Sicard RV did the repairs

I earlier expressed my concern about having anything done on my motorhome by Sicard RV so I thought I would report on the repairs they did.  I left the motorhome with Sicard on May 5th to repair the damage caused by the tire blowout.  As well, I asked them to replace the hose reel, replace the other 5 tires and repair the water leak that caused the original reel to rust out.  

I arrived on the 18th to pick up the motorhome but before I paid the bill I thought I'd check it out.  

Checking out the damage caused by the tire blowout - I could not tell that there was ever damage they did a great job.  To check out the hose reel replacement I opened the basement door.  The new hose reel was there and was solidly attached.  There was, however, a puddle of water in the basement compartment.  My first thought was that they hadn't fixed the water leak that caused the previous reel to rust out.  

The service manager came back to the motorhome to check it out and could not find the leak - he spend 15 minutes looking for it.  We turned on the water pump, ran the water for a bit and there was no hint of a leak anywhere.  

It turns out that there is an outdoor shower head in that compartment.  It can be turned on with taps (hot and cold) and the head itself can be turned on or off as well.  I have noticed it does drip when I put it back on the holder.  For now, I have concluded that this was the leak problem and I will attempt to correct it by draining the hose after turning off the taps.  I really hope that works. 

So, in conclusion,  Sicard RV did a good job on this repair.  I am still skeptical  but I am now more inclined to have future repairs done there.  BTW - the motorhome was filthy, the Sicard RV lot is not paved.  It was there for 13 days and moving it in and out of the service area through puddles did the messy job.  Oh well, a trip to Blue Beacon.

New Internet Friend

I finally folded the internet dish down for the last time.  It was a sad moment because it had really served me well for the past 7 years.  To the folks at Winegard, who built the product and provided all the great support, I thank you for being so fantastic over the years.  It provided us with internet access in places where you wouldn't have thought you could get it, both in the US and Canada.  The speed  (1Mbit down 200kbits up) was adaquate and it did the job we needed it to.  The $80 per month was easily justified.

We have been looking for a good (cellular based) solution to replace the dish for a while now.  Cost was only one of the problems we had to deal with but getting access in both the US and Canada was even bigger.  We could get a Rogers or Telus solution in Canada or a Verizon solution in the US but when you cross the border you can go broke paying for the roaming charges.

There are some amazingly low cost solutions "Clear" in the US has an unlimited plan for $30 per month as does Wind mobile in Canada.  The problem is coverage - if you drive out of the city you have no internet access.  This would not be great for a motorhome environment.

The only providers with great coverage have "data caps."  Unlimited internet access really doesn't exist in the cellular world for motorhomers.

Having looked at it for a couple of years now we finally came up with a solution that works for us.

In the US.

We signed up with Verizon; purchased a Novatel MiFi 4G LTE device and got a 2 year plan.   The MiFi
device cost $100 but they gave us a $50 Visa card.  The 2 year contract is $50US for 5GB per month.  The plan is to use the Verizon for the 6 months while we are in the US and suspend the contract when we get back into Canada.  This really will extend the 2 year contract to 4 years but that's OK for us.  There is a little glitch here you can suspend the contract online but for only 90 days at time.  So,  mark your calendar!

In Canada.


In Canada, it was much easier.  We tried Rogers but were unable to get a contract that we could suspend while we were south.  After looking at the coverage map and the contract we finally went with Telus, purchased a Haumei MiFi 4G from them for $149.  There is no contract but we signed up for a $60 for 6GB per month.  If we go over its $20 per GB.  It is a simple phone call when we go south to stop the billing.

Both Verizon and Telus will bill directly and automatically to your credit card every month and you can have them email you a copy of your bill.  The problem for us is going to be managing the gigabyte (GB) cap.

Sicard RV - I Swore I'd Never Go Back

For a wide variety of reasons, I swore, I would not go back to Sicard RV for maintenance on our motorhome.  The reasons included the loss of a GPS while in service and the fact that more than once I had to have something re-fixed elsewhere after being serviced there.  We haven't been back since 2009.

The insurance adjuster got help from Sicard to cost the Motorhome repair after the blowout on the 402.  I got an Email from Terry at Sicard offering to do the repairs.

I also wanted to have the other 5 tires replaced so I asked for a quote from him of that.  The quote was very reasonable $550 each installed.  After a few telephone conversations and Email exchanges with Terry, I made the decision to give Sicard another shot and drove the 200KMs out to Smithville yesterday.

Back to Sicard RV

We had no sooner dropped off the motorhome at the service center when we got some bad news.  Terry had made a mistake on the tire quote - the cost would be $644 per tire not $550 (a significant difference).  Given that I had paid $583, on the road, to replace the tire that blew-out,  it is possible that the original quote was legitimate error.

We added a couple of things to the service list - repair a water leak and replace the Hose Reel.  The Hose Reel will cost $600 and I assume the water leak will be found and fixed easily - Our expectation - under $1000 for the Reel and leak repair.


They have until the 18th to complete everything.  I really hope they do this right - I'll let you all know, either way.  Let me know about your experiences.

Blowout on the 402

It was a long trip back from Florida and very uneventful until we reached the dreaded 402.  We blew out a rear tire and it took a motorhome panel with it. It was a 12" rip in the side wall so powerful that it threw the panel across the road and into the ditch in the medium.  The explosion was so powerful that it bent the steal frame holding the plastic panel.  

It turns out that our Daughter-in-Law was travelling the other way on the 402, spotted the motorhome and called our son.  He called us within a few minutes and handled all the rescue.  Within 1/2 and hour Sarnia tire was there.  Two hours and $783 later we were back on the road headed home.

It turns out that the motorhome damage, but not the tire, is covered by insurance - that is very good news.

Now we just have to see the adjuster and pick a place to get it repaired.

We're Back!!!

Well it's been a while, it's hard to believe that a retired person can be so busy.  I haven't posted for a while but I am going to fix that.  Thanks to all those who follow the blog.  You should be able to comment now that I'm not talking about licencing.

We have had a whole winter in Florida visiting with friends, cruising and running our regular computer classes.

Now that we're back we've been running from one thing to another.  And, now we're baby sitting a fish.