DSDP Don wrote:
I think quality control isn't that hard to achieve. How tough is it to have someone inspect an RV as it exits the production line. It has to be cheaper, both in future repairs and customer satisfaction to fix it before it leaves the factory.
We also have to remember that the very people on this forum, complaining about quality control of any product, are also part of the working force, building those products or providing services. Can everyone here say they go to work and give their employer 100% EVERYDAY. A company needs to instill a desire to produce a quality product, which is hard to do with a minimum wage employee at a manufacturing plant.
That brings us to a vicious cycle of you get what you pay for. I think it's tough for a company to break that cycle. If they increase pay, produce a better quality product, they have to charge more....than they lose that competitive edge. Remember when we buy something from China/overseas, they're using child labor, paying their employees next to nothing and don't mind polluting the environment to produce a cheap product.
There's no simple solution. Do your homework, be prepared to get what you pay for and probably the biggest thing of all, be willing to do some of your own repairs that are within your ability. I know that a new owner shouldn't have to do any repairs, but I would rather spend a few minutes doing it myself than to agonize over taking it to the dealer and losing camping time.
Excellent points. The US auto industry had incredibly high wages and the quality suffered. It took extreme competition to bring them to their senses. Wages alone don't insure quality. There has to be an attitude that we are all in this together to get a quality product.
Not everyone gives everything all the time. We have all types of quality control on our practice, but every so often something will happen that we all know shouldn't have happened, but it did. As long as we have human beings building things there will be mistakes.
Overall I think the quality of RV's is pretty decent considering you have a house going down the highway at 70 MPH and being jostled and twisted and bounced. I do think that some of the most severe criticism of current RV quality is done by many that have a rig that is well into its second decade of existence. We have had very few problems with our Berkshire and from talking to other owners that is not the exception but the norm.
