new motorhome problems

dougrainer wrote:

Bea PA wrote:
I've often said, we need the Japanese to build some RV's and put the American companies on their toes.

This has been said for over 30 years. IF it was a way to make money, the Asians would have entered the market long ago. Doug

I agree Doug. GM and other big capital firms have tried to make money in the RV industry and failed in a major way. Most are still mom and pop like employing local people. When one looks at the future market/demographics and their current income and savings rate anyone that can count knows the number of future buyers will be fewer for several reasons mainly lower head counts with lower net worth.

After the current trillions of dollars change hands (gets pasted to the kids/grandkids) I expect much of it will be consumed before it can be past to future generations.

$40K homes being sold for $400K 30 years later bought a lot of RV's. $400K homes being sold for $180K (a case I know about in FL) will not buy a lot of RV's.

The market demanding lower price RV's will only lead to more new MH problems I expect.

I have to say our $8K purchase (used MH) has needed some service due to now being 22 years old but we have down 100% of house repairs and a lot of the lighter chassis service and repairs. Some house issues were design issues but for an entry level MH I am very pleased and it is better today than in 2007.

It seems to me most MH's are not in active use most of the time and we know some are not built for full time usage so the more one is used perhaps the more problems will come to the surface.

P.S., The practice of reduced inventory at these factories is one of the main reasons for the hold-ups. Most places have gone to the JIT {just in time} practice to reduce inventory. Good for them, but bad news for us.

Bea PA wrote:
I've often said, we need the Japanese to build some RV's and put the American companies on their toes.

This has been said for over 30 years. IF it was a way to make money, the Asians would have entered the market long ago. Doug

I had to have the fromt cap replaced on our 2011 Winnebago Adventurer right after we bought it. We waited forever before Winnebago sent the cap to the repair shop. They keep no spare caps, we were told after the model changes are made on the production lines. Had to wait until they could fit our cap mold in. Didn't buy that story but had to wait.

mustang652 wrote:

Gale Hawkins wrote:
I think suppliers in many cases have lowered quality to meet the price expectations of the builders to the point it really hurts. It is not just an RV thing either.

Going to disagree on the Thor RVs, Withe the exception of theLippert/Swintek slide system, the greatest problem by far is there lack of quality control.

OK, until this I thought of Thor as a good builder instead being at the bottom of the quality ladder.

Gale Hawkins wrote:
I think suppliers in many cases have lowered quality to meet the price expectations of the builders to the point it really hurts. It is not just an RV thing either.

Going to disagree on the Thor RVs, Withe the exception of theLippert/Swintek slide system, the greatest problem by far is there lack of quality control.

Having just had our coach in for some extended warranty work I can say from experience that many of the problems are factory related - purchasing cheap parts and components and skimping on some sound engineering practices and designs (ie minimizing costs and increasing profits). Understanding that these units are manufactured homes on wheels a lot can go wrong.

It is my opinion and experience that the dealers just want to sell units and don't want to deal with warranty work. My selling dealer had used the coach for shows and it had some premature issues that they didn't take care of during their prep but waited until our walk through. Way too many issues. When asked, the salesperson responded it was SOP and she always brought a pad to the walkthroughs to document what had to be done.

Most dealers won't do repairs or warranty work without a release from the factory and don't have any pull or influence with the suppliers which effect over 50% of the coach after the chassis. I had a dealer that actually made things worse after they were done, or thought they were done, and to make matters worse left the coach in a deplorable condition. I eventually took it direct to the factory where service is an independent group and have to charge the factory for the warranty work they do. They try to inform the factory of the issues they come across but the culture of the factory is tough to change. They do however have more pull and power over the suppliers and tended to get things resolved much more quickly.

I don't see this problem going away in the immediate future.

Gale Hawkins wrote:
I think suppliers in many cases have lowered quality to meet the price expectations of the builders to the point it really hurts. It is not just an RV thing either.

I think this statement is very true. On our new coach, over 90% of the problems have had to do with supplier issues.

I think suppliers in many cases have lowered quality to meet the price expectations of the builders to the point it really hurts. It is not just an RV thing either.

Well I am going on eleven years and shop repairs have only been once, and that was for a Huie fuel pump, other then that it has been the perfect coach. I hope it lasts me another ten years. I have done myself preventive repairs. Like applying Eternabond, and washing the CAC once a year, I do all the maintenance on the coach.

It is sad to read of other RVers that are having so many problems and the length it is taking to correct them by the manufacturers

But it does happen with all manufactures, so it does not surprise me at all.