Frustrated with my RV purchase.

[TwoManyToyz]

I bought a used 2015 5er. It's nice, kept in nice condition. I think I got a pretty good deal. BUT

Why don't today's RV's come with all the extras that a sane person would think it should come with?

Since I took ownership of my home away from home I have bought, Water pressure regulator, Surge protector, leveling sensor, charcoal filters, micro leg adjuster, hitch pin tripod and the list goes on.

The source of my rant is why don't these things come standard on newer RV's. I realize it's not "needed", but aren't these things good practice? If your going to sell theses things new for $35k and up, and often way up $$$. Isn't there enough margin for some of these safety devices?

OK I'm feeling better now, just had to vent.

Thanks
Kevin

[padredw]

Kevin wrote:
Water pressure regulator, Surge protector, leveling sensor, charcoal filters, micro leg adjuster, hitch pin tripod and the list goes on.

Kevin, yours is a friendly post and this one is intended to be. I've been traveling in a fifth wheel for over 20 year (four different rigs). I would look at it this way, you have gained some good information:

Most important, you've saved yourself some money and a lot of trouble by knowing that the hitch pin tripod does not seem to help most of us and the one we have is stored away in the garage.

And the water pressure regulator is better at the city water hookup, not on the RV.

Same for the surge protector because some of us want the portable model rather than the built in model.

That leaves only the leveling sensor and the micro leg adjuster which many I must admit I don't recognize.

I would venture to say that with experience you will find the items you have mentioned are probably better considered optional with each owner. Just my thoughts.

[TwoManyToyz]

rockhillmanor wrote:

The source of my rant is why don't these things come standard on newer RV's. I realize it's not "needed", but aren't these things good practice?

Come on, are you serous? These 'are' additional RV products that some may want or need or not, they do NOT come standard because they are not a part of the RV.

That would be like saying when you buy a house you want there to be toilet paper, towels, garden hoses, dishes, etc included in the sale.

This attitude is the reason the RV manufactures have us over a barrel. They aren't held to any kind of standard. They just get a free pass with whatever junk they pass off ass new intonations.

Five years from now the conversation will be something like, "if they put tires on the new RV's they would just be the junky ones, I'd rather put the ones I want to run on anyways"..Really??

As far as charging more for these options, RV's are all ready grossly over priced, but again free pass.

A longer warranty program would just drag on the bad experience before you either fixed it right yourself or paid to have it fixed right.

Kevin

[TXiceman]

It all boils down to keeping the cost down. Some people "want", some people "need" things. Other do not want these things.

Same reason Ford makes an XL, XLT, Lariate, King Ranch, Platinum and a Limited. Different folks want or need different things.

They all have to have a water hose, a sewer hose, etc. Some folks already have this stuff from a previous RV.

Besides, the water regulator belongs at the water faucet, not in the rig.


Ken

[goducks10]

I'd much rather see a longer warranty than some inexpensive upgrades.

[rockhillmanor]

The source of my rant is why don't these things come standard on newer RV's. I realize it's not "needed", but aren't these things good practice?

Come on, are you serous? These 'are' additional RV products that some may want or need or not, they do NOT come standard because they are not a part of the RV.

That would be like saying when you buy a house you want there to be toilet paper, towels, garden hoses, dishes, etc included in the sale.

[pcm1959]

Upsale!!! Everyone that builds and/or sells anything does it. $$$

[jfkmk]

Lynnmor wrote:

Veebyes wrote:


This is one of the reasons why it is best to buy a lightly used almost new unit instead of a new one. In the first year all of those goodies get bought & all the bugs have been worked out too.

This gets repeated all the time, but I don't agree. Just watch and listen to the average RV owner and you will understand what I am talking about. Even on this forum, that is made up of mostly enthusiasts, many abuse their RVs with poor jacking, leveling and maintenance procedures. When someone points out a weakness of imperfection, the blame game will start immediately. Yes, cosmetic things may get fixed.

I’m with you. Some of the posts here make me resolve to never buy used.

[jfkmk]

TwoManyToyz wrote:
Agreed.. some of the things on my list, if not all are wants, and I didn't actuality buy the tripod yet, thanks to your remarks I'll be looking into BAl or JL stabilizers. Thanks for that.

Yes this is my first 5er, when I lived at home, my parents RV us all over the country and didn't have these things either. They got by just fine. Understandably I refereed to these things as good practice.

