Anyone owned a Champion or Patriot?

[Eric]

I am interested in Champion and Patriot. Has anyone owned either of these? If so, I would love to hear about your experience.

Eric Edwards

[Sandy McLendon]

Eric:

Over at my regular haunt, the mobilehomerepair site (www dot mobilehomerepair dot com), we have a lady who recently ordered a Champion. What came was a Redman, which is a little less expensive home than a Champion. According to the woman, the Redman came with 77 defects, some major in her estimation. Worst of all, she had completely pre-paid the entire home; the dealer has her money, and she does not have the home she thought she was getting. She goes on to say that she is now caught in a three-way bind between Champion, Redman, and the dealer. Go to the site and go to the Forum page, then look for a post dated 3/7/2003, titled 'Champion/Redman Nightmare', by a poster named Patty, to read the original post. While Champion may not actually be behind the problem (the dealer may have tried to order the Redman to make a few extra dollars by providing a cheaper home than promised), this is a huge foul-up or deception on someone's part. And when $75K changes hands, neither a foul-up nor a deception is a good thing.

I'd say, read the post I steered you to, and make sure that it can't happen to you by arranging with your lender that your dealer will not get his money until you're happy, and certain that you're getting what you are paying for. Again, this could be the dealer, and not Champion.

[Bobby]

We had 2 Redman MH built by Champion, They were excellent homes, 16x80 with Shingle, Vinyl Siding,,, No problems what so ever,,,, The 2 we ownwed were both single wides, 2001-2002- Easy to heat,, We bought the RV where we camped at and put a New Schult Sectional in,,,,
The plant not far from us , Ridgeville, Indiana closed the doors, I had several friends who worked there, They say they were built great.......

[Bobby]

Correction, We bought a RV Park, Not a RV we do own several RV's-----
SHESSSH, The lady did not get what she paid for??? What a bummer,
Redman when they were Redman were much better homes,,,,,,To many cost cutter mfg. out there for sure,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[rmurray]

Champion builds homes under many different trade names...Redman is one of them...So....the lady that ordered a Champion and got a Redman...Did get a Champion...

Champion has different specs and service departments in everyone of their 45 plants...Some are better than others....

Shop the specs you want...Good Luck

[Sandy McLendon]

Murray:

As I understand it, the Redman that came in place of the Champion that was ordered was a cheaper unit than had been shown to the buyer, with many quality differences and fewer deluxe features.

Ford builds both Lincolns and Fords. If you ordered a Lincoln, would you be happy getting a Ford, and being told, 'Well, Ford builds 'em both, so it's the same thing.'?

Methinks not.

[Tim Ahlborn]

I've owned several Patriot homes since 1994.
From the basic entry-level home, to a full finished drywall home.
Warranty service has been top notch.

The cheaper home had the typical fit and finish problems, the mid grade home home only had some minor problems (leaking plastic skylight, loose siding, squeaky floor).

The Crystal Valley full drywall home I have now will be 4 years old next month.
The worst problem with the home has been a dripping fireplace chimney, which was recently repaired under warranty (problem during the original install).
Some niggly little fit problems here and there, but over all very nice.

Tim