Poor build quality spotted at the largest RV show in the country

Wayne

Wayne

Administrator
Staff member
This build quality is simply terrible and I don't understand how a manufacturer or dealer could possibly display this kind of poor design and workmanship at the largest RV show in the country. Who in leadership could allow this crap to be put on display? Why would any consumer who saw this purchase an RV of this make?

I marked the start of the video so you can get right to the point.

 
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Mine wasn't near that bad.

I have definitely called out some janky things I've seen in Josh's videos in the past. Things that just shouldn't be. One was on a Coachman 5th wheel that just had this honking great mass of wires dangling out of the front storage area.

So far there are only 2 areas that I've not looked at and corrected on mine, the water pump area (Under bathroom sink) and the front junction box where the 7 pin branches out. I've laid under there and looked at it and I know it is going to be a project.
 
This was on one of the 'Bish Branded" (Jayco built) campers.

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2022 Chaparral 373MBRB​


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What I found most concerning in the video was the comment that doing the work right, with the appropriate parts, does not add a measurable increase in the cost of the RV.

So in other words, the poor build quality is not to save money, poor build quality is simply lack of caring.
 
GON said:
What I found most concerning in the video was the comment that doing the work right, with the appropriate parts, does not add a measurable increase in the cost of the RV.

So in other words, the poor build quality is not to save money, poor build quality is simply lack of caring.
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I'd be almost willing to bet there's a lack of engineering or oversight as well. They may well just hand a design down from above that says 'Here's where all the important stuff goes' and leave it up to the production line to figure it out.

They run a line of pex to the crapper and they know it shouldn't dangle, so they just tie it up with what they have available.

Instead of design spelling out where it runs, what clamps to use, etc.

Redacted letter Josh was talking about in one of his videos. At least someone is trying I reckon.

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GON said:
What I found most concerning in the video was the comment that doing the work right, with the appropriate parts, does not add a measurable increase in the cost of the RV.

So in other words, the poor build quality is not to save money, poor build quality is simply lack of caring.
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Unfortunately that is the way of world these days. Most have the attitude that they are there for 8-10 hours a day and they get paid to be there. They have no pride or ambition to excel at anything. All they have to do is participate and receive the same rewards as the champions. It’s not in one particular venue either.
 
OLEJOE said:
Unfortunately that is the way of world these days. Most have the attitude that they are there for 8-10 hours a day and they get paid to be there. They have no pride or ambition to excel at anything. All they have to do is participate and receive the same rewards as the champions. It’s not in one particular venue either.
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OMG, you got that right. I see it at work, particularly with kids coming out of college. They want to make the big bucks and think they deserve to with no experience. They mostly don't understand that in the real world you get what you earn, not what you think you are entitled to.
 
Yeah you used to be paid what you were worth. Not what you think you were. Too many entitlements. I hear too many people complaining about how much money their boss makes or how much they CEO of a corporation makes. I personally would rather have a specific low stress job and receive the pay and benefits I agreed to when I signed on. Fortunately Im retired now but some of the stress increased.
Conversation about the shape of things is a lot of it.
 
Wow we sound like a bunch of grumpy old bastids…… but it’s true. We bought a new Coleman pop up around 2000 and it had a couple of things that needed corrected. Was there ever a time when RVs were well built? The 2017 Grand Design we bought lightly used had issues that I had to fix.
 
Azjeff said:
Wow we sound like a bunch of grumpy old bastids…… but it’s true. We bought a new Coleman pop up around 2000 and it had a couple of things that needed corrected. Was there ever a time when RVs were well built? The 2017 Grand Design we bought lightly used had issues that I had to fix.
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Can you imagine what the quality would be if no one ever complained about crappy materials and workmanship? Not that they have gotten a lot better.
 
If they used the very best methods and materials with the best technicians, RV’s would probably be unaffordable. It’s a balancing act to get quality and affordability.
 
There’s a lot of room between best materials and practices and some of the halfast stuff you see. The water volume was very low from the fresh tank when we got the GD. I thought the 12v pump was bad. No, there was a 90 degree kink in the line from the tank to the pump 4 inches from the pump plainly visible. Someone installed it that way. There’s a difference between economical and shoddy IMO.
 
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