The news out of the RV industry continues to be a bit, well, confusing.
The RV Industry Association announced last week that 2021 would be the year RV manufacturers set an all-time record for factory shipments to dealers and RVers around the country.
RV makers managed to crank out another 57,971 units in October, an increase of 22.5 percent compared to October 2020. This October also set an all-time one-month record for shipments by more than 18 percent.
October’s performance already makes 2021 the best year ever for factory shipments, and there are still two months to go.
So, all is right again in the world of RVing, right? Hardly. While the RV Industry Association touts the numbers – and they are quite impressive – they don’t mention in their press releases that all of those RVs going out the factory doors are already spoken for and aren’t available to anyone who hasn’t already plunked down their deposit money.
Both Winnebago Industries and mega-manufacturer Thor announced months ago that they were facing order backlogs that totaled into the billions of dollars. Both companies said it would likely be at least the latter part of 2022 before backlogs began to clear. No word on backlogs from the other big player, Forest River, but it’s probably safe to assume they are in the same boat when it comes to keeping up with pre-sold orders.
That means that despite the record production, buyers waiting with purchase orders in hand will likely continue to wait, albeit maybe not quite as long.
You can still find RV dealers who seem to have very few lot inventory problems, but there are many more who say their inventories are well below normal. If you’re one of those millions of wannabe RVers who are still waiting for RV dealership lots to refill to shop for the model you want, you’re just going to have to wait for those order backlogs to clear.
What about quality?
Some experienced RVers are making noise about avoiding RV units produced during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021.
Unemployment around the RV manufacturing mecca of Elkhart, Indiana, continues to hover around 2.4 percent. It’s hard for any employer there to find qualified workers. It’s also hard to imagine that inexperienced assembly line workers cranking out record amounts of RVs can simultaneously have their eyes fully trained on quality. Even RV transporters – those independent contractors who haul new RVs from factories to dealers – are complaining online about the construction quality they are seeing.
The RV Industry Association’s job is to keep the RV party going. Right now, they have an easy task as millions of new potential RVers continue to flock to the camping lifestyle.
“Despite the challenges we have faced with supply chain and workforce, what is really remarkable is the way the RV industry has found ways to overcome the issues and deliver 12-straight months of record shipments,” said RV Industry Association President and CEO Craig Kirby in a recent release. “We know more and more people want to get outdoors and experience the joys of RVing with their friends and families and our manufacturers and suppliers have responded impressively to keep more and more RVs heading to dealerships every month.”
What’s next?
One thing is clear: RV manufacturers’ production numbers will continue to set impressive marks as they approach 600,000-plus new rigs next year. The supply chain will get unkinked, and millions of newbies will be there to throw their money down on anything that rolls out of the plants.
If experienced RVers looking for an upgrade decide the price isn’t worth the quality they see, they’ll be asked to step aside and make room for the masses of less experienced buyers waiting anxiously in the wings, wallets at the ready.
Those 600,000 or so new rigs obviously won’t help crowded conditions in U.S. campgrounds. Yet investors are flocking into the camping business with their money, and new parks and park expansions are on the way. Unfortunately, it takes longer to build a new RV site than it takes to build a new RV.
It’s going to take a while for the RVing and camping explosion to shake out and, along the way, there are going to be many big decisions made by industry leaders.
What would you tell RV manufacturers?
Forest River CEO Pete Liegl, Thor Industries’ CEO Bob Martin, and CEO Mike Happe from Winnebago Industries are all giants in the RV industry and hold the keys to RVing’s future.
Believe what you will about their motivations, but these aren’t foolish men. They were all around for the recession that nearly crippled the industry in 2008 and used it as an opportunity to expand their brands through the acquisition of struggling companies.
Let’s pretend for a moment that those three fellows are anxiously awaiting your input regarding the ONE THING they could do to help RVers. What is the single most important thing these three need to know, from your viewpoint?
This is your chance. In the comments below, tell Pete, Bob and Mike your suggestions. Let’s keep your comments concise, constructive, and civil. Maybe we’ll all learn something.
