Winnebago made like any cheap TT.

[crow3051]

We bought a micro mini winnie 2108 fbs September of 22 brand new. Stayed in it overnight at the dealership and had a water leak under kitchen sink, the refrigerator door top plastic cover and awning wiring cover come off. The dealership fixed them. One week later after driving camper 149 miles, put the black water flush on the water port and turned on. Water was instantly coming out of the bottom of the camper. Took off port and tightened it. No more leak. Front inside speaker motor working, loose pin. Hwt stopped heating up in one month after purchase, fixed it. Three months, leak in slideout. Dealer had to fix leak and damaged wood. Drawer is under stove came off track. Stove handle lights quit working. Six months, 12 v battery def. Nine months, seal around main window coming off. One year-squeaky awning, bathroom door. 14 months, awning comes in at a snails pace on 110v. Camper 12v system not working. Redo grounds on frame and exposed fuses on frame. 16 months-spray foam under camper missing and laminate backsplash coming off. Dinette table delaminated, manufacturer replaced. Water leaks under sink from hot water hose and 12v pump. Manufacturer sent us new pump. 20 months-Front jack stopped working, exposed 30a fuse on frame. Corroded. Bought new one and relocated. All kinds of other little problems. This is mostly a Winnebago problem, not the manufacturer of the componentsSub par manufacturing.

 

[Dan_Frisbie]

Sadly, this story is all too common with new RVs. It doesn't seem to matter if it's a towable or driveable RV, the new ones are plagued with quality control issues.
I always advise people to buy one that's a few years old. It likely hasn't been used much and the original owner has spent so much time, effort, and money getting all of the bugs out that he or she is completely disgusted with the unit and just wants it gone.

 

[FL-JOE]

After owning 2 used RVs (one fiver and one gas coach) and 3 new RVs (two fivers and one triple axle diesel pusher) I can honestly say that new and used RVs all take constant maintenance and repairs. It is the "nature of the beast" so to speak.

I will admit that my MSRP $300,000+ Newmar DP took less repairs and maintenance than one of my new cheaper fivers, but I still had to break the tool kit out many times.

Not that it will make you feel any better, but try to keep the actual value of your RV in mind, in other words the real worth of it. Say the MSRP of your new Mini Winnie was $100,000. This is just my example because I have zero idea of what your new RV was listed for. So if the advertised MSRP is $100,000 then the factory gave it to your dealer for between $45,000 and $55,000, depending on how many your dealer sells each year. If you got it for 30% below MSRP then you might have paid $70,000 for something that actually only cost $45,000 to $55,000 to produce.

So in reality you can't look at it like "here is this $100,000 vehicle that needs constant repairs"......but instead you have to look at it as "this $45,000 vehicle needs constant repairs". See, I'll bet you feel better already.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

After owning 2 used RVs (one fiver and one gas coach) and 3 new RVs (two fivers and one triple axle diesel pusher) I can honestly say that new and used RVs all take constant maintenance and repairs. It is the "nature of the beast" so to speak.

I will admit that my MSRP $300,000+ Newmar DP took less repairs and maintenance than one of my new cheaper fivers, but I still had to break the tool kit out many times.

Not that it will make you feel any better, but try to keep the actual value of your RV in mind, in other words the real worth of it. Say the MSRP of your new Mini Winnie was $100,000. This is just my example because I have zero idea of what your new RV was listed for. So if the advertised MSRP is $100,000 then the factory gave it to your dealer for between $45,000 and $55,000, depending on how many your dealer sells each year. If you got it for 30% below MSRP then you might have paid $70,000 for something that actually only cost $45,000 to $55,000 to produce.

So in reality you can't look at it like "here is this $100,000 vehicle that needs constant repairs"......but instead you have to look at it as "this $45,000 vehicle needs constant repairs". See, I'll bet you feel better already.

Well Joe! The answer is no!

Every product on the market has the same rules. If you pay 50000 for a product,you did so comparing the same assumed quality products in the same price range!

That of course is if you didn't let foolishness distractions, like floor plans interfere with their heart felt emotions.

As customers we must take upon ourselves responsibility, for looking at the distractions rather than quality! After the contract is signed,we must live with the quality!!! Or sell,a contract is a contract!!!

Of course, for way to many RV purchasers, when that blinding star dust falls from their eyes, have the quality giving them buyers remorse!

