Everybody I've talked to has had to get little things fixed. Nothing that would be a deal breaker, but little things that could have been caught with just a little bit more care. Same thing in every new home I've done, somebody in almost every trade makes an oversight here and there, and it all has to be 'caught' before the customer gets there.
There are so many subsystems in a motorhome, and so many handwired circuits, problems seem to happen at many price points. I love every rv I've had, but had to fix them. Whereas the chassis' are more dependable, maybe because they've had so many standardized assembly operations with so much repetition. I'm thinking that the F53 chassis is just as good as a Toyota, in terms of reliability. I'll bet the Freightliners and others are, too.
I think the OP's post reflects the feeling that if there were a far sighted approach to quality (like Airstream, Prevost, etc) that it would mean less things breaking or not being made right in the first place. And the opposing argument is that we wouldn't pay for that level of quality. Well, honest competition usually rewards the marketplace with better products. An RV review organization based on factual statistics would be nice to refer to, at least for the buyers.
And maybe if American manufacturers took pride in the final product like Airstream and Prevost, etc. do then this issue would be almost moot. There still will be things that need to be fixed because we are not perfect but it would greatly move most RV's to the higher quailty side of the ledger. We can make the finest products in the world if we want, we just need to want and customers need to buy. Look at Boeing, nobody makes a better airliner and we make it. Many feel that Harley makes an excellent product, they are a sought after motorcycle in the country that makes Japanese motorcycles. We can do better, we just have to want to and find those that want to pay for it.
