Monaco Motorhomes1031 Our Monaco Cayman (2006) should never have been sold. It was manufactured before Monaco was bought out. We have put over $18,000.00 in it, have not used it since April of 2013. We are senior \citizens and cannot afford to put anymore money in it. We have found out that Monaco cheapened materials because they were having financial problems. Decatur Indiana

We bought our 2006 Monaco Cayman motor home from Stoltzfus RV and Marine in West Chester, PA 19382 (1335 Wilmington Pike) in January, 2008.  We have had nothing but trouble with it since we bought it.  We have not been able to use it since April of 2013.

 We are senior citizens, on a fixed income, and cannot affort to put anymore money into it.  Almost $20,000.00 has been spent to fix this unit, most of it being in the last  three years, and it is still undriveable. We cannot afford to put another cent into it, and this was suppose to have been the ultimate unit for our retirement.  What a joke!

Here is a list of things that we have had to repair or replace:

1 The trailing arms broke while we were driving it.

2. 3 alternators have been replaced

3  The steps had to be replaced

4.  Rear air bags replaced

5. Generator repaired

6. Numerous leaks in cooling system

7. Manifold gasket replaced

8  Numerous leaks in the slides fixeed

9.  Radiator replaced

10, Metal skin on the front of the motorhome came loose and the windshield almost fell out.

11. More coolant leaks 

12 . Latest - We were told that antifreeze is leaking into the oil.  We cannot afford to get it fixwd.

We have owned several motor homes since 1988. We never had to spend money for repairs other than normal maintenace or maybe a step replacement. This Monaco is a lemon, and we even have a signed statement from one mechanic stating as such. One time when I called  Monaco  for help and advice, I was told that part of the problem resulted from the fact that Monaco used remanufactured steel from China, and they acturally added an additive to make the steel go further. On further research, I found out that this steel has a tendency to start rusting after only a few years.

Most of the problems the last few years have been because of the rust, and I was told that it would continue to rust and other things would go.  One diesel mechanic told me that he had never seen as much rust on a unit as ours.

 The unit only has around 41,000 miles on it.This motor home was never driven on salted roads. We have spent the last 18 winters in Florida. The last three years we have not been able to even drive our motorhome, so we have been forced to rent a unit in Florida (another expense).

We are totally stressed out over this unit, and as I said earlier, we cannot afford to spend another cent on it. Everytime we have paid to have something fixed, we find something else is wrong. There is no end in sight. It is an albatross around our necks, and it is sitting in our driveway. We are retired and on a fixed income. We are rapidly getting to the point where we will be unable to make the motorhome payments.

We have talked to our lawyer, and he told us he feels we have a good case for a lawsuit. I would rather not have to resort to that. I feel that Monaco should either repair, replace, or buy back our unit. Even though we enjoy camping, we would be satisfied at this time, to have it taken off our hands and keep our excellent credit in tact. At this point, there are several issues with the motor home, and we have been told not to drive it.

I might add that when the brakes and the trailing arms went (at two separate times), we were told had we not been going slow, we could have flipped it and probably been killed. It was not a safe unit. We also found out that Monaco continued putting the same trailing arms on units (ours included) after they found out they were inadequate and a recall were on some of them. Ours should not have had these inadequate trailing arms. The rust issue was and is a major issue. Rust caused the brake pods to go, and has been the root of most of the other issues that we have encountered. Monaco should have been aware that this was going to be a problem, but they were more interested in making a cheaper unit at a high price. The unit really was not road worthy to begin with and should never have been sold to us. We were innocent customers that have suffered a lot of expense and anxiety. Even if we could afford it, I feel any more money spent on it is going to be a waste.

Again, we have not been able to use this for the last three years. Monaco was suppose to have a good name and make a quality unit. Stoltfzus RV and Marine told us it was one of the top leading brands sold.  We found out later that when I asked our salesperson (also an owner) about the swaying mirrors, he told me that was normal for a diesel.  We  later fournd out that that was the beginning of the metal skin coming loose.

This diesel should have many years and miles left on it. This was suppose to be our ultimate retirement unit. I feel we were sold this unit under false pretenses, and that is a case of fraud. We later found out that some of these issues were on recall on earlier models, but were not recalled on the 2006.  Stoltzfus had to know all this when they sold us the unit. 

Stoltfus comment, "They were sorry we were disappointed in our unit."

We feel we should not be responsible for something that is a lemon and was inferior when it was put on the road.