I recently purchased an older, low mileage, Coachman RV (1988) and brought it in for a general inspection. The folks at Harold's identified the need to replace front roto pads, seals and packed the bearings, as well as the need to replace the rear wheel cyl (and bleed), along with a front alignment and oil change. All of this was well completed as expected. They also noted that the tires needed to be replaced (dry rot) which was completed at a local tire store.
However, as this was an older unit without much use, I specifically requested they inspect the hoses and belts as I guessed they may need replacing. The specific response was over the phone was "...it looks like someone has recently replaced the belts and hoses, no need to change them...". This turned out to be at least inaccurate & incomplete, and, at worst, perhaps reflects that no one even looked at the belt(s).
As I shortly found out, the belt for the Air pump - Emissions Control unit was missing. The Emissions control pulley was rusted which indicates that there hadn't been a belt on this unit for some time, months/years. Apparently, the engine runs without this unit, so the driver wouldn't have noticed the belt being missing or the unit not working. However, one thing to note about the Air Pump - Emission Control unit is that it also provides cooling to the EGR Valve.
Now, if you drive the RV for about 3 hours on expressways, the EGR Valve overheats, and then burns a hole in a couple of "check valves", a "condenser" and a "relay coil", which causes the engine to seize up as you're driving 65mph on the Ohio Turn Pike.
Having narrowly avoided causing a multi-vehicle accident on I-80 and managing to have the RV towed to a relatively close repair station for ~$380, I have now been educated on the various units (alternator, water pumps, air conditioning unit, etc..) the belt(s) drive. I am still awaiting the final estimate for the repairs I now need to have completed to make the RV operational.
Based on a follow-up conversation with the folks at Harold's, and unfortunately for me, the folks at Harold's claim they are not necessarily aware of which belts are needed, they only inspect the belts they see They had not provided this "disclaimer" previously. They also don't feel the need to notify customers if there is a missing belt, even when specifically asked about the status of belts and hoses. (as previously mentioned)
The apparent lack of understanding and appreciation of the potential down-stream ramifications of their incomplete work translates to a lack of concern for the safety of their customers. This should cause future customers to carefully consider whether they should use Harold's. I would not recommend using this repair facility. read more