What do you expect?

[schrederman]

OK... first off... my flame suit is on and securely zipped up...

I am amazed at what we as consumers will accept...

I was just reading on another forum all the horror stories of people going to pick up new trailers only to find that the dealer hadn't fixed what he was supposed to, or even worse, had damaged their unit. And to me, that begs the above question... First thought is, the dealer is in business to make money, not to provide you with the best service possible. This is a fact, get over it, but it can be dealt with. Second thought is, the dealer is going to pay his staff as little as possible. That means he may have one guy that's a qualified mechanic, if you're lucky, and the rest are flunkies. What kind of mechanic is going to work for minimum wage?

So, what to do... what to do...? First of all, I will never sign ANYTHING at an RV dealership until the unit is totally ready to go, all problems repaired, and the unit is totally undamaged. This has proven to be difficult in most cases I know of, but it is not impossible. "Don't you trust me?" came out of the mouth of a dealer I was trying to deal with. "Absofreakinglutely NOT", was my reply. This was not to insult his character, but a simple truth. I had never seen this guy before in my life and didn't know him from Adam. He refused to repair anything until I signed the papers, and I walked. We're trying to buy a new (should be perfect) unit and the dealer should make it so BEFORE we buy it. However there are reputable dealers out there. I bought my current TT at Bison RV in Clovis, NM... and have no complaints.

For the second part of this... my TT has never been back to an RV dealer and it's had some repairs. After having to seal my shower skylight cracks, I received notice of a recall for that problem on my unit. After reading horror stories about dealer replacements and the cracked replacement skylights from over-tightened screws, and goo on everything but where it needed to be... I performed the job myself. It took about 3 hours, about the time I would have spent getting it to the nearest dealer. I got a job done by a skilled mechanic...(me)... with no cracks from over-tightened screws, and the Dicor is where it needs to be. My plastic sink cracked because I stupidly left a bottle of Dawn in there on a bad road. The dealer wanted about $400- to replace it with the original plastic piece. I bought a stainless steel unit for $150- on Amazon, and it looks MUCH better. Again, 3 hours or so, and done correctly, actually better than new.

So... what's the purpose of this rant? Again I have to say, it's amazing what we are willing to accept as consumers. I don't have to accept this kind of stuff, and I don't. Neither do any of you. Dealers think they hold all the cards, and the way their dealership agreements are, they do hold quite a few. They are not even required to perform warranty work on the brands they sell. Armed with that knowledge, perhaps the wise consumer will look hard at the dealer's reputation for service before buying from that dealer. If we, the consuming RV public would wise up to this... dealers would have to improve or go bust.

I'm not trying to bust anyone's bubbles... just trying to get folks to think before acting. It may make you all warm and fuzzy to think the dealer cares about you and your problems, but in most cases, they in fact... DON'T. Just my take on this whole RV industry...

[MSHappyCampers]

I'm with you Jack!

[BigSkyBob]

Unfortunately sad but true, and it matters little regarding the MSRP.

[rollingslow]

I agree 100%. I try to do everything myself or maybe help from my brother it's rare i have anyone else do anything to it.

[Fred and Bonnie]

Jack, this is why I will not be buying another unit. NRV was still in business in '05 when we purchased our unit, for the warranty items it went to the factory service center 15 miles away. If you don't live within 50 miles of a manufacturer with a service center, I sure wouldn't be buying a new unit. I am amazed by the number of owners that drive thousands of miles to reach the manufacturer, and they seem happy with the process.


Fred

[schrederman]

Well, I hate to think about it but I'll be buying at least one more RV. I will thankfully be retiring in about 18 months and will have more time to fix things. I have a very close family with a few grand children and we have vowed NOT to be the Disney grand parents. I taught my kids (daughter, too) to hunt, fish and camp and want to do the same for my grand kids. This, in my opinion, is why we're close and long for each others company. The RVs may be cheap, but the memories are priceless.

Therein lies my objection to the RV industries crappy quality. I made enough money to enjoy things a bit, and I can repair about anything. However, while I can replace the money lost or the whole RV if necessary... I can't replace the lost time. A vacation ruined by poor quality is like being robbed of that by a company that's too cheap to use quality materials, or an employee that's too lazy and uncaring to perform his/her task correctly. It's a shame that American quality has come to this.