##RVT1028b
As a Forest River RV camper and future owner of an upgraded RV at some point, my biggest concern is with quality of the build. Every manufacturer has it’s special features, but there is nothing more disturbing, then to put your hard earned money into your retirement and rv’ing and discover problems with quality. In my book quality is number one, I have no problem paying for quality and expect no less when I’m shelling out my retirement investment.
If you gents want to keep your industry growing, there are two things you have GOT to focus on. The first is quality control. You’re not going to prosper in the long run if you keep producing defective products. The second is the critical shortage of places to park these RVs after they’re produced. And I mean both storage and RV Parks. To keep demand high, you should be investing in places to store your products when not in use, and RV Parks where your customers can USE them. Both are in critically short supply!
My experience has been a decline in customer service. Before & after buying our Grand Design 5th Wheel we heard nothing but great things about the customer service. While we’ve witnessed it we haven’t had the same great experience. Our issues were resolved but it took a long time and a lot of effort on the part of my wife; constant phone calls with no answers, lots of emails with no responses. Unfortunately a bad comment on FB got attention and resolved the issues. Don’t let the boom in sales and revenue run over your customer service. When the sales boom is over, we all know it will end, you will only have your longtime loyal customers left – if you continue to take care of them now.
That’s why we opted out of a Grand Design. They are now in the category of “the same as everyone else”. We chose a similar floor plan from a different company for $30,000.00 less and we were surprised to find minimum quality issues!
Staff: I believe you mean “….compared to October 2020“ not October 2022.
It’s been fixed. Thank you very much, Marie. Yep, three of us missed that. I should have caught it when proofing, however. 😯 Have a great day. 🙂 –Diane
We want to trade in our 2015 Montana for a new one but have chosen not to because we are worried about the quality of the rigs. At least this rig is solid and it’s worth putting $5k in to fixing the roof on a rig with all the kinks worked out. The other reason is lack of service facilities to fix rigs. I hope the RV industry starts to follow the automotive industry and see more companies just doing maintenance and repair. When its mixed with sales, the focus is on selling, not maintaining the rigs. And with a lot of new rigs having major issues from the start, it’s not worth going through that. Going to wait a few years until we see quality trends heading back in positive direction.
Fix your customer support. We purchased our last diesel pusher in the spring of 2018. Due to the poor reputation for service and support we went with a very low milage less than a year on the road used 2017 Tiffin. Our decision not to go new was due to the lack of factory and dealer support for defects on new coaches. There was no way we were going to plunk down 6 figures and not be able to use the motorhome due to the lack of the ability to repair something that should not have left the factory not working. Let the newbies have the lemons, poor service and frustration. Our Tiffin has had one breakdown since our purchase and that was taken care of quickly by the Cummins shop not the dealer. Cummins knows customer service.
From Yakima, WA to Cedar City, UT. thousands of unsold brand new RVs on dealer’s lots. No shortage of units. That’s all I’m saying.
The warranty must be honored at all dealerships that sell that model, not just the dealer who sold it to you.
Focus on Quality over Quantity….or another company will 🙂
Piggybacking on Ken’s comment, same is true in SoCal (Calif). AND, I have not seen a glut of RV’s popping up in our neighborhoods. I question where these RV’s/TT’s are housed at since more and more neighborhoods have strict HOA’s and access to storage facilities are not available.
Lastly, quality is most certainly an issue in production of these RV’s, no matter the class. So many, that many, built by hand so quickly, well, you get the picture.
All of the comments ahead of this one focus on slack manufacturing quality and lack of dealer response. To that I would like to add making more of the maintenance items more user friendly. For example, who wants to lay on the floor and reach way back under the counter to the bypass valves on the water heater that should have been installed facing outward? Nearly every time I need to do a little service on ours, a 10 minute routine turns into an hour of cussing whoever put this POS together. So, manufacturers, please raise your standards of build quality, demand more of your dealers, and design your product to be serviceable.
