Where is quality?????

been following this for an few days now, and I'm wondering how many people complain just to complain. I think one person said here that if you own a motor home you better have a toolbox full of tools. Ive had two motor homes, and they both have been relatively trouble free. a few small minor bumps, but I've always kept on maintenance and items before they became issues. I thunk most mag's try to build a quality product

usersmanual wrote:

You can pay what you want, if you think Foretravel hasn't had to fly techs out to fix nightmare issues with coaches you're nuts. Everyone has built a lemon.

that's fact and why I laugh when someone touts a foretravel as the end all to be all of Rv,s

Foretravels & Newell are great. But I laugh too when people say they are definitely more problem free. We've seen brand new Foretravels at shows with wall panels that were broken/fallen off at RV shows and laying on the bed, messy grout tile work, etc. We went to see a 1 year old Newell, and the salesman apologized that he couldn't get the AC working because the coach was having electrical issues, he was on the phone with Newell, the electrical bay was open. All RVs have more issues than a Toyota Prius:-(

You can pay what you want, if you think Foretravel hasn't had to fly techs out to fix nightmare issues with coaches you're nuts. Everyone has built a lemon.

that's fact and why I laugh when someone touts a foretravel as the end all to be all of Rv,s

We've had minor issues regardless of how much we paid for our units. Fortunately I can pick up a wrench or screw driver and fix most of the issues people rush over to the dealer for. We've had leaky fittings in our Newmar, DRV and ironically the only trouble free unit we had was our first travel trailer from forest river which was 15k. We had an engine leak in our Newmar that took Cummins 3 years to finally fix. Our DRV wasn't really built well either. The roof staples they used were pulling up and when the bedroom air came on you could hear the plywood rattling.

You can pay what you want, if you think Foretravel hasn't had to fly techs out to fix nightmare issues with coaches you're nuts. Everyone has built a lemon.

Two Jayhawks wrote:

J-Rooster wrote:
I've been a member on RV.Net for 12 years and this subject is my pet peeve! It's all about Greed in the RV business for RV Manufactures! Why can't the first priority of RV Manufactures be quality. Why can't RV Manufactures build the best coach possible for there customers? It's all about the pie? There is enough of the pie in the RV Industries for all RV Manufactures to survive. But Greed drives the industry buying out the competition and get them thru the assembly as fast as possible! An example of this is Thor Industries! Look how big they have gotten in the last 8 years, there now the biggest sellers of RV's in the World with all there various brands! I'm not picking on Thor because all the Manufactures are trying to be like Thor! There main interest is to corner the market instead of improving on quality! All they want to do is build RV's faster than there competition to flood the market. If I was a RV Manufacture I would want my work force to slow down and pay extreme attention detail and quality and use the best materials possible. By doing this I wouldn't be selling as many units instead I would be creating a waiting list for people wanting the best quality RV on the market. My useless rant is over!

Foretravel & Newell IMO are the undisputed pinnacle of a purpose built quality motorhome....But how many can afford? There are at least several brands below these two that are known for quality on a lesser scale. People should do more homework before they go to a retail lot or a RV show and find themselves getting all goo goo eyed and signing a contract. If when you walk into that trailer, 5er, class A,B, or C and it is a POS why are you buying it? The same guy that spends a year laboring over the decision to buy a Ford, Chevy, or Dodge is quite apt to buy a new RV with no diligence. The industry will only change if we force change by voting with our wallets.

Putting it that way and with the two fine examples you provided, I think most all can afford such a coach, with the upper end buying them new and the rest buying them used in varying degrees. Our most recent purchase, which I believe to be a quality product, even though not one of the above, is 9yrs old, just now getting broke in and there's no way, we would pay what this thing costs new, nowadays.
Thing is, there are many out there, who feel that newer is better, no matter what their budget and there is one made for everybody, by someone.
They sell a lot of them too, utilizing some sort of wow factor, so again, they, the manufactures are not the ones to blame.

Maybe its because this is the first used RV we bought in a while and all the bugs were worked out, but I have no complaints on quality. I've had to replace a relay or two, get the caulk gun out, tighten a screw - but all part of ownership I believe.

