We’ve heard all about it: The poor quality of RVs coming out of manufacturing plants during the past few years. Blame has been assigned to company bosses who set unreasonable production goals. Fault is also placed at the feet of crew bosses who continually urge their line laborers to “work faster.” Blame has also fallen on unskilled and/or unprofessional workers who seem okay just slapping things together. And on it goes.
Could newbies be blamed?
I was recently reading some posts on an RV forum. Here, folks offered a unique perspective about the poor quality of today’s RVs. I thought it was interesting. Maybe you will, too. Here’s what a few people had to say:
L.W. said, “I’m not defending anyone (dealers or manufacturers), but how many of the issues were ‘new owner’ imposed? I’m sorry, but the sheer number of people who have never set foot in a camper before and expect them to work exactly like a S&B home is incredible. I belong to a FB group for a specific RV brand. I cannot believe how many ‘newbies’ break something by incorrectly performing a job (like emptying the tanks) and then blame the manufacturer.”
John M. agrees: “Do these new RVers not read their rig’s manuals? I’d laugh at their shenanigans if it wasn’t so sad. And the manufacturing company is to blame for poor quality in RVs? Not in every case!”
Vera chimes in: “I’ve watched a ‘newbie RVer’ try to hook up to the electrical posts while their better half attempts to get control of the water hose. Not a good combination!”
Joe B. remembers, “I had a guy move in next to me. He wondered if I had room in my fridge for his beer. When I asked ‘Why?’ he said his fridge was broken. It was a brand-new RV! Turns out, the Newbie couldn’t figure out how to unlatch the fridge handles, and he made the mistake of using a little too much force. Handles broke off. He’s not worried though. He says it’s under warranty. That’s not poor RV quality. That’s user blunder.”
And then there was L.J.: “A fifth-wheel rig pulled into the site next to me. It was a circus! The Newbies knew nothing about hooking up, using the convenience center, had no sewer connections, etc. They CUT OFF the end of their sewer hose to ‘adapt’ it to the ‘correct length’ (to the sewer). I offered to help when they first pulled in, but they weren’t interested.”
What to do?
Here are some suggestions for experienced RVers
- Kindly (and humbly) offer to help the newbie. Maybe a disclaimer like “We were all newbies once” will help break the ice. However, use caution. Not everyone is able to accept assistance. Others want to perform RV chores for themselves so that they can learn.
- Encourage the newbie’s attempts. Give suggestions when asked. Otherwise, one offer to help is usually enough.
- Don’t hover, but be available if newbie decides s/he needs your help.
Advice for the newbie
- Read your RV owner’s manual. Really read it! Take it with you. Every. Trip. Or download it to your laptop so you’ll have easy access to it.
- If your dealer or private seller didn’t give you a manual, ask the manufacturer for one. Or see if you can find a manual for your RV online.
- Accept the fact that you don’t know everything about RVing. Humbly receive advice and help from those who have more experience. (Trust your gut. If the advice seems unreliable, graciously thank your neighbor, then get a second opinion.)
- Call your dealer with your questions or ask the private seller for problem-solving suggestions.
- Join a group or forum that deals with your specific make and model of RV. You can gain a lot of knowledge from reading about problems that others have faced—and solved.
- Be patient with yourself, your travel partner, and well-meaning experienced RVers. Take your time when tackling new chores or procedures.
- Have fun! Even the most frustrating experience will be a fond memory one day. “Hey, remember that time we broke the (insert part) and spent (insert the obnoxious repair bill amount)? Fun times, right?”
What advice would you give to a newbie?
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Most of our issues with our 2022 5th wheel are or started as supplier defects. The connector for the temperature sensors was wired wrong and front and back are reversed. A reading lamp was broken and installed anyway. One of the holes for the rear AC cover was in the wrong place. The installer forced the bolt in and cross threaded the bolt. The last two defects could have been prevented if the installer had paid better attention.
Read the book. You don’t know everything.
My tip to Newbes would be from ” traveling Robert ” GOAL G Get O Out A And L Look when backing !