I am 70yo that has camped since age 5. My wife and I have camped for 50 years. I have camped on open ground in sleeping bags, in tents, in vans, tag alongs, fifth wheels, class C units and most recently three class A diesel pushers. Quality seemed to gradually improve in the industry until somewhere around 2007. From that point it has appeared to me to be on the decline. Our 2007 Winnie 34H pusher was almost 100% trouble free with excellent craftsmanship. Our 2017 Winnie Journey 40J was a definite step down from the 2007 as far as significantly more troublesome with the issues never being completely remedied. Most recently, a new 2020 Newmar 4037 seemed to have the most promise with its construction and general quality. Unfortunately, we quickly found the flaw even when owning an RV of Newmar quality. The flaw in the circle of ownership primarily involved service. Dramatically improve shipment quality and a meaningful 3 year warranty with regional factory service centers=😃
We are on our 5th RV – a 40′ pusher. We will NEVER buy another new RV until and unless QUALITY returns. It is very sad to see where the greedy RV industry has gone.
Quality has been an issue for years, and just keeps getting worse. Search out 2016 article “RV Industry Death Spiral”, it’s a cookbook for things to fix. Seems like most car companies have figured out how to make quality products….follow their lead!
Strongly agree with improving maintainability as well.
RV makers managed to crank out another 57,971 units in October, an increase of 22.5 percent compared to October 2022. This October also set an all-time one-month record for shipments by more than 18 percent.
I guess they are looking into the future!
It’s been fixed. Thanks, Bud. Have a great day. 🙂 -Diane
We purchased a new 2016 cedar creek 5 years ago, it has been very good. The quality on inside could have been better, I repaired all items myself. The biggest complaint I have is the front and rear cap, the paint just did not hold up. I tried to get manufacturer to stand behind their bad caps their answer was no. That was my biggest problem, if they had taken care of that it would have been good, but that left a a bad taste in my mouth toward forest rivers, cedar creek brand. From what I am reading on forums I am not going to purchase another cedar creek.
Broaden your perspective fellas – look down your products pipe-line at the “other” issue besides quality that has raised it’s ugly head; lack of camping sites. Fund or actually build (franchise ?) commercial “boondock” style camp grounds offering a 2-3 night maximum stay. Support the huge number of traveling RVers who are getting extremely frustrated with the difficulty of finding a site at the end of the day – without a 12 months reservation! We are getting turned-off on the current RV life style and just might buy a cabin in the woods…it’s just a thought.
We bought a brand new Class A gasser this spring.
It has the new 7.3 liter Ford V8. I like it.
It has a well built frame and suspension. I like that.
The overall coach build is pretty good.
On our first trip the water heater just about caught on fire. Had I not paid attention to it, it would have burned up the coach with our two grandchildren, my wife and I. We got it fixed.
I had to fix the air vent for the water tank. It would block up and we could only fill the water tank half way.
The water tank, it’s drain and the water pump are under the rear bed with no access. I fixed that.
Unfortunately these problems seem pretty typical.
To the manufacturers-QUALITY,QUALITY and QUALITY.. To the dealers HONESTY, HONESTY AND HONESTY. It is not complicated. When I see those two traits I will think about purchasing a newer coach. Until then I am staying with my 2006 Tiffin 40QSH Phaeton DP.
We purchased a 2008 Tiffin Phaeton 36QSH DP 7 years ago with 50,000 miles on him (we call him “Bad Boy”). All of the other RV’s we looked at since that time have been inferior in quality. The last RV show we attended had nothing to offer in quality and the dealers would make up answers to subjects we brought up. Is quality and honesty a thing of the past? We will keep our “Bad Boy” until we can’t find a camping spot to go to, which doesn’t look too far in the future. Sad! Used to be so much fun!
No matter what the demand, don’t sacrifice the quality in the build and supplier chains….happy customers we return in the future to upgrade and bless you with continued progress.
We bought a new 5th wheel in 2018. Our 5th wheel had a few small issues that I repaired myself. Have been thinking of buying a newer one but will wait to see if the quality improves. Have heard and seen that the quality has dropped in the building of the newer units. There’s been lots of small and major problems, so, we will not replace our current 5th wheel for sometime.
