# RV Quality Issues



## Scotjimland (May 23, 2005)

It seems that it's not only British built vans that have quality problems..

A survey of American owners put 'Built Quality' at the top of their list of top ten concerns.

1. Quality of RV manufacturing 98% 
2. Availability of competent RV service 93% 
3. Existence of adequate Lemon Law protection 87% 
4. High fuel costs 86% 
5. Protection from local parking ordinances 79% 
6. Availability of suitable commercial RV parks 65% 
7. Federal access user fees (80% retained by federal facility) 63% 
8. Decreased Availability/high cost of RV storage yards 52% 
9. Uniform state special RV drivers licensing 33%

They also seem to share many of the concerns that we do .. but we don't often hear RV owners on this forum complaining about build quality or dampness. Is this pride or are we genuinely more satisfied with our purchases ?

Personally I feel build quality with ours could have been better, in saying that it is now 10 years old and been well used, it has no sign of dampness anywhere, the fixtures and fittings are still good, door and locker catches are fine, blinds all work and there are no nagging problems and if looked after should last another ten years no problem.

What's your views, are the yanks better, do they suffer less from dampness or is it just a perception ?

If you are interested in the full RV owners report read more here:

RV News


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## androidGB (May 26, 2005)

I was interested in the "Lemon Law" reference, so looked it up HERE

I think we could do with something like that here

Andrew


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## Scotjimland (May 23, 2005)

Thanks Andrew.. good link, can you amend it, it has a double http .. 

RV owners are very quiet .. come on, what's good .. what's bad with RVs?


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## 101411 (Oct 15, 2006)

Nothing at all. Its all good!!  

Must say im a bit surprised at the lack of responses though. I mean we all know that RVs are great but surely there must be SOMETHING wrong with the odd RV somewhere in the UK. 8O 

If this was asking about Euro m/hs problems there would be a million responses by now 8O.

Come on lads (and lasses) tell us whats wrong with the build quality of your RVs :wink:


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## asprn (Feb 10, 2006)

Dazzer said:


> Come on lads (and lasses) tell us whats wrong with the build quality of your RVs :wink:


I'm perfectly happy with the quality of mine. It far exceeds any Euro van I've owned or seen.

Dougie.


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## LC1962 (Oct 6, 2005)

Er............... Um................well..........nothing springs to mind........

We did have an RV with a roof problem once, nothing to do with the build quality - the previous owner (a rather large Nascar fanatic) had put his deckchair leg through the roof whilst watching the racing! :roll: Easily fixed tho' and the present UK owner (also into Motorsport) still raves about it several years on


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## 98452 (Apr 2, 2006)

I got some paintwork to do but I knew that before i bought it (not easy to find a paint shop who can accommodate her here in the UK) but nought urgent.

Inside is almost perfect and all works.

Drives like a dream.


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## artona (Jan 19, 2006)

Hi

Slightly off topic but I am very pleased with my Eurovan - a Euromobil.

Sorry to butt in.


stew


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## Scotjimland (May 23, 2005)

> Many of our RV's are put together by employees for the Workshop for the Blind. I think trained dogs would do a better job.





> I can't be alone. Every time I go to work on my RV I find new quality lows. I went to add an extra 110v outlet. Half of the screws holding the wires in are striped. There was at least a half cup of metal shavings all over the place and saw dust. Then I went to put the power board back in and I noticed 2 of the 4 screws were screwed into nothing. When I got to the battery connection it looked like a 3rd grader did it with a knife and vice grips. Know I have to redo this.
> 
> Went to change a vent cover. You guessed it. Half of the screws holding the molding in place were striped and the other half were cock eyed and screwed into nothing. I dropped a screw into a heater duct. I go to take it off (it's on the floor) and the screw keeps on turning....won't come out, IT'S STRIPPED.
> 
> Every where I turned I found metal shavings, stripped screws(head) screws that screw into nothing and just general half a**ed workmanship. Are all RVs like this or do you simply get what you pay for. I know we bought an entry level unit, but this is nuts!!!


Two rants from a USRV forum...

I'm happy with ours but it could be better, I recognise some of the above problems ..


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## olley (May 1, 2005)

Hi jim they only import the cream over here.  

So far just two small water leaks either side of the front cap, easily fixed with some lap sealant. 

There is a recall on the Actia consul, you have to remove and send it back to be flashed, so far I haven't bothered with it. 

The electronic spark doesn't work on the hob, we use a gas lighter

Steering column wiring harness had a short and needed replacing

Wrong type of sink fitted, a sit on sink has been underslung and not very well at that, I have removed it, resealed and refitted it, and fitted additional supports. I cannot believe winnebago did this and assume the original corian underslung was broken, and the dealer just bodged this in.