Sorry, not buying it, can’t blame the newbies for this one. I’m a seasoned RV’er, been doing it since 1984. I bought a brand new 5’er in 2016, from a reputable manufacturer, the thing was thrown together with tape and spit. There were so many issues with it. The pantry fell apart on our first jump. Thank goodness my husband is a Jack of all trades and was able to fix the problems without us having to wait months for repairs.
Join an RV group like Escapees that has a boot camp for RVers and online education for newbies and “oldies”. Be prepared before you buy.
And for Heaven’s sake, people. Be kind. You were a newbie once too.
My RV owners manual is virtually worthless, most full of safetly related tips probably suggested by their lawyers. Nothing on how to actually use the equipment installed. I would suggest any RV dealer require each buyer to attend a class where they are taught how to use the various components on an RV and be provided “cheat sheets” as reminders.
Tim, in most cases the reputation of the manufacturer determines the quality of support you get in the form of good documentation.
Do this; Attn Newbies, locate the forum where your individual unit would reside ( Forest River, Thor, etc.), and become a posting member. Take time to read the various postings, and the replies. This will be invaluable to you, should you run into a problem with your unit.
Don’t be afraid to post a question, should you need assistance on something. Most of the replies you get will be informative, and will help you get up to speed on the nuances of your specific unit.
Excellent tip! Thanks for sharing.
On a FB page I’m on, a user bought an RV last fall. Used in their driveway once and left it go for the winter. This weekend, they are at a campground and water is coming out all over. Someone asked the obvious…”Did you use the Pink stuff”….answer from the original poster…..”What’s pink stuff?”
All of the answers have good points. The manual that comes with the new RV or TT is mostly generic. There should be a complete compliment of individual manuals for everything actually installed in the unit. Also, a “readable” build sheet with specific model and serial numbers. The build sheet I received with mine looks like a first grader filled it out. Nothing legible. I even contacted the Mfr for my specific factory build sheet according to the VIN and was told there is none, only the handwritten sheet filled out as things were installed.
I documented each item in mine and went to the website of each particular company and downloaded each user and installation manual.
Most dealers do a walk through with customer, but no one can remember everything that they were shown and how to operate in that short time, especially ‘newbies’, who are excited about their new rolling home.
Very well put and very informative.
I talked to some RV manufacturers at the Tampa RV Supershow this year and they all said they were not rushing production because they often could not get all of the parts needed to complete almost-ready RV’s. A big one right now is that the chassis manufacturers, motorized and towable, have RV manufacturers on an allocation program. One manufacturer said they were taking advantage of the slower production rate to have a salesperson go through every RV that was pronounced as ready to ship to the dealer. The salesperson is charged with going through everything as a second set of eyes. That plant manager said the salesperson often finds a dozen or more defects, most minor or cosmetic but some major and they remedy them before the unit actually ships. He said he’s tracking warranty claims on the units that have been salesperson-inspected to see if this process results in reduced warranty claims.
Therein lies the problem. They are allowing a “second set of eyes” to inspect RV’s prior to shipment, only because they are slow, due to having a hard time getting parts to complete them. Knowing that these salesmen are finding many problems that need to be remedied before shipping to a dealer, why don’t they designate a “FULL TIME” person to that position, even when things get back to normal? They are too cheap and really don’t care about the end users experience. That is the bottom line. Yes, newbies do dumb things due to their lack of experience but that is a tiny problem compared to the lack of “FINAL” quality inspection at the factories!
Inspection is fine and necessary, but quality built in is essential. It starts with design engineering, then flows to supplier quality programs and then manufacturing engineering and build by people highly incented and empowered to clear quality standards. An RV industry practice of paying by the unit produced is contrary to quality focus/incentive.
I totally agree. If quality was built in, way fewer problems would exist upon completion. But there will always be a need for final inspection. It is a necessary but overlooked job in the RV building industry.