If so many RVers were so concerned with, and willing to pay for, quality RVs, western US companies like Northwood, Lance, Adventurer, etc., and others like Airstream, would sell more trailers than Thor or Forest River. These quality-first companies are smaller because their models not only cost more, but are considerably heavier, than the average Indiana-built unit. Therefore, newbies who just buy the floorplan they “love” don’t care about the quality of the rig until after they buy it. That makes it a vicious circle for future newbies who buy those “discards.”
We just sold our 2016 fifth wheel to a young couple who have not owned an RV, but plan to RV full-time. They spent a year watching YouTube videos on RVing before they even started looking at RVs for sale. Out of the ones they saw for sale in-person and on-line, they picked ours. Why? We were honest about remaining problems (their inspector agreed) AND it would fit their planned lifestyle. Honesty paid dividends!
I wonder how the quality really is on some of the RV’s mentioned. Reading some of the forums, owners are complaining about issues. Was looking at New Northwoods a few years ago.and saw a issue with the kitchen cabinet. Don’t remember what it was, but it stuck out. Would love to get a Outdoors RV with the rear dinette.
If mobile home manufacturers can build a mobile home to code and it doesn’t fall apart as it is leaving the factory, so can RV manufacturers.
The kicker is the massive profit RV manufacturers make from a unit. They are built so cheap. A mobile home with three times the square footage can be built and make a profit for the company and be sold for $60,000 or less. There is more material going into a mobile home than there is into an RV.
My RV quality was marginal. I had several issues with two severe. One problem was the backup inverter was wired incorrectly and the fuel pump input hose kinked not allowed fuel to flow. The Ext sidewall screws are sheet metal and every month I find several loose. Otherwise the quality is acceptable but when spending one hundred thousand dollars you expect no issues and better quality control.
Instead of talking about how well you take care of the customer after the sale how about taking care of them before with quality control during production negating warranty work later. This would make for much happier customers and dealers and improve the perception we have of this industry.
Quality. Quality. Quality. Across the range of prices, you must maintain a level of quality that will keep your customers coming back to your brand. Brand loyalty is as big in RVs as it is in automobiles. Once you ‘burn’ a consumer, you’ve lost him/her (and the people they speak to) for good. And lack of Customer Service will be the final nail in the coffin.
QUALITY, QUALITY, QUALITY!!!!! Seen so much really shotty craftsmanship which PROVES that manufactures are putting quantity and profits over quality.
As a life long Auto Industry career had taught me, if you don’t pay for warranty work you devalue the product, brand, and industry. You have pumped out some poor quality in the rush to meet demand. Now back your dealers and pay for the repair. In addition you are loosing Technicians due to stingy warranty pay policies.
We started our learning journey just before the Pandemic hit. We carefully chose several motorized units and contacted several RV dealers who were anxious to help. We compared their prices and began the final process to buy. Prices skyrocketed, almost daily. Wait to August, then the Fall and now January and February and now… We wait and hear about Quality, Great and expected! But how about Prices! Our choices have all but doubled on the same year chassis. So while I agree how important Quality is now about a discussion about prices!
One word can describe the current problem with the RV industry…across all lines and all manufacturers. QUALITY ! The quality of RVs being produced today, and for the past several years, has been abysmal. You must improve the quality of your product.
One year warranty on a $120,000 class c RV is crazy…give us three years warranty and watch quality go up overnight
If they’re selling so many RV’s. I haven’t seen any more than normal. From what I see from old RV’s to present, I don’t see any innovation with new RV’s, they’re just a rectangular box. Class A’s are not designed to be aerodynamic. I see old travel trailer being more innovative like Keystone Outback 27L, Coachman Somerset Dream Catcher or Airstreams Class A with a roof deck for example. Would like to see better quality and material/parts in RV’s. Would also like to see us consumers have the choice of what name a/c, refrigerators, exhaust vents, heaters, etc., when ordering new RV’s. I’d like to see lower hourly RV repair rates, quick warrenty approval times and quick repair times at RV dealerships like the automotive industry.