Coming from a 5er world, this is a world of difference in build. As someone stated above, I have real faucets that the nickel finish doesn't come off with soap, real suspension, real flooring, real counter tops, etc. I swear, our last fiver company would go out of their way to find a knock off of the simplest things to save money.

J-Rooster wrote:
I've been a member on RV.Net for 12 years and this subject is my pet peeve! It's all about Greed in the RV business for RV Manufactures! Why can't the first priority of RV Manufactures be quality. Why can't RV Manufactures build the best coach possible for there customers? It's all about the pie? There is enough of the pie in the RV Industries for all RV Manufactures to survive. But Greed drives the industry buying out the competition and get them thru the assembly as fast as possible! An example of this is Thor Industries! Look how big they have gotten in the last 8 years, there now the biggest sellers of RV's in the World with all there various brands! I'm not picking on Thor because all the Manufactures are trying to be like Thor! There main interest is to corner the market instead of improving on quality! All they want to do is build RV's faster than there competition to flood the market. If I was a RV Manufacture I would want my work force to slow down and pay extreme attention detail and quality and use the best materials possible. By doing this I wouldn't be selling as many units instead I would be creating a waiting list for people wanting the best quality RV on the market. My useless rant is over!

Foretravel & Newell IMO are the undisputed pinnacle of a purpose built quality motorhome....But how many can afford? There are at least several brands below these two that are known for quality on a lesser scale. People should do more homework before they go to a retail lot or a RV show and find themselves getting all goo goo eyed and signing a contract. If when you walk into that trailer, 5er, class A,B, or C and it is a POS why are you buying it? The same guy that spends a year laboring over the decision to buy a Ford, Chevy, or Dodge is quite apt to buy a new RV with no diligence. The industry will only change if we force change by voting with our wallets.

To me a "quality" built coach is one that performs as it was advertised. In other words, it doesn't matter if it is solid wood cabinets or particle board cabinets, I don't expect the particle board cabinets to fall off of the wall because they are a less expensive cabinet.
I can accept a plastic faucet, instead of a solid gold faucet, if it works like it is supposed to work.
I don't care if I have the cheapest furnace, AC unit, or water heater, or the most expensive, I expect them all to work as designed.
Electrical is electrical and plumbing is plumbing, I don't expect plumbing leaks or electrical problems, regardless of what they are connected to.
People know the difference between glitz and basic. They know the difference between leather and vinyl. They know the difference between tile floor and linoleum. What they want is something that works when they drive it off the lot and continues to be trouble free for a period of time. They don't want something that breaks down as soon as they get 500 miles away from the dealer.
A manufacturer can save money on materials, and most buyers can deal with that. What buyers shouldn't have to accept is POOR installation of the materials used which result in numerous problems that have nothing to do with the cost of those materials.

It's not always about money. Prevost and Newmar are just $$$ but the features and luxury go with it. Shiny tile floors and little lights everywhere (which I think look bad) granite counters and gold robot rising televisions are just "blah luxuries".

I think the rant is more focused on "Why did they have to use a faucet that feels like plastic and would have only cost $30 to get a good one at Home Depot".

See Prevost wants the golden faucets, but a normal faucet should work well and function.

I think the rant is really over "Okay we don't want all the fancy plush features, we just want a fairly hassle free RV".

This is where people step in and say "Well that's because you didn't spend half a million on an RV".

Perhaps some people don't want or have half a million dollars. Plus, some of us have children and don't want their cheerios embedded in a $2500 leather sofa in that half million coach.

Many just want to go camping in a regular RV that works with reasonable quality.

charming wrote:
Reading over this topic with an update. We took our RV out for our first long trip this week. We are sitting here in VA freezing our butts off because the heater doesn't work!

When we called the dealer where we bought this thing we were told closest dealer was Raleigh, NC. I've been on the phone with THor and the first repair they gave me does not have a mobile repair and the second doesn't open until 9 am. We will see. So, great start to our vacation.

Not sure what you have there or how many heating systems are available in your coach, but assume you're talking about the gas forced air floor furnace.
Either way, but then I'm assuming you have power, most carry space heaters of the ceramic type and for saving on propane, as well, so might there be Walmart or other nearby?