Quality...

Well ... I for one am pretty happy with the design quality and workmanship quality of our 2005 Itasca ... and I've been all over on top of it, inside it, and under it. I've had to tweak some minor stuff, but there's no junky construction in it by any means. Even the design is "quality" in that things were planned and put together with camping safety, comfort, and convenience in mind.

That being said, I'm not sure about any PREDICTABLE CONSISTENCY with respect to Winnebago quality. What we wound up with in our particular RV was probably just plain luck for that year of construction, or that month of construction, or that week of production.

My personal defnition of quality can apply to a new $60,000 RV or a new $600,000 RV: I prefer to get what I paid for to be well executed and remain so over time - less money should just mean less features and/or bling - not less well put together. This applies pretty much to our luck-out Itasca motorhome ... it's plain and simple ... but IMHO well executed.

I use the above definition of quality as a guide as best I can in everything I buy.

We bought our TT new in 2006 after looking at several brands we settled on a HR Presidential, in the nine years we have had it we have had almost zero problems with it.
We did have to replace the slide topper and window awning, we opted to rip up the carpet and replace with laminate, we did have a broken plastic thingy that holds the closet sliding door closed.
The first four years we used it maybe four full weeks out of the year, since then we take it to Florida for six months each winter, we have a few weeks where we are either at Myrtle Beach or Cape Cod so it does get plenty of use and we honestly have no complaints.
After all that I read here on a regular basis I can only conclude that we are very fortunate to have this TT but....
The main reason we chose this one is my parents had a Holiday Rambler vintage 1969, they traveled the whole country in it, spent many winters in Florida with it, when my father passed in 2005 the old TT was taken up to a northern lake where it sat for family enjoyment for a few more years.
It never leaked, the only thing that was ever replaced was the carpeting, it still had the original stove and fridge.
But what's out there now I think we'll keep what we have.

I have had a similar experience with our current 2009 Pacific Coachworks Tango 30 foot trailer, now going on six years old. Not one major or minor issue beyond tires and a few cabinet door knobs getting loose. There are good RVs out there but it does require the consumer to do their due diligence and look on line for issues regarding the units considered. In my case I knew somebody that purchased one and had no issues of consenquence with it; checked here and on IRV2 to see if there were complaints about the product and while I could find legions of complaints on some manufacturer's products, I could find none on PCT products. Then I bought it. So far so good. I don't purchase by price nor what a salesperson trys to sell what they have on their lot. A little homework goes a long ways in some cases.

jmtandem wrote:

I know many of you others have already had this epiphany on the poor quality of the motorhomes, trailers and campers being produced today. But I continue to be astounded at just how bad the workmanship is!

I jumped in a couple of Palomino campers today, just out of curiosity, and saw things that just made me cringe.

I get it - it's about quantity over quality, maximizing margins.

But, jeebus - where's their pride?
Their self-respect?

It reminded me of the GMs, Fords and Chryslers coming off the line in the mid 70's. Garbage. Pure, unadulterated junk.

I'm not sure why there are no imports giving our manufacturers a run for the money, but I think our manufacturers should thank their lucky stars that there's no Toyota or Honda equivalent out there.

Frankly, I'd be personally embarrassed to tell someone I worked at these places.

There is RV quality, most folks do not want to pay for it. Look at Airstream and Provost and you see quality. How many do you see at camp or on the road? Some of this "the terms RV and quality should not be used in the same sentence stuff" gets old. You want RV quality it is out there. Mention Airstream to anybody wanting a trailer and most often the retort is 'it costs too much'. So the customer goes looking at the less expensive stuff and then complains of quality issues. Who is to blame, the manufacturer that makes the RV's the people want and will pay for or the consumer that insists on paying as little as possible and then has an inflated expectation of what they are getting. Ridiculous really!

And considering that is is amost impossible for one family to wear out a Prevost or an Airstream (Airstream maintains that about 70 percent of all ever made since the mid 1930's are still on the road) our perception that quailty in terms of value does not include longevity.

We bought our TT new in 2006 after looking at several brands we settled on a HR Presidential, in the nine years we have had it we have had almost zero problems with it.
We did have to replace the slide topper and window awning, we opted to rip up the carpet and replace with laminate, we did have a broken plastic thingy that holds the closet sliding door closed.
The first four years we used it maybe four full weeks out of the year, since then we take it to Florida for six months each winter, we have a few weeks where we are either at Myrtle Beach or Cape Cod so it does get plenty of use and we honestly have no complaints.
After all that I read here on a regular basis I can only conclude that we are very fortunate to have this TT but....
The main reason we chose this one is my parents had a Holiday Rambler vintage 1969, they traveled the whole country in it, spent many winters in Florida with it, when my father passed in 2005 the old TT was taken up to a northern lake where it sat for family enjoyment for a few more years.
It never leaked, the only thing that was ever replaced was the carpeting, it still had the original stove and fridge.
But what's out there now I think we'll keep what we have.


