April 24, 2023 Travel to Las Cruces, New Mexico

Yes, today we went south instead…  Before I tell the story, pictures along the way.

  Away we go:

Love the rock formations:

Farms and more farms:

The washes were really wide – I do not want to be here during the monsoons:

I just love this part of the desert:

Farming near Hatch..no this is not the chili plants – LOL!

We made our way to Vado, New Mexico and here is the story!

 

Well today was not a good day…  The gremlins came back.. 

 

As we drove out of the park, we got the DEF error (Not Good for the Diesel Engine).  So we looked at who could work on diesels near us.  Found a place in Truth or Consequences, drove there, and they were not open.  Left a message, waited 30 minutes and figured we needed to do something else.. (They did call us back about three hours later.)

When we purchased the RV, we bought RV Complete which was an extra warranty, road service and technical advice.  So we called them.  We talked with three departments and explained our issue.  They told us they would find someone who had experience in this issue and the parts to correct and call us back.  Kudos for them, they did call us back.  The closest shop was 90 miles away and they had all the parts – Yippie!  Was it safe to drive – yes was the answer…   Okay then, off we go to Silver Truck Repair in Vado, New Mexico – south of Las Cruces.

We arrived, parked and were told they would get to us in about 2 hours – we are still okay with that.

An hour later a technician shows up, talks about our issue, gets his computer and tries (key word) to diagnose the issue. Over the course of the next hour, we were told he can do a very temp fix but he knows “a guy” who can do permanent fix for $3500.  Otherwise we may be facing a bill for $3000 and up.  When we ask where this “guy” is (thinking he is in the shop), we are told he is in Mexico.

At this point our emotions (sadness, anger, many “oh shits” etc..) are very high.  I said to him..this is an issue with Cummins and International – a WELL KNOWN ISSUE.  Plus it is covered by them.  Was he aware of that – NO!  (My hackles are now at full attention!)

He is in the middle of diagnosing the issue even more and now I am on the phone (in the back of the motorhome).  First with Cummins then with International.  The International shop told us to come in and they can at least diagnose today…

We told the technician, thank you, but we are going to get it fixed under the recall.  We asked what we owed and there were two charges.  One for diagnostics and the other for mobile repair.  WHAT!!  What do mean mobile repair?  We drove here!   Well, apparently the shop told RV complete that they could do it and then called a mobile repair guy that said he could do it.  DAMN!  We were scammed.

Now, he is the interesting thing.  The Cummins Service and the International Service are both located here in Vada and Las Cruces.  Our RV Complete did not do their job.

So we made our way to Border International in Las Cruces.  Over the course of the next few hours, they diagnosed and fixed our issue.  It was not the DEF error but a wire issue.  They were wonderful.

So lessons learned:

Do not rely on our RV complete.  This is the second time in the last 2 months that they steered us wrong. (Yes, I have already sent them our issues – who know what will happen.  I would love a phone call but I doubt that will happen.)  And, Crap, we paid a LOT of money for this help!

Do our own calling around for our problems..

RV Complete Roadside Service was an add on to the warranty.  We already have Good Sam and Progressive.  I will check out Progressive in the future…

Sadly, this is the second time this trip we were taken advantage of by “mobile mechanics”.   In the future we will both be asking LOTS of questions and doing more of our own homework.   Another sad point is that we PAID for a service that was supposed to know their stuff…  DAMN!

When we were finished, we made our way to the Las Cruces Elks.  They had an open space.  We set up, went inside, had a few drinks and dinner.  WHAT A DAY!

 

Today’s stats:

Miles Traveled: 119  Miles  Total

Routes Traveled:

New Mexico:  96 miles   NM-195; NM-171; BL-25; I-25; Stern Drive  (To Silver Truck Diesel)

New Mexico:  17 miles   Stern Drive; I-10; S. Motel Blvd; W. Amador Avenue  (To Border International)

New Mexico  6 Miles  W. Amador Avenue; N. Valley Drive; W. Picacho Avenue; Main Street; Elks Drive (To the Elks Lodge)