Had No Problems With Our RV

[2gypsies1]

We read post after post about complaints. People think that EVERY RV will give complaints.

They don't realize that you only hear from the those with complaints and rarely hear about the millions out there that have no complaints.

Just for the heck of it I thought I'd do a post on 'no complaints'.

[Atlee]

For three straight falls, 2013-2015, I've put between 3500 and 4000 miles on my Koala 21CS following my favorite college football team. We're getting ready for another such fall in 4 weeks.

We also put over 7900 miles on the trailer when we traveled from Virginia to Los Angeles, CA and return in late winter/early spring 2014.

Knock on wood, we haven't have any failures yet, including tires. I did put on Maxxis in August 2013.

[2gypsies1]

Folks, this is so refreshing to read!

I'm sure we're all tired of hearing about the whole RV industry being terrible. This shows us that there are, indeed, some satisfied customers but you rarely hear from them. Thanks to all for your comments!

[jplante4]

Six months, 16 states and 6000 miles on the road last winter and no mechanicals. The old CAT even started right back up after I ran it out of fuel. My only issues the entire trip were related to the roof, which I knew about and fixed on the road.

[djsamuel]

Some minor issues with our 2013 Camplite 21BHS (with the exception of a split tube in our Dometic Penguin 2 A/C replaced under warranty), but now we have a very nice solid trailer. No real complaints at this point. Now that we've had it three years, most issues are related to normal maintenance.

[kwplot34]

Just purchased a new 2016 Thor Chateau 31L the end of June, 2 trips and 4k miles later, no problems really. Tightened a few loose screws and the back splash behind the stove came loose, no biggey double sided tape holds it on will fix it myself. Don't want to say to much could jinx myself. LOL

[mowermech]

We recently completed a trip to Northwestern Montana in the motorhome; over the river, through the woods, and across the mountains.
and back.
No problems whatsoever.
Or, as I often say, "Nothing bent, nothing broke, nobody was injured or died!"
except bugs. LOTS of bugs!

EDIT:
Oh, wait, something actually DID break! But, it isn't the fault of the coach manufacturer. Both windshields are now cracked due to rock chips. Even with insurance, it will be tough finding the money to pay the deductible!

[lbrjet]

No complaints here.

[knshook]

JimK-NY wrote:
I wonder if this thread has attracted only those with good experiences. I have talked to a great many RV owners and the majority seem to have numerous repairs and quality issues.

I think I have a well built RV but have still had numerous issues. I bought my Northstar Igloo truck camper in 2010. It was a very, very lightly used unit built in 2005. Before I took delivery the dealer replaced the kitchen faucet and the bathroom vent cover. I used the unit for 2 years fulltime and have at least another full year of use spread out from 2013 until present. Here is my list:

A 45 degree router had been used on the edges of the kitchen counter top to make an attractive bevel. That exposed the underlying pressboard substrate which immediately swelled on contract with water.

The exterior vent flapper for the range hood broke. The hinge pins were 1/16" plastic. The replacement soon broke and I had to rig a repair with metal hinge pins.

The dealer typically installed propane refrigerators. Mine was a 12v compressor. There was almost no ventilation and I had to saw and opening and install a suitable vent. Wiring to the refrigerator was 10 gauge. Again the dealer had no experience with compressor refrigerators. Since the wiring run was about 15' in both directions, 30' total, there was a huge loss of voltage and the fridge would stop working whenever the battery voltage dropped to about 12.5. I installed 6 gauge wiring which immediately fixed the problem.

My Atwood water heater only fired up intermittently. The dealer cleaned the flame sensor. It turned out that my model had an issue with the connectors to the electronic control board. I finally identified the problem and when the unit does not light, I go outside and jiggle the wires. I put an office binder clamp on the connector that more or less fixed the problem.

The cover on my Coleman A/C unit was ripped off by winds that were probably in the 60-90 mph range. The cover was only held by 4 bolts and the plastic just tore loose. A dozen pieces of bailing wire fixed the problem.

I developed a leak in the sealant around one of the windows. It was really tough to find the problem but the fortunately it the fix was pretty quick but not possible while traveling.

