Can 'O Worms: how long can I expect my 5er to last?

[joebedford]

My first 5er was a 2003 and I traded it for our current 2011 in 2011. The 2003 I didn't feel it was safe to haul down the road because the walls weren't square to the frame any more. The ramp on the TH was hard to close if the walls were leaning over.

My current TH is a 2011. That's 12 years old except it hasn't been used in over two years because of the pandemic.

I don't see any signs of leaning or twisting on this rig like the last one. The only -ve is that there's a lot of (surface) rust on the chassis and axles. Personally, I think it's safe for the highway.

I parked it in Florida over the summer three years ago but we brought it home a year later in March 2020 (again, because of the pandemic). We're hoping to leave it in FL again but we might have to bring it back. Dunno.

I know there are million answers to this question and some people will answer that their rig will last forever and others will say theirs was falling apart on the way home from the dealer.

What's the rule of thumb for how long a rig will last. I know many parks "don't allow" rigs over 10 years old.

[ktmrfs]

ReneeG wrote:

ktmrfs wrote:

dedmiston wrote:
A friend at work is moving across the country into a new home. He told our team that their house here is closing soon and that they've already moved most of their stuff out to the new house. They're just waiting for their RV to be delivered and then they're going to take 3-4 weeks to drive coast to coast in their first RV trip.

I didn't have the heart to tell him that they're going to spend the first 2-3 weeks trying to get their brand new pile of junk to some minimally acceptable state and then spend the last week blasting across the interstate to try to get there before they run out of vacation days.

Most new buyers don't realize that it takes about a year to kill all the gremlins in a newly built RV.

Guess we were lucky. We and the salesman did a complete walk through checking everything in the new trailer. Everything from checking the blinds and windows to completely filling the fresh tank, electric and gas HWH, slides, oven, stove you name it. We did find a few minor things they corrected while we went to lunch. The next day we took our daughter and grandkids on a 4 day campout. and many more weeks of camping over the summer and fall. I'd say we spent maybe a day getting "the pile of junk into a minamally acceptable state" In any event other than thing I chose to add, (inverter, replacement for the WFCO charger, and other updates) Year after year, and after a decade we take care of it, but it's been totally reliable and has yet to have gremlins attach it.

Key here is that you bought this over a decade ago.

Have three friends who have bought new trailers in the last 1-2 years. All three did a good walkthrough had a few issues to fix, and have been troublefree. Are there lemons out there? yes, but IMHO the selling dealer is key, find a good one that cares about their customers and does a good predelivery and lots of the problems are fixed before you even take posession. Now finding a good local dealer, that can be a problem.

[Pbutler97]

ktmrfs wrote:


I will admit to one warranty issue. After the first winter the finish on the alloy wheels started to haze and crack. Being anal I asked the dealer if this was covered under warranty. Dealer took pictures, called back about a week later said "come on in and we will put your new wheels on". Keystone replaced the wheels, paid for remounting and balancing the tires no issue.

I bet if you were dealing with Keystone RV today, as opposed to 2011 or 2012, you would have a much different experience.

[Samsonsworld]

Quality has been questionable for the last 50 years. I can attest to that. It's your nostalgia that floors me.

[Pbutler97]

Samsonsworld wrote:
As I have my check coming from the sale of my 4th trailer, can't wait to go buy new. The issues that some of you exaggerate are ridiculous. Are there lemons...sure. But most issues on new units are pretty small. SMH.

You're exactly the type of trusting buyer the RV Industry is counting on. Good luck.

[Samsonsworld]

As I have my check coming from the sale of my 4th trailer, can't wait to go buy new. The issues that some of you exaggerate are ridiculous. Are there lemons...sure. But most issues on new units are pretty small. SMH.

[ReneeG]

ktmrfs wrote:

dedmiston wrote:
A friend at work is moving across the country into a new home. He told our team that their house here is closing soon and that they've already moved most of their stuff out to the new house. They're just waiting for their RV to be delivered and then they're going to take 3-4 weeks to drive coast to coast in their first RV trip.

I didn't have the heart to tell him that they're going to spend the first 2-3 weeks trying to get their brand new pile of junk to some minimally acceptable state and then spend the last week blasting across the interstate to try to get there before they run out of vacation days.

Most new buyers don't realize that it takes about a year to kill all the gremlins in a newly built RV.