Oil leak on offside half shaft, I removed and resealed, been ok for 5,000miles now.

Olley


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## Scotjimland (May 23, 2005)

Hi Olley 

I think a lot of problems were resolved by the time I bought mine.. and probably this is true with others that are imported.. as you say, hand picked, the cream. 

I've repaired the following. 

Leak on front cap, sealant replaced.
Sink mixer tap replaced,plastic one fell apart.
Resealed around shower
Drawer runners on several drawers refixed with screws.. replacing staples.
Screws and nails protruding into the belly lockers from above.. lethal !

However, these a failrly minor, my biggest gripe is the crappy 12v wiring.. it's a disgrace and the dashboard wiring is a NIGHTMARE .. birds nest comes to mind and the running lights give problems due to water ingress. 

I'm sure there is more .. but hey ho, don't you just luv em :wink:


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## 98452 (Apr 2, 2006)

OK forgot that my cooker hob needs manual lighting :roll: 

Door locks just stop locking properly so using deadbolt.

Noisy water pump (needs no attention)

Locker boxes needs locks adjusting.

Occasional fan belt squeal.

This is ten year old though.


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## krull (Jul 22, 2006)

Dazzer said:


> Nothing at all. Its all good!!
> 
> Must say im a bit surprised at the lack of responses though. I mean we all know that RVs are great but surely there must be SOMETHING wrong with the odd RV somewhere in the UK. 8O
> 
> ...


You might as well ask turkeys to vote for xmas. :lol:


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## 98585 (Apr 9, 2006)

As an RV newbie I would like to offer the following to this thread. In the last 3 months I have looked at hundreds of RV's, from 20 year old busses that appear to have been around the world twice to brand new beasts that are a festival of leather and chrome and cost the earth. I think that the one word (apart from "Fun" or "wow") that sums them all up is "substantial"

If things break or wear out they are fixable. All the Euro (all british) vans Ive owned since my first in 91 have been built like a caravan, that is they are built to weight, which very often means that things are light but not very strong. When a screw has come out of a piece of MDF it is destined to be loose forever as the hole gets bigger. But in an RV its all real wood or plywood which makes permanent repairs easy. 

Climbing under and over my new van in the past few days I have been amazed at the almost basic but substantial building methods. Angle iron that I havent seen since our old council house garden fence is in abundance underneath, and its good thick steel with big strong welds. Everything hangs of two massive oversize steel girders, such as you'd see on the eiffel tower, there is very little reliance on staples or glue. Proper door handles, cupboard and door catches that dont rely on piddly little magnets, but use basic rugged design that cant wear out.

So I would offer that they probably have as many problems as any Euro van its just that they have been fixed.


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## androidGB (May 26, 2005)

ScotJimland said:


> Thanks Andrew.. good link, can you amend it, it has a double http ..


Sorted, thanks for the heads up Jim (Scotland)

Nice well balanced view JimJam, I think you're probably spot on

Andrew


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## 95633 (Jul 4, 2005)

> I think a lot of problems were resolved by the time I bought mine


Buying used has (hopefully) given the new buyer the headache, which he/she has put right.

If anyone tells you they've not had a list of issues with their new RV - they're LYING !!

The quality control on RVs is just non-existent.

I would be very wary of buying a 1-3 year old RV with less than 15,000 miles on it.

If it isn't being used/driven the faults have not had chance to show - and when they finally do (and they will!!) the warranty has expired. Some owners will then get a proper (expensive) fix, some will DIY (possible bodge) and others will just make do without (or have a work around solution).

Thankfully, whilst we've had a few issues with ours, we did enough driving to get all the items fixed under warranty. We havent had any build-related issues go wrong now for 6 months as we were very thorough in getting even the most minor things fixed.



> Noisy water pump (needs no attention)


John - check to see if they put some rubber/foam washers between the pump and wall - I would suggest adding some (even cut out bits of rubber) as this will stop most noise.

Paul


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## Scotjimland (May 23, 2005)

Hi Paul 

Good post.. 

My own view is that while there is no disputing the quality of the materials, mechanicals, fixtures and fittings, build quality can leave a lot to be desired. 

The purpose of my post was to find out what goes wrong in order to help potential buyers .. if there were any problems they should be aware of and if these were particular to one make or to all. 
eg. Dampness,... the bane of many euro vans .. but seldom mentioned by RV owners. 

No one believes that RVs are problem free, so lets hear it from the others. 

