When Sandra Martinez retired from 32 years of teaching elementary school in Tucson, she had one dream: sell the house, buy a Class C motorhome, and spend her next chapter seeing America. What she didn’t expect was spending her first two months dealing with a roof that leaked every time it rained.
The Problem
“I bought a 2009 Jayco Greyhawk that looked perfect on the outside,” Sandra told us during our June community meeting. “The inspector I hired missed hairline cracks along both AC unit seams. Three weeks after I bought it, I was camping in New Mexico when a storm rolled in and I woke up to water dripping on my face.”
Her initial repair cost $425 at a shop in Albuquerque — a patch job that held for exactly six weeks before failing again. A second patch in Colorado cost $280. By the time she found us through our RV Network online community, she’d spent $900 on temporary fixes and was questioning her entire retirement plan.
The Solution
“I found the forum, posted my story, and within an hour I had 12 responses from members who’d been through exactly what I was going through,” Sandra said. “Three different people recommended I just get the polyurea coating done and be done with it forever.”
She contacted a certified applicator in Phoenix through our directory, got a quote of $3,200 for her 31-foot Class C, and scheduled the work. The entire application took one day. She’s now logged over 22,000 miles since the coating was applied and has driven through monsoons in New Mexico, downpours in the Pacific Northwest, and a blizzard in Colorado — zero leaks.
Her Advice to New Members
“Don’t waste money on patches. I spent $900 solving nothing. The $3,200 coating is the best money I’ve spent on my RV, period. It actually gave me confidence to go further and stay longer because I know my rig is protected.”
Sandra is now one of our most active community contributors. You’ll find her answering questions in the community forum almost daily and she’s presented her story at two of our regional community meetings.
Want to share your own story? Contact us or post in the RV Network — member stories are the most powerful resource we have for helping new owners make smart decisions.