Haha!!! That’s a good one!…. Slower production rates… that guy can sure sell! Slower production rate equals less money in everyone’s pocket and they aren’t about to let that happen!! They aren’t selling these things because they’re passionate about them!
Slow down…do half as much and take twice as long as you think you need when first performing RV tasks such as: sewer/dumping; adding city water; hooking up to elec; leveling and/or stabilizing; dewinterizing; using slide out; and, of course, pulling/backing into a site….
I don’t think most of these people believed they were doing anything wrong- so they wouldn’t be asking for help anyway. “Help” in their views, I believe is what they need after the mistake has been made. There are exceptions and I’ve been more than willing to lend assistance there.
Still goes to the bosses for hiring people who are not qualified to work in the factory. They don’t want to pay for the experience ones, cheaper is better and for the last 10 years, it’s gotten worse. Quality over quantity.
Maybe RV manufactures can make various short videos for new RV owners. These could cover topics like RV dumping, campground hook-ups, adapters, using your A/C, etcetera. These videos could easily be made for specific RV models a manufacture makes. They could then easily be downloaded at any time.
Most 30 something Newbie RVers are already tech savvy, and will watch videos, before reading a paper manual.
Back in 1996 when we bought our class-a, the dealer provided a VHS video covering the operation of our RV. We still have that video.
Great idea! Newmar has an extensive library of ‘how to’ videos at Newgle.Newmar.com for Newmar owners. I feel a video from the manufacturer can be trusted more than You Tube.
If experience is a guide, the videos from the company will be the same quality as the RVs.
UTube has videos that are easily accessible. They have information on how to’s.
About being available to help: it’s a good thing to remember that no good deed goes unpunished.
Don’t be lazy and post a question on a FB forum that has been asked multiple times. Do some research first, google it and then ask the question if you can’t find the answer.
Poor quality has to be blamed on the manufactures themselves, lack of proper training and quality control. All of that takes time and nobody wants to take time anymore.
re: Read your RV owner’s manual.
When we bought our RV, it would be 2 weeks until we could pick it up. (We were having Fantastic Fans installed.) I took all the manuals with me and read them before the walkthrough. During the walkthrough I could ask questions about things that weren’t clear in the manuals or were too generic to be of much use.
We had also rented a trailer for a week that was of similar size to what we were considering. (Partly, my wife and I wanted to make sure we could both live in a 22 footer for a week without killing each other.)
Haha! I understand, Irvin! Good tip, too.
Anyway you slice it, it’s still the manufacturer and it’s workers to use quality parts and labor. Mine is/was put together pretty good but a lot if trim fell off because of staples that were TOO short. Manufacturers saved what,50 cents a box by using shorter than necessary staples. I’ve had wood split because installer got too close to outside edge rather than center. Id have known right away if I were assembling something that staples were to short but he didn’t want trouble from his boss so the poor work continues. Some people are pure stupid and some don’t give a darn. A little glue would be nice too. Cabinet makers use a lot of it and most houses dont go bouncing down to highway.
I’m certainly not a “newbie”, and have had 8 RV’s counting one motorhome and will give my two cents worth. RV workmanship from design to delivery is generally crap. And telling anyone to read the owners manual is a joke. Have you read one lately? They don’t really tell you anything usable. No plumbing or wiring diagrams. Anyway, if you are new to RV’ing, my suggestion is to become pretty much an RV technician because you will have problems and you will find getting service and ordering parts are very difficult. Learn how to do your own repair and/or replacements. Understand that the manufacturers do everything as fast and cheap as they possibly can, leaving things half done, and sawdust everywhere they think you will never look.
thumbs up on this
Make that 2 thumbs up. If you’re product is crap the solution is blame or ignore the customer. It will work for a time, but eventually it will come back to bite the manufacturers. This industry is littered with failed RV manufacturers. The next round of failures is just around the corner. That said, there are some RV builders out there that recognize an opportunity to differentiate their product, and will start to capture market share with better built coaches.
