Who We Serve
Repair for Privately Owned RVs, Vans and Trailers
Short answer
Private owners get the same teardown first process as our fleet accounts. Collision, roof, slide and systems work on RVs, vans and trailers, in shop only.
Personal and recreational owners are the core of our work: motorhomes, camper vans, travel trailers and fifth wheels owned by families rather than companies. We handle collision, water damage, roof, slide and systems repair at our 35,000 square foot Yorba Linda shop, about 45 minutes from San Clemente.
Updated 2026-07-29 by OCRV Center Editorial Team
Most of the vehicles in our bays belong to a person, not a company. Somebody bought a coach in 2016, put fourteen thousand miles on it, backed it into a pillar at a Costco fuel island, and now needs to know whether the sidewall behind that scrape is wet. That owner has no fleet manager, no procurement department and no second unit to fall back on. They have one vehicle and a trip in October.
That changes how we talk to you. A fleet account wants a spreadsheet. A private owner wants to know what happened, what it costs, whether insurance covers it, and whether the coach will be ready before the reservation at Refugio. We answer those four questions in that order, in writing, before you authorize anything.
We are in Yorba Linda at 23281 La Palma Ave, roughly 45 minutes up the I-5 or the SR-73 from San Clemente. All work is done in shop. We do not run mobile or roadside service, which matters if you were hoping somebody could come look at the roof in your driveway in Talega. Bring it to us and we will put it under real light.
In this group
- Full Time RVers
Full time RVers have no second home while the coach is in a bay. How we sequence repairs, stage parts and cut nights out of the coach.
- Weekend RV Owners
Weekend and vacation RV owners get storage related failures, not mileage failures. Roof, seals, tires, batteries and low speed collision, in shop.
- Camper Van Owners
Sprinter, Transit and ProMaster camper vans need the build documented, not just the body. Collision, water, electrical and cabinetry work in shop.
- Overland and Adventure
Armor, racks, drawers and aftermarket suspension complicate every overland claim. We repair the vehicle and document the build for your adjuster.
- Vintage RV Owners
Nothing is available for a 1974 coach, so parts get fabricated. Vintage RV restoration, structural repair and paint at our Yorba Linda shop.
What Private Owners Actually Bring Through the Door
The mix has been consistent for fifteen years. Roughly a third is collision, and most of that collision is low speed: mirrors, corners, awning rails, rear caps met with a gatepost. Another third is water, either a roof seam that opened up or a slide seal that has been weeping for two seasons. The rest is systems and cosmetics, meaning generators that will not carry the air conditioning, inverters that fault under load, delamination bubbles that grew over a hot summer, and paint that has chalked out on the south-facing side.
What almost never comes in is a single isolated problem. An owner calls about a soft spot near the entry step and the actual scope is a failed corner seal, wet luan across four feet of floor, and a slide that has been racking the opening because the floor under it dropped. We would rather find all of that in week one than discover it in week five, so intake includes a full walk of the vehicle, not just the area you called about.
- Low speed collision
- Corner strikes, mirror and awning rail damage, rear cap contact from backing. Cheap to fix cosmetically and expensive to fix correctly, because the laminated panel behind the gelcoat usually moved.
- Water intrusion
- Roof seams, sidewall penetrations, slide seals and window frames. By the time you see a stain inside, the substrate has typically been wet for one to three seasons and the subfloor is involved.
- Delamination
- The outer fiberglass separating from its foam and luan core. Common on 2005 to 2018 laminated sidewalls and made worse by every hot day the coach sits uncovered.
- Systems that fail under load
- Generators, inverters, converters and air conditioning that test fine cold and drop out at 95 degrees with two loads running. These need diagnostic time, not parts guessing.
- Sun and storage damage
- Oxidized clearcoat, cracked roof membrane, dried slide seals and hardened awning fabric. Coaches stored uncovered in Orange County age faster than the mileage suggests.
Scheduling Has to Work Around Your Season, Not Ours
Private owners use their vehicles on a calendar. Spring break, summer, the shoulder weeks in September when the state parks open up, and Thanksgiving. If we take your coach in June for a job that needs a twelve week backordered front cap, we have taken your entire summer. So we ask about your calendar at intake and we are honest about whether the timing works.
Sometimes the right answer is that we order the parts now, keep your coach in your hands, and bring it in when the parts land. That works for cosmetic and non structural jobs where nothing is leaking. It does not work when water is getting in, because every week of delay adds subfloor. We will tell you plainly which situation you are in rather than booking a bay we do not need yet.
A Personal Claim Runs Differently Than a Commercial One
On a private claim you are the insured, the decision maker and the person paying the deductible, all at once. There is no risk manager to escalate to and no volume relationship pressuring the carrier. That makes documentation the only leverage you have. An adjuster who receives teardown photographs, factory measurement records and a line item plan behaves very differently than one who receives a phone call describing hidden damage.
