Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

We bought this Generac GP5500 as part of a deal with our electrician when he installed a transfer switch in out home. I was impressed by the solid construction of this genset and the strong build of the frame/cage. The power generated is as advertised. It is not unduly loud either, and is held down to a reasonable sound level when the windows in the house are closed and the unit is running out in the driveway. Anyway, I dutifully exercised this generator every month for a 15 minute run under load. It provided enough power to keep my essentials on in my home. I put about 5-6 oz. of fresh fuel with stabilizer in it for each run. After about 15 minutes under load, I switched off the load, and then ran it until the fuel ran out. I then turned off the fuel valve and put it back in the garage. I also changed the oil when it first hit 2.0 hours of run time. After about 5 months of owning this machine, it suddenly started spewing fuel all over the ground during the monthly maintenance run. I contacted Generac for warranty service and the referred me to a local dealer. After transporting the generator to them, they had it for about a week. They said that the float in the carburetor was stuck open due to some corrosion. They claimed that this was due to bad fuel or fuel contaminated with water, or leaving the machine idle for too long without exercise. This boggled my mind since I have been very careful to prevent just this sort of issue. They refused to even attempt to go get Generac to cover the cost of the repair and billed me $300.00. I explained to them that I followed all maintenance recommendations. The unit was kept in a dry garage without any fuel in the system between test runs. It had 2.1 total hours of run time -- all of it for monthly test runs. Essentially brand new. And yet they refused to even attempt going to Generac for warranty coverage since they explained it was a failure of maintenance by the owner. I told them my maintenance routine, but they said that and corrosion like that is simply not covered. I am extremely disappointed with this response from the local Generac dealer. It was also very expensive to repair when compared to the overall cost of the unit (nearly 50%). I suspect that the valve was stuck or was of inferior quality and that it had nothing to do with corrosion. perhaps there was a metal flake or burr in there since everything was brand new. But without filming the entire repair and taking parts to inspect them, it is impossible to know and prove what exactly was truly wrong. If I had to buy over again, I would choose a Honda. And if something goes wrong with the Generac again while I still own it, I will fix it myself instead of taking it in for warranty service. Coverage for repairs is completely at the discretion of your Generac dealer/service people and there is no way to prove that you, as the owner, followed all the proper maintenance and still encountered a part failure -- and are thus stuck with a bill. It is not worth paying $300 to clean a float value for a generator that costs about $700.00.