Can’t argue with this. I’ve had my FR Georgetown for over 13 years, and when I had a parts issue, I had to call the company. I got a lot of support from their FROG (FR Owners Group) support guru, who used to work on the line building my model (340TS). He said that they basically just assembled what the designers and engineers told them to assemble, and they never kept schematics or blueprints around because there wasn’t a need. The Companies didn’t keep them because who wants to pay for storage, much less keep an RV on the road when the customer should be trading up to a new one.
I am 67 and purchased my first RV. All these years kept looking and shaking my head at how poorly made they were. Junk, junk, junk.
Great responses. But if a newbie won’t even read their owners manual, I doubt they would even read this great article and the helpful hints.
I admit to being a newbie as my first purchase of a travel trailer was just under a year ago. I get the author of this story stressing reading the owner’s manual, but the experience I had at the dealership was underwhelming. The person who delivered the trailer to me, gave me little to no info about how anything worked. The walkthrough probably took five to seven minutes. I didn’t even know how to unhitch the trailer from the ball after taking delivery.
All newbee must attend YouTube “university” a lot of good content on just anout anything RV.
A few years ago we were in Elkhart and toured a couple of factories. The tour guide at the trailer plant was proud of the fact that they pulled every 10th trailer and gave it a complete QC checkout! We even run it through a rain check, pointing to what looked like a car wash about 30 feet long. We fill all the tanks, even check out the wiring! Seemed proud of the fact that they checked 1 out of 10!
I will agree that a lot of mistakes are made by newbees, I think that everyone of us was one at one time or another. I’ve been hauling these rigs around for going on 60 years or better and I (we) still make mistakes. So I don’t think that blaming them for all the carp that gets shipped to dealers is right.
Remember when American autos were build with no oversight? Overseas manufacturers starting shipping better built autos and all of a sudden Americans started getting better. I think the same thing is about to happen in the RV world.
100% agree but respectfully, it won’t happen in the RV industry… at least not anytime soon and it comes down to the one thing why anybody is in this industry… money. There is way too much money in this industry to stop anything from changing. All the way from the very top to all the way to the bottom and there are a lot of barricades in place, inside and outside of the industry, to make sure of that. There are a lot of people in the industry that make much more than anyone would guess… and built a lifestyle around that… wouldn’t you make sure to protect the life you built from an industry that is made up of a product that is a luxury item.
A car can be argued as a necessity item that everyone could need… a RV is not and demand changes over night. It is never “if”, it’s always “when” a downturn is going to happen. That’s why Elkhart county is looked at as the pulse of the economy. With that, don’t think politics are not involved in this industry. There’s my full circle with policies and barricades in place.
This article seems like a classic case of the manufacturers blaming their customers for their poor quality.
I recently looked at a new Super C motorhome from a manufacturer with a reputation for good quality. It’s a new model I’d been following through development and thought it would be the perfect one for me. I was ready to buy.
I was astonished at the poor quality! Uneven ridges in the floor, cabinet doors falling off, wires hanging out, on and on. The fit and finish on the $300,000+ motor home was no better than that of a $20,000 trailer.
I’m sure newbies make plenty of mistakes. But the owners documentation for this motorhome is nearly non-existent, just a handful of generic videos.
I suppose it’s ultimately the customer’s fault for waiting in line to buy poorly made RVs. If I could only find something that was made as well as a Earthroamer and didn’t cost $2 million.
At the tampa show I was looking at coaches close to 1 million, and could not believe how craptastic they were on fit and finish. cheap bling…
I read several RV books (two by a retired Canadian military couple that full timed for years) and subscribed to RV magazines for at least three years before I planned to buy one. It was going to be my retirement present but instead it was my 60th birthday present to myself. Eight months later I retired and one of my first trips was to Escapees Boot Camp and RV Driving School and followed a few weeks later by taking FMCA Basic RV. I would encourage anyone wanting to start this lifestyle/adventure to follow a similar path. It is too big an investment to jump in unprepared.
I’ve worked in the RV industry for many years and I have a different viewpoint from this article. If everyone who ever tried to use an RV was a certifiable idiot and did absolutely everything wrong it would not explain the absolute junk that is being manufactured now.
