When deciding on an RV are there an makes, models, or model years to avoid?

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Kirk said:
There are a lot of reasons but probably the greatest of them is a matter of history. Thor Ind. was formed in 1980 for the express purpose of buying the Airstream RV company. Airstream had been losing money for years once they lost the leadership of Wally Bynum who died in 1964. Once Thor took over the fist thing that they did was to work to make the company profitable, which ended the long history of free factory repairs as well as cutting a lot of corners. For at time the Airstream trailers didn't have the quality they are known for but as the financials improved, so too did the quality and the price. If you check today, they are the most expensive general production travel trailer made. There are higher priced ones but all of those are limited production. Once Airstream began to be profitable, Thor started to shop for other RV companies that were in financial distress and to make them profitable, first. In doing so they usually cut corners at first, then improved once the company was profitable. Today Thor Ind. not only is the largest builder of RVs but they also own severl RV appliance manufacturers and they build a line of small busses. If you are interested, check out the list of brands that Thor owns via this link. Thor builds RVs from the lowest price/quality models to some of the very highest price/quality models such as what the Airstream of today is.
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This is all really interesting. So then does it become a question of units built pre- or post-takeover and then at what stage in the profitability march are they in?

I guess I'll just have to go with something I like and that seems to be at least decently maintained and in good condition.
 
One thing to be aware of is RV manufacturers were hit by the pandemic like everything else. If it wasn't workers dropping like flies, there were supply issues and a lot of substitution, or halting production to wait on parts. Kind of like recession-era RV's are a dark spot, Covid-era RV's are something to scrutinize heavily.

I don't know my Fords very well, but didn't the F53 platform change from a V10 to new V8 in the same timeframe? I think some of the early units had some issues but will let someone who knows F53's comment more on that.
 
O1dSoldier said:
I guess I'll just have to go with something I like and that seems to be at least decently maintained and in good condition.
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Now you are getting the idea. What I do strongly recommend is that no matter what you choose, get a professional pre-purchase instpedtor to go through it for you before you buy. If a seller is unwilling to let that be done it is a pretty good indication that there is a problem that they don't want you to know about. With used RVs, especially if they are more than 5 years old. With a used RV, the condition is more imporatnt that the manufacturer who built it. If you are shopping for motorized RVs then you have an engine and drivetrail to consider as well as the RV parts.
 
Condition is the most important factor, but should not be the only one, as initial build quality and materials do matter, ie real wood cabinet work held together with screws is better than particle board held together with staples, fiberglass, solid surface, or stainless steel plumbing fixtures outlast ones made from plastic, full body paint is better than gelcoat fiberglass with vinyl stickers.
 
Kirk said:
Now you are getting the idea. What I do strongly recommend is that no matter what you choose, get a professional pre-purchase instpedtor to go through it for you before you buy. If a seller is unwilling to let that be done it is a pretty good indication that there is a problem that they don't want you to know about. With used RVs, especially if they are more than 5 years old. With a used RV, the condition is more imporatnt that the manufacturer who built it. If you are shopping for motorized RVs then you have an engine and drivetrail to consider as well as the RV parts.
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Understood. It seems the process is similar to buying a boat. Unless you're buying a project boat that will get fully renovated a survey is always needed. I didn't consider there would be a similar role for RV but in the end boats and RVs are very much the same. I just have a second motor and transmission along with rudders, shafts, and props to worry about versus tires, brakes, etc.

For my "trainer" RV it will most likely be more than 5 years old, like when I bought my boat tying up a lot of money on something newer that is used only (in total) a couple months out of a year isn't something I want to do. From what I'm seeing so far there are a lot of low mileage units that appear to be in almost new or like-new condition.
 
Isaac-1 said:
Condition is the most important factor, but should not be the only one, as initial build quality and materials do matter, ie real wood cabinet work held together with screws is better than particle board held together with staples, fiberglass, solid surface, or stainless steel plumbing fixtures outlast ones made from plastic, full body paint is better than gelcoat fiberglass with vinyl stickers.
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Paint is better than gelcoat? In a marine environment I find gelcoat to be better. That's just my opinion of course.
 
Yes, fulll body paint is generally longer lasting than gelcoat finish which tends to get chalky after a few years, but more importantly the vinyl graphics that tend to accompany gelcoat coaches tend to fade and start cracking after 5 or so years. As to getting an inspector try the inspector locator tool at nrvia.org

p.s. I also did the boat thing, had a 28 ft cruising sailboat, lost it in one of the hurricanes here on the gulf coast, it went away along with the entire marina in hurricane Laura with 140+ mph wind when the eye passed directly over the marina.
 
