Remanufactured parts or more commonly called “remanned” are products made by a manufacturer that had been returned for various reasons,( e.g. defective product, part failure, cosmetic blemishes, or just plain old returned for unknown reason). If this product is returned directly to the OEM (original equipment manufacturer), then this maybe the first time this part/product/equipment will be thoroughly inspected, dissected and fully tested to find the failure. Generally, a highly skilled and knowledgeable technician will review what is wrong with the product/part and repair it with a fully tested and functioning replacement part.
By late spring and summer of 2020, numerous companies could not keep up with RVers repair/replacement demand due to shortages in work personnel, raw material(s) and sub-assemblies required to manufacture their standard part(s), products and/or equipment, all due to the disruption in business caused by COVID-19. In August 2020 while we were boondocking at Cabela’s in Rapid City, SD, our right rear leveling jack seal blew causing our 40,000 lb. diesel pusher to precipitously fall, spewing hydraulic fluid all over the ground. Concurrently, this untimely failure caused the extended left rear leveling jack to also collapse bending its foot and mounting bracket in an unrepairable configuration. Fun, fun, fun! We called several RV service dealers in the surrounding area, all reported they were several weeks out to get in for service. To our credit, we were tenacious. Fortuitously, Rapid City, SD had a heavy equipment pneumatic/hydraulic machine shop that could accommodate our rig immediately. One dragon slayed. Next, we dreaded the next call to the extended warranty company accordingly informing them we were taking our coach to Adams ISC of South Dakota. They approved it! After arriving at Adams ISD, we were invited to boondock in their parking lot until repairs/replacement could take place. Even the owner stopped by and personally greeted us, leaving us with a positive impression of his company’s service commitment! We were in good hands, as hydraulics is their bread and butter. Considering our situation, we couldn’t have been in a better place.
Completing the quagmire of finding parts.
To our chagrin, we found out that the manufacturer was a minimum of six to ten weeks out for new parts due directly to COVID-19 also disrupting their business. If we didn’t locate replacement jacks, we had two options: park our diesel pusher on blocks and wait patiently, or, since our coach was a Tiffin, contact their parts department. We soon found out that Tiffin’s parts department were also out of the parts we needed, but the length they went to help was good. They reported they had remanned leveling jacks available. My spouse quizzed them extensively as to the condition and warranty. He was informed that these parts were remanufactured by the manufacturer, HWH, and they carried a full new product warranty. Here’s the kicker – the cost for one new rear jack was approximately $700.00, but the “remanned” was half the cost of the new jack but came with the same warranty. Wow! That’s like two for one! Now comes the denoument! The useless warranty company refused to pay for the jacks citing some ridiculous reason (which was probably in the four-point type, unreadable even with the Hubble telescope). Thank the powers to be that we were saving $700.00.
Not only was the replacement and testing fast, but the personnel gave our chassis a once-over to ensure we were good to go at a much lower cost than typical RV dealer pricing. It’s nice when you deal with people that know we’re the customer and treat us accordingly.
BTW, my spouse sent the CEO a written complaint as well as calling his office as he likes to say…”If you’re not happy, I’m not happy”. Evidently, he was happy that we paid our premium as we never heard back from him. Ah! A story for later.
Read the edited article published March 6, 2021 here:
Are remanufactured parts any good? Do they carry a warranty? – RV Travel
Kate Doherty has been writing for more than 30 years in technical and general media. In her previous business, she and her spouse dealt with special projects within the military/government sector. Recently she published “Masquerade: A Logan Scott Novel” under the pen name Bryan Alexander, a thriller now available in eBook and paperback on Amazon. It’s a page-turner!