Two-year-old RVs come into my shop with Filon delamination that comes close to totaling an $80K RV. When we remove the Filon the Luan underneath is so rotted it indicates that the leaks started within weeks of leaving the manufacture. The manufacturers are using cheaper materials put together with poor craftsmanship and they don’t give a . . . because people are standing in line to hand them money.
When we get down to the aluminum structure holding your house together while going down the road at 60+ mph the welds are poorly tacked not even close to fully welded.
The fault is not with the newbies but with us that are putting up with this.
…..and lawyers shall decend upon them, fleecing any remaining funds these newbies have left, trying to right the wrongs….. and these piles of junk will put a taint on the industry for many years to come….
I owned a 100 site RV Resort (sold last year) and currently work as a Mobile Tech. sure people are idiots sometimes and many make rookie move – but that does not explain away the leaking seams, shoddy plumbing, underrated suspensions, tanks dropping out of frames, unfinished electical, etc, etc. This is just some industry fluff piece, total hose sh!t IMO. #1 thing I tell folks who ask me about buying is ‘wait a year’ the market will be flooded with lightly used units from unhappy campers for a fraction of the new cost and the bug will have been worked out. My 2020 Raptor 351 is pre-pandemic, it cost $62,500 new and was reasonably well built. People now are paying 100K+ for the same unit with nothing but headaches.
Bingo! Hold on for just a little bit longer, and bargains galore will be amongst us. We are in bubble territory, in Commodities, stocks, bonds and real estate. That has NEVER happened in the modern history of the civilized world. So, for those who have been wise, and thrifty, your going to see a bonanza, and for those who spent their last dimes, buying stuff you had no business getting yourselves into, prepare for a major adjustment.
In the 1980’s the business world discovered a new word: QUALITY. The word is still used but has little meaning. It is now just a vague concept.
Quality programs were a hot topic. Business texts contained acronyms like TQM, CQI, SPC; honored gurus like Deming, Shewhart, Juran; taunted process models by Drs. Ishakawa, Taguchi, Shingo. That was a long time ago and yet so much is still applicable.
One well known CQI proponent, Dr. W. Edwards Deming note that 85% of product failures are a result of deficiencies in the process and systems, not the employees.
As a trainer I worked with many manufacturers over the years. I can attest that what I saw on shop floors bore out Dr. Deming’s statement. Employees can only work with what they have: what management gives them, how well management prepares and trains them for the job.
What happened to quality? It cost $$.
In the words of Pete Seeger — “When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?”
You are so correct. Thank you for a well thought and coherent statement.
Most RV manuals are garbage. They are very generic and often there is nothing that is actually specific to the make and model of RV you purchased. I wouldn’t even have issue with this if a detailed manual specific to my model of RV was available online. It is not. I have used YouTube dozens of times to figure things out that simply were not stated at all in the manual. Some things are, for example, manufacturing issues. All of my water switches (hot water heater bypass, winterizing, etc.) are backwards! Off is on with every single switch. As soon as I and a helpful neighbor figured this out, we actually were able to use our RV! The refrigerator was installed too far against the outer wall of the slide and it pinched the water hose to the ice maker causing water to pour out onto the floor. When the tech came to fix it, he found nothing wrong. He didn’t know there was a water bypass valve to the refrigerator under the sink. They weren’t even trained on specific models!
I’m 65 and bought my first RV in my early 20’s and have since owned campers, 5th wheels, travel trailers and C class motor homes. None of them were great quality but the latest one I bought last summer was by far the worst. Knowing RV’s have lousy quality and RV service departments are the worst I always buy an RV knowing that I’ll be the one doing all the repairs. They’re actually easy to work on.
I agree with you. I once complained to the dealer that somebody took a crap in my toilet when it was in the shop being serviced. Of course they denied it. When I got to my RV site I discovered half my stove had been disconnected. I put it back together correctly and have never went back to that RV Country dealer in Fresno ever again.