Isaac-1 said:
Yes, fulll body paint is generally longer lasting than gelcoat finish which tends to get chalky after a few years, but more importantly the vinyl graphics that tend to accompany gelcoat coaches tend to fade and start cracking after 5 or so years. As to getting an inspector try the inspector locator tool at nrvia.org

p.s. I also did the boat thing, had a 28 ft cruising sailboat, lost it in one of the hurricanes here on the gulf coast, it went away along with the entire marina in hurricane Laura with 140+ mph wind when the eye passed directly over the marina.
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Agreed gelcoat in the south doesn't hold up well. In the PNW it does eventually turn chalky if you don't wax once or twice a year. Clearcoat can take a beating as well.

The gulf coast is an area we are considering retiring, nowhere in particular. Part of our idea of getting an RV and spending a year or so checking out the places we think we might like. I like the idea of the gulf or even on the ICW so I can keep my boat and have it shipped down there. The hurricanes blowing it away is a bit concerning though.
 
The gulf coast is a bit like living in a shooting gallery when it comes to hurricanes, though for the most part we are fairly safe most years here about 85 miles inland. Unfortunately there are exceptions like Laura which was the strongest hurricane to hit Louisiana in nearly 150 years, and still had 130+ mph winds when the eye came over our town uprooting many trees and rendering about 1 in 5 house in town uninhabitable. The problem with having an in water boat is you don't know which way to run, and the wait to get hoisted out of the water and onto a trailer is likely far longer than the warning time of an oncoming storm, and that assume you could get anywhere far enough inland for it to be safe with evacuation traffic creeping along.
 
Boat Bum said:
Oh, yes, millions and millions of them...
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Most of haters own an Apple and have never actually owned an MS product.

I have never owned a new RV and so I cannot judge quality. I don't think anyone can judge quality unless the owned it as new. When you buy used all you can judge is how well it was maintained.
 
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SeilerBird said:
Most of haters own an Apple and have never actually owned an MS product.
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I had an iPhone 4. The only thing I liked about it was the ability of the iTunes app to shuffle the music on my phone with one click of a button in the app.
OTOH, my Samsung S10 has the ability to use an SD card big enough to hold my entire 4000+ track music library. The music app shuffle through the entire library as I listen to it.
 
Old_Crow said:
I had an iPhone 4. The only thing I liked about it was the ability of the iTunes app to shuffle the music on my phone with one click of a button in the app.
OTOH, my Samsung S10 has the ability to use an SD card big enough to hold my entire 4000+ track music library. The music app shuffle through the entire library as I listen to it.
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I too owned an iPhone 4 and a 6. Both were nice phones but I have had some horrible interaction with Apple's "customer service". I hated iTunes with a passion, it was the worst piece of software I have ever owned. After a year I returned to Android and found very little difference between the two. I had heard that the iPhone had a much better camera but I could not see a difference so I have stayed with Android since then.

I used to upgrade every year since the phones camera since there were improvements every year. But I have stayed with my Pixel 2 xl for the last five years. I am going to upgrade to the Pixel 7 in the fall a few months after it is released.
 
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SeilerBird said:
I too owned an iPhone 4 and a 6. Both were nice phones but I have had some horrible interaction with Apple's "customer service". After a year I returned to Android and found very little difference between the two. I had heard that the iPhone had a much better camera but I could not see a difference so I have stayed with Android since then.
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My kid, being a kid (in his late 30's but still a kid to me), keeps upgrading his phone to the latest and greatest. I can't believe some of the pics he takes with his phone.
I know this is more a function of the person taking the pictures than the phone. My pictures all still look like snapshots, his look like art.
 
SeilerBird said:
I have never owned a new RV and so I cannot judge quality. I don't think anyone can judge quality unless the owned it as new. When you buy used all you can judge is how well it was maintained.
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I couldn't disagree more, start with crap you end with crap. Starting with quality components and construction lays the foundation for everything.
 
Boat Bum said:
I couldn't disagree more, start with crap you end with crap. Starting with quality components and construction lays the foundation for everything.
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I think that how the RV was treated is more important than the build quality. I once drove 50 miles to look at a Beaver that was in "great condition". It was the worst RV I have ever looked at.
 
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