quality gone down hill.

rbpru wrote:
There is no doubt that profit motivates the RV industry, because if you do not make money you will go out of business.

However, selling price is the driving force. If you can make a TT that is $1500.00 cheaper than the competition, you will capture more of the market. Like the auto industry they are constantly experimenting with screw vs. glues, plastic vs. metals etc. Unfortunately the field testing is often done by the consumer.

If you go to an RV show you will see that regardless of brand, they all use the same raw material manufactures. Virtually every model fridge, faucet, water pump, water heater, stove, TV and etc. comes from the same manufacturers; right down to the frame, flooring material and cabinet knobs. This means that one of the biggest variable left is labor. So the more TTs you can pound out in a day, the less labor cost per unit. This is rarely conducive to quality.

It will be interesting to see over time if the merging of the industry by Thor and some of the other big players, will lead to a reduction of the cut throat competition and an improved quality or will it be a move to the lowest common denominator in product quality.

When people look to buy an RV, they are looking for floor plan and features. I doubt if the quality of construction enters their mind. If their last TT was okay, they assume the new one will be also.

In a price driven market quality only comes with consumer demand.

Best answer, And what I've said on the forum when this comes up every so often.

If only quality RV's sold you would see a shift from cheep to quality made units. Just the opposite is true though the cheaper they are the more they sell.