Incompetence across the RV Industry

My biggest regret is trading in my 37ft 5th wheel for a motor home.
Why: A nationwide lack of competent repair people.
When the slide motor went out on my longest slide I found out that there were only around 3 places in the country that could properly repair it. Newmar Factory, dealer in Tucson AZ and North Trails in Fr Myers FL.  My base is St Louis MO.  I went to the factory.  When I got home the PSF was all over the ground the next time I warmed it up.
Freightliner Custom Chassis makes up the majority of the chassis across the entire industry.  However there are very few mechanics/technicians available....there main work is semis.  As an example the Truck Center group of 3 in the greater StL area there is only one trained mechanic.
In addition all dealers are independent franchises so they do not have to answer to FCCC. 
I finally have red fluid instead of pink after 3 flushes, 2 trips to Tuck Center where it sat for almost 3 weeks and $2400.00 later.
In summary once you buy you are on your own traveling around the country.
And if you like the National Parks....in no urban areas you are really screwed.
The worst purchase of my life!!!
I want my F450 and 5th wheel back....I can get the F450 services almost any place in the USA with competent mechanics and a company that stands behind their product....rather than blaming the other guy.
And for $430,000.00 you would think they would put a $20 lock on the engine access.
In any case it is back home and for now the fluid is red.
What a screw job.

I sympathize with your frustration, but I would never go back to a 5th wheel.  Our 5er was gorgeous, had more features than our MH, but it was never designed to actually move down the road.  Suspension was junk, tires junk, frame junk, roof junk, everything was substandard.  And talk about no one to work on it, they just didn't care!  The only real repair you were going to get was back at the factory, and now they won't work on them without special circumstances.  There were no repairs for the design flaws, other than aftermarket rebuild.  Once you got a mor-ryde independent suspension under it, rino roof, rewelded the bar trusses back onto the frame, replaced the defective pin box, and installed tires and wheels designed for an over the road truck, then you could actually get somewhere with it to start repairing the stuff on the inside. 

And I'm never bouncing my butt down a highway in a miserable riding F350 dually again.  You can keep it!

To me, the MH is easier to drive, park, gets into more places, and is far more convenient than the prior set up, and I like my Jeep.

I would however totally agree with you about the lack of technicians.  Fortunately here in Denver we have Cummins, and a huge Freightliner facility that works on heavy and medium duty chassis.  The medium duty chassis guys seem to do a fair job on the MH.  Outside of Denver or another big city I imagine it could be a struggle.

It's a pretty well know fact that there is "Incompetence" in new RV's to us on these forums.
Being your first post - maybe you didn't know that.  But a RV is a house going down the road at 60+mph and it seems they
can't build them out of the gate with no problems most of the time.

I assume you bought new for $430K.  You think you got screwed?  Wait will the depreciation kicks in and 2 years later it's worth ? what you paid.

We almost always recommend buying used.

Sorry your having problems.  But I have to believe that you wanted a MH and thought it had advantages over a 5th Wheel.
If you had no problems then would you still want to go back to the 5W?
I also will assume that your MH is longer than 37ft. and has more features then your old 5W.  So that has to count for something.

Hopefully your problems won't continue - but I agree they don't build them like they should.  Seems they hire cheap labor instead
of skilled journeymen to build RV's and rush the process to make a bigger profit vs. building it right the first time and having less
warranty work to do and upset buyers returning because of sub-standard workmanship.

this is the exact reason why I dont have an RV right now. Finances are there, but Im making sure to minimalize the headaches. I have an F350, so I understand the ease of repair. Motorhomes are nice, but not as nesrly as easy to find a repair shop.

RedandSilver said:

...  Seems they hire cheap labor instead
of skilled journeymen to build RV's and rush the process to make a bigger profit vs. building it right the first time and having less
warranty work to do and upset buyers returning because of sub-standard workmanship.

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Way more than 50% of all RVs are built in Elkhart County IN. I don't think they intentionally hire cheap labor vs skilled labor, as much as they just hire any labor they can get. There is simply more manufacturing base in Elkhart County than the population will support. At least that's my take on it. Although I admit that the net result is the same either way.

sadixon49 said:

Way more than 50% of all RVs are built in Elkhart County IN. I don't think they intentionally hire cheap labor vs skilled labor, as much as they just hire any labor they can get. There is simply more manufacturing base in Elkhart County than the population will support. At least that's my take on it. Although I admit that the net result is the same either way.

Click to expand...