The only remedy for this, will be when RV buyers start looking at quality, rather than making excuses for the manufacturers of low quality rigs!!!

When I made things, the rule for success was 50% for materials, 50% for other expenses! If bringing a product to market on the bright side, the product should sell for 4× the material cost, that is if there is no middle man!!! Many manufacturers will not bring a product to market if they can't see a way to meet those numbers.

Warranty is covered by insurance! The more quality problems the higher the cost of that insurance. In the long run more corners are cut as the insurance rises, and ultimately the spiral consumes all profits. Can you guess what happens to the company that starts down that spiral???

 

[FL-JOE]

I guess the difference in my outlook and yours Kevin is that I decided to accept that lower priced RVs meant lower quality RVs. Having sold, traded, and bought 5 different RVs since 2011 I don't have vast experience on the subject though. I do know that my new 2017 Newmar 4369 was the highest quality RV that I ever owned even though I still had to do a minor repair or adjustment here and there.

For years I have followed different RV forums reading posts about horrible workmanship. These posts are frequent when the subject is manufacturers models that sell for under $120,000. They get much less frequent when you start talking about models that sell for over $300,000.

There are inexpensive RVs on the market and always will be. Everyone has to remember that "inexpensive" in the RV world doesn't mean the same as "inexpensive" in the auto world. You can get by with buying a cheap model automobile and it will no doubt last you for years, nothing fancy but it will keep running. You run into a Camping World and buy a cheap RV and it will not last you for years and your frustration meter will go from 0 to 100 quickly.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

I guess the difference in my outlook and yours Kevin is that I decided to accept that lower priced RVs meant lower quality RVs. Having sold, traded, and bought 5 different RVs since 2011 I don't have vast experience on the subject though. I do know that my new 2017 Newmar 4369 was the highest quality RV that I ever owned even though I still had to do a minor repair or adjustment here and there.

For years I have followed different RV forums reading posts about horrible workmanship. These posts are frequent when the subject is manufacturers models that sell for under $120,000. They get much less frequent when you start talking about models that sell for over $300,000.

There are inexpensive RVs on the market and always will be. Everyone has to remember that "inexpensive" in the RV world doesn't mean the same as "inexpensive" in the auto world. You can get by with buying a cheap model automobile and it will no doubt last you for years, nothing fancy but it will keep running. You run into a Camping World and buy a cheap RV and it will not last you for years and your frustration meter will go from 0 to 100 quickly.

Sounds like you took upon yourself the responsibility for the quality you received.!!!

You solidified my comment, thank you very much!

If you feel the auto industry is any better, you likely never drove an older Ford ( author's note: could be said about all manufacturers)!

Don't take offence! I just had to pick one for an example!!!

Just as a side note! I had a bego motor home! The quality was there, but it was cheap! And the floor plan could have been improved!!!

However,under the image,there were no surprises. This again, shows the importance of not making a heart based purchase!!! Rather buy quality!!!

 

[FL-JOE]

I apologize crow3051 for getting off track on your original post.

Kevin, you can complain, post negative comments, gripe, and stay upset at the RV industry for having low quality and subpar quality control, or you can just learn to fix things as you go along, do preventive maintenance, and enjoy traveling in an RV. Life is way too short.

If I was never going to spend any more than $90,000 or $100,000 for an RV (new or used) and then freak out because things broke several times a year then I would simply not be an RV owner.

And I do feel the auto industry is much better quality, as is the home building industry. Admittedly I trade vehicles every couple of years but rarely do I have them back to my dealer except for scheduled service. As a side not my last 3 vehicles have been Fords. Now if I was to purchase a 15 year old Ford pickup with 190,000 miles on it then I would fully expect things to break on it during my ownership. I would either learn to fix most of them myself or be prepared to spend tons of money to keep it on the road.

Certain items in this world are manufactured with pretty good quality. Automobiles, firearms, to name a couple. RVs generally are not. If you can't live with that then don't RV, because you certainly are not going to change it my friend.

 

[sanda]

My take on quality of travel trailers. I have owned many over the years from different manufactures. Most of us want lighter weight units that don't require a semi tractor to pull them. With lighter units comes the use of more plastics, lighter frames and other cheap components .
That combined with poor build quality gives the industry a black eye.