This post has probably been a long time coming. I have alluded to the fact, for quite a while that at some point I would give my opinion on the downside of the RV Industry. I don’t think any of my opinions will be shocking, or surprising to anyone.

We have all heard for years about how the RV industry’s quality has slipped. This isn’t a matter of opinion, it is a matter of fact. The quality has been slipping steadily since 2008. And as the quality has gone down, of course the excuses have gone up. Now I’m going to give you my opinion on why this has happened.

The 1992 Mallard Sprinter – No Issues

First I am going to illustrate the issue with an example:

There are twenty independent businesses that make hot dogs. Each business wants to be the market leader when it comes to selling hot dogs. The only way this can happen is if their quality is better than the other nineteen. Therefore, there is an incredible amount of competition across these companies to make the best hot dog across all categories (taste, appearance, packaging, price, etc.).

Therefore, all these companies are trying to make the very best hot dog possible in order to get their sales to be number 1 on the grocery shelf. Let’s say for the sake of argument that most of these competitors have a similar product and are doing quite well. The companies are making a profit, and the consumers are happy. There are many hot dogs to choose from, and they are all close in the qualities that matter to consumers.

Suddenly there is a downturn in the economy and folks are not buying hot dogs. Some of the smaller companies begin to struggle. This creates an opportunity for some of the larger hot dog manufacturers to buy the struggling ones. Now Brands X, Y, and Z are purchased by Brand A. This happens across the industry to the point where there are only three hot dog companies left. These companies now make twenty different name brand hot dogs. Although they still carry the names Brand X, Y, and Z, Brand A now manufactures them to its own specifications—they share only the name.

Now instead of twenty companies struggling to compete, there are only three. Quality now doesn’t need to be that great because the consumer only has a few different companies from which to buy hot dogs. The three companies that now produce hot dogs realize consumers don’t have much of a choice when it comes to hot dogs, so they will just have to buy them and “be happy” they have hot dogs. To make matters worse, the companies that sell hot dog supplies to the manufacturing companies have also consolidated. Now the manufacturers can only buy their supplies from one or two suppliers, and the quality of those is substandard. The entire hot dog enterprise is now substandard.

So now if you want, really want a hot dog, you have three bad choices.

Yes, it’s a bit of an absurd example. However, it illustrates what happened in the RV industry in the mid 2000’s when the economy tanked. Conglomerates bought out family owned RV businesses. Then began producing those trailers with the same name, but not the same quality.

It’s been a slippery slope downward ever since. Sure, there have been companies that have been created since then and once they are profitable they are sold to one of the larger manufacturers. Two examples in recent history are Grand Design, and Jayco.

Sadly, this has also happened across the suppliers of RV parts. Companies have been gobbled up and now the consumer wonders why they can’t get better, longer lasting parts for their travel trailer. It’s because there just aren’t any other choices for the most part.

My own personal experience with Travel Trailers over the last 35+ years bears this fact out pretty well. Our first travel trailer was a 1971 Jayco that we purchase in 1988. It was built like a brick house. Now there wasn’t a lot to that trailer, but what it had was great quality; both from a build and parts/appliance perspective.

Our next set of trailers, the Sprinter (1990), Prowler (1992), Trail Cruiser (2000), Coachmen (2007), all were made with quality/the competition in mind. Across those four trailers, we had three minor issues in total. One of those issues was a damaged vinyl floor in the bathroom from the dealer spilling paint.

Moving forward into our trailers made post 2008, the lists of defects and problems with each trailer were large (very large). In addition, the manufacturer had never recalled any of my travel trailers before this. My current trailer has had a total of four recalls. It is apparent that the quality is just not that important anymore. If you plan to buy the same brand trailer you liked before, beware—you can’t count on brand loyalty once another company owns it.

Social media now beat buyers into submission ideologically, telling them to expect problems with their trailers—and they do. If there is an owner that complains on-line, the response from other owners is “They are all crap…fix it yourself and move on”. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of people that have that ability. It takes some knowledge to fix broken axles, springs, slide room motors, power converters, plumbing, and electrical, etc. Most consumers don’t feel they signed up for these kind of problems when they bought a new RV that cost upwards of 40,000 dollars. While dealerships and manufacturers keep buyers waiting weeks or months for repairs, the warranty on their trailer runs out. So does their camping season.

Ask yourself the following question: Why does the industry fight to keep towable RV’s excluded from Lemon Laws? It’s because they know how they are making them, and how bad the service network is.

I hear folks argue that the RV is a rolling earthquake going down the road; well a boat takes even more punishment. Manufacturers could make RVs much better, if only someone cared to do so. Perhaps that day will come, like it did to the US car market in the 70’s…but I’m not holding my breath.

Please don’t get me wrong. I love my travel trailer, and I love the lifestyle. However, I am tired of buyers being disappointed with their purchases. Sadly, they should direct that disappointment squarely at the feet of the RV industry itself.”

Please, if you do nothing else before you buy a new or used unit, get an independent inspection.

These are my opinions only…yours may be different.