I have 4 windows around the bed area. They could be held in two different open positions by use of the strut which contained spring loaded ball bearings. Over the past few years each of these assemblies died when the plastic parts deteriorated due to heat and UV light. Replacements for these simple parts would have cost $500 so I use office binder clamps when I want to hold the windows open.

I have Happijaks to raise the camper off the truck. Two of the motors have shorted out and needed to be replaced at a parts cost of about $125 each. I understand this is a common problem.

The Happijak motors have little boxes for the electrical connections. Those are located on the exterior of the camper. The dealer installed these upside down so that the hole for the wires was on the top instead of the bottom. Eventually the box developed a leak around the wires. Water ran down the wires, into the box. Water filled the box and spilled into the storage compartment that comprised the lower right hand corner of the camper. I discovered this after the winter of 2014-15. Several large structural pieces of wood were rotted and the repair took me two full days of nasty work.

Last Spring my city water connection started to leak. I think the valve was destroyed due to trapped frozen water. It did not help that the valve pointed downwards and there was no way to get antifreeze into it. I guess this one was my fault for doing incomplete winterizing. I did find that the valve was the first piece in the construction of my camper. Everything seems to have been built around it leaving no place for access and replacement. After a days work I just capped off the city water line. I had only used it once but it was a nice backup. Now if my water pump goes I am done for. Speaking of the water pump, it started to leak and fail so I replace it.

The pigtails on my propane tanks dry rotted and cracked. I had to replace them soon after I bought the camper and again a couple of years later. I check them every year and carry a spare just in case.

My solar controller died and had to be replaced. I thought I lost the batteries as well but it turned out that the 19 volt battery readings was just part of the controller failure.

The plastic drawer glides for one of my kitchen drawers broke and the drawer would not work until I installed the replacement parts. I could only find the same cheap plastic parts so I wrapped mine with a few layers of fiber reinforced packing tape.

I envy those of you with extensive RV use and no issues. I do bet most RVers have at least as many issues as I have had. A lot of the failures and repairs I have had are due to failure of standard parts found in most RVs.

The reason everyone is posting their good experiences is because that's what this post was about " No Complaints" Very sorry for all your issues! We've been there with other RV's but,thankfully, not this time.

[JimK-NY]

I wonder if this thread has attracted only those with good experiences. I have talked to a great many RV owners and the majority seem to have numerous repairs and quality issues.

I think I have a well built RV but have still had numerous issues. I bought my Northstar Igloo truck camper in 2010. It was a very, very lightly used unit built in 2005. Before I took delivery the dealer replaced the kitchen faucet and the bathroom vent cover. I used the unit for 2 years fulltime and have at least another full year of use spread out from 2013 until present. Here is my list:

A 45 degree router had been used on the edges of the kitchen counter top to make an attractive bevel. That exposed the underlying pressboard substrate which immediately swelled on contract with water.

The exterior vent flapper for the range hood broke. The hinge pins were 1/16" plastic. The replacement soon broke and I had to rig a repair with metal hinge pins.

The dealer typically installed propane refrigerators. Mine was a 12v compressor. There was almost no ventilation and I had to saw and opening and install a suitable vent. Wiring to the refrigerator was 10 gauge. Again the dealer had no experience with compressor refrigerators. Since the wiring run was about 15' in both directions, 30' total, there was a huge loss of voltage and the fridge would stop working whenever the battery voltage dropped to about 12.5. I installed 6 gauge wiring which immediately fixed the problem.

My Atwood water heater only fired up intermittently. The dealer cleaned the flame sensor. It turned out that my model had an issue with the connectors to the electronic control board. I finally identified the problem and when the unit does not light, I go outside and jiggle the wires. I put an office binder clamp on the connector that more or less fixed the problem.

The cover on my Coleman A/C unit was ripped off by winds that were probably in the 60-90 mph range. The cover was only held by 4 bolts and the plastic just tore loose. A dozen pieces of bailing wire fixed the problem.

I developed a leak in the sealant around one of the windows. It was really tough to find the problem but the fortunately it the fix was pretty quick but not possible while traveling.

I have 4 windows around the bed area. They could be held in two different open positions by use of the strut which contained spring loaded ball bearings. Over the past few years each of these assemblies died when the plastic parts deteriorated due to heat and UV light. Replacements for these simple parts would have cost $500 so I use office binder clamps when I want to hold the windows open.