Unfortunately both are true, They make crap and people are total morons. I’m so tired of hearing “we were all new once”. When I was new I learned how to use it before I got it, Then learned again before I left home with it. no excuse for being lazy and dumb. Unless of course you’re just lazy and dumb.
My wife and I have been RV’ing together for 25+ years. As an experienced RVer, I have watched many people make mistakes with various types of RVs. I too have had some myself, I think everyone has at one point. Make some sort of checklist or mental process that you always follow and things will go more smoothly. If someone offers help or suggestion, you may actually learn something.
Also, if you haven’t done so, take a driving course that uses your rig with a professional trainer. I drove school busses for years and had a commercial driver’s license for decades. It’s mind blowing to see people used to driving a tiny car get into a Class A or try to tow a trailer.
owned 7 rvs. rv company owners own these companies to make as much money as they can. the only costs they deal with are material, labor/employee benefits, and overhead. after an rv is initially designed, to make more money, they impose cost reductions to reduce their cost, without reducing the selling price. this is normal procedure but can be way overdone or intelligently done. to attain more market share some of the manufacturers have way over cost reduced their units and 2 things then happen. 1. the customer gets a unit made with cheaper and/or inferior materials and appliances and 2. the better manufacturers are forced to do the same so they can even sell their units. the result is poor overall quality. cheap materials including inadequate rubber roofs that leak, the oracle of Omaha and his ilk will eventually move on leaving the customers to deal with millions of poorly made rvs and a flailing industry. think about it. greedy owners, not newbies.
Recently purchased a 2022 5th wheel and finally worked out the bugs so to speak. My impression is the issues should have been resolved at the dealership before said unit is given to sale persons, who know basically nothing about the products. No communication between departments is critical for catastrophic problems. Hello Camping World are you listening?
I have participated and studied this industry for years. My understanding today is that most production companies and suppliers like Lippert, pay their suppliers piecework resulting in no incentive for quality, only quantity. And like Lippert, they off shore to china production of many components.
Still unsure with all the posts I’ve read how a “newbie” is responsible for cheap quality? Wouldn’t you say that’s the manufacturers responsibility? I understand people who won’t read an owners manual will cause some of their own grief but that is a totally separate issue from building poor quality high ticket items. Sorry but they are two separate things. If someone doesn’t want to educate themselves about an expensive new purchase, then they can suffer the consequences. We are talking about the initial quality of a product. Not issues created by lazy people not wanting to educate themselves. That said, are there “any” decent manufacturers of RVs out there??
Yes but you have to get up high off your wallet pocket to pay for it. Lol
While in Wyoming in our brand new RV (paid way too much for it) on a cross country trip our awning decided to deploy while we were going 65 MPH. I don’t see how us being newbies had anything to do it. Turns out this happens quite often. Also, when we got to Florida the rear light panel fell off. I wish we had bought a used one or bought a cheap new one on a chassis we like realizing whatever we pay there is going to be a lot of maintenance. Don’t depend on the dealer helping they have one goal in mind. Sell it and get you out of there. During the walk through the “expert” didn’t know many of the features of the RV.
We do love RVing though. My advice buy a cheap one and a bunch of tools.
I have heard of brand new Solera awnings doing that. Drill a hole through the upper area arms and put a cotter pin in it while traveling.
You forgot about buying a ladder to get up there.
When we first bought an RV we went to an Escapees rally that offered a weekend course in RV Boot Camp. we learned a lot that has held up over the years. I would recommend a similar course to any newbie.
I am not a “newbie”. I’ve had nothing but problems with my new 2022 Keystone Cougar 29RLKWE. I purchased the RV new in January 2023. I got a big discount because it was a 2022 model. I had to take it back to the dealer to fix a problem before I ever went camping. When I got to dealer the electric jack froze. I had to hand crank the jack to unhitch from my truck. After two short camping trips I discovered one of the slideout cables was frayed (multiple strands broken). Glad the slide was retracted! I discovered the two USB ports on each side of the bed don’t work. On the first camping trip, trim molding started to come loose from the ceiling and one wall. The shower leaked. The small rubber “pads” around each slideout cable had not been properly glued to their respective slide seals therefore the pads were sliding along the cables resulting in excessive wear, and possible water leaks. I did discover a large puddle of water on the living room floor when I extended the dinette slideout.
