Luxury does not mean quality

[Neal]

Something sticks in my brain I remember people saying years ago when discussing Newmar coaches and the factory - They all go down the same line from Bay Stars to King Aire's. Five years later this is something I've observed that is almost bothersome in that I've heard of a lot of people going from the lower DP lineup to the luxury lineup and it hasn't been exactly as one would expect. I remember TJ for example going from his Ventana LE to a Mountain Aire and being frustrated with never ending problems. I know of some recent luxury line recipients that are essentially paralyzed the first year in trying to get things resolved. Forget traveling and camping much your first year these days, people are spending months of their time in their new coach trying to get things fixed production can't get right - the biggest problem now is one of the things Newmar has been known to be tops for - paint!

I came to Newmar for a repair of something they messed up during my last visit that I didn't find until later. It required going to paint and it was very well discussed that paint is a problem here. Whether it's lack of experience, skill, or the facility is in dire need of upgrade, who knows. We were very concerned of what to expect with paint, I was regretting now just leaving the damaged areas as is as it may be the lesser of two evils. I'm happy to say paint did good but it's interesting how paint seems to be done in the open, in open facilities, in various locations. Mine was done in building 21 and I could watch from the road. It seems even the main paint facility is not a dust free clean room which is shocking. I thought "autos" were done in this type of environment. It sounds like Winnebago need to build a dedicated paint facility with proper clean environment if they are going to reduce do overs but the word of mouth is "most won't notice or don't care". Some however have higher expectations of their paint. So again, I thought Newmar was known for its cabinetry (wood work) and paint and here in 2022 this seems to be their worst feature. Let's hope this turns around.

If I were spending 1m+ on an Essex or better I sure would expect my coach was being built and finished at a different level from a coach 1/4 the cost. But that's not how it works today. Great for those of us with lower end coaches but for big spenders, it's a sad situation.

Hope to see improvement in the realm of Newmar going forward. I would like to experience a new coach again someday. The service center is what keeps customers coming back, it is second to none mainly from people and customer service. I felt that again this time, it rekindles the reason for Newmar. But other things I observe among fellow coach owners and some seen this week are still very concerning.

 

[scottramer]

You speak a very true statement Neal. The first year and a half with my new London Aire was a nightmare. I was fixing problems that were literally nothing more than attention to detail durning the build. From loose pex piping to stretched wiring to full wall slide problems that I had to make a 4000 mile round trip back to Nappanee. I am little OCD (well maybe a lot. LOL) and I have spent countless hours over the last 2 years securing, modifing and improving the build. Friends laugh at me saying I'm going to have a a Prevost when I am done. But the bottom line, 75% relates mostly to assembly line workmanship.

 

[TheLooks]

It reflects the new society Neal. I have been in the custom home building and cabinetry business for almost 40 years and continue to do handyman stuff for mostly well off people. I have observed since moving to Tennessee that the only difference in a $1 million home and a $300,000 home is likely the location and size. Mostly size. The quality is appalling in all of them. Caulking is used by the case, nothing is plumb or square, and I have seen stair Newel posts screwed to the surface of the finish floor with long drywall screws. In what should be considered premier homes.

 

[Jim]

Looks like we getting closer to answering the big question. Will the purchase bring Winnebago's quality up, or will it bring Newmar's quality down?

 

[AbdRahim]

This is very sad. I must be showing my age. There used to be a day when people took pride in doing a good job.

I think, all who work on building a coach should have to sign a document which is provided to the customer. Each of their bonuses should be based on customer satisfaction with the coach. Each item which is a result of poor workmanship should be a reduction in bonus for the responsible worker.

You can see I would not make it as a boss in corporate America today. Reducing the number of billions in corporate profits per year slightly (less units produced), would be partially compensated by lower warranty costs. Building a better mouse trap at a reasonable price, should over the long run, result in selling more mouse traps, with less warranty overhead. This would also free repair workers to do more quality control. Happy customers will sell the product.

Yes I suffer from chronic logic disease. And I for that greed often leads to a quick demise. Sigh!

 

[redbaron]

The more glaring issue is lack of customer service and downturn from what used to be.

Quality issues are not new. I've dealt with those since my 2013 Dutchstar.

What is new is the poor attitude and general downturn of customer service.

 

[Chargerman]

I think that the whole business model of production rv manufacturing is flawed and almost impossible to change dramatically. The reason for this comment is that the production folks are paid piecework so no one is going to hit the stop button (if there was one) for a quality issue because it affects their pay. Then if one company decided to make a dramatic change that put the focus on quality and reducing returns which thereby would hold the labor force accountable many folks would jump ship and head down the road to a competitor to avoid a higher level of accountability and a likely hit to the wallet in the short term.
Surely the manufacturers are aware that if they could improve quality the bottom line and customer satisfaction would both improve. The difficulty in considering this conversion is dealing with the short term reduction in output, the additional significant cost and time to implement a solid system and engaging and holding onto a skilled and hardworking workforce.

 

[J&JD]

This is very sad. I must be showing my age. There used to be a day when people took pride in doing a good job.

I think, all who work on building a coach should have to sign a document which is provided to the customer. Each of their bonuses should be based on customer satisfaction with the coach. Each item which is a result of poor workmanship should be a reduction in bonus for the responsible worker.

You can see I would not make it as a boss in corporate America today. Reducing the number of billions in corporate profits per year slightly (less units produced), would be partially compensated by lower warranty costs. Building a better mouse trap at a reasonable price, should over the long run, result in selling more mouse traps, with less warranty overhead. This would also free repair workers to do more quality control. Happy customers will sell the product.

Yes I suffer from chronic logic disease. And I for that greed often leads to a quick demise. Sigh!

I have often thought along a similar vein. At the very least the workforce should sign their names on a coach work order next to the items they were responsible for. One would think that might make them more careful. Those with exceptional records should then receive a nice bonus, and those with poor records would be easy to spot. Judy D

 

[Neemer]

It starts at the top. Who the hell is at the top, anyway? EVERYONE used to know who that was.

 

[AbdRahim]

One way to deal with a company losing people might be to pay a significant bonus to the individuals that have signed off on each coach according to customer satisfaction at the end of a year or so.This would be added to their piecework pay.The hit to corporate profit would be made up by consistent increases in customer sales, as a result of their reputation for great qualiy. It would take time to implement and to see the increase to the bottom line, but would pay off in the long run.

You could also have levels of techs with different pay for each leve. Levels would be based on the quality of work as measured by customer complaints and management observations of the quality of work.

These things could have a near term positive impact on quality and a long term positive impact on profit.

I read something from Warren Buffett. He said to invest in his company, if you are going to hold it for five years or more. Profit would be almost assured. If you are going to dump it in a year you would be better going elsewhere.

Perhaps the industry should consult with Brett Davis, of NIRV, or Brian Clemens at Forest River (They have a long way to go - one man cannot do everything, but he seems to bend over backwards to please the customer and improve the brand.