enough to make it out of the rain.  At least there was brand new wiper blades!

                After I got home, a couple days of going through everything and letting Christian at Lazydays know all the trouble I was having, I again tried to operate the hydraulic jacks over and over.  I kept having to pry them up.  I tried to get the awning down which was not shown to me at Lazydays, but there was a latch broken off.  Christian did tell me to take it in to have the wiring fixed so a week later (soonest they could get it in) I dropped it off a Camping World in Lake Park, GA.  Didn’t want to drive 4 hours back to FL not knowing if I could make it.  After a few weeks of rewiring and checking everything out, they find that the previous owner had taken out the inverter and put his own version of an inverter in which was a cheap trickle charger directly wired to the shore batteries.  I’m told this was a huge fire hazard that could have endangered my family if we would have tried to go camping.  One of the batteries was even moved to another location to hook up to the “charger”.  So those batteries are no good and need replaced.  The jacks still don’t work as they should.  The hydraulic reservoir was being held in place by a bungee cord.  You would think a good service department would have caught that.  I guess all the lights are now working, someone (previous owner?) had tried to do some rewiring, multiple shorts and bad grounds were found all throughout.

                Again, I knew I wasn’t buying a brand new RV off the lot.  But what I was expecting was a functional RV.  Being someone who had never owned a Class A motorhome, I was unsure, of all the important systems that should have been checked by not only myself, but a “big time, responsible” dealer who houses an enormous RV service department.  I fully expected to do some cleaning, minor maintenance, even a few upgrades like adding a TV up front that was advertised as being there.  But again, I drove off the lot knowing that TV wasn’t there along with some minor issues that Christian and I had gone over.  What I didn’t know was that the inspection that I was told would be done from front to back, top to bottom by Lazydays’ “excellent” service team would be a half a*s job at best.  Now, what probably happened was that I wasn’t buying a top of the line, 2016 rig that cost $350,000, so this was a quick flip, let some sorry sap buy this thing and get it off our lot ASAP.  The service team at Lazydays probably is really good, but this RV didn’t meet the criteria of being really expensive, to spend any time on going over.

                My expectation is this:  get a motorhome that functions as it should and as advertised especially when buying from “the largest RV dealer in America” off the lot.  (I should have fought harder, bargained more or walked away but not knowing enough about Class A motorhomes got me).  The wiring, including the inverter and correct layout of shore batteries as well as all the lighting should be 100% operational.  The jacks should work or should have been sold as “not working” properly.  I bought a used RV because I can’t afford a brand new one, but I also expected a reputable dealer to ensure that the little guy would at least get a fair deal.  I don’t have the money to put into a hydraulic jack system, inverter and batteries.  I already have to replace some tile in the bathroom, the mattress, seals around the slide, carpeting, TV/entertainment system and awning hardware.  There are probably no lemon laws for RVs, at least not for a 19 yr. old RV so I’m sure I’m screwed.  I can however pass this along to everyone I know and post it online.  Maybe Lazydays isn’t to blame, maybe it’s the salesman.  Maybe it’s the service tech.  Maybe it is all my fault for buying it.  I thought that one day I would have returned to Lazydays to trade this 1996 Holiday Rambler Endeavor in but not after this experience.

                It’s getting worse.  After over a month of trying to rewire this monstrosity on my own, I have found so many wire taps and splices that it's not wonder things come on that shouldn't and things that should don't.  Any service tech would have been able to see that it was wrong just taking a quick look at some of the wires that randomly lead to nothing.  Seriously, speaker wires that go to lights?  I can't believe this thing hasn't burned down yet.  There is still a 110v bank of outlets that has a short I cannot trace.  The brake lights come on for no reason and drain the battery so I doubt very much that I can drive it anywhere to have it looked at.  I have to disconnect the battery between trouble shoots.  There are wires that go to nothing.  Plugs that don’t plug into anything.  The bathroom floor is way worse off than originally thought.  Will have to pull up all subfloor.  I need serious help and don’t know where to look.