Sher

Posted: 07/04/15 01:40pm

Link | Quote | Print | Notify Moderator


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PRodacy wrote:

Re: jmtandem's post about getting radiation from a Prius........
Are you serious? The only way you could get irradiated is if it's nuclear powered, and

only then if the shielding isn't sufficient. Another unfounded urban legend.

Yepp.

Skid Row Joe, This is about the long term danger of close proximity to hybrid electro magnetic radiation technology (not nuclear, that your 'yepp' agreed with) health issues. A very cursory glance at the internet and you will find quite a bit of information on this subject. Google
'Electro Magnetic Radiation Safety' and you can read the pros and cons of long term exposure to hybrid technology, a disagreement of what are safe standards, and possible increases in the possibility of cancer over long term EMR exposure that is found in hybrids but not found in gas or diesel engine cars and trucks. This EMR issue has been around and debated for some time, yet according to your 'yepp' response it appears that you could not or chose not to offer anything beyond a yepp. Perhaps this is the first time you have heard of it??? Of course, what does 'Yepp' really mean anyway? And you felt confident in supporting an opinion that tells me I am wrong; yet you provided no factual data, no links, no nothing, just a 'yepp.' And embarassingly, apparently you thought I was talking about nuclear radiation? I never said anything about that subject. At least on the WWII issue you provided some rhetorical verbosity to support your position. On EMR....nothing!

In the interest of agreeing to disagree feel free to provide the last comments. Hoping to have an interesting dialog with you; following your total disappointed response of 'yepp', , it is time to move on. Yepp, go ahead, have the last say.

Cloud Dancer wrote:
IMO I did NOT get my money's worth either. And, it's pretty hard to admit, specially after writing a check for $175,000. I did a lot of research, and this was my 6th motorhome purchase. I special ordered it, and picked it up at the factory. I checked it over pretty good, and found several things that were omitted, or screwed up. I stayed there a week, waiting for them to finish their attempt to fix some of these. And, I ended up negotiating another additional discount from my dealer, for those things that the factory could not satisfy me on. I was so upset, and preoccupied, that I never thought to go up on the roof and do a thoroughly check the roof design (I guess I assumed that they knew how to design an all-fiberglass roof). I'll never forgive myself.

how can so many such stories from rv owners not lead to some demands for change?

IMO I did NOT get my money's worth either. And, it's pretty hard to admit, specially after writing a check for $175,000. I did a lot of research, and this was my 6th motorhome purchase. I special ordered it, and picked it up at the factory. I checked it over pretty good, and found several things that were omitted, or screwed up. I stayed there a week, waiting for them to finish their attempt to fix some of these. And, I ended up negotiating another additional discount from my dealer, for those things that the factory could not satisfy me on. I was so upset, and preoccupied, that I never thought to go up on the roof and do a thoroughly check the roof design (I guess I assumed that they knew how to design an all-fiberglass roof). I'll never forgive myself.

PRodacy wrote:
Re: jmtandem's post about getting radiation from a Prius........
Are you serious? The only way you could get irradiated is if it's nuclear powered, and only then if the shielding isn't sufficient. Another unfounded urban legend.

Yepp.

jmtandem wrote:
You just supported the position that Airstream quality won the war for America. As you said, both sides had airplanes, and tanks, ships, submarines, guns, cannons, military personnel, supply lines, etc. But Japan lost WWII, the first war they lost in 1800 years! So what did the Americans have that the Japanese did not (besides an atom bomb)? Yup, you guessed it-- Airstream trailer quality in everything we did. 'Airstream quality' won the war for us. I am confident that you, too, can get and maintain an Airstream quality 'Ahh Haa' moment, if you think on what you wrote. And that same quality was evident in supply line issues, resource allocations, military personnel skill levels that you cited, etc. It was everywhere then; today it is rare in RV products.

As to your assertion about a global economy today, that was outside the scope of my original comments about WWII. Yes, today we have a global economy. And most of the RVs built in Europe and Australia are better built than most American RV products. Times have changed.

There's no assertions in my last post. They're all facts.

I must be in the minority; love the fit and finish of our FR Windjammer.

Re: jmtandem's post about getting radiation from a Prius........
Are you serious? The only way you could get irradiated is if it's nuclear powered, and only then if the shielding isn't sufficient. Another unfounded urban legend.