RV Quality….. Nothing New Here…

This last summer driving to Vermont and back my wife an I made a game of trying to spot rv's going the opposite direction with the BIG bubble in the roof membrane. Amazing to me, new units with this huge bubble in the roof. If they can leak air I would think they will leak water as well.

 
dude I know in camping world near me in parts said that the 2021,2022 and probably some of 2023 are all built like chit and there warranty work is through the roof with problems the new units are having and its the most thay have ever seen with new units.and he said he would not buy anything newer then 2019 and early 2020 model dezz days

 
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The whole thing is upside down....  

 
I read that article, and others. What a cluster that whole industry is. Mr Rutherford, CEO of Airxcel, naturally thinks everything is hunky-dory. Airxcel was just bought out by Thor Industries, and he likely has strapped on his Golden Parachute. The RVIA is nothing but a cartel.

 
richard h said:
This last summer driving to Vermont and back my wife an I made a game of trying to spot rv's going the opposite direction with the BIG bubble in the roof membrane. Amazing to me, new units with this huge bubble in the roof. If they can leak air I would think they will leak water as well.
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I’ve seen a couple like that… Didn’t realize it was a new coach thing…

 
This is also due to the consolidation the industry has undergone. With only a few companies producing the RV’s there is little to no competition to drive the industry and hold manufacturers accountable. 

 
We saw this in the early 2000's as demand from HELOC ballers drove sales of recreational vehicles of all types through the roof. Keep that in mind as you look for a used RV in the next several years. These are the years you want to stay away from. Standard stick built RVs have always been of subpar quality with some outliers like Lazy Days, Okanogan, bigfoot. Mostly the small builders that have been building the same designs for many years that haven't sold out to the big conglomerates.  If an RV comes from Indiana, I would be very careful. 

 
We just bought a brand new one. We will see how it holds up. I imagine I’ll have problems here and there. RV quality has been crap for years, not sure it could get much worse.

I get stuff happening while building them. They are producing a ton of them in little time but the quality control is complete garbage. Nobody is checking these things out before they leave the plant. 
 

We had a large list of defects we found when we bought it that they needed to fix before we picked up. Stupid little things that should have been caught. 

 
It's like 2006-2007 all over again. We are supposed to be in some sort of Covid recession but all I see is everyone  spending money like drunken sailors- including the government. RVs, cars, boats, big screen TVs, UTVs, swimming pools, home remodels, new homes, you name it. Everyone's trying to produce the goods as fast as they can, make the sales and the money while they can,  while at the lower end, no one wants to work unless they're being paid a fortune. I bought my toyhauler back in 2006 and it was made like so badly I had to fix half the things on it.

I'm just trying to figure out what to do with my money so that when it all collapses like it did in 2008, I can be riding on top of the chit pile instead of under it.

 
Nickman123 said:
It's like 2006-2007 all over again. We are supposed to be in some sort of Covid recession but all I see is everyone  spending money like drunken sailors- including the government. RVs, cars, boats, big screen TVs, UTVs, swimming pools, home remodels, new homes, you name it. Everyone's trying to produce the goods as fast as they can, make the sales and the money while they can,  while at the lower end, no one wants to work unless they're being paid a fortune. I bought my toyhauler back in 2006 and it was made like so badly I had to fix half the things on it.

I'm just trying to figure out what to do with my money so that when it all collapses like it did in 2008, I can be riding on top of the chit pile instead of under it.
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Exactly! I don't know where all of these people are getting their money from, unless they pocketed all of the PPP money that was supposed to pay their employees. The bubble will have to burst eventually. When this first started, I predicted a big collapse in commercial building rentals since so many small businesses eventually went out of business. As far as where to park your money, I'm no expert, cryptocurrency could be lucrative but it's also very volatile.

Have you heard of Ark-funds ETFs? It's managed by Cathie Woods. Her Ark innovative fund has earned 175% over the las 12 months. Essentially her funds have grown so large they're now market movers. She starts investing in a stock and it makes money because of the huge volumes she buys and everyone else following her. 

 
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It’s not just the RV factories, the bigger problem is all the manufactures that build the stuff that goes in them. For example, almost everyone uses Dometic refrigerators. And the same 2-3 models are in 80% of the trailers & RV’s. I know two people who have bought trailers in the past year-year & a half. Both have had fridge issues, one will be on his 3rd fridge when it comes in. Again it’s being blamed on Covid on why Dometic is building crappy, faulty fridges. The other one was having electrical issues, which was scary! The problem was the switch that transfers from shore power to 12v or gas to electric was not doing it right and popping breakers or fuses. Again after being in the shop for a month to figure it out, then another month for the part. It was blamed on Covid, and lack of trained employees to make the parts and the lack of quality control. 
 

Thr guy with the fridge was dealing directly with Forest Rivers Carson factory. The last time up there they had rows of unfinished trailers as they are waiting for parts, or in some cases just spray foam to seal the holes and insulation. There were a bunch with no entry doors, as the door supplier could not make enough doors. 
 

I need to replace the carb on my Onan Gen, before the season starts and they’re out of stock. 

It’s a mess! 

 
Lord of the Dunes said:
Exactly! I don't know where all of these people are getting their money from, unless they pocketed all of the PPP money that was supposed to pay their employees. The bubble will have to burst eventually. When this first started, I predicted a big collapse in commercial building rentals since so many small businesses eventually went out of business. As far as where to park your money, I'm no expert, cryptocurrency could be lucrative but it's also very volatile.

Have you heard of Ark-funds ETFs? It's managed by Cathie Woods. Her Ark innovative fund has earned 175% over the las 12 months. Essentially her funds have grown so large they're now market movers. She starts investing in a stock and it makes money because of the huge volumes she buys and everyone else following her. 
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AS far as small commercial warehouse buildings its the complete opposite. I have been looking for one in my general area for 9 months and haven't been able to secure one.

There are waiting lists with all the real estate agencies  (voit, lee and associates, strata etc) that they pick from before a listening even goes public. Its bonkers.

and yes I have heard of ARK... BEFORE tesla split and they were trading at 700 bucks she said she expects to see it at 5k! - My broker tried to sell off our posistion in tesla and i almost fired her. Glad I took the hint from ARK and held all of it.

 
NIKAL said:
It’s not just the RV factories, the bigger problem is all the manufactures that build the stuff that goes in them. For example, almost everyone uses Dometic refrigerators. And the same 2-3 models are in 80% of the trailers & RV’s. I know two people who have bought trailers in the past year-year & a half. Both have had fridge issues, one will be on his 3rd fridge when it comes in. Again it’s being blamed on Covid on why Dometic is building crappy, faulty fridges. The other one was having electrical issues, which was scary! The problem was the switch that transfers from shore power to 12v or gas to electric was not doing it right and popping breakers or fuses. Again after being in the shop for a month to figure it out, then another month for the part. It was blamed on Covid, and lack of trained employees to make the parts and the lack of quality control. 
 

Thr guy with the fridge was dealing directly with Forest Rivers Carson factory. The last time up there they had rows of unfinished trailers as they are waiting for parts, or in some cases just spray foam to seal the holes and insulation. There were a bunch with no entry doors, as the door supplier could not make enough doors. 
 

I need to replace the carb on my Onan Gen, before the season starts and they’re out of stock. 

It’s a mess! 
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This is true, and when you boil it down the main supplier for almost everything is Lippert Components, or one of their subsidiary acquisitions. They are the bottom of the barrel, and dominate the industry. Warren Buffet has also soaked up a few, and I think Dometic is one of them.

 
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