I was really looking forward to seeing the newest decked-out motorhomes at the Tiffin Allegro Club Rally in Amana, Iowa, a few weeks ago. At today’s sky-high prices, I wasn’t looking to buy, but I was looking forward to window shopping.
Not a single display motorhome at the Tiffin Allegro Rally
There wasn’t a single motorhome on display at the Tiffin Rally. Even Bob Tiffin, who founded Tiffin Motorhomes in 1972, didn’t get one! He said this was the first year he did not have a show motorhome to meet people in. Instead, he got a tent and a plastic chair. It turns out that all the motorhomes are either promised to dealers that have them presold, or they are sitting at the factory waiting for parts to be finished.
Waiting at the factory
Supply chain issues have left more than 250 motorhomes at the Tiffin factory waiting for furniture, AC units and other parts to complete. And those are just the preordered ones! If you’re planning on ordering a motorhome soon, the wait is at least six months. Many are waiting more than a year.
Manufacturers of all makes have millions of dollars of inventory on their lots waiting for components. It sometimes comes down to just needing the glue to laminate the walls. Getting refrigerators, toilets and AC units are major issues.
Blame COVID!
All of this points to the lingering effects of COVID-19 from the initial high demand for RVs as a safer way to vacation and travel, labor shortages during COVID, reduced speed of production and now supply chain issues.
Many of the needed parts are produced and shipped from overseas, where there are also lingering supply problems. The parts, if they have been made and shipped, could be sitting in a container on a ship waiting to be unloaded or waiting for a truck to carry them to their destination.
Wherever those parts are, there are a lot of excited buyers out there just dreaming of firing up the RV and hitching a ride in their dream machine. Until then, they may just have to visit a campground to see a motorhome in person.
Related:
New RVs sitting in manufacturers’ fields. No parts to finish them!
##RVT1009
Got our Tiffin after a 6 month wait. What a nightmare. Sat in the shop for well over a month & still didn’t finish most items. Getting approval out of Tiffin for warranty items on a brand new 2021 has been months in the waiting. Poor design created several of the issues, but quality control is non existent. Can’t believe what we paid & what we got. Such a disappointment!
The mobile RV tech I use just replaced my living area AC (locked up compressor) with a Dometic Brisk Air 2 15K BTU unit ordered Monday delivered Tuesday and installed Wednesday morning. What AC shortage??
Professional, Licensed, Insured Master plumber. I can blow-up, burn down, flood out your house. Also poison you to death. I live in “Pennsyltucky” NO state plumbing license. 75% of the customer base doesn’t want to pay for a “honest, workman like, and done to generally accepted industry standards” job or product. So as long as the RV buying public is willing to pay for CRAP; guess what the RV industry will give them.
Correct. We hardly make anything here anymore and we pay the price. I’d be wary about waiting for my rig to finally arrive and then face the real possibility that it will be sidelined with repairs almost immediately.
No one wants to buy crap, Jesse. People expect RVs to be properly built & are soon surprised & disappointed down the road after driving one off the lot. The fact that we are supposed to just accept this as normal is bull crap. If someone knows how best to hold the RV manufacturing industry legally accountable to the reliability & soundness of their RVs construction, like the normal standards all other vehicles are expected to meet, I’m all ears…
Global supply chain. One hick-up, and the whole thing shorts out. Ask Ford and their pile of trucks without chips.
Ford has sent a couple F150 trucks to dealers. I just test drives a F150 Hybrid. dealer had two, another dealer also had some. Loved it, but they want $5000. over sticker because of truck shortage.
The A/C problem may not be the problem we think. I have seen piles of dead rooftop A/C units by the dumpster, instead of being repaired, they are thrown away and replaced. They are next to the pile of cracked water heaters…