Has anybody here ever bought a new RV without any problems?

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DonTom

DonTom

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Has anybody here ever purchased a NEW RV of any type with no issues at all during the warranty period?

And has anybody here bought a used RV with no problems for a year or two?

I wonder if used has less bugs than new. Bugs worked out by previous owners.

Are some model years more reliable than others?

-Don- Mission, TX
 
Not quite without problems, but the Ventana I bought in 2016 didn't have many. One knob on the dash broke, fire extinguisher recall, then after about six months the generator wouldn't run. I was at Q, shut the genny off at night, next morning it wouldn't start. Cummins fixed it under warranty, and it's been trouble free since, except for a drawer latch (long out of warranty). The genny problem was internal electronics (infant mortality, I guess).
 
Some would say impossible but the reason is because nobody complains about a unit with few or no problems.
I have bought two travel trailers that needed no warranty work.
The first was a 2004 Starcraft Aruba 25RS which had one issue after delivery. A wire was hanging from the bottom of the rig. Getting under and looking at it solved the issue. It was a stray piece of wire that was sitting on the frame when the floor was put down. Both ends were visible so a good yank and it was gone. Ten years of use and the only repair was the gas valve on the heater after seven years. About 65,000 miles on it.
Next good one was a 2020 Cougar 22RBS that had an issue with leaks. Turned out that the speakers were never sealed where they joined the angled housing on the side of the unit. Twenty minutes and some butyl tape and it was fixed. About 25,000 miles on it and going strong.
A key bit of advice here is to demand a thorough PDI before handing over payment.
 
Almost! Only warranty issue we had was a loose piece of paneling in the bedroom. Dealer fixed it overnight, no worries, and it's been solid ever since.

Pretty glad I bought in 2017, pre-covid. Even though it's an "entry level" coach, we've been really, really happy with it.
 
Why should people expect anything made by man to be perfect? We have watched the airline industry create completely flawed airplanes , causing loss of life. So anything short of their standards in the recent past is acceptable, you know.

The bigger issue that gets to the core of the frustration by owners is the unbelievable response that screams the middle finger to owners , especially owners buying new rvs from manufacturers and dealers alike 99.99 percent of the time.

You buy a new unit with a year or two perceived warranty and then a large percentage that goes back to a dealer ends up sitting for many months when attempting to get even the simplest of things corrected.

Of course in the world of incapable hands of people with the newer generation of adults, common sense is lacking to figure stuff out and hands on ability to do stuff with your hands has declined. So this is where we find ourselves at when reading stories of the lack of quality of new rvs thats bought new.

Like people are working in the industry of mass produced rvs with the line workers. So expect imperfections and deal with things in house if possible.
 
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Nope. Our first has had constant issues. Won’t be a debbie-downer about it. We just hope we catch all the fails before we leave January 1st heading South. We are writing a review/issue list that we intend to send to the president of the company(who sent a post card thanking us for the purchase), it’s kind of sarcastic, but has been cathartic. Would it be appropriate to post it here in this forum or is that bad form?
 
DonTom what are you trying to start here? ;)

Even our Newmar purchased new hasn’t been without a few issues, but we didn’t expect it to be perfect. They need some time on the road for things to adjust and wear in. The difference is, it was free of major defects out the gate. All issues have been very minor, bordering on persnickety. Newmar resolved them eagerly between sending us parts at our request, sending us factory trained techs where we were vacationing, or literally giving us our own service bay with dedicated tech team when we went to visit them in Indiana. They handled the rest of our punch list at that time, plus a few extra requests. I won’t say we didn’t go just for the experience, which was fantastic. Our local-ish dealer could have handled some of it.

Now just over the line in year two, we’re over 16,000 miles on the coach and it’s doing great!
 
As someone who spent what seems like lifetimes in the quality field, here is a tip for everyone. Perfection is extremely difficult to achieve and extremely expensive but pretty darn good is not far from it and much more affordable. I do not expect perfection in an RV but I do expect functionality and durability within the restraints of the platform. If you demand perfection, be ready to pay dearly for it.
 