The “Big 3” (Forest River, Thor & Winnebago) should invest in and support rapid RV Park / Campground development so that their customers have a place to go & stay for years to come with all of the RVs being built. Everyone wins,…. manufacturers, RV customers, local economies & labor markets, etc.
When everyone and their brothers are getting into something it is time to get out. I, for one, will be selling my current rig and set for a while. In a few years and more importantly, this insane overcrowding absolutely everywhere will hopefully subside. There will also be a slew of gently used RVs available as well at much lower prices.
Shipments are up. Way up. Way way up. All this means is that for the first three months of ownership, at least, newly purchased rigs will be piling up in service bays waiting for critical parts to finally arrive to make them safe and road ready. No one is pleased with the current situation (not manufacturers, dealers or consumers), but from the consumer’s point of view little to nothing will be done as long as the dealers and manufacturers are enjoying their short term gains. If you don’t have time (or parts or staff) to do it right do you really think you will have the ability to do it over?
You can’t tell them anything they don’t already know. Somewhere around 2016, Mr. Greg Gerber wrote a four part series in his RV Daily Report (which was put out of business by RV Industry advertising boycott) on the great failings of the RV industry. Just google “Greg Gerber, RV industry death spiral”..
Competition cured the problems with the Auto Industry 40 years ago. There is no Foreign competition for RVs yet. RV executives, Bean Counters and Dealerships read The Death Spiral articles and the only action they took was to silence Mr. Gerber’s honesty; That and funnel money into Political Lobbying to sway/bribe Politicians to block consumer protection (Lemon Laws) legislation. For a lot less money and a better product, they could have hired Mr. Gerber to address the issues and clean up their act.
Just when everyone is getting on the bandwagon of moving manufacturing back to the US and as Ken pointed out, there is no Foreign competition for RVs yet…. all that is coming out of US plants is absolute junk and really poor quality.
Bring in someone who knows the Toyota Way (like me!) about increasing quality or companies (such as Thor) will be sending out to Japan and China to build the RVs and have them sent back to the US with minimal defects and for a much lower cost than it if they were made in the US.
Yes, but aint no way to really find and punish the people who do this. BUT, RV Manufacturers/Dealers need to get on board with anyone who wants to build campground helping with the public hearings, and zoning. That all they think they need to do is build and sell RV”s is misguided, because as conditions worsen in getting places to stay, people will just give up, and used RV’s will populate the land, and those same dealers/manufacturers will suffer a horrendous downturn. SO, you build em, pony up to the “build campgrounds” before your “sales” destroy the whole genre.
Return to pre-CoVid quality standards now; OR,
Offer 5+ year warranties to compensate for the crap quality levels that exist now.
“Offer 5+ year warranties…”
Pretty sad when a $20 toaster has a better warranty than a $700,000 vehicle!
The easy solution to last minute cancellations is to copy the cruise industry practice–make a full payment ahead of time with the financial penalty increasing for cancellation the closer you get to the sail date. For example, with camping you would pay full price for the reservation, more that 90 days out full refund, 30 days out would get a small penalty, within 48 hours no refund–or something similar. KOA charges a one night fee for a reservation and $10 penalty to cancel. I wonder how their cancellation experience compares to others campgrounds.
Would like to see a coach delivered to the dealer that does not have to go back to the dealer for warranty repairs after someone purchases it.
My thoughts are evident in the choices we made in the purchase of our second RV, in which we live full-time. 1) No swoops or swirls painted on the outside (can’t tolerate the “art.” 2) No slide out (because it’s not if, but when it will break). 3) Taking note of the age of units for sale on sites such as RV Trader, in particular, resale value. 4) Asking/Researching how particular brands are constructed (materials used, engineering, etc).
All of those prerequisites narrowed it down to Airstream. Yes, they cost more than other brands, but in the long run they are less expensive (one does get what they pay for).
Jeff- You could also purchase a nice, no-slide Prevost with no art.
There needs to be better quality control inspections. Take a little more time building the rigs and quality will improve.
