News article about poor quality of RV manufacturing

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by IMEd

Buy a 3-5 year old RV.
Let someone else take the first big depreciation hit and deal with all initial defects.

thats assuming they did repair all the issues AND kept up with both RV and vehicle maintenance.

[IMEd]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

thats assuming they did repair all the issues AND kept up with both RV and vehicle maintenance.

A through inspection and a review of all paperwork is, of course, part of any vehicle transaction.
Any recalls?

[jerrybob]

Originally Posted by Meadowlark

If it makes you feel any better, even the gigantic, $750K RV's have...Dometic and Suburban appliances.

Yea but those folks can afford to have them fixed and drink expensive wine. LOL!

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by IMEd

A through inspection and a review of all paperwork is, of course, part of any vehicle transaction.
Any recalls?

I don't believe 'recalls' apply to the RV industry the way they do to automobiles, other than to the driving chassis of a motorhome.

[David Tilston]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

I don't believe 'recalls' apply to the RV industry the way they do to automobiles, other than to the driving chassis of a motorhome.

Back in the day, Trillium had a recall regarding their frame, though it may have been a voluntary recall.

[IMEd]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

I don't believe 'recalls' apply to the RV industry the way they do to automobiles, other than to the driving chassis of a motorhome.

I was thinking of appliances.
Dometic, for example.

[IMEd]

Originally Posted by David Tilston

Back in the day, Trillium had a recall regarding their frame, though it may have been a voluntary recall.

So did Escape for a similar issue. Not an official government recall but a manufacturer recall.

The bottom line is, do your homework.

[Carl V]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

and the original authors website no longer exists, sigh...

I think the author didn't make any friends in the RV industry with his article...
There were lots of comments on various RV forums about this article right after it was published.

[Raz]

No surprise here. Even fiberglass trailers are made like cars were 100 years ago, by hand. I suspect most of the workers are unskilled and low paid. And the oem components are junk. I always wonder why someone brags about getting every option. More things to fix. And if you can't do it yourself....

[David Tilston]

Originally Posted by Raz

No surprise here. Even fiberglass trailers are made like cars were 100 years ago, by hand. I suspect most of the workers are unskilled and low paid. And the oem components are junk. I always wonder why someone brags about getting every option. More things to fix. And if you can't do it yourself....

That is how I feel about cars. WAY TOO COMPLEX. When I went to buy my 1997 Ford Ranger, the first thing I said when I saw it was, "Oh, an XLT, I guess it has electric windows." The guy selling it replied, "No, they are manual." In my head, all I could think was SOLD!

[jwcolby123]

Originally Posted by David Tilston

Back in the day, Trillium had a recall regarding their frame, though it may have been a voluntary recall.

Driven by their lawyers no doubt.

[David Tilston]

Originally Posted by jwcolby123

Driven by their lawyers no doubt.

Especially after they had frame failures:
https://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/...tml#post825473

Lawyers hate liability.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by David Tilston

That is how I feel about cars. WAY TOO COMPLEX. When I went to buy my 1997 Ford Ranger, the first thing I said when I saw it was, "Oh, an XLT, I guess it has electric windows." The guy selling it replied, "No, they are manual." In my head, all I could think was SOLD!

i have a 2016 Mercedes E350, its a freekin datacenter, with dozens and dozezns of computerized subsystems (there's a computer in each door that communicate with the main chassis module to adjust the seats, mirrors, locks), something like 8 or 10 different digital data busses, but it all works very nicely. more power, more road control, more fuel efficiency for the amount of power.

p.s. good luck finding *anything* newer than about 2010 with manual windows, even the cheapest Kia's and Hyundais have them.

[Raz]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

p.s. good luck finding *anything* newer than about 2010 with manual windows, even the cheapest Kia's and Hyundais have them.

My 2017 Frontier has crank up windows, manual door locks, and mirrors that have to be hand adjusted. But you're correct, they are rare. I could have gotten a manual transmission but only with the 4 cylinder. I wanted the 6.

[charlsara]

Sure glad my LIL Snoozy doesn’t have Suburban or Dometic appliances. My 2005 Ranger doesn’t even have damaged door panels. With 170,000 mile I haven’t yet replaced a fan belt.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by charlsara

Sure glad my LIL Snoozy doesn’t have Suburban or Dometic appliances...

yeah... does it have *any* appliances??

[charlsara]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

yeah... does it have *any* appliances??

Yessir it does. Kenmore 8000 Btu AC on back wall, Truckfridge compressor fridge, Bosch hot water heater. All has been running for seven years without a failure. The AC is a lot quieter than a Dometic.

[thrifty bill]

Wall Street Journal had a great article on Elkhart, IN RV industry a year or two ago. Companies went from annual stay bonuses to monthly bonuses, as no one stayed a year. They stopped all drug testing and used prison labor too. Convicts once released from prison chose to not continue working for them.

When you have both a shortage of employees and a lack of retention of the employees you do have, its time to look in the mirror. "How do we make our jobs more desirable?" Pay can only do so much. Working conditions: temperature, heavy lifting, on your feet for hours a day, working hours, time off, weekends, etc. Companies locate plants based on supply chain (close to suppliers). Savvy, really smart companies locate instead based on access to a good workforce. I managed a factory in NE PA during my working career, best workforce ever! If you can't get employees, being close to suppliers doesn't matter....

Would you buy a new car from a company that built a HUGE warranty repair center at their factory? Makes you wonder about quality. Airstream has such a repair center at their factory.

[jgilliam1955]

Originally Posted by Darwin Maring

America use to build quality products, that was when grandad, dad and then the sons would work for a company until they retired. The company took care of their employees. Now, It seams to me the companies just don't care so the employees don't care also.

I bought a new Vega back in 1973 and it came from the factory with employee damage on it. The union was fighting with GM and the employees inflicted the damage on vehicles. Mw, I was in Germany and picked up the vehicle at the port. It wasn't like I could just go pick out another one. How bad is that, they actually screwed me, not GM.

I had a 73 Vega ( crap car ) then got a 76 Honda Civic. Family outgrew it. GREAT CAR!
Our Police department bought Omega's first front-wheel-drive an American car. It was 1980. You had to turn off the AC to get the brakes to work & in the wintertime, the air scoop would pick up the snow & it would pack around the electric radiator fan & stop it. Then the car would overheat. You would have to use your night stick to knock the frozen snow off. FUN TIMES!

[jgilliam1955]

Originally Posted by Raz

My 2017 Frontier has crank up windows, manual door locks, and mirrors that have to be hand adjusted. But you're correct, they are rare. I could have gotten a manual transmission but only with the 4 cylinder. I wanted the 6.

Our grandkids loved my wife's 2005 Honda Civic. ( Still have it.) loved to play with the crank-up windows.