This should be a topic for when was your last problem within the past 24 hours.

While pumping gas yesterday in Wyoming I noticed the rear side reflector of our 2023 TT was hanging off due to stripped out holes. One of the two screws was hanging on by the tip. Fixed it with toothpicks and a square drive screwdriver on the spot. On the road again in 5 minutes.
 
DonTom said:
Has anybody here ever purchased a NEW RV of any type with no issues at all during the warranty period?

And has anybody here bought a used RV with no problems for a year or two?

I wonder if used has less bugs than new. Bugs worked out by previous owners.

Are some model years more reliable than others?

-Don- Mission, TX
Click to expand...
Yep. We bought out T@B 400 in April of 2022. After over a 128 days of use over two summers we haven’t had a single issue with anything. And we dragged it across Canada and into some pretty dicey areas. Tough little bigger.

Coincidentally we bought the tow vehicle (Tesla model Y) two months before we got the trailer and it has also been flawless except for a washer fluid container that dripped. Only maintenance has been rotating the tires and filling washer fluid.

IMG_7060.jpeg
 
Martian said:
Perfection is extremely difficult to achieve
Click to expand...
Not asking about perfection. That doesn't even exist, IMO.

But a warranty repair on anything is somewhat rare, with RV's being the big exception.

But no recalls on newer vehicles of any make I think is also rather rare these days.

-Don- Mission, TX
 
Gary RV_Wizard said:
One might also ask if anyone has had a new single family home built that had no flaws, one that required no mods or repairs in the first year of ownership.
Click to expand...
I have done such a few times. But in CA and NV, before buying a house, they send out inspectors to look for problems. Problems are dealt with then, before the sale.

I wonder how that would work for RVs.

-Don- Mission, TX
 
DonTom said:
I have done such a few times. But in CA and NV, before buying a house, they send out inspectors to look for problems. Problems are dealt with then, before the sale.

I wonder how that would work for RVs.

-Don- Mission, TX
Click to expand...
My husband was a home inspector and before that a home builder then a specialist in restoring historic homes. He didn’t feel we needed an inspector for a new RV. Silly us. If we buy new again we’ll get an inspector.
 
DonTom said:
I have done such a few times. But in CA and NV, before buying a house, they send out inspectors to look for problems. Problems are dealt with then, before the sale.
Click to expand...
Right, that's the point. There are always a myriad of defects, many minor but sometimes worse. A general contractor building homes usually hires a person or team to do final inspection & detailing before turning it over to the buyer, but even then there are often some post-sale issues once everything is put into actual use. And that's not even including the furnishings that are part of any RV.

RV dealers are supposed to act as the final inspectors/fixers but that work comes out of their profit margin so they aren't motivated to do it well. Or at all. Especially since anything that escapes the dealership gets paid for as a warranty repair paid for by the manufacturer (if the buyer can stand to wait long enough to get it done).
 
DonTom said:
Has anybody here ever purchased a NEW RV of any type with no issues at all during the warranty period?
Click to expand...
My first new RV was a Starcraft popup bought in 1974 and the only issue with it was that they put in a 12v/120V refrigerator without propane and it ran the battery down too rapidly so the dealership changed it out for a propane/120V model after a couple of attempts.

Our next several RVs were used but then in 1998 we bought a new Cruise Master and it had a bad spot in the linoleum floor that the dealer fixed as it's only warranty issue. It also had a rear wheel seal that was repaired under warranty by Ford.

In 2012 we bought a travel trailer from KZ new with a 2 year warrant and it had one warranty repair at 20 months of use. So the answer would be no but to me one item in each of them was reasonable.
 
I've never bought a new RV.
I have inspected a number of new RV's for people who are buying them, though, and I have yet to inspect one that was without notable flaws.
 
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