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Maurizio
Insulate your units better. There is no excuse for putting even the least expensive travel trailer on the road without decent insulation. It’s a minor expense that makes a major difference in the end user experience. Institute automotive style quality controls and make a 2 year warranty standard, 3 years on the high end coaches. Invest in your people and your dealers and help them to invest in their employees. Reward high standard service work, penalize those that can not maintain a reasonable level of service. Pay attention to your customer satisfaction scores (CSI) and follow up on complaints. Strive for transparency and consistency across the board. If you think sales are good now, increase your CSI and watch them climb.
QUALITY CONTROL PERIOD! Many people we talk to in the campgrounds have horror stories about their new rigs and the ordeal of getting warranty work done. Some of the defects are mind boggling. We feel so sorry for them. Their dreams have turned into nightmares.
Create Campgrounds! Not enough for the hordes of RV’s being produced and sold
Quality, quality, QUALITY!
AND more spaces to park them.
They can only provide the “Quality”. They have absolutely nothing to do with the “spaces to park them” !
Good day
I’m a proud owner of a 2015 Open Range 319 RLS purchased new back in 2015.
My only advice if I may to these powerful men in the RV business would be to please continue building these great RV for us customers who loves the outdoors life and freedom with Quality IN MIND.
Quality parts, materials and mostly a high quality in the construction of all RV types for us customers, who spend lots of money with great expectations.
I would like to thank this site to give me a chance to express my concerns and reaching at CEO’s level.
A Canadian customer
Chris
The RV manufacturers are laughing all the way to the bank because people still buy this junk. Quality is job none. RVIA is a joke. The industry should be sued for fraud.
” People still buy.”
This is the problem. Have the public speak with their wallets, and change will happen.
Quality Control
Better Insulation/True 4 Season Equipped for Class A/C/5’r
Integrate a TMPS on all rigs (Seriously, why haven’t you already??)
Streamline the front ends (no bricks in the windtunnel)
Finally, two or three tone paint full-body paint. Really over the stickers and swirls. Doesn’t have to be a $9000 paint job – robots can spray the walls before assembly and shrinkwrapped.
Good evening Mr. Liegl, Mr. Happe, and Mr. Martin.
I can provide you with a brief outline to improve the quality of your product, however, a face-to-face presentation would be better.
You will need to design and staff a quality control department. This will be an independent department and answerable only to the CEO of the firm.
There will be multiple teams of quality control inspectors throughout the plant and will report to separate quality managers (one for exterior, one for interior…). All of the quality managers will report to the vice president of quality who then reports only to the CEO.
There is a whole lot more to this, but that is why I said a presentation would be better.
Installing a QC (Quality Control) department will, over time, increase the value of your product and have a tremendous increase in sales which in turn will yield better profit.
Best
Dr. Mike
Quality, responsive customer service, and repair services that don’t tie up our rigs for weeks and months. Although they, too, have had their problems, the Tiffin family, motorhomes and Vanleigh fifth wheels, and the Tishomingo RV Service Center are great examples of how things should be done. These three things are especially important to those of us that are full-timers.
The quality is never going to change until competition comes into the market. Just like the auto industry. Remember the old Ford commercial, “Quality is Job One”!
What I don’t understand is why these big RV companies don’t see the camp grounds as a business opportunity. Before I retired, I was a business consultant and help many companies expand the lines of business they were in, or partner with someone that had already built out the business. My wife and I bought an RV site so we always have a place to go. When we are not there it rents out. It’s like having rental property w/o all the pain that comes with renters. We sold the eight rent houses we had and are buying RV sites. We are making more money renting cement than we were renting a house.
Put big showers in rvs. The corner showers do not work for tall rvers. Residential showers.
Focus on quality not quantity.
Quality, quality, quality. Final finish supervisors who actually check a coach out and get things fixed even if it adds a bit to delivery time. I’m not enjoying my new coach as much as I should because final finish is so poor in so many areas. And taking it back to the dealer for repairs after purchase is unacceptable.
Mr Liegl,
Quality of product and lack of assistance from Owner Relations has been a problem since delivery of our trailer on the 13th of September 2021. Many cosmetic issues to include ceiling tiles hanging down 6 inches on the day of delivery, wall panels not tacked in place and sticking out, a wall separation on drivers side between bathroom and kitchen. Leveling jacks that do not hold the trailer level so I have the drivers side on jack stands. A/C’s that do not keep up in Arizona. Electric water heater that did not have connections tightened shorted out and burnt the wires.
