Come on Fleetwood!

[et2]

I really wanted to see the new Fleetwood Discovery LXE. So today at lunch time I stopped by our local dealer and looked at a 40G. Just looking from a distance it's gorgeous.

I had read on another forum about how some people claim the latest stuff coming from Fleetwood was getting bad. One complaint was the paint job and the edges being rough in the color transition. Now understand this is a MH MSRP of $310000. I was shocked when I got up close and inspected the paint finish. It was exactly as it was discribed. Very rough at the paint lines, to the point it would snag your finger nail. If I tried hard enough I bet I could have flaked some off it was so bad.

Getting inside there were 5 of the hockey puck overhead lights not seated in the ceiling, they were hanging down about 3/8". The dining table looked like some took sandpaper to to top of it.

We own a 2013 Fleetwood Expedition and the paint job is considerably better. If I were really looking today, I probably would have crossed Fleetwood off my list based on what I saw and have been reading about them. Hopefully they get their act together.

[Jim]

Speaking of Provost, saw a new one here in the park a few days ago and it really looked slick with the enclosed slide body, the wide open access to the engine, the beautiful full body paint. So I looked up that model number and found several very nice pictures of the interior for that rig. It's listed MSRP is at $1,499,000.

The 2/3 length slide, although it looked great from the outside, inside it has a 3 inch step the full length. I'd never buy that design, but if I owned it anyway, I'd likely stub my toe on that slide lip 3-4 times a day until I got use to it and got that down to 1-2 times a day.

No thanks.

[TugCE]

A couple of years ago, a Friend and I went to the Tampa RV Show. Prevost had a Shell there to show everyone how they were built. It took me all of about 2 minutes to start finding Bad Welds. There were welds with visible cracks that were painted over plus I think my dog could have laid down better welds that what was being showcased there. After asking why I was laughing, we were asked to leave the coach.

If a Company such as Prevost sends something like this out as their RV Show Showcase, I would hate to see what the production rigs look like!

Not that it matters but the Friend that I was with had a 2 year old Prevost that he paid cash for and to say he was more than a little disgusted would be putting it mildly.

[J-Rooster]

It's very sad when you spend over $300.000.00 on a DP and they can't get the full body paint right. I bought a Fleetwood new in the late 90's and I will not buy another one. Just one thing wrong after another! One thing, I can say about Fleetwood is they stand behind there product. In my case they fixed everything no charge with an apology. I just got tired of taking time off constantly to take it in to Seattle to get it repaired.

[Fiesta]

Don't buy unless you can fix. No major problems but 122 minor ones.

[tinkerer]

One thing a lot of people forget unlike the automotive industry that has automated a lot of assembly removing a lot of human error. Motorhomes on the other had require a lot of hand labor and some of the assemblers are not the sharpest knives in the drawer. It happens with some of the top name brands. I know a fellow who bought a new Allegro Bus and it has taken about 3 years of constant problems. The problems were not addressed in by Tiffen either. Just saying.

[gonesouth]

Part of the problem is people have different visions of quality. Some potential buyers look at fit and finish and sturdy design, others look for specific features such as Aquahot, residential fridge, and whether it works with the slides in. If you define quality as fit and finish, buying used will probably solve that, if you're a careful buyer, but finding good design is mostly a matter of looking long and hard enough.

After you see enough units, you will know which brand you want and what you're willing to pay for. everyone has their own level. Personally, I don't even look at Thor, Forest River, Winnebago, or a few others. I would look at Beaver, the better Monacos, Country Coach, Newell, Alpine,Foretravel, a few of the upper level Nationals, and not a lot else.

[Andy_F]

et2 wrote:
I really wanted to see the new Fleetwood Discovery LXE. So today at lunch time I stopped by our local dealer and looked at a 40G. Just looking from a distance it's gorgeous.

I had read on another forum about how some people claim the latest stuff coming from Fleetwood was getting bad. One complaint was the paint job and the edges being rough in the color transition. Now understand this is a MH MSRP of $310000. I was shocked when I got up close and inspected the paint finish. It was exactly as it was discribed. Very rough at the paint lines, to the point it would snag your finger nail. If I tried hard enough I bet I could have flaked some off it was so bad.