It sure wasn't that way a few years ago when they were closing doors!  Glad its back up.

Methinks that RV'ing isn't for everyone and certainly not for people that lack skills to repair an RV... It is an expensive hobby, pastime at best.

Quality is a subjective thing, one man's trash is truly another's treasure... but then I found my pot-of-gold in a used 28' TT that is easily repaired when necessary.

JMHO

Keith

FredPond said:

My biggest regret is trading in my 37ft 5th wheel for a motor home.
Why: A nationwide lack of competent repair people.
When the slide motor went out on my longest slide I found out that there were only around 3 places in the country that could properly repair it. Newmar Factory, dealer in Tucson AZ and North Trails in Fr Myers FL.  My base is St Louis MO.  I went to the factory.  When I got home the PSF was all over the ground the next time I warmed it up.
Freightliner Custom Chassis makes up the majority of the chassis across the entire industry.  However there are very few mechanics/technicians available....there main work is semis.  As an example the Truck Center group of 3 in the greater StL area there is only one trained mechanic.
In addition all dealers are independent franchises so they do not have to answer to FCCC. 
I finally have red fluid instead of pink after 3 flushes, 2 trips to Tuck Center where it sat for almost 3 weeks and $2400.00 later.
In summary once you buy you are on your own traveling around the country.
And if you like the National Parks....in no urban areas you are really screwed.
The worst purchase of my life!!!
I want my F450 and 5th wheel back....I can get the F450 services almost any place in the USA with competent mechanics and a company that stands behind their product....rather than blaming the other guy.
And for $430,000.00 you would think they would put a $20 lock on the engine access.
In any case it is back home and for now the fluid is red.
What a screw job.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I agree it's a challenge to get these things repaired, even maintained and it gets even more frustrating if you're new to the life of Class A MH's.  OTOH, there are ways to deal with it.  In our experience, after the warranty expired and we were on our dime, we started asking others how they deal with this.  We joined the FMCA and met some people that way.  Then there's this forum and others.  There are reputable places to get the repairs/maintenance done.  Sometimes the dealers are OK, often the Freightliner/Cummins facilities have a RV bay or two and if you call ahead you can get help there for the engine, tranny, genny, steering, brakes and other chassis-type work.  For all the other stuff: TV, heaters, A/C, plumbing, holding tanks, slides, jacks, fridge, lights, chargers, batteries, etc you have to find a shop that can work on it if you can't do it.  These shops are around and they often get a great referral on this forum or in the columns in the FMCA monthly magazine.  They also publish a list of repair facilities annually but you can get to it on their website. 

In the overall view, it's not like a F-350!  Maybe a F-350 on steroids...  Lots of things can and do break or fail and it takes tons more time to get it fixed compared to the PU, usually.  One of our slides had a problem too and it took a week to figure out the issue and get it fixed.  So, we extended our stay in Az and finally got going again.  If you're on a tight schedule, good luck.  Often you can limp back to your home base but not always.

Next time, post the problem here and ask for help.  There are some really remarkable people willing to help.

I have found that independent RV repair shops are generally better than dealers. i.e., mobile shops and local repair shops.  The same applies to the repair of the chassis.  In MT I had an excellent Freightliner shop but the independent shop down the street was as good or better and a lot cheaper.  Since they also repaired mobile homes, they did a great job on the coach too!

I found the same most everywhere across the country and found that CoachNet was a great aid in finding these independent shops.

We almost always recommend buying used.

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That's one of the reasons I like to rent. No problems that I have to solve, quite often it is even forbidden to do things on your own...  8)
If I want to screw I do it with my old-timer motorbike, but not with a big-invest RV.

Way more than 50% of all RVs are built in Elkhart County IN

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  Assembled .. NOT built ... the parts are built elsewhere and trucked in for the ASSEMBLERS to assemble ....
And there was mention of  using independent RV repair shops and other repair shops ... be VERY cautious doing this due to WARRANTY work . Not all those other places are authorized to do warranty work  , and if you DO get it done there , you warranty WILL be voided out for that along with other things as well . I deal also with Freightliner  for my 2016 Freightliner Coronado glider kit ( my engine and transmission , that way I don't have to spend extra monies for that DEF crap when I fill up )

BoonDocker Bob said:

And there was mention of  using independent RV repair shops and other repair shops ... be VERY cautious doing this due to WARRANTY work . Not all those other places are authorized to do warranty work  , and if you DO get it done there , you warranty WILL be voided out for that along with other things as well . I deal also with Freightliner  for my 2016 Freightliner Coronado glider kit ( my engine and transmission , that way I don't have to spend extra monies for that DEF crap when I fill up )

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Ah, the beauty of a lapsed warranty

  The other half of the problem is people that can DESTROY A CANNONBALL!!>>>Dan (Usually the same folks that can't change oil)

And they do it with a rubber hammer ;D

Gee Fred, I an thinking you should get rid of it and go find yourself a ford and a 5 wheel, you are never going to be happy with that class A. Hate to bust on you like this but after 430K you could put your own 20$ lock on the engine. As far as the slide motor spilling its guts you could have that with the next 5er you get.

