Travel trailer numbers

[BradJB]

I am new to the forum and I bought a new 2019 Grey Wolf 20RDSE in January. Reading here on the forum has caused me to question many things about my new TT. I am not new to travel trailers but I have much to learn. I have learned about some fairly recent troubles from other FR owners about issues such as water tanks falling off their TT. I checked mine and it seems very well built and supported. I just read about a 2019 Grey Wolf model that owners are complaining about a leak that fills the underside insulation with water. Water pumps badly connected to floor. Outlets that don’t work. Showers that leak. Water pipes kinked. Furnaces that don’t work. It is enough to keep me up at night. I continually run to the camper in storage to check on the latest failure I have read about. It is winter and we have only used the TT one time. Although I have not checked the air conditioning, everything worked on our one trip. Are the failures I read about here on the forum an anomaly? Are they one in a thousand? Are we waiting for the Japanese to step into the market and kick the slop out of sloppy Amarican manufacturers? Opinions?

[TheWolfPaq82]

It's my opinion that due to the RV industry booming for the last 5-6 years, quality has dropped across the entire industry. It seems to be quantity over quality these days. As far as some of the components, many RV manufacturers use the same companies and they are subject to whatever level of quality of the components produced. We have a 2018 Cherokee and I had it at the dealer once for an electrical issue and that was it. There has been some smaller issues...trim coming loose, missing screws, support for table bed was inadequate, but none of that was beyond my capabilities and I took care of it myself. Some trailers are going to have issues, but most I believe will only have minor ones.

[SailorSam20500]

^ X2. Wishing you the best...

[Kimber45]

I have purchased 4 new trailers in the past 10 years. I have never had anything happened so bad that it ruined a trip or I was unable to use the unit. each time I kept a running punch list of small warranty things and would drop the unit off at my convenience to be fixed. Smaller things fixing myself and not evening fooling around with the dealer.

[WFD]

Like others have mentioned....some things will go wrong for sure...this is our 3rd trailer and as others have said, nothing that was so bad to ruin a trip. little things that were either loose or became undone, and all of it that |i was able to fix myself with relative ease. Some things were not necessarily wrong or broken but I felt could be better so I improved them. I think people that buy a trailer and are not at all handy or need to run to the dealer to have every little thing repaired will probably not have an enjoyable experience. Can the quality control and workmanship be better...absolutely. But if you are somewhat of a handy person, you should be fine!
Also keep in mind that people are quick to report problems or seek out answers to problems they are having and that is a lot of what you hear and read. Much fewer go online and say how everything is trouble free.

[Was]

Our 2016 Puma 28fqdb hasn’t had any issues big enough to require returning to the dealer. It’s had minor problems, but I was able to take care of everything that came up myself. Hopefully our luck holds up. We’re in our 3rd year now with no major problems.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by BradJB

Are the failures I read about here on the forum an anomaly? Are they one in a thousand? Are we waiting for the Japanese to step into the market and kick the slop out of sloppy Amarican manufacturers? Opinions?

First, many make the statement about Asian manufacturers step into the RV market.
This is not going to happen. They wouldn't be able to sell many in their own market because it's a lifestyle that hardly anyone there participates in. The shipping costs alone, would leave little or no profit to export them.

The only way something like that could happen, is if foreign companies would buy an American RV manufacturer, which is quite doubtful.

The Auto market was something they knew quite well, also sold locally and could manufacture and export efficiently. The same can't be said for RV manufacturing.

As for all the complaints you read, part of it is true but remember that many people usually come to forums, like this one, because they're having issues.
Those that aren't, rarely post about how their RV is great and they don't have any problems.

I've bought 2 new TTs over the last 13 years and other than some basic issues(which were fixed under warranty), I've been quite happy with them.

[Go West]

We've been happy with our '17 Grey Wolf 25RL - no issues so far.

That 20RDSE is a nice rear-living floor plan. I went back and forth between the 20RDSE and the one we bought (another no-slide model).

Enjoy your Grey Wolf trailer!

[B and B]

Originally Posted by bikendan

First, many make the statement about Asian manufacturers step into the RV market.
This is not going to happen. They wouldn't be able to sell many in their own market because it's a lifestyle that hardly anyone there participates in. The shipping costs alone, would leave little or no profit to export them.

