I would like to preface this post by noting that it was not prompted by any issue with my travel trailer. Rather, it reflects what I observe day in and day out online regarding todays travel trailers, fifth wheels, and similar RVs. Everyday new RV owners are experiencing serious quality issues with their new rigs. I am seeing brand new RV’s that are having serious issues. Issues that a brand-new owner, or even the owner of a “newer” RV should never experience.

Greg Gerber said a few years ago in his article on the RV industry, that RV’s were being manufactured as if they were Walmart grocery bags. They last just long enough to get home (to the dealers lot) before they fall apart. This is absolutely true. Why is this?

Something horrible happened in 2008. A recession that severely affected the RV industry (as well as everyone).  You as a consumer were most hurt by what happened next.

Remember all the great manufacturers of travel trailers over the years; Fleetwood, Mallard, Dutchman, Coachmen, just to name a few.  During that recession, big conglomerates bought out many RV companies that were struggling These conglomerates like Thor, Berkshire Hathaway, and the REV group now basically control the RV market.

The names on trailers you see rolling down the road today are not the same companies. The only thing they have in common is the name stamped on the front of the travel trailer.

So what does that mean to you? You have a few companies controlling the market which means less choice, and quite frankly, less competition.  Less competition means several things, fewer choices and poorer quality.  Why? If only two companies make candy and they are both bad, what choice do you really have. If you really want a piece of candy – that is the choice you have.

Competition in the marketplace is always a good thing. Just look at the impact of the foreign car market on the US auto makers. The US had to compete with the better-quality cars coming offshore. That forced them to produce better quality vehicles here.  Unfortunately, I don’t think you are going to see any RVs coming from overseas anytime soon.

Adding to the quality issues is the high demand for Travel Trailers for the last five years. This year the shipments are down 22% so far over last year; more on that in a minute. The manufacturers knowingly pushed them out at the speed of light despite quality issues.

All the trailers we’ve purchased since 2008 have shown quality issues that the manufacturer should have caught during inspection. In today’s world, anyone buying a new travel trailer must hire an independent RV inspector. Manufacturers build travel trailers by hand, not by robots, and management pressures workers to build faster than they should. Incentives drive those workers to push trailers out as quickly as possible.

Let’s for a moment transport ourselves back to the pre 2008 days.

Our 2007 Coachmen Captiva 288FKS which we purchased new had no problems the entire 8 years that we owned it. For being such a large trailer, about 35 feet long, it was light weight but very solid.  The only thing it lacked for us was seating in addition to the couch.  There was pride in the workmanship and it showed.

I can say the same thing for every trailer we bought prior to the Coachmen Captiva.  Never did we have trim come off inside, air conditioners leak, electrical problems, etc. All our trailers were solidly built and free of quality issues.

For those who say, “RVs have always been poorly made,” my experience does not support that claim. In fact, the increasing trend of consumers deliberately buying slightly older travel trailers to ensure manufacturers have resolved the issues proves my point.

The RV industry needs to wake up, especially in light of the 22% drop in the RV market YTD.  If you want to sell more trailers, make them better and quit incenting your workers to pound them out.  Most consumers now are looking at which company has the best customer service because they have resigned themselves to the fact that they are going to have issues.  Every day you will see people post on social media that “All trailers have issues”. It’s a disgusting but true admission.

Quite frankly, if manufacturers built travel trailers correctly from the start, they would reduce their costs. Customer service would rarely be necessary, and dealerships would not fill their service bays with RVs awaiting repair. This would lead to greater customer satisfaction.

If a boat can be manufactured to be waterproof, certainly an RV could be as well. This whole idea that an RV is in an earth quake every time it travels so you need to expect problems is a fallacy.  We’ve had boats, and I can tell you that they take a much more brutal beating on the water. They don’t fall apart by the time you get to the dock. If manufacturers built boats or cars the way they build travel trailers, the fallout would overwhelm them.

Instead of lobbying against lemon laws, the RV industry should focus on producing quality products that make lemon laws irrelevant.

Lastly, not all issues with travel trailers are the fault of the owner’s neglect. Many RV manufacturers do not build their vehicles correctly from the start.  Given the power of the internet more and more people are realizing this every day. The RV industry must address its quality issues now, or risk seeing this slump turn into a long winter’s nap.