The most frustrating thing to me is, I'm a handy guy. I have no trouble building a deck or remodeling a kitchen. I'm an electrician by trade. I know "ballpark" how much money it would take to build an RV, especially when your turning out the same one day after day and buying things in bulk. I know the mark up is astronomical. When I walk past my 1980's analog thermostat "REALLY, your kidding me right, they couldn't spring $10 more for the cheap digital?", my blood starts boiling.. It's like these companies just push these out the door as cheap and as fast as they can. Of course I realize that's the case.. Guess I was hoping for a little bit of pride in they're product. Guess I'm naive.

Kevin

It’s really no different than a sticks and bricks house. For the most part they put in the cheapest builders grade garbage they can. Yeah, you can pay out the nose for upgrades, but if you don’t, then garbage it is.

The difference is most of the rvs aren’t built to order. It’s just mass produce them quickly and cheaply. Frankly, I don’t really mind things like the t-stat as long as the rig isn’t going to fall apart driving down the road. I can replace the t-stat cheaper than what they would charge. This way I can choose where and when to do upgrades.

[Lynnmor]

Veebyes wrote:


This is one of the reasons why it is best to buy a lightly used almost new unit instead of a new one. In the first year all of those goodies get bought & all the bugs have been worked out too.

This gets repeated all the time, but I don't agree. Just watch and listen to the average RV owner and you will understand what I am talking about. Even on this forum, that is made up of mostly enthusiasts, many abuse their RVs with poor jacking, leveling and maintenance procedures. When someone points out a weakness of imperfection, the blame game will start immediately. Yes, cosmetic things may get fixed.

[Veebyes]

Because people don't want to spend the money to include all of that stuff. Besides, if the dealer supplied it or the builder included it they would put the cheapest version of whatever in that they could find. Look no further than things like drawer slides in basic el cheapo models.

This is one of the reasons why it is best to buy a lightly used almost new unit instead of a new one. In the first year all of those goodies get bought & all the bugs have been worked out too.

[TwoManyToyz]

Agreed.. some of the things on my list, if not all are wants, and I didn't actuality buy the tripod yet, thanks to your remarks I'll be looking into BAl or JL stabilizers. Thanks for that.

Yes this is my first 5er, when I lived at home, my parents RV us all over the country and didn't have these things either. They got by just fine. Understandably I refereed to these things as good practice.

The most frustrating thing to me is, I'm a handy guy. I have no trouble building a deck or remodeling a kitchen. I'm an electrician by trade. I know "ballpark" how much money it would take to build an RV, especially when your turning out the same one day after day and buying things in bulk. I know the mark up is astronomical. When I walk past my 1980's analog thermostat "REALLY, your kidding me right, they couldn't spring $10 more for the cheap digital?", my blood starts boiling.. It's like these companies just push these out the door as cheap and as fast as they can. Of course I realize that's the case.. Guess I was hoping for a little bit of pride in they're product. Guess I'm naive.

Kevin

[Super_Dave]

azdryheat wrote:
. Ever notice the amount of sawdust in an RV?

Like my garage when I use the table saw for a weekend. We'd vacuum up the sawdust in the RV and the next trip down the road would produce just as much. The one that got me though was the silicone on the shower pan that was full of sawdust like it was reinforcing. I took the RV back to have the silicone replaced under warranty.

[azdryheat]

I think Kevin should be more concerned not with options but with what's behind the walls of his 5er. What construction steps were skipped because no one was looking at the factory and the line-worker was getting paid by the piece. He should be concerned with the lack of clean up at the factory. Ever notice the amount of sawdust in an RV? Did anyone inspect any part of the build process? Those are my concerns.

[fj12ryder]

Except for the water pressure regulator and the surge protector(EMS), the other things the OP mentioned are just more "stuff" to find a place to store. If the dealer supplied them I'd have to find some place to store them since I'd never use them, and would have paid for them anyway. Dealers rarely give stuff to you out of the goodness of their heart.

[ford_truck_guy]

Water Pressure regulator - SHOULD be built in.. BUT - IF so, it would be a cheap, unreliable P.O.S. I would rather buy my own Watts regulator.

Surge Protector... See above answer, same applies here.. Up until a few years ago, they were not needed.. But with all the upgraded electronics now, A good Progressive Ind. works just fine..

Leveling sensor - My 6 point has a sensor

Charcoal filters - My Whole RV water filter system came with a charcoal filter..

Micro Led adjuster - >????????????? :h

Hitch Pin Tripod - Got my first fiver THOUGHT I NEEDED one... purchased one, gave it away within the first year of use.. JT Strongarms work 10X better with a set of roto chocks.