Not the same brand, but these are the types of problems we found also. Come on!! These aren’t user error. This is poor build quality!!
These problems maybe linked to the no drug test required for employment, if someone is on a drug trip they’re not going to care if they screw up. Plus the push of management for more column on the assembly line. Don’t buy new!
That point of view is a load of…
I have built a few RVs from scratch using Glen-L plans and another designer who’s name escapes me at the moment. These were old school wood framed, aluminum sided campers. We built the last one over 35 years ago and it is still in use. The last decent owner’s manual I used was from my 1975 Airstream. It was very detailed and well documented. The Airstream had it’s fair share of design flaws and poor quality even back then. I have made a very good living fixing other people’s poor quality work over the years. When we went to purchase our current RV I spent several hours going through the units we were considering. There were two that met our requirements, one looked like it was assembled by a bunch of incompetent idiots. The other had better fit and finish. These were produced in the same plant roughly 6 weeks apart. The unit we chose still had a 3 page list of items that needed correction prior to purchase.
All of the comments posted on this article have NOTHING to do with built quality. Agree, it shared no common sense like cutting hose to fit, really? When speaking about built quality, it’s the slides not functioning, cabinets falling off, wires crimped, warped floors and so forth. Big difference between common sense and built quality.
Agreed. However, a lot of the complaints I have seen from new owners are about things they have done incorrectly and still blaming the manufacturer. How about those brand new tires they call “China bombs” that are driven too fast on, overloaded, underinflated, not inspected, etc. but still fault of manufacturer? Newbies (and others) try to blame based on what they read and assume.
Ditto, we had a 23’ TT with China bombs, it didn’t come with a pressure monitoring system, I bought pressure indicating valve stem caps rated a 65 psi. After installing them it was a simple walk around to check for a low pressure tire. Also I didn’t drive 75 mph on these tires, and I drove in the heat of the summer, over heated and under inflated tires will blow out even with American tires. Speed and under inflated tires is a no no!
There’s no way around it. The qualtity, design and parts/equipment on most RV’s are terrible. This article sounds like RVIA finding excuses for the RV industry. Bosses are responsible for ensuring their employees are properly trained and qualified to perform their job. You have the dealers who charge a outrageous hourly repair rate. Then take too long to get to and do the job. Wish some one would explain what makes up the excessive hourly repair rate.
We must be RV lucky. We have had more problems with our new Sticks & Bricks home when we bought it 20 years ago (a national home builder) than any of the 3 purchased new RVs (TT/MH) or the used RV once purchased.
As the article pointed out – owners manuals are often key, as is some common sense (which often is not so common).
Reading the owners manual is not a cure. Ours has nearly a dozen manuals to cover the different appliances, accessories and systems on it. To make it worse, many of the manuals cover various models of the manufacturers’ appliances. And, I love this part, some are printed in various languages. Just what I wanted to do. Try to read assorted operator manuals for a couple of days before I get to use the RV. Those are just more short cuts to get the RV out of the factory and your money out of your wallet. My best approach would be to NEVER, EVER buy new and try to get an experienced RVer to help you.
Patience is a virtue. With our Newmar motorhome we had two giant ring type Manuel’s that came with it. I didn’t read all of it but when something wasn’t working as advertised I broke out the manuals and started researching. As a retired industrial mechanic I have used hundreds of manuals researching problems of the particular machine I was working on. Usually between the manual and common sense I could find the cure for the problem I was having, if not there was a phone number I could call and ask an expert about it. The same logic can apply to a manual for an RV, several times I would be in the right area of knowledge but still couldn’t get the answer, phone call time, and usually the person on the other end had been asked that question before and came back with the solution to my problem. Try it.
