Sad State

[slow]

Interesting article: http://rvdailyreport.com/opinion/rv-...to-the-bottom/

Part 1 of the series: http://rvdailyreport.com/opinion/opi...spiral-part-1/

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[JRTJH]

A very interesting article, thanks for posting the link. As I was reading both the writer's comments and opinions as well as the comments by owners which followed the article, I was constantly reminded of things I've read in our forum. Keystone is "owned" by one of those two "big RV manufacturers" and is a part of the overall industry "shortfall".

I wonder just how much of the "problem" is caused by the manufacturers trying to cater to people who want an RV, see the "bling" and think that "RV A has more bling, so it's a better buy"...

I don't think things are going to improve in the foreseeable future, so if you've got "a good one" be happy and if you've got "a bad one", don't believe that getting rid of it for a newer model will solve your problems. Chances are, from this article at least, you stand a very good chance of facing the same, or possibly even worse problems with a new RV......

Again, thanks for posting the link !!!

[canesfan]

I started to read it and kind of got turned off by a pretty inaccurate statement near the beginning.

Earlier this year, they discovered that although their RV label says the vehicle is rated to hold 18,000 pounds, the three axles on the rig were rated for 5,200 pounds each. So, in reality, their 18,000-pound RV could only safely hold 15,600 pounds.

Unless I have totally lost my mind, the numbers above re the axles are what the AXLES can hold. They didn't take into consideration the weight the HITCH is holding, which in this case would probably be 2,400 lbs according to the MFGs calculations (15,600 axles + 2,400 hitch = 18,000). So, from 2 people that are supposedly deeply involved in the RV world, this total oversight and wrong information being disseminated on their part made me give up on reading the rest of the article. Maybe I'll try again when I'm in a different mood.

[chuckster57]

Interesting article. As a tech in a dealership that is tight knit, I can tell you from chats with our warranty claims department, there is a lot of truth in that article. There is a couple of manufacturers we carry that are still "doing the right thing", but those units aren't cheap.

Ive seen quality of materials and craftsmanship deteriorate and price increase, and people keep on buying but expect us to make a "mutt into a show dog" so to speak. Is it going to get better? I'm with John on this one, I'm keeping my fiver and going to keep putting my own mods on it.

[bsmith0404]

Originally Posted by canesfan

I started to read it and kind of got turned off by a pretty inaccurate statement near the beginning.



Unless I have totally lost my mind, the numbers above re the axles are what the AXLES can hold. They didn't take into consideration the weight the HITCH is holding, which in this case would probably be 2,400 lbs according to the MFGs calculations (15,600 axles + 2,400 hitch = 18,000). So, from 2 people that are supposedly deeply involved in the RV world, this total oversight and wrong information being disseminated on their part made me give up on reading the rest of the article. Maybe I'll try again when I'm in a different mood.

I had the same issue. I tried to read on a bit further, but just couldn't help wondering if the rest of the info was as bad as that piece.

I've seen RVs change through the years, some changes are good, some not. It's like anything else, people want more and more, but don't want to pay for more. Manufacturers are forced to provide more of what customers say is important to them "bling", but cut corners in other areas for price. We all complain about the tires, axles, wheels etc.. being bare minimum and that we have to upgrade right away, what would make anyone think it stops there?

[dcg9381]

A large part of the issue is that new consumers don't know. RV dealers don't tell them. Sales people don't tell them. And generally, these are the dirty little secrets that we all figure out over time. Even some forums limit brand-based criticism, so you can't really do objective research there.

It's not like you can "get educated" like you can with a new automobile via independent testing and consumer reports.

People are shocked to find out that they have very little recourse when their new $50k RV spends it's first 180 days in the shop. Sorry, but that's an industry problem. Sure, manufacturers are trying to add bling - that's what sells, but the focus is on getting it sold, not what happens afterwards.

Dealers are effectively a cost control dial on quality. Manufacturers decide what to pay, what to authorize, what not to authorize. And all evidence points to below-market rates for warranty repairs, otherwise they wouldn't be the back-of-the-line repair dates. There is no objective bar on what is a "factory defect" versus something that isn't - no appeals process.. Sorry, that's a cost control. Want to carry the best-selling brand of RVs? You (the dealer) are required to be the shield between consumers and factory defects.

The auto industry isn't like this because they can't be. Maybe there were at one time? There are strong consumer protections around "lemon laws" in most states. In my state, 30-days and 2-repair attempts, they get to take the vehicle back or provide a replacement. I hate legislation and rules - but I think that's the only thing that will change the current state of the in regard to what happens after the sale. Consumers won't change their shopping habits, not without transparency into what they're buying.


And to be fair, not all manufacturers are guilty of this stuff. Just some. But consolidation now controls - what is it? Like 85% of the market on 2-3 manufacturers?

As a consumer, I'll trade quality and warranty service for price. I'll absolutely do that. But I want it to be a decision, not something that I find out about after the fact. I want the transparency. There isn't a lot of transparency in offering a "nationwide warranty" when non-purchase dealers won't service and saying "the roof is warrantied for 10 years" - those statements, at best, are half truths. The "free lifetime warranty" that is offered by many dealers is another example. It's nothing but a new means to sell RVs - and my guess is that it's actually a profit center due to the required service fees and limited things that are covered.

[Mike484]

We are still under the manufacturers warranty and have hell trying to get anything done. We purchased an extended warranty from the dealership and after what we have went through to get the manufacturers warrant work done, I think the extended warranty will be even worse so we are probably going to go back into the dealership and try to cancel our extended warranty and get one from someone else, possibly check into Camping World.

Just as a note:
We tried for two months to schedule warranty work with our dealership and was unsuccessful until we contacted Keystone and got them involved. We finally got the work done then was called daily being told we had to get our RV picked up ASAP, one of the issues was a water leak under the shower wall, they said they fixed it and tested it, first shower I took, the leak was still there.