Guess we were lucky. We and the salesman did a complete walk through checking everything in the new trailer. Everything from checking the blinds and windows to completely filling the fresh tank, electric and gas HWH, slides, oven, stove you name it. We did find a few minor things they corrected while we went to lunch. The next day we took our daughter and grandkids on a 4 day campout. and many more weeks of camping over the summer and fall. I'd say we spent maybe a day getting "the pile of junk into a minamally acceptable state" In any event other than thing I chose to add, (inverter, replacement for the WFCO charger, and other updates) Year after year, and after a decade we take care of it, but it's been totally reliable and has yet to have gremlins attach it.

Key here is that you bought this over a decade ago.

[ktmrfs]

dedmiston wrote:
A friend at work is moving across the country into a new home. He told our team that their house here is closing soon and that they've already moved most of their stuff out to the new house. They're just waiting for their RV to be delivered and then they're going to take 3-4 weeks to drive coast to coast in their first RV trip.

I didn't have the heart to tell him that they're going to spend the first 2-3 weeks trying to get their brand new pile of junk to some minimally acceptable state and then spend the last week blasting across the interstate to try to get there before they run out of vacation days.

Most new buyers don't realize that it takes about a year to kill all the gremlins in a newly built RV.

Guess we were lucky. We and the salesman did a complete walk through checking everything in the new trailer. Everything from checking the blinds and windows to completely filling the fresh tank, electric and gas HWH, slides, oven, stove you name it. We did find a few minor things they corrected while we went to lunch. The next day we took our daughter and grandkids on a 4 day campout. and many more weeks of camping over the summer and fall. I'd say we spent maybe a day getting "the pile of junk into a minamally acceptable state" In any event other than thing I chose to add, (inverter, replacement for the WFCO charger, and other updates) Year after year, and after a decade we take care of it, but it's been totally reliable and has yet to have gremlins attach it.

[dedmiston]

A friend at work is moving across the country into a new home. He told our team that their house here is closing soon and that they've already moved most of their stuff out to the new house. They're just waiting for their RV to be delivered and then they're going to take 3-4 weeks to drive coast to coast in their first RV trip.

I didn't have the heart to tell him that they're going to spend the first 2-3 weeks trying to get their brand new pile of junk to some minimally acceptable state and then spend the last week blasting across the interstate to try to get there before they run out of vacation days.

Most new buyers don't realize that it takes about a year to kill all the gremlins in a newly built RV.

[ReneeG]

Lantley - you are so right about this: "Experienced RV owners understand something is rotten in the RV world. Newbies approach the industry with rose colored lenses believing everything is Hunky Dory" When we bought our FW back in 2010, we had previously owned four travel trailers. We spent a lot of time, a lot, on dealer lots looking at FWs, opening and closing cupboard doors, asking the salesman to bring in the slides and out again, really looking at the fit and finish of trailers and researching online ratings. What we ended up with cannot be purchased today in the same quality. As a result, and that hubby can trouble-shoot and fix just about anything, we've kept our unit. It looks new and will continue to look new as long as we have it. A new roof is in our near future, and we'll do it. $5 to $7k is cheaper than a new unit and is what we paid for new decals; custom made with a lifetime warranty! Oh, I forgot to say that we paid off our FW a long time ago as we did our TV.

[Grit_dog]

We all know some people who can turn a new car into a pile of c rap in way less time than a vehicle should actually last.
We also know people who are ignorant to what it takes to keep a rolling apartment box from having major issues.
Actually many on this forum fit the above categories. OP included, apparently.

Yes build quality helps or hurts the mission to keep up a camper both physically and aesthetically, but owners with a lack of motivation, skill, or even the simple inability to recognize issues early on and correct small things before they become big things are the largest contributors to the “junk RV” feelings.

Not that there aren’t some or many poorly constructed RVs, but the above reasons serve to exaggerate the issue.

[ktmrfs]

I'll certainly agree that TT build standards and the products they use are in general not up to the quality we expect based on other products, our and several friends and campers experience with trailer expected life and issues has been positive. We've logged 60K + miles on our 2010 outback, camp 30-60 days/year, early on young grankids crawling around on stuff now as teen agers joining us. We've gone through several sets of tires, but no blowouts, I have touched up and kept caulking in good shape and use a cover when not in use. Outside looks like new, none of the appliances have given us any trouble. I will admit to some upgrades that we all likely would wish would be standard features:

spark ignitor for the oven, micro air thermostat to replace the 50 year old design of the OEM thermostat, micro air easy start so I can run the AC off a honda 2200, sea-level gauges to I can really see how full (or empty) our tANKS are, added more vents and did a better job of sealing the ducting for the AC, replacing the uninsulated heat duct runs with rigid 4" ducts and insulating them.