The other difference is scope. Personal RVs carry personal modifications: solar, lithium, hitch racks, custom cabinetry, aftermarket suspension. Those items are frequently written off the first estimate because the adjuster has no line code for them. We itemize and value them separately with receipts and installation photographs, which is the only way they survive review.
- You choose the shop
- California law puts the choice of repair facility with you. A carrier can recommend a direct repair program shop and cannot require one. That matters when the recommendation is an auto body shop.
- Deductible timing
- Your deductible is collected at pickup, not at authorization. If the claim also includes a customer pay portion for pre existing damage, that portion follows our normal deposit schedule.
- Supplements are normal
- Roughly two thirds of RV collision claims need at least one supplement once panels come off. We write and submit it with photographs attached rather than asking you to relay it.
- Modifications need proof
- Solar arrays, lithium banks, racks and interior build outs need receipts, part numbers and installation photographs to be valued. Without paperwork they get treated as no value additions.
What It Costs and When Money Changes Hands
Our posted rates are $210 per hour for body and paint, $260 per hour for mechanical and electrical, $285 per hour for diagnostics with a one hour minimum credited against an authorized repair, and $95 per hour for detail. Paint supplies bill at $55 per paint hour and body supplies at $5 per body hour. Hazmat disposal is $45 flat. Sales tax of 7.75 percent applies to parts and materials. Labor is not taxed.
Parts carry 100 percent markup at $100 or less and 35 percent above $100. Special order parts require a 100 percent non refundable deposit, because a discontinued 2009 front cap ordered for your coach is not sellable to anyone else. On any authorization over $2,000 we collect 50 percent up front, an additional 25 percent when parts arrive on jobs over $10,000, and the balance at pickup. Card payments over $1,000 carry a 3.5 percent surcharge.
- Collision estimates
- By appointment so we can get the vehicle on a lift and under light. Insurance walk ins are welcome, because an adjuster driven visit rarely fits a booked schedule.
- RV systems estimate
- A $150 charge for systems evaluation, credited in full against an authorized repair. This covers the bench time to actually test a generator or inverter rather than guess.
- Diagnostic hour
- One hour at $285, credited against an authorized repair. Electrical faults on coaches are chased, not looked up, and that hour buys real instrumented testing.
- What we will not do
- We do not offer mobile or roadside service. Every repair happens in shop in Yorba Linda where we have lifts, a paint booth, a water bay and the right light.
What This Costs at Our Posted Rates
Body and paint labor is posted at $210 per hour. Mechanical and electrical is $260 per hour. Diagnostics run $285 per hour with a one hour minimum that is credited back against an authorized repair. Ranges below reflect jobs we have actually completed.
| Line item | Range | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| RV collision repair, insurance or customer pay | $1,000 to $150,000+ | 5 to 800 |
| Roof reseal, all penetrations | $750 to $4,500+ | 4 to 22 |
| Slide out mechanism repair | $500 to $8,500+ | 2 to 34 |
| Annual maintenance service | $400 to $2,500 | 2 to 12 |
Ranges reflect real jobs we have run. Final figures come from a written estimate after we see the vehicle.
See the full rate card and estimate policy.
What Is Included
- Full walk of the vehicle at intake, not just the area you called about
- Written line item estimate with labor hours, parts and materials broken out
- Teardown of the damage zone before the repair plan is finalized
- Photographic documentation package for your insurance adjuster
- Supplement preparation and submission when hidden damage surfaces
- Itemized valuation of solar, lithium, racks and interior modifications
- Water testing on any job that disturbed a roof or sidewall penetration
- Written completion date at authorization, updated in writing when it moves
Questions We Get Asked
I live in San Clemente. Is the drive to Yorba Linda worth it?
It is about 45 minutes on the I-5 or the SR-73 with no traffic. The reason to make the drive is that we hold a 35,000 square foot facility with an RV sized paint booth, structural pulling equipment and a water test bay. Very few shops within twenty minutes of the coast can take a 40 foot coach indoors at all, which is why most of our owners come from further away than we do.
Can someone come look at my RV at my house?
No. We do not run mobile or roadside service of any kind. Diagnosis on a leaking roof or an electrical fault needs a lift, a water bay, controlled light and instrumented testing, and none of that travels. If the vehicle cannot be driven, arrange a tow to Yorba Linda and we will meet it at the door.
Do I have to pay before you start work?
On authorizations over $2,000 we collect 50 percent at authorization, then another 25 percent when parts arrive if the job is over $10,000, with the balance due at pickup. Special order parts require a full non refundable deposit because they cannot be returned. Card payments over $1,000 carry a 3.5 percent surcharge.
How long will my RV be in the shop?
Cosmetic single panel work is usually one to two weeks. Moderate collision with paint blending runs three to six weeks. Structural work with cap replacement runs eight to twenty weeks and is driven almost entirely by parts availability and carrier approval speed rather than bay time. We give you a date at authorization and update it in writing when it moves.