The only way something like that could happen, is if foreign companies would buy an American RV manufacturer, which is quite doubtful.

The Auto market was something they knew quite well, also sold locally and could manufacture and export efficiently. The same can't be said for RV manufacturing.

As for all the complaints you read, part of it is true but remember that many people usually come to forums, like this one, because they're having issues.
Those that aren't, rarely post about how their RV is great and they don't have any problems.

I've bought 2 new TTs over the last 13 years and other than some basic issues(which were fixed under warranty), I've been quite happy with them.

They did Erwin Hymer bought Roadtrek. Since has filed recievership as some money went missing. Thor bought Erwin Hymer Europe excluding the Canadian division.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by B and B

They did Erwin Hymer bought Roadtrek. Since has filed recievership as some money went missing. Thor bought Erwin Hymer Europe excluding the Canadian division.

My comment was about the Asian market, not the European market

[NJKris]

Forums are good and bad. You are highly likely to read many more bad stories than good. Too much reading will drive you crazy. Don't worry about stuff until it actually happens. Be proactive and inspect things, but don't be paranoid.

[K2Kevin]

I've certainly seen a lot of issues with others on the youtubes. Call me lucky, fortunate, or just religious with maintenance and cleaning, but I have yet to have any serious issues or failures. (Yes, im knocking).

I have had blinds that failed due to strings breaking, I had a usb port go bad (Replaced myself for $10), repaired bed frame where is was coming apart due to the struts and poor "fasteners" in the corners (Few brackets and screws), reinforced a few areas I felt would fail in the future, and had a light bulb go out.

For me, its keeping all components, vents and appliances clean, lubricating joints and hinges, winterizing properly and throughly, cover in the fall and winter, being safe and protected when plugging into power, and checking plumbing connections where accessible.

Many issues are certainly caused by factory and part defects/workmanship. I see so many problems that could be avoided by easy maintenance and cleaning.

[Bedlinedf250]

As long as you did a proper walk through when purchasing you should be good. This year will be our third season in our grey wolf and the only issue I had was the canopy started to tear, and the dealer sold me it with lousy batteries. The canopy was covered under warranty, and the batteries is my fault I guess. If I knew what I know now I would have done the optional upgrade to better quality. As far as the walk through it took us almost 5 hrs and I'm glad I did it that way. I checked the water city hookup and tanks toilets all faucets including outdoor shower tested all lights and outlets. We ran the ac for at least an hour the heater for an hour stove micro and oven.
As with everything else I'm sure theirs lemons. Even Japanese cars companies have lemons.

[BradJB]

Unfortunately, my walk through was less than satisfactory. The youngster who did it was marginally knowledgeable. Then, it was winter and the tt was winterized. In spite of my request to fill and check the water system, they did not do so. They said I would have to pay to rewinterize. It was well above freezing that day. A couple weeks later we used the trailer and was able to check the water system. Of course I blew out the water lines after that weekend since we still have occasional freezing temps. I still have not tried the air conditioning.

[RockyMtnMarty]

With thousands and thousands of these things produced and sold, it is not unusual to see so many horror stories online. Complaints tend to motivate people more to post on social media than positive experiences do.

With that said, RVs are not built on automated manufacturing lines like the automobile industry where quality control a can be regularly managed and improved. They are built one at a time by laborers of varying skill sets...and turnover in the jobs is relatively high. This is because RVs, unlike cars, are not necessities so sales volumes go way up and way down depending on the state of the economy. Investment in automation is not economcally feasible. Manufacturers hire up people when the economy is good...and lay off when it goes down. So, quality control is more difficult to manage. Combine this with the low cost (cheap) materials they use to keep the price points affordable and the unit light in weight...and you have the formula for quality issues.

With all that said...they still could do way better. However, there are those of us who have had a few minor things go wrong but overall have enjoyed excellent and enjoyable service from our RVs. I am going on year 5 with my current toy hauler and it has been very good to me over thousands of miles and many trips. It is important to be maniacal with inspection and maintenance....take care of it, and it should take care of you. Happy Camping!