Coachmen Quality

[blwnsmoke]

Originally Posted by Tireman9

IMO Quality is in the eye of the beholder. I don't call building an RV such that heat ducts are crushed to half height good quality. Or having exposed copper from wire not properly insulated or requiring interior panels be removed and water hoses be disconnected at the water pump fwhen winterizing to be signs of good quality or design.
Having the vinyl graphics crack or the stitching on the awing to fail at 3 years a sign of poor quality components being selected. Water lines should not be attached with electrical tape. Half full cans of paint should not be left under the bathroom floor. Wires should not be crushed by the battery hold down bolts. Welds holding the exhaust should not fail at 6 months. All 6 brake light bulbs should not be corroded at 3 months. You should not be able to see the ground from openings in the coach floor. Basement locks should have keys that work. Sheet metal screws are not proper for attaching cabinet slides to particle board. Bumper paint should not come off in sheets.

But then again that's just me.

Pictures available for those that have questions on items on this list.

I completely agree.. there are so many things that should be caught at the factory... My 1 year warranty is expiring in 3 weeks and I still don't have my full punch list fixed yet. I have almost 20 things (some extremely minor but still, want it fixed on their dime, not mine) that need fixing.

Crap as simple as the sink and shower drains should not be rusting after 5 camping trips.. Most are cosmetic so I know once fixed/replaced, all should be well going forward.

I will say though, we still completely LOVE out camper and would do it all over again.

[chuckw5kav]

I think proof is in the pudding, you see a large number of Coachmen trailers going down the road. Even
though our Coachmen Chappy is 9 years old it is built
pretty darn good. We bought used after getting sticker
shock over what they wanted for new 5th wheels.

We have been camping off and on for a number of years and have always liked Coachmen even though
we have had other brands. Just remember what you
see on this site is only a fraction of what owners really
think.

As well there is the ones that stir the pot stating that this brand is the worst they have ever seen, if you
look around you see them on other bands saying the
same thing.

1. The best thing I can say is get a dealer that will give you good service, read the deal reviews here on this site.

2. Do not sign anything till you are completely satisfied
with the unit you are buying and you have done a very
good PDI.

3. Do not let them tell you to take the unit home and make a appointment to get things fixed.

4. If a dealer will not do any of the above, do not walk run out the door and don't look back.

[Dave.E]

Since I poster earlier that I had replaced the kitchen faucet in my new 360ibl I would like to explain the problem it had. On closer inspection I found a lot of wood chips some metal chips and some white stuff that looked like Styrofoam in the check valve leading to the spout of the faucet. If the factory had blown out the lines before hooking them up this would not have happened. this goes directly to the quality of craftsmanship. I like our trailer, I just wish their workers and inspectors took more pride in what the do. If they did quality would be better, its not as bad as some trailer manufacturers, it just could be a little better with a little pride in their work.

[blwnsmoke]

Originally Posted by Dave.E

Since I poster earlier that I had replaced the kitchen faucet in my new 360ibl I would like to explain the problem it had. On closer inspection I found a lot of wood chips some metal chips and some white stuff that looked like Styrofoam in the check valve leading to the spout of the faucet. If the factory had blown out the lines before hooking them up this would not have happened. this goes directly to the quality of craftsmanship. I like our trailer, I just wish their workers and inspectors took more pride in what the do. If they did quality would be better, its not as bad as some trailer manufacturers, it just could be a little better with a little pride in their work.

You are absolutely right.. the majority of the issues are with the people who are actually building the campers, not the campers themselves. It is a shame that they want to half ass everything and don't car about the details in their craftsmanship.

Staples shouldn't be sticking out of the carpet, drawers should not be splintering, couch should not be ripped, door handles should not be installed too low so you can see through the hole, cabinets and doors should not be opening during travel, flooring should not have small pencil size eraser bubbles because of the particle board under it that was never swept after installed....

[wingedone]

I took a tour of where they build the Chapperals and Brookstones a couple years back. The two faults I found were:

1) It's piece work. They had to do so many trailers per day. When that number was reached they were done for the day. Thus the impetus is do it as quick as possible and they were generally done in 6 hours. Longer time off was their motive, not pay (same no matter what), not quality.

2) IIRC there were about 26 stations along the build, from frame in the door to finished product. There were 2 QC inspectors. Ain't no way 2 people are going to catch everything. That's not wanting to find problems.

Having said that, we love our Brookstone. We bought it before taking the tour. It had way too many quality problems, but we were lucky enough to live close enough to the factory, to take it back to Bob for repairs under warranty. Thank goodness or our opinion could be quite different.

I highly recommend, if you can, take it to Coachmen for warranty repair. It sucks if you live far away.

[DreiHunde]

Very happy with our Catalina. Had one warranty issue (water heater wiring) and there was no issue getting that taken care of.