Wow.....I've been on here for almost ten years. This has been the best, most civil post with the greatest information that I have read to date. "Cloud Dancer" is correct about writing a book on things these coaches need.
I'm certainly not rich, but often worked two and three jobs to be able to RV and boat with my children when younger and now get to enjoy RVing with my wife of 40 years in our retirement. I have two main reasons why I do my own work. I just can't afford to pay to have people do repairs on my coach. The other is that having done mechanical work in my high school days, I don't trust most repair shops. I also believe that if you learn to do some basic repairs, like changing fuel filters (DP) you're less likely to get stuck on the road at someones mercy. My coach is my hot rod, so I enjoy working on it and fabricating items that make life simpler.
Outside of some minor warranty work, my coach(s) have never been worked on by anyone but me. I know that many can't do their own work because they're smart enough to know it's not their thing or their health prevents them from doing so. I always try to tell new owners that they need to be able to do some minor stuff on their own, or they'll go crazy with the stuff that pops up.
Over the ten years I've been posting here, I see guys that R&R their own motors to guys that complain to a dealer that a screw is loose, their coach must be a lemon. I think there needs to be a happy median. "rgatijnet1" brings up a great point about maintenance. We RV with many different families and friends each year. There are two in particular that show up every trip with something that broke on the last trip, but never repaired it. Then they complain the whole time. I'm a big believer in washing and waxing your own coach inside and out, if you're physically capable, as one of the best ways to find problems with your coach that you may have not noticed.
Lastly, I'm guessing that less than 1% of the RVing population shows up on these websites and the majority of those are looking for a fix or complaining about something that broke. If people recognize this, it should help them realize that RV's are not as problematic as they appear on here.
