Used Unity Questions

We bought a 2011 Unity CB at the end of August with 5500 km. Since I didn't have the benefit of picking it up at the factory or knowledgeable dealer, I have some questions.
1) The telescoping of the dinette table doesn't work very well and but I can't see obvious problems with it. Anyone have this problem?
2) The air springs leak down to nothing in less than a day. Do I have a leak, or is this normal?
3) The bottom corners of the slide don't have any weatherstripping for when the slide is closed. I can see daylight, meaning that rodents may see a winter home. Maybe this is just a factory oversight.
4) I'm thinking of putting a folding shelf on the wall where the armchair normally sits. This is to the left of the door if you are inside. Could be a desk. Anyone do this?
5) The only speakers I have for the entertainment system are the dash speakers. Anyone have speakers in the coach area?
6) My motorhome was built in September, 2010 and first put on the road in the spring of 2011. Mercedes has the in-service date as June, 2010, and that's the date they use for the start of the warranty period. I feel like I'm cheated out of a year's warranty. Is this how it works for everyone?
7) I didn't get a spare tire or spare tire mount. Is this standard?
8) Do you rely on Mercedes road-side assistance or do you buy other insurance for breakdown?

LTV factory is very helpful to even second owners, so don't be shy calling them with your questions.

1) You didn't explain what you mean by not working. If it is that the table does not stay up, then there are two bolts/screws that can be tightened in the column.

2) Appears like air bags are leaking air. This is not unusual in that they tend to age this way. Finding where the leak is is also not easy; use soapy water at junctions to start.

3) Appears that the weather stripping must have come off.

4) Have not done this. Modifications like this have to be done well as you don't want anything flying around in an accident.

5) The new units have speakers all over, but yours may not. Ask the factory

6) I think Mercedes warranty should start on the delivery date to the first owner. Again check with the factory.

7) No spare tire on my new LTV Serenity either, so it sounds normal.

8) We insure ours with two other vehicles we own and our policy comes with roadside assistance.

Al

Thanks for the reply Al.

1) Sorry I didn't give enough info. The table is very hard to push down. Takes a lot of force and wiggling and turning the table. Comes up better, but still has to be pulled up. The problem appears to be the spring inside rather than the telescoping parts or the clamps. They work fine.
2) Soon after I got the vehicle, I took it in to Mercedes for some warranty updates. One of these required putting the vehicle on the hoist. I don't think I had the leak-down before that. I guess I'll crawl around underneath with soapy water when the weather gets better.
3) The weather stripping that appears to be missing is about 10 inches of horizontal stripping at each bottom corner. They didn't likely come off, so I wondered if it was done like that on purpose at the factory.

Randy

blue said:

Thanks for the reply Al.

1) Sorry I didn't give enough info. The table is very hard to push down. Takes a lot of force and wiggling and turning the table. Comes up better, but still has to be pulled up. The problem appears to be the spring inside rather than the telescoping parts or the clamps. They work fine.
Randy

Click to expand...

The table of my new LTV goes down well; in fact it went down slowly when we did not want it to go down. I tightened those two bolts and it is now fine. Our table needs to be pulled up after it has been down for sleeping also. Perhaps yours has some dirt that is keeping it from sliding down; I would ask the factory for some suggestions or else putting some fine oil around the slider might fix it... Al

I don't have a Unity or even a Sprinter, but I can answer some of your questions. But my general answer is to call the factory. They have an 800 number and will have answers for nearly all of your questions.

blue said:

2) The air springs leak down to nothing in less than a day. Do I have a leak, or is this normal?

Click to expand...

That is not normal. They shouldn't be falling apart this quickly. You have a leak. The hard part is finding someone to work on these things. Problems are common. Mine broke immediately... had a bad leak somewhere... and no one wanted to look at them or work on them. Not Firestone... not the local RV guy... not the trucking places. I just removed the fuse so it didn't keep trying to fill them. If you are handy you can try to trace where the leak is. I finally found a man down here in Arizona who traced it out for me... and eventually I had the factory fix it while I was there for something else.

blue said:

4) I'm thinking of putting a folding shelf on the wall where the armchair normally sits. This is to the left of the door if you are inside. Could be a desk. Anyone do this?

Click to expand...

I would run this past the factory for advice on putting something on the wall. You might look at RV catalogs and find one of those narrow cabinets that has a pull up table.

blue said:

5) The only speakers I have for the entertainment system are the dash speakers. Anyone have speakers in the coach area?

Click to expand...

I have speakers everywhere. They certainly are in all the units I've seen. Do you have a TV? If it doesn't have any, it might have been a special order without the standard system. Again, the factory is the place to get this answer.

blue said:

6) My motorhome was built in September, 2010 and first put on the road in the spring of 2011. Mercedes has the in-service date as June, 2010, and that's the date they use for the start of the warranty period. I feel like I'm cheated out of a year's warranty. Is this how it works for everyone?

Click to expand...

I've never heard of this. The warranty should start on the day it is registered to you. Perhaps the factory could direct you to how to get this corrected on Mercede's books.

blue said:

7) I didn't get a spare tire or spare tire mount. Is this standard?

Click to expand...

Yes, it is standard. I don't have one either. About the only option is to get a hitch carrier if you want to add one.

blue said:

8) Do you rely on Mercedes road-side assistance or do you buy other insurance for breakdown?

Click to expand...

Definitely get Coach-Net or Good Sam. They are used to working with RVs... not just empty commercial vans or luxury cars. They will also cover the tire issue.

The factory is great to work with... second owners are treated well too. Enjoy your new rig!!

Mumkin
2011 LTV Libero

Thanks for the reply, Mumkin. I will send my questions to the factory again. I sent one question last fall and never got an answer, but maybe it just slipped through the cracks.

Looking at the videos of newer Unitys, it looks like there are speakers in the ceiling. I won't be able to do that, so I'm thinking of just putting speakers on each side of the cupboards over the cab.

I have speakers all over the place - at the bottoms of the top cabinets in the front and the back. Emails are not the best way to get questions answered. Call!! Seriously, they are so helpful. Press zero and have the operator send you to who can help you.