Family Owned MH Manufacturers

You might want to tour some factories before you make a purchase. We purchased a used Newmar about 7 months ago so aren't in your 3 year time frame but we're very happy with the coach. We had a chance to tour the factory in Nappanee, IN and were very impressed with the workmanship and quality control and I don't think you could find a nicer group of people anywhere.

Before we bought our coach, we were very interested in an Allegro RED and did look at some new ones. They were gorgeous and seemed to be very well made but after more research, we settled on an '11 Newmar Ventana. One reason was the larger carrying capacity that it had over the RED we were interested in. Compare the tank sizes, coach weight and cargo capacity of the coaches you're considering.

Good luck with your search!

You will find that most people who own Tiffin Products are loyal customers as we find the product to have a lot of quality built in and we know that Tiffin will take care of any problems that we may have. Most people that seem to really dislike Tiffin do not own one. We owned an Allegro Bay for ten years wand had very few problems. There were several things that they repaired free of charge years after the warranty expired. I had a window fog after six years and they replace it for me at no charge. We currently have owned the coach in our signature below for about a year and a half and really like it. There are a lot of good manufacturers out there we just prefer Tiffin. good luck with your search.

I agree with the post on Integra. I think I would go with Integra on an upgrade. Plus, going diesel it would be the Integra with a side radiator.

In defense of Tiffin's quality control, which like all quality control could be improved: When we received our new Allegro in November it has an issue with quality control which I knew I could fix myself. Not wanting to just let the issue go I sent an e-mail to Tiffin explaining the problem and noting that I would fix the situation with a bit of elbow grease. Within a day or two I received a phone call from Bob Tiffin making sure I was satisfied and offering his direct number if I had any further issues. Having their name on their product does count.

Great advice, kab, you know I did that when researching fivers, had forgotten about doing that. Thanks!

The other thing you need to remember on a forum is that for every person who complains about something they don't like there are hundreds more who don't say anything because they are satisfied. I suggest you register on the manufacturer specific forum like TRVN for the manufacturers you are interested in. You will get a better representative sample to gauge overall satisfaction.

Thanks for all the great responses, these are what we need. We don't think private ownership means custom at all, just that if our name was on a product, we would want to build the best product we could, that was what I meant by flawed thinking, that is a bit " Pollyannaish", I'm sure. Years ago, we were looking at Motor homes and as we were stepping into the coach, the salesman asked, "Do you like to tinker?", having been into rving for lots of years we were quite aware. Knowing about the Tiffin roofs is good information, thanks. We used this forum extensively when researching our fifth wheel purchase, it is proving just as valuable in this instance. Thank you.

I think Lazy Daze is still family owned....but what you really need is the best support...Newmar and Entegra take that cake right now..While the Monaco products still have support and ARG does have support, my friend with his Entegra on a Spartan chassis gives them an A plus, plus word is now they will have mobile support in more popular resort areas of the country...

midnightsadie wrote:
BORNFREE is a family company ,had one for five years excellant rv. one of the top ten imho.

Not any more, word last month they sold out to an investment firm.

Texas Roadrunner wrote:
Sailor, we know so little about motor homes, we were just thinking that possibly there might be some better quality control. This might be flawed thinking, and we are at the beginning of a "maybe" purchase. We have friends who had both a Newmar fifth wheel and a Dutch Star, the quality seemed good on both. I've always been interested in the Tiffin Phaetons, although I know little about them. We'll research this purchase, if indeed we make the change.

I certainly will not be judgmental, but in my humble opinion it is flawed thinking. You may be thinking family owned relates to custom built...family owned in a large production facility means the family can afford to maintain operation without seeking public investors. Tiffin is a great MH, I just purchased an Allegro, but Tiffin boasts production of 12 coaches a day. Not exactly custom. Winnebago, my previous MH was a Winnebago, is a publicly traded company. There large business model has them owning and producing many of the components in their products. Thus, they have very tight control of their quality control.
Personally, I would find the floor plan that best suits my needs, make sure the power plant meets my demands, and then choose between those models based on reputation.
Best of luck, and Happy Trails.