Newbie malfunctions are different from build workmanship. Our 2018 trailer from a major manufacurer had multiple problems discovered after leaving the dealership. To name a few, water pump mounted with kinked intake hose, tub with one support leg hanging in thin air, huge hole in floor under the tub letting mice in, stripped wires run thru penetrations, a radio antenna that would not plug into the radio. No excuse for these problems, just lack of responsible assemblers and quality control.
Newbie or Oldtimer, S&B, or RV you still can’t fix stupid.
Advice?! Patience in all things. In setting up, tearing down, packing, driving, etc. Take time to practice and learn. Even the most experienced rvers can have mishaps when rushing or forget things. Your favorite pillow, necessary meds, that life vest, and on it goes.
Interesting comments on “newbies”. I had a little rv experience when we bought our 5th wheel in March 21. Sales person did 30 min walk thru instruction and handed me the keys. Oh you’ll do fine (did have experience in towing smaller trailers). Now have over 10k towing, boy have I learned a lot. We went with friends who had owned a TT, a 5th wheel and currently a MH for our first short trip. They taught us a lot and helped us out much. We continue to learn. Is there quality issues? Yes, I think there are. Are there lemons? Yes. I guess the hard thing to learn is things happen, I’ve been told while towing its like 4.0 earthquake inside.
I think its fair to say, a newbie, with a trailer recently built by a conglomerate, has a higher than normal possibility for mishaps. The difference is, newbies are historically vulnerable while the conglomerates know how build better but are profit driven.
First off, the manuals are generic, not specific. A newbie would never figure it out. Most people don’t read directions anyway. Second, if you bought a new car for $100K perhaps you would expect the build quality to be spot-on. Everyone buys RVs and accepts the fact that it is poor quality. Why would that be? If you bring it to the dealers for fixing warranty items, expect long delays in scheduling and parts. Horrible.
Well, we are not Newbies, and we are having issues with our new 5th wheel. I’ve had to cancel two trips so far because the slide wouldn’t work. We are now in the process of replacing one of the motors. This is on a rig we bought in February. I can understand the fit and finish items not being perfect, but one would expect the major components to work. We’ve been dealing directly with the RV manufacturer and they have been extremely responsive and helpful, but still, it shouldn’t be so hard to own an RV that cost a fortune.
I’m with Suru on the comments. Newbie-caused issues have to be minimalistic compared to factory-caused issues. There shouldn’t be any excuses for poor quality. It’s poor management who “owns” the quality issues. Management is responsible, period. I’ve worked in the aviation-related manufacturing quality area for 30 years. Make me the CEO, give me one month and I’ll fix the quality issues at the RV manufacturers.
Well, the newbies mentioned in the article have now been RVing for well over a year (April 2022) so maybe they have it figured out now…..
There’s a huge difference between customer damage and defect from factory assembly/materials.
The only thing I see Newbies affecting might be the number of warranty claims. Seasoned RV owners will fix factory defects themselves rather than wait several weeks/months for an incompetent dealer trainee to “fix” it.
Sure, a first time owner might not realize what a bubbled roof, soft floor or spaghetti wiring might do but let’s not condemn them for not catching what the OEM and dealer didn’t catch but clearly should.
Go to any RV lot and inspect what passed PDI. It’s shameful. In fact, I feel sorry for the first time owner that lacks the experience to see the downtime they’re buying.
Thank you, Gail! I suspect you already got enough advice to populate one or two columns, so I’ll avoid repeating things already said. Safe travels!
This is typical of the American mindset to place the blame on the user and not the manufacturer. While agree that the customer should take responsibility for understanding how the RV is to be operated failures and quality issues from what I have researched are rampant in the RV industry and for many manufacturers their aftermarket customer service is poor. Articles attribute this to part shortages and manpower issues again which is typical of American manufacturing mindset. Blame the customer and if that does not work blame the assembly worker. Never mind placing the responsibility in the right place.
American Management Systems and Practices.