Relax and enjoy the ride and investment you have. Things are going to break just because things need to be fixed....it's the nature of things...I have been upgrading mine ever since I got it and just now got it put back together and dont even have a place to go to. This is also why I turn my own wrenches, if someone is going to screw it up then it better be me.

BTW, Welcome to the forum! Things will get better....trust me!!

IMO many of those  'mechanics'  working at the warranty certified shops today,  are actually just low experience 'computer guided parts replacers' .

yes there are many Freighliner certified shops that will fix a Freighliner warranty part.  but they don't want to work on everything in your bedroom, Warranty work is typically low pay work forced on dealerships as part of the franchise agreement.

With a 5th wheel it's easy to separate the parts and get them serviced by a warranty certified shop ...not so much on a motorhome.

a brand new class A,  is a brand new complex house,  that has to go through an earthquake and a tornado, for hours at a time.  So stuff often comes loose and some stuff breaks and hopefully they are covered by a warranty.


But, you don't really need a warranty if you buy a nice lightly used motorhome, .....everything that was gonna break that was covered under warranty has already been fixed.

Then if you ever need a shop.....you can go to one of the many great independent shops all over the country operated by people with a lifetime's experience in fixing everything on your motorhome.

TonyDtorch said:

IMO many of those  'mechanics'  working at the warranty certified shops today,  are actually just low experience 'computer guided parts replacers' .

yes there are Freighliner certified shops will fix the Freighliner warranty part... but they don't want to work on everything in your bedroom,  Warranty work is typically low pay work forced on dealerships as part of the franchise agreement.

With a 5th wheel it's easy to separate the parts and get them serviced by a warranty certified shop ...not so much on a motorhome.

a brand new class A,  is a brand new complex house,  that has to go through an earthquake and a tornado, for hours at a time.  So stuff often comes loose and some stuff breaks and hopefully they are covered by a warranty.


But, you don't really need a warranty if you buy a nice lightly used motorhome, .....everything that was gonna break that was covered under warranty has already been fixed.

Then if you ever need a shop.....you can go to one of the many great independent shops all over the country operated by people with a lifetime's experience in fixing everything on your motorhome.

Click to expand...

Nuf said... Right There. Holds true on all RV types.

I gotta say the "craftsmanship"  I have seen on my 2008 Tioga is pretty crappy as I get into areas to repair or fix.  The level of quality I have seen has been disappointing for sure.  Having said that, there has been little that I can't repair or improve. I feel for people who have to depend on dealers and repair centers..

We spent over a month looking for a new unit! We thought we wanted to upgrade from 1998 35ft Class A.
What we experienced was junk. Not bad assembly. Just junk assembled to look good.
We wanted to get a bit more room to take our two Grand Children.

Now get this the units in our price range had a fold out couch and a blow up air mattress. The Sale Dude said it was the latest and greatest Idea from the RV industry! I asked him if he would like to do a cross country with kids and have to blow the dam thing up every evening and then deflate it in the morning prior to getting underway.
His comment was,(It's really not a big deal!)
No not for him.
I am also aware of a lot of units with slide issues.
A lot that we looked at had cables to pull the slides in and out.
I would like to hear some opinions on that system!!!

We are very happy with staying with our old 98.
My God what were we thinking!

Yes we may upgrade to a used one but never never new.

Now with that said I know there are good ones out there that are new. We just have not seen them in our price range. $350,000 to $400.000

decaturbob said:

I gotta say the "craftsmanship"  I have seen on my 2008 Tioga is pretty crappy as I get into areas to repair or fix.  The level of quality I have seen has been disappointing for sure.  Having said that, there has been little that I can't repair or improve. I feel for people who have to depend on dealers and repair centers..

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I would add: The level of Quality Control and Quality Assurance to that. Assembly line Production Quota's seem to take a higher Priority ?

Whoops... They must'a missed that ?