That being said, I haven't had too many problems. Those I have had have mostly been caught as I do inspections and check-outs in the weeks leading up to a trip. We had a broken sink on one trip but a plastic pan in that side made the rest of the trip doable. Should I be spending hours maintaining and repairing on a one-for-one basis with my camping time? No... but it seems like I do, more often than not.

Safe travels... and... have fun!

[beamisl]

My husband and I have never owned an RV. I am 33 months away from retirement and came here to learn a bit about RVing to try to NOT make some huge mistakes in purchasing our first and hopefully only MH


I was rather shocked at how many people with NEW rigs talked about the LIST of repairs they have to have fixed within the first year and the amount of miles they must travel to get these done as well as the amount of time they DO NOT have use of this very expensive toy. These things are expensive!


That being said, I started looking at used. So, what price range to start looking at? There are a lot of good units out there and we have not set on any particular one yet but understand buying used, it is used.


I agree we are too accepting because that is what is expected. This is the way things are ad that is it is the attitude. I went to buy a new car a month ago and we were all ready to sign and they dropped a little tidbit in our lap at the last minute I did not appreciate at all. When the salesman did this I said, "we're done." He questioned me and I said if this was part of the deal it should have been presented before we got this far so I am done. He was shocked. Got up ad walked out.


Until we a consumers start refusing to accept whatever they throw at us, this is the way it will be. Those of us who remember a better time struggle with this way of doing business. The younger crowd is growing up with this being the norm. I don't want to see what it ill be like in another 20 years.


Good luck! Lynne

[nothermark]

FWIW I have been trying to figure out the long list syndrome. I cannot conceive of a long list that would still leave a functional unit. I translate that to a lot of cosmetic issues. Some of those will be fixed and reappear as body flex moves things a bit. Some are design issues. Full wall slides give nice interior space but seem fragile in that they have a lot of problems. Then there is the "can't leave it alone club" who cannot wait to start changing things. When I filter out those groups the number of problems drops fast. I'm not saying there are none. I am saying that most are not significant to using the unit. Then can be an issue to the folks who dwell on them.

[Old Radios]

Every time I go to an RV show I am amazed at the poor quality and construction on display for those asking prices.

[Ramets]

Competent QC at the manufacturers has become a thing of the past. They build them, ship them out expecting the dealers to fix things that should have never been overlooked. When we retired 5yrs. ago I had no intention then of buying new, and still don't. Every year while in FL. we'll go to the Tampa show in Jan. to look. And the quality & workmanship leaves a lot to be desired. Lots of bells & whistles, along with cheap looking and feeling materials. I like the idea there's no plastic in my coach, unlike what's being used now. And the prices for all this is just outrageous. But the manufacturers know a new batch of retirees is coming along, and they have to have the newest and flashiest unit. So it's a vicious cycle. The new retirees don't know about web sites like this with all the knowledge and experience that's available, so they have to learn the expensive way, which is sad.

[JohnT]

As we were driving up I65 yesterday, we noticed a new 24' TT (paper tags on back) going about 50 mph. The driver had a difficult time keeping it straight. The truck was a Ford Ranger with a standard cab and standard length box. The hitch was new with a sway control system. The couple in the PU was middle 20's and probably their first RV of this size.

So another example of RV'er who believed the salesman - "sure your PU will handle this TT". Sometimes, we are our own worst enemy.

[IC2]

Originally Posted by JohnT

As we were driving up I65 yesterday, we noticed a new 24' TT (paper tags on back) going about 50 mph. The driver had a difficult time keeping it straight. The truck was a Ford Ranger with a standard cab and standard length box. The hitch was new with a sway control system. The couple in the PU was middle 20's and probably their first RV of this size.

So another example of RV'er who believed the salesman - "sure your PU will handle this TT". Sometimes, we are our own worst enemy.

Sounds like that salesman who told me in about 2003 that my F150 with a 5.4 engine would 'handle' that 9000 pound, 30+ foot 5er. We bought a smaller, lighter bumper pull TT elsewhere until I could upgrade my truck to an F350