Getting inside there were 5 of the hockey puck overhead lights not seated in the ceiling, they were hanging down about 3/8". The dining table looked like some took sandpaper to to top of it.

We own a 2013 Fleetwood Expedition and the paint job is considerably better. If I were really looking today, I probably would have crossed Fleetwood off my list based on what I saw and have been reading about them. Hopefully they get their act together.

I looked at a Coachmen Miranda Select sitting on a dealer's lot last weekend with trim inside loose and falling away, a freezer door missing, and a cabinet door loose along with dead batteries which left the interesting salon bunk halfway down. And the dealer really wanted to sell this unit since it was an older 2016 model with the 5 speed transmission. I couldn't believe they were showing it in that condition. Now in my mind Coachmen is off the list.

Just looked at a Tiffin Allegro at a different dealer. What a difference in quality!

[Jim]

I was on a dealers lot early yesterday and was surprised at how some of the more expensive rigs were so badly designed. Sure, they'd be really nice once all the slides were opened but they'd be horrible to spend 5 days in while traveling to say, Alaska. Not designed to stop along the side of the road to enjoy the view, that's for sure.

But I guess that's par for the course. Go tour used RVs from just before the crash of '08 and you'll find a slew of poorly designed and built rigs too.

I noticed that all the Winnebagos the designs looked like they'd lost all their good people and a committee of 'never-been-in-a-RV (more than a few minutes)' people took over the design duties. The newer Journey's were really not to my liking and showed a lack of detailing.

A newer Thor design team decided they like the floor plan of my 2002 Journey as much as I do as theirs is a nearly exact copy.

I'm happy that I made the decisions to buy used, with low miles, and for exactly the features I was looking for.

I also discovered that it's unlikely I'll ever move back to a smaller rig.

[crasster]

Perhaps the REAL money isn't in RV sales.... but repairs.

[rgatijnet1]

et2 wrote:
The sad thing is as mentioned by others, the dealer had this sitting out front as a display to be seen. It just floors me that even they think these things don't matter to people. It doesn't say much for them personally. As I said I, if in the buying mode - I would look to other manufactures.

As a friend of mine who was in the market for a new unit found out, if questioned about a quality issue, the dealer will just offer a discount. The unit he was looking at also had a poor paint job. The dealer offered him an additional 10% off if he took it as is. Of course in most cases, a 40% discount from MSRP is pretty close to normal.
Basically a lot of people are more interested in saving a few bucks than holding out for top quality.

[Devocamper]

We gave up on a move from our fifth wheel to a motorhome after looking last summer , I could go on about each one we looked at but every coach we looked at from upper end gas to entry level diesels had poor quality issues, a few of the things were under powered diesels ,moldings on the floor as you enter the coach that had fallen from the slides, check engine light on during test drive, bad graphics and pain, broken furniture and interior doors, lights that did not work, broken appliances and some really bad floor plans which would be a personal choice but I don't want to sit sideways to watch TV, We Just could not see spending that much money on units that were broken and falling apart on the dealers lots, I have to say I don't think it is just a Fleetwood problem, we looked at Tiffin, Winnebago, Thor products and a few others, We did learn that the higher end units are better and may try again on something higher end a few years older which is what many motorhome owning members here advised back then. It is a shame because I know I would be willing to spend a little more for a quality built unit

[et2]

The sad thing is as mentioned by others, the dealer had this sitting out front as a display to be seen. It just floors me that even they think these things don't matter to people. It doesn't say much for them personally. As I said I, if in the buying mode - I would look to other manufactures.

[gbopp]

Effy wrote:
. The whole RV game isn't about the product. It's about the profit. Make em fast and sell em. And no one, from the consumer to the government is making them do anything different.

I think you mean 'they make em fast and CHEAP and sell em.'

This is pretty much the whole story. As long as we keep buying junk, they'll keep building junk.

Yes, it is the dealer sending the junky unit to RV shows. I would think the manufacturer would send a rep to large shows to check on the display. I'm guessing they do not, apparently they are not concerned about their image.

And yes, I realize importing large RV's is cost prohibitive.
I just feel better whining about it.. 🙂

[Jack_Diane_Free]

"Maybe it will take imported RV's to get our industry back on track?"

Not likely to happen with such a low volume product and duties would probably be prohibitive.