Every week or every other week, the staff and writers of RVtravel.com hold a virtual writers meeting where we discuss various content ideas and what is happening in the industry. We also talk about the tons of questions and comments that are received from you, our readers.
During one of these recent meetings, we got on the discussion of RV quality and service issues. After about 30 minutes, one of the writers stated: “We should have just hit ‘record’ and posted this. The information and discussion was outstanding!” And that is how this started!
A new video feature
We will soon be launching a “live to tape” event that will feature leading experts within the RV industry, including RVIA certified technicians, technicians from RV parts suppliers, and even RV owners. We would like to invite you to join us in the discussion with your questions and comments prior to the event on the specific topic.
Our first topic: RV quality
Our first topic will focus on RV quality and, more specifically, why we see so many repairs and adjustments needed during the first few months of ownership. Is it poor workmanship, cheap products and materials used, or lack of inspection when received at the dealership? And what responsibility does an owner share when it comes to education on how systems work and regular maintenance?
Your questions for the experts
We welcome your questions, thoughts, and topic ideas specifically regarding RV quality for this first panel discussion in the form below. You may also leave a comment. Please keep in mind, this will not be a bashing of any RV manufacturer or dealer. Rather, it will be a discussion of what the issues are, what might be the cause of them, and how to prevent or reduce them from happening.
We’re looking forward to hearing from you.
Dave Solberg is a leading expert in the RV industry and author of the “RV Handbook” as well as the Managing Editor of the RV Repair Club.
Read more from Dave here.
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You can’t build quality without inspection, feedback, record keeping, and a way to apply lessons learned to the manufacturing process. I haven’t seen that in the RV world, the final inspection is done by the consumer.
Whatever happens at the factory, the dealer PDI and even warranty claims seem to take place in a vacuum and if things get fixed no one on the line ever hears about it. You could have 500 PDI techs each tightening the same screw and it will still be loose coming out of the factory.
Given appropriate feedback, specifics not just “that’s a lousy rig”, you would think the managers and designers would give some thought to the potential savings and added profit from not having so much warranty work and bad press.
Bill’s first sentence pretty much says it all. And he has to be right given the long wait times for warranty and non-warranty repairs. Yes, the supply chain was and to a lesser degree, continues to be a problem. But the issues that Bill describes were here long before Covid.
Also, we understand that manufacturers are trying to meet the demand, which is significant. But I guarantee that most buyers would prefer to wait a bit longer to get an RV that works over having to immediately return their new toy to the dealer to wait in line to be put into the condition it should have been from the factory in the first place.
I’d say the first thing is making sure workers are drug free whether it’s legal prescription or illegal. Someone who is impaired from drugs either can’t concentrate on doing their job or don’t care. This goes from the janitor all the way up to the inspector at the end of the line. Then establish a system where an assembler sees a problem they can stop the line until it’s resolved. I worked for GM 30 years and they finally adopted that theory and their quality increased substantially. I’m not talking about just a missed screw, but a major part malfunction. To continue building with a defective part is stupid, there aren’t enough RV tech’s to rebuild RV’s that are built the way they are. If one manufacturer starts this their reputation for quality will force the competition to come up to the standards, and the first one is going to be selling several more than the rest. The old business saying of a satisfied customer will bring 3 new customers but a dissatisfied customer will cost you 10
Bob, GM has to compete world-wide, and I agree about the drug problem. There should be more use of the “for cause” testing without the drama and controversy. The bigger problem is no one wants these jobs anymore- so if you’re begging for help, who has the advantage?
It’s poor workmanship and not doing anything about it.