skydiver31 wrote:
amandasgramma wrote:
Steve S beat me to it. I fail to understand your complaints because you SHOULD have done that kind of inspection BEFORE you agreed to buy it. My husband crawls under and on top of ANY rig we buy. Yes, new ones shouldn't have any problem, but they do. Any problems that came from the manufacturer SHOULD have been fixed by the dealership ---- after THEY discussed it with the manufacturer. How do you know those problems weren't caused by the DEALER????? Putting down a good manufacturer for this doesn't seem right.
The dealer does not install the cabinets and handles. I don't quite understand that...
I can tell you that the dealer may not install parts that make up camper, but stuff CAN and WILL happen to cause some issues like some of yours while the unit sits on the their lot. Sure, the cabinets where built crooked, not the dealers fault, but much of the more cosmetic stuff is very possible to happen on the dealers lot.
Think about this - your unit was built in fall of last year and most likely delivered to the dealer within a short time. Then it was on display for the buying public for how long? 6 months, give or take maybe? How many people toured through it? Possibly yanking on the grab handle inside the door way too hard and pulling it crooked? Maybe some sales guy was carrying a clip board and reached over the heads of some persons on a tour to point out feature and gouged the ceiling with the metal clip on it.
We bought our first TT last fall, and I am thankful that the sales guy was honest and the dealer overall was reasonable (at least I believe so based on the horror stories I read around here) Salesman freely admitted to the troubles they have with customers who think a walk-through is like a trip to the jungle gym for them and their kids and that was why the unit we where interested in was kept locked up until a customer was escorted through. Even at that, we found a tiny ding in the cabinet face around the TV and he admitted they install the TV's as part of "dealer prep", so his shop guys must have done it. They blended it in so it's not noticeable at all prior to delivery.
I have also learned enough to know that the RV industry, outside of custom built really high end units, is just like most other manufacturing -- assembled as fast as possible by workers of mediocre skill to try to keep the product at a competitive price to the end user -- the only difference between manufacturers is the design / engineering specifics of how thick / well insulated the walls / structure is and which materials are used throughout -- the guy screwing the window mounting screws crooked in an AF is the same kinda worker who left the bathroom door trim loose one my Keystone Mfr'd unit.
I also understand the concept of a final inspection. That process where the average buyer thinks problems should be caught and resolved. Not so. As a service guy on equipment for 20 years, I can tell you I used to have the same attitude when I found faults that came directly form the factory. I was amazed that they would say a unit has passed inspection and sent out to us (dealer) when there where things blatantly wrong. But I learned, over time, that final inspection is a guy with a clipboard who merely checks off the list of required items spec'd on the unit. He is also under pressure from his boss to get the units out of the factory and delivered. Stopping the whole works to fix a scuff on a cabinet will mean other work stops and chain reaction of delays starts....so, unless a component is missing or completely broken / damaged, send it out and let the dealer fix the little stuff on their end....any thing sold through a dealer is a sales driven environment -- sales takes precedence over doing a good job.
