RV industry death spiral...

ncrowley wrote:
I think a BIG problem is the ignorance of RV sales people. They do not know what the weight ratings mean, what a residential refrigerator is, what can be towed safely, how the systems work, pros and cons of different units, etc, etc. I hope there are some knowledgeable ones out there, but I have not found one. People are basing decisions on what these salesman say (big mistake) and are getting inappropriate RVs for them. Rvs are much more complicated than cars and sales people should be trained.

Good afternoon. I appreciate what you are saying. It is certainly an industry wide challenge. I am a proffesional RV salesperson. The license I require to sell RVs certainly requires that I am competent in all aspects of weight requirements. However as you pointed out, knowledge of appliances and RV living in general is a knowledge base that is gained over time and not required by my license at least in my province. I would be interested in what you suggest as far as a course. Dealer level or maybe part of the license??? (Already expensive) It is a challenge. Not sure what the answer is.

I think a BIG problem is the ignorance of RV sales people. They do not know what the weight ratings mean, what a residential refrigerator is, what can be towed safely, how the systems work, pros and cons of different units, etc, etc. I hope there are some knowledgeable ones out there, but I have not found one. People are basing decisions on what these salesman say (big mistake) and are getting inappropriate RVs for them. Rvs are much more complicated than cars and sales people should be trained.

Boy, you really summed it up very well, TPI.

I think part of the issue is the typical use pattern for RVs. In my storage lot there are numerous RVs which sit week after week with no usage. They could have been an impulse buy, or maybe they only intend to use it a couple weeks per year. It is just one of many facets of life, and maintenance is way down the priority scale.

Then take the typical construction of RVs. Fussy and maintenance intensive. I'm sure almost any RV could last a long long time with maintenance, rebuilds, whatever. But this isn't the typical ownership pattern to do that.

The typical owner would be well served by an RV with a roof designed to be relatively maintenance free, and building materials that don't rot easily. This type of production is not common, and would carry a cost premium.

Unfortunately many RVs are purchased for the qualities of big, flashy, and cheap. Ultimately this doesn't serve many owners well. Part of this is a manufacturing problem, part a consumer education problem. Perhaps expanding lemon law protections to RVs could be a small step in the right direction. Less incentive to manufacture clearly inferior designs or assembly practices. Consumers: Really research quality, and please make it an emphasis in your purchase decisions. It really is a more valuable commodity than big, flashy and cheap.

Txsurfer wrote:
I wonder what the magic number is that the avg manufacturer uses for designed life expectancy of a TT - 10 yrs maybe? I know one thing if you look a used ones - it only take a year or two in the elements to show signs of aging.

It all depends on how people take care of it. Some never wash or wax it. The roofs on some are black. Insides can look like a hunting trailer. If you take pride in your RV then it can definitely last and look good after 10 years.

I wonder what the magic number is that the avg manufacturer uses for designed life expectancy of a TT - 10 yrs maybe? I know one thing if you look a used ones - it only take a year or two in the elements to show signs of aging.

colliehauler wrote:
I have wondered myself why they have not moved RV mfg to Mexico. Rv's are labor intensive. The only thing I could think of is large part's suppliers are close,to factory. Most everything else comes from China such as electronics.

Maybe about keeping jobs in the USA?

I think Fleetwood trailers had a factory in Mexico at one time.

I have wondered myself why they have not moved RV mfg to Mexico. Rv's are labor intensive. The only thing I could think of is large part's suppliers are close,to factory. Most everything else comes from China such as electronics.

Maybe some lawyer will buy an RV some day, get seriously scr*wed and start a class action against an RV manufacturer and wake the industry up.
^^^This and when politicians start buying RV's and dealing with the problems that we do.

The big game changer could be a manufacturer moving to Mexico. Super cheap labor that could enable, COULD I say, better inspection and QC and still meet current price points. I've seen the inside of a Keystone factory. Nothing there except a big building.