Owner Relations provided me with numbers to RV maintenance places that will not do initial warranty work. I have shared this back with them and they have quit responding to me.
Not sure if writing here does any good but I have spent many many hours trying to get assistance from anyone…
Hi, Michael. For those readers who might be curious, what type of Forest River product are you having so much trouble with, if you don’t mind telling us? I’m going to pass your comment along to Russ De Maris, who’s in charge of our new RV Consumer Support column. Good luck, Michael. Take care, and stay healthy. 🙂 –Diane
Hi Diane,
The trailer I bought is a 2021 Cedar Creek 360RL 5th Wheel. It was purchased brand new on the 13th of Sep 2021.
Thanks for the update, Michael. I’ve just emailed your original comment, my response to it, and your current response to me, to Russ De Maris for possible follow-up. Have a good night, and stay healthy. 🙂 –Diane
All blame for poor quality rests entirely with the buying public. As long as sayings such as “caveat emptor”, “there’s a sucker born every minute”, and “no one ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses” hold true, manufacturers will continue to churn out cheap junk secure in the knowledge that they will continue to rake in the profits. Every prospective RV owner needs to read this newsletter and educate himself/herself to the reputations of RV manufacturers as a first line of defense to guard their wallets. Everyone needs to learn to “buy the steak and not just the sizzle…”
While it is impressive to hear the number of new RVs that are making it to dealerships, my largest concern is the quality of those rapidly produced rigs. Even before big COVID boom, New RVs we’re notorious for having “kinks to work out”, and owners, like myself, struggled to get these rigs into shops for warranty work. Instead of being reactive and correcting a problem when it comes up, I think the RV industry needs to be proactive and prevent these issues from ever happening. We need a strong quality control program that checks for issues during production. Take note from the construction industry. If manufactures have inspections for electric, plumbing, framing, etc as a unit is being constructed, many problems will be found and remedied before it leaves the manufacturer. This will not only prevent issues down the road but it will also increase owner satisfaction as well as reduce the burden on repair shops.
If the RV suits are interested in quality produced units, I wonder why they seem to ignore the amount of information (complaints) provided by the RV dealers and the consumer over the past decade. They seem to turn out more elaborate units which fail basic QC. For example, simply ensuring the slide-outs slide back in flush with the brand spanking new unit! How did this one ever get passed? Spent a couple of weeks waiting for the builder to figure out how to resolve the issue! Common business sense and integrity is being blinded by personal bank accounts.
We’re one of those newbies waiting in the wings. We’re attempting to ask the what things which is a huge learning curve. We’ve joined RV Fb groups age in one of those groups a newbie was going over his new arrival when he noticed a huge issue with quality. Everyone, seriously everyone v said run do not take that.
We were given the opportunity to look at and walk in a new customers rv, same as ours, we saw some things that made us scratch our heads. We let our dealer know about what we saw and told them we will not accept shying subpar. I also went a step further and wrote the company telling them what we saw.
I was hoping they would be able to follow ours and do a slended job, but that’s not how things work. Lol. Too bad.
While I don’t want to turn down our new rig, if it’s just slapped together we plan to get our deposit back and I’ll return all the gadgets I’ve already purchased and we’ll wait for sunnier days. This is a huge investment.
So after reading all the comments, I’m seriously rethinking this while thing. I have serouis health issues and my hubby can no longer tent camp, so this is a natural progression for us. We are poor, but quality still matters. It matters in my health care and matters in all aspects of my life.
I have no problem walking away from a life style I have not started yet and returning all the items for our rig. We needed lightweight and I’ve done that. I’ve been learning what to expect in terms of repairs on our own. These things I accept, it’s like owning a home; things breakdown over time. Learning how to do minor repairs is good.
If not accepting our rig sends a message In on board. My life is hell I just want a little snippet of heaven.
Quality equals heaven