Texas RV Dealer makes a good move

wanderingaimlessly wrote:

Planning wrote:


It is a fantastic sleight of hand that the RV industry takes advantage of: "It would be too expensive to build it right, but don't worry, there is always enough time and money to fix it".

I have a feeling that they have calculated that a sufficient percentage of people will just accept what they get, and then either fix the problems themselves or pay someone to do it, therefore saving the Manufacturer the cost and headache.

Manufacturers generally only design and build them well enough to get from the factory to the dealer and to a campground once. Manufacturers figure the vast majority of units sold will never move another mile once they arrive at a campground site so why build them rugged enough to survive the pounding going down the roads of America for thousand's of miles when the vast majority will never see the road again once delivered to a campground.
Like my Heartless oop's Heartland. The curb side slide out lower seal system design was so pathetic it did not have a hope in you know where of keeping water out while splashing down the roads in rain storm's. There was no mechanical structure within 18 inches of each end of the slideout to compress the wimpy seals together when the slideout was closed.
All Heartland's I have looked at after finding this out are built the same. I know I 'm not alone with having water running cross my floor after driving through a rain storm.

I can just hear the manufacturer now.
You drive through a rain storm with your unit? You can't do that, you will void the warranty.
This dealer's PDI process will never catch design build problem's like this.

bucky wrote:
You have to think outside the box in today's world. They just knocked it down and burned it with this concept.
One thing that troubles me is the employee pool that they will be hiring from. The pay plan will be the key. Amish quality my buttocks.

Now, now. My wife has dealt with them for years, she knows just about everyone of their sneaky tricks and there are plenty.

azdryheat wrote:
As I've said before, trailer builders are paid by the piece so they work to kick as many down the line as they can. There is no one doing any sort of quality control checks. My trailer is proof that no one is checking what the factory line workers are doing.

So is my TC.Overall not bad but still some shoddy workmanship by the coveted 'Amish' craftsmen.

Good for them, however they sell 9,100 units out of over 483,000 made last year. That leaves 473,900 units that can still be junk. They aren't going to move the overall quality needle very much in the industry.

That's nice that they are doing a "PDI"... sounds just like every car dealership I've been in.

Planning wrote:


It is a fantastic sleight of hand that the RV industry takes advantage of: "It would be too expensive to build it right, but don't worry, there is always enough time and money to fix it".

I have a feeling that they have calculated that a sufficient percentage of people will just accept what they get, and then either fix the problems themselves or pay someone to do it, therefore saving the Manufacturer the cost and headache.

You have to think outside the box in today's world. They just knocked it down and burned it with this concept.
One thing that troubles me is the employee pool that they will be hiring from. The pay plan will be the key. Amish quality my buttocks.

The manufacturers will continue to deliver cr@p until they are forced to accept responsibility.

Pretty much every manufacturer has provided cr@p at one time or another. The difference is that with most products, consumers return the cr@p and buy another brand. This puts the onus on the manufacturer to supply better quality on an overall basis.

With RVs, the consumer does NOT return the item but rather takes it to the retailer to fix or fixes it themselves. This has separated the manufacturer from the having to supply a quality product out the door.

Consumers have allowed themselves to be placed in a weak position with our need for cheap massive RVs. We, as consumers, are unwilling to pay more for the few manufacturers that build quality because they don't build big enough (think egg trailers). And heaven forbid we do without because we can't find a quality product.

Until we start returning cr@ppy products, there is no reason for the manufacturers to change. Instead, we buy a cr@ppy product and then insist that the retailer fix it or fix it ourselves. Would we buy a microwave and expect the retailer to fix it? Or would be return it and buy a different product?

Houses and automobiles have regulated standards to ensure the product is quality because they failed to regulate themselves and put consumers in a no win situation. If the RV industry cannot learn to regulate themselves then we need to insist on outside regulation.

Whats sad is when you have buyers with a list of 1/2 dozen things for warranty work and they finish their rant with, " But we still love our (Brand)"

pcm1959 wrote:
Shouldn't that be the manufacturer making sure the units "are ready to camp" upon delivery.... but I still think the manufacturer should step up their quality control...

They should, but they will not.

There is no financial incentive to improve the product; they continue to sell regardless of poor quality control.

The RV industry is supported by a myth that is embraced and repeated by RV owners: "When you buy an RV, you should expect that there are things that you are going to have to fix...you need to be "handy" to own an RV..." and on and on and on. A consistent message of low expectations as an emotional immunization against the reality of inevitable failure.

It is a fantastic sleight of hand that the RV industry takes advantage of: "It would be too expensive to build it right, but don't worry, there is always enough time and money to fix it".