I have Happijaks to raise the camper off the truck. Two of the motors have shorted out and needed to be replaced at a parts cost of about $125 each. I understand this is a common problem.

The Happijak motors have little boxes for the electrical connections. Those are located on the exterior of the camper. The dealer installed these upside down so that the hole for the wires was on the top instead of the bottom. Eventually the box developed a leak around the wires. Water ran down the wires, into the box. Water filled the box and spilled into the storage compartment that comprised the lower right hand corner of the camper. I discovered this after the winter of 2014-15. Several large structural pieces of wood were rotted and the repair took me two full days of nasty work.

Last Spring my city water connection started to leak. I think the valve was destroyed due to trapped frozen water. It did not help that the valve pointed downwards and there was no way to get antifreeze into it. I guess this one was my fault for doing incomplete winterizing. I did find that the valve was the first piece in the construction of my camper. Everything seems to have been built around it leaving no place for access and replacement. After a days work I just capped off the city water line. I had only used it once but it was a nice backup. Now if my water pump goes I am done for. Speaking of the water pump, it started to leak and fail so I replace it.

The pigtails on my propane tanks dry rotted and cracked. I had to replace them soon after I bought the camper and again a couple of years later. I check them every year and carry a spare just in case.

My solar controller died and had to be replaced. I thought I lost the batteries as well but it turned out that the 19 volt battery readings was just part of the controller failure.

The plastic drawer glides for one of my kitchen drawers broke and the drawer would not work until I installed the replacement parts. I could only find the same cheap plastic parts so I wrapped mine with a few layers of fiber reinforced packing tape.

I envy those of you with extensive RV use and no issues. I do bet most RVers have at least as many issues as I have had. A lot of the failures and repairs I have had are due to failure of standard parts found in most RVs.

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

We had one non-self-induced problem with our Class C in the 10 years we owned it (and THAT problem was fixed quickly), so no complaints here! Our 5er had a taillight short out after a mouse chewed some insulation off the wire. Our TC has been problem-free.

I wish ALL of our life could be as problem-free as RVing....LOL!

[mockturtle]

2oldman wrote:
I haven't had any complaints for 12 years.

Oh, yes you have. You're always complaining that people don't do a Google search before posting. :B

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

In general we've had very few problems with our TTs.

But miles put wear on the rig. Stuff moves when you go down the road. Make sure you have one of those square head screw drivers to tighten screws that come loose, hinges, etc.

We've had one major problem - recently a hub failed while towing. We never felt anything, only other drivers alerted us to the problem. It was caused by a broken weld where the axle attached to the mounting bracket. We had towed that trailer over 20,000 miles, but my dad was a welder. When they had the bad axles off and I could see the weld - my dad would never have allowed such a lousy job to go out his door.

Like anything mass produced - there are going to be a few that are not up to the company standards.

Over the miles we've met and talked to hundreds, maybe thousands, of RV owners. Most people are very happy with their rigs, their tow vehicle and their tires.

Yes, we almost all want something a little better, bigger, or some other different feature. If we had the money/ time/ space, etc.

[pennysmom09]

Our first fiver had no problems, only traded because we chose too small. Second one had minor issues. Neither have had any problems on the road. (both From KZ)

[knshook]

We love our Grand Design Reflection. We have had only a couple of very minor issues, which were repaired in a timely manner. It's been well traveled since we purchased it 2 years ago. We've been to Yellowstone & Teton NP 2015, 2016, Rocky Mountain NP, Glacier NP, Canada, Couer de Alene, Oregon, Eastern Sierra mountains. N.Ca coast, Lake Tahoe, and in two weeks we will ferry it over to the San Juan Islands. We lived in it for three months while preparing my mother-in-laws home for sale and we now use it as our home base when we return to visit her each month. We've used it in summer,winter,fall & spring and everything inside and out has been well used. We did have the tires replaced with Maxi's when we purchased it and had an extra air cond installed. Nothing has failed us and we couldn't be more satisfied! Thanks for suggesting this topic. We have no complaints and only gratitude! We wish the same for our fellow travelers!