Stay Away From Leer/Century Camper Shells

This company and their pathetic quality control has wasted my summer.

I ordered a Century T-class camper shell for my Tacoma back in June. It was supposed to take 2 weeks, which would have left July and August open for camping/wheeling. I ordered it new and payed a PREMIUM price. I expected that with their reputation I would get a solid shell to last me a long time.

The first shell arrived looking like it had been made it China. There were numerous flaws, but the main one was that the carpet headliner was hanging off the shell all around the edged, jagged-like, and beading up everywhere. It looked like it had been put on with an Elmers glue stick by a one armed rhesus monkey.. The wires to the interior light were hanging loose inside, no conduit, not even attached in any way to the side. One of the door handles was janky, the rear weather stripping was damaged, etc., etc.

I took it back the the incredible dealer I bought it from (who also installed it like this) and demanded a refund. I could tell that if Century/Leer would send something out like this, they were not going to be able to fix any of the problems without creating more and wanted to be done with them asap. I got the whole: "no refunds on special orders…..blah blah blah" thing. After more back and forth, the dealer took the shell off, gave me a loaner, and sent the shell to Century for it to be fixed.

Two weeks went by and I heard nothing. I started making phone calls. No one would tell me anything. I eventually called to the heads of corporate for both Century and the dealer and finally someone agreed that the shell would be there in 2 days. This was mid July now.

The shell came back with the carpeting poorly installed again. I had to get inside the shell and press the carpeting into the glue with various implements. The carpet had not been molded to the shape of the shell, it was just pull taught across all of the bends and contours. Of course, it was already pulling away. But there was more.

The next two things I didn't really notice until a week later. When they re-did the carpet, they had to remove the rivets holding on the rear door trim piece. Apparently, some gorilla who works at the factory just tore them right out, bending and tearing the aluminum trim piece on the inside. Did they bother to replace that? Nope. It didn't occur to them that any parts that are DAMAGED during a WARRANTY repair are THEIR responsibility. But furthermore, when this baboon put it all back together, he just stuck a rivet in the hole, without pressing it, likely because the damaged trim on the inside wouldn't hold it anyhow. So, the rivets kept popping out and the trim kept separating for the week that I had the shell on again..

Then, while looking things over, i noticed the rear door wasn't making contact with it's weather stripping (when closed) the way it's supposed to. The opening for the door was too big for the piece of glass used. After looking more, I noticed that the right side of the shell was not parallel with the bed. The opening for the door was being pulled open wide…..or was it? I had my very strong friends lift and try to push the shell back in place. it wouldn't budge. It appeared as though it was molded that way or had somehow been stretched. Not my problem. It didn't fit my truck.

I took it back to the dealer and showed him everything. He called Century and they agreed to send a BRAND NEW shell. Their guy OMAR agreed to personally inspect it before it went out. And I could keep the shell on my truck until then. Great. "I'm sure Century will get it righ this next time"

2 weeks later, into August, and my new shell arrives. I drive to the dealer to inspect it, and notice AGAIN, the carpeting is hanging off the shell everywhere. I was incredulous. The dealer sensed the frustrated tension and called Century right away and asked them to issue a refund. They eventually did. I had the shell removed.

I ordered the original in June to prep for the summer. It's now mid August. I still don't have a camper shell and no way to haul my gear to the mountains. Century/Leer is a joke. Better products are made in China.

 

My dad has a leer shell on his 03. Absolutely flawless from day one. If i was into that look, i'd buy one. Sounds like you need to find a new dealer.

 

I looked at leer shells, I bought a SnugTop.

 

Sorry to hear that. Aside from some misc stuff, my leer is great. Just had to use silicon to seal it to the bed and seal the third brake light to the shell. Look on CL, you may find something cheap. Good luck.

 

I looked at leer also. Bought A.R.E

 

Same. The only beef I have was the rivets weren't covered with anything and the rear taillight wiring doesn't have a firm conduit to run in. I could nitpick, but if it's something I can fix in 20 minutes with plastidip and some velcro, I just fix it myself.

 

Bought a leer and it was delivered Tuesday of this week. Haven't had installed yet. I will do a thorough inspection after reading this.

 

Have the dealer pull the third brake light off to check the seal. That was my "major" issue with my 100xq. Hole was too big so it didnt seal, causing a waterfall in my bed anytime it rained or got washed. Easy fix with clear outdoor silicone. Aside from that, I love my leer.


OP, $250 in Santa Rosa. http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/pts/4606084123.html

 

The dealer didn't build the different shells I received. Century/Leer did. The dealer had nothing to do with the any part of the construction.

 

But he did try to have you take delivery of a flawed product multiple times.

 

Yeah, I had a leer a few years ago and thought it was okay. That's part of the reason I was willing to try them when buying new this time. But it's obvious their quality control has gone south and not returned. I mean, even if you thought a customer was being nitpicky (which I wasn't) wouldn't you try your damnedest on the THIRD time to meet their expectations? These guys weren't trying at all. They're wasting their own supplies.

Craigslist is kinda barren right now. I'm in Cali and everything Tacoma is hard to find.

 

Thanks for the heads up. I'm looking for a hi-rise shell. I've got a sleeping platform/carpet kit built and ready to go in, and the way it's designed necessitates the extra headroom.

 

I'd get a refund and go to another dealer or manu

 

That stinks, but I got lucky with mine. Carpet the thing my self and it actually came out legit. To bad I might be selling it soon cause my account department (Wife) does not like the look.

 

I have a 2014 Super Sport SnugTop I purchased in January for $2,650.00 not including taxes. It has been a piece of shit. The dealer or SnugTop will not take it back, replace it or refund my money. "No refunds on special orders" It took me a long time to save the money for a camper top.

The sad part is, SnugTop's customer service is extremely bad. There would be four to seven weeks between their replies to me. Their new company name should be ShitTop. I called them (Chris) on the phone and the same shit.

They had my camper top for seven weeks and did not fix all the paint issues with it. It came back in bad shape. The dealer wanted to send it back again and not give me a refund. There would not been anything left for ShitTop to return the way it was treated the first time. I am stuck with it and I was not going to let them keep beating the hell out of it during shipping.

Here is a picture of some white pieces of fiberglass between the clear-coat and paint.

I am glad you got your money back. Leer seen they made a few bad ones and set things right. ShitTop just makes you take it and do not care about their reputation.

You can look at my photos and see all the other issues with my camper top. (Paint coming off, brake light LEDs going out, leaking windows)

My replacement LED brake light already has some LEDs starting to get darker than the rest in the bar.

 

Here is the paint coming off around the brake light.

 

Here is my ShitTop brake light with some of the LEDs going out.

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That ain't good. Sorry to hear.

 

I had just read the horror story of SnugTop's unacceptable customer service, misrepresentation and lack of support in the Show Us your SnugTop thread. Despite their top quality reviews - I started looking at Century and Leer, not knowing they are the same company/manufacturer. Very glad I read this. I guess I will be moving on to ARE brand. Or go with the Tradesman custom aluminum builder. The local Las Vegas ARE dealer - 4 The Truck, has horrible YELP reviews, so my options are getting fewer by the minute. I take extreme pride in my line of work and I have zero tolerance for sh*t like this described by you and the other posters about lack of quality and or support. These do not sound like honest mistakes, but more like complete disregard for quality and customer satisfaction. Unacceptable. Perhaps it is time for a new brand to emerge. Your posts do have an effect on their business - they won't be getting mine.

 

Alu Cab is looking more worth the $3200 after reading these reviews..