Turkeys voting for Christmas .. :lol: :lol: luv it


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## 88927 (May 10, 2005)

Hi Jim
Good thread mate. I suspect that there are many quality issues with ARV's but it would be interesting to see the responses to a similar thread about European MH's.
Our old bus is 12 years old nearly and for its age and use (it was originally imported new to be used as accommodation for film sets all over Europe...) it has stood the test of time very well. As you know we have had our fair share of problems, however were they quality issues, no I don't think so. Most fixes that we have carried out have been either to update something or improve it or to replace something that has broken.
Update and improve includes a complete reupholstery (original was starting to show its age and was not to our taste...) fitting new kitchen tap because the seal had broken and the replacement was buttons from Stateside Tuning, so better to fit a new tap than repair the old one. Replacing the Magic Chef with a cooker!!!!! and various other little things that I cannot remember because they were fairly insignificant in the scheme of things.
Replace broken stuff including a new steering box and booster pump, replacing the diesel lift pump and errr umm, I am running out of things that I remember replacing now :lol: :lol: 
We have only ever seen 1 RV that had water ingress problems and that was a 25 year old van where the owner had ripped the rubber roof on a branch and not tried to repair it.
I have to agree that the 12 volt wiring was carried out by industrious rats and could and should be better, it is generally very poor in its installation although certainly up to the job.
Our van is built with real wood and screws inside and does not rattle and squeak when chugging down the road, up hill and down dale. The engine is superb and reasonably powerful although I think the more modern units are better and use less fuel (which really is something that the American could address if they wanted to...)
I think the chassis on ours is superb in its construction although being a 30 odd year old design leaves a little room for improvement. I think the later Workhorse chassis (same as Olley's), with its foot wider front track (yes really the front wheels are a foot further apart than on our P30.....) is a more comfortable ride and the steering is more positive, although in saying that, the P30 uses a recirculating ball system I believe rather than the more modern rack and pinion gear.
All in all, we are thrilled with our bus and compared to the Kon Tiki and the Hymer we previously owned we have found that it is impossible to compare the RV to them for a number of reasons, but the main one being the construction and general quality of fixtures and fittings and the way RV's are actually screwed together. I do feel so sorry when I read about people having nightmare vans to contend with and it does seem that RV owners seem to have less to complain about in general.
I hope this is helpful

Keith


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## 98452 (Apr 2, 2006)

I did have a new AC unit fitted out in the States which cost me $650 because while testing it in it's first week found it to be faulty.

Had the bottom half resprayed out there too and not happy with the finish but my dealer took it to another paintshop unbeknown to me at the time.


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## RAH (Apr 22, 2007)

There is also the old adage that the more options you have on a wash machine the more that can go wrong.

I am sure that the build quality in our Vogue is quite high, but I doubt many would have to sleep with the wife's shoulder wrap draped over the bedroom window for a month while a shade motor was being delivered.


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## 99412 (May 25, 2006)

I was surprised to find that there was nothing in the way of insulation between the rear inner and outer skins of our Holiday Rambler. Not the end the end of the world, but indicative of the beast being shoved together on piece-work.


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## 101411 (Oct 15, 2006)

krull said:


> Dazzer said:
> 
> 
> > Nothing at all. Its all good!!
> ...


Krull

We may have different opinions on the "right m/h" but the turkey thing is a classic!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## vilasalvas (Nov 14, 2006)

*American Junk!*

I can safely say that the current sub $100k American RV product can only be descibed as badly made junk. Its like the majority of American houses, they are just very flash timber framed sheds. Americans are confortable with this type of thing. Funnily enough, the older US RV's appear to be made a lot better than the new ones. RV factories in America do not know the meaning of the term "quality control". If the part that is fitted on the track is broken or damaged, no problem, it will get fixed by the dealers. The dealers are too busy to do all of the repairs, and the result is that most people you speak to in the US have loads of problems that are not fixed. I have yet to me someone with a perfect RV!!!
What you have got to remember is that the average new 30 foot C class can be bought for £20 - £25,000, and the average new A class can be bought for around £25 - £40,000. Compare these to the the likes of a quality larger European motorhome and they are about half the price. You are buying a cheap product. The workforce slap thses together with little or no care at all. That being said, I am on my second RV in America (I keep the current one in California) and I also have a Forest River here in the UK. I love the lifeslye but cannot believe the bad workmanship i have to rectify on these units. It is really is very very poor. Brands owned are Holiday Rambler 100% junk, Forest River (not much better) Ford F350 pickup, OK but a bit crude and a Doubletree Mobile Suite Fifth wheel (much much better but moving up the price range) :evil:


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