Our camping friends, most not near has handy as I haven't done many upgrades but have taken care of the trailers and none of us have had issues with leaks, appliance failures, interior issues etc.

I will admit to one warranty issue. After the first winter the finish on the alloy wheels started to haze and crack. Being anal I asked the dealer if this was covered under warranty. Dealer took pictures, called back about a week later said "come on in and we will put your new wheels on". Keystone replaced the wheels, paid for remounting and balancing the tires no issue.

[Lantley]

Pbutler97 wrote:

Lantley wrote:

RV buyers are simply not aware of the policies and requirements of the RV world.

Slap together a pile of junk, mostly supplied by a vendor who provides most of the cheap Chinese made components(Lippert), into something that resembles a trailer, using an overworked poorly trained workforce with the highest turnover rate you can find, and push them into building as many as 36 in a day. Then push them out the factory door and off to the dealers with no quality control or assurance whatsoever, while structuring the warranty to be nothing more than red tape and hurdles a buyer needs to jump over while doing everything possible to deny any claims. That's a great policy.

Exerienced RV owners understand something is rotten in the RV world. Newbies approach the industry with rose colored lenses believing everything is Hunky Dory

[Pbutler97]

Lantley wrote:

RV buyers are simply not aware of the policies and requirements of the RV world.

Slap together a pile of junk, mostly supplied by a vendor who provides most of the cheap Chinese made components(Lippert), into something that resembles a trailer, using an overworked poorly trained workforce with the highest turnover rate you can find, and push them into building as many as 36 in a day. Then push them out the factory door and off to the dealers with no quality control or assurance whatsoever, while structuring the warranty to be nothing more than red tape and hurdles a buyer needs to jump over while doing everything possible to deny any claims. That's a great policy.

[JRscooby]

JimK-NY wrote:

Lantley wrote:

Go tothe service dept. of any car dealer and you will find lots of new vehicles that are broke.

If you maintain a well built car it will hold up and last 20 years easily.
The same can be said for an RV.

None of this matches my experience or the reports I hear from others. First most new cars are quite reliable and don't have any need for initial repairs. My wife and I have 2015 cars that have required only oil changes, replacement wiper blades and replacement batteries. My 2018 truck has had a couple of oil changes and nothing else. That does not seem to be the case for RVs. New RVs always seem to have a list of items that need to be fixed due to poor design or quality of construction.

RVs often die due to leaks and water intrusion. Many are so poorly built that the seams crack open and water finds its way inside to create havoc. It can be an endless battle. I have never heard of a car leaking because it got rained on. That is true of a new car and one that is 50 years old. I suppose it is possible for a sun roof in a car to leak. That has never happened to me and I would not expect such a leak to destroy the whole car or result in major structural repairs.

A car typically is used daily and can run up hundreds of thousands of miles before it wears out. Most RVs only have some occasional use and still fall apart typically within 10 years or so. There is just no comparison with the quality of design, construction and overall longevity. I cannot imagine buying a car and finding it came with some cheap, Chinese tires that had a history of blowouts. I cannot imagine the need to inspect and caulk the car at least every year. I cannot imagine buying a car only to find that even empty the suspension and tires were already close to maximum load capacity. Sadly that is very frequently the case for RVs and is not something most new buyers would even think about. I cannot imagine buying a car only to find that the trunk keys were the same on every vehicle and the doors could easily be pried open with a screwdriver. I cannot imagine buying a car with plastic windows that are likely to leak and scratch if you look at them sideways.

From what I have seen, water gets inside a RV, and destroys it. Then we rush out and by another, "I learned, I'm going to work on this roof 30 times so I can use this 120 times over the next 10 years" (or 21/84/7 for those that fear old snot) Then there is all the other stuff that is always going wrong, must be fixed every trip.
If a manufacturer can sell a pile of junk, then when that pile washes away in the rain, can sell you another pile, why improve the product?
I think a much better plan is buy once, and every time you need to fix something make sure that repair will last.
Example. This week I found a little plastic wheel had broke around it's axle. I'm thinking about machining replacement out of metal. Wife looks on the net, finds direct replacement for $15. The first lasted 25 years, do I need to make it better?
Yes, if I needed to get rid of my camper I would likely need to pay for hauling. But this month we have spent 15 nights in 3 CGs and towed it over 1200 miles. (with a 17YO pickup)