โMay-08-2019 10:38 AM
โDec-20-2019 09:40 AM
drsteve wrote:RobertRyan wrote:
A few words from here we imported the grand total of 60 US RV's into Australia. About 500 from Europe and 10,000 from China last year on top of 25,000 locally made ones
So in comparison US quality is pretty bad
Robert, I've seen you post your opinion that Chinese RVs are trash, complete with pics of abandoned shells that were left where they broke down. So if import numbers are to be used as a gauge of quality, does that mean the Euro products are worse than the Chinese offerings, but better than US made RVs?
Curious too if the US imports were something on the upper end, like say an Airstream or a Northwood product, or were they entry lever Forest River trailers?
โDec-20-2019 09:33 AM
GDS-3950BH wrote:RobertRyan wrote:
A few words from here we imported the grand total of 60 US RV's into Australia. About 500 from Europe and 10,000 from China last year on top of 25,000 locally made ones
So in comparison US quality is pretty bad
I've bought and accumulated a lot of things over the years, but can honestly say I have never seen anything with a stamp that said "Made in Australia". I am sure everything there is A#1 100% high quality in spite of the rules of economics.
The US RV Industry has a hard time keeping up with demand in North America, they have no need to export product to a minuscule market 9500 miles away that supports sales of 35,560 units yearly. You can be sure it has been researched to no end by US manufacturers, and found to not make any economic sense no matter what the quality level is.
Saying US quality is bad as a general rule based on sales of RV's in or imports to Austrailia is like saying anything made in Austrailia is pretty bad quality because they don't export anything to Latvia or Iceland.
โDec-20-2019 06:03 AM
RobertRyan wrote:
A few words from here we imported the grand total of 60 US RV's into Australia. About 500 from Europe and 10,000 from China last year on top of 25,000 locally made ones
So in comparison US quality is pretty bad
โDec-20-2019 01:00 AM
RobertRyan wrote:
A few words from here we imported the grand total of 60 US RV's into Australia. About 500 from Europe and 10,000 from China last year on top of 25,000 locally made ones
So in comparison US quality is pretty bad
โDec-19-2019 11:34 PM
wireman wrote:gbopp wrote:crasster wrote:
Many dealers that push the "junk" out of Indiana factories can have customers leave their unit from 4-5 months to administer the warranty fix...
As long as we keep buying junk, they will keep building junk.
Exactly. The American auto industry of the 70's is where the RV manufacturers still exist.
For the most part American built cars are much better than the junk they use to build.
Most RV builders have done a 180 and build worse quality than the 70's. Always exceptions of course.
Read their brochures and you would think everything is gold plated.
Point blank, they just don't care.
โDec-11-2019 04:38 PM
jdtrotter wrote:
Just read this entire thread and I see several votes for the ORV/Northwood trailers made in Oregon. After a totally horrible experience with a Forest River R-pod, we did a lot of research. Our son guided us toward the ORV and we would have bought one, but the smallest one they make was bigger than we wanted, and we definitely did not want a slide. Thus, we turned to other company started by Ron Nash, RIP, Northwood RV. The Nash 17k seemed perfect for us, so we found a dealer 200 miles away who had one, and we bought it!
We had no plans of camping in winter weather, but an unexpected medical problem has us camping for 2 months away from home in winter weather and we are mostly glad we have this trailer. It is so well insulated and built so that the propane heater keeps the holding tanks warm enough. We bought a blue heated hose and added extra wrapping to the connection and the small faucet and so far, all is well. The quality of everything is so superior to what we had before!
But we do have a couple of problems with the wiring that should not have happened and we will get them fixed after we leave here. We need to either find a good dealer somewhere, or we will go back to the factory. In our small town, our local RV repair people could not find the problem. When the heater turns on, it blows out the little fuse in the digital thermostat. Since we had to have heat, and needed in NOW, they pulled the two heater wires out of the digital thermostat and attached them to an old analog thermostat. It works. We also have to run the cable TV through the kitchen window. These things WILL be fixed under warranty and meantime, we LOVE the full size queen bed with a great mattress. ๐
For a small trailer, it is heavy, but it follows well behind our Tundra even while it sucks gas.
Overall, we recommend a Northwood product and our son has been extremely happy with his ORV.
BTW-- many years ago we owned a fiberglass Casita and it was trouble free. We took it across country and way down into Mexico and more. If they only made one a bit bigger, we would have bought another one without hesitation.
โDec-06-2019 02:04 PM
โDec-05-2019 06:45 AM
โDec-01-2019 04:58 PM
โNov-27-2019 10:49 AM
โNov-21-2019 04:55 AM
โNov-20-2019 04:23 PM
myredracer wrote:
AFAIK, OutdoorsRV (and the other Northwood brands) are only available in the west which is unfortunate. One feature I really like in them is that none have a Lippert frame and they build their own heavy duty, off-road certified frame which includes shocks. They put a lot of thought into various things that count. Not problem free, but much higher quality compared to the usual **** built in Indiana.
โNov-19-2019 09:53 AM
grubbster wrote:
This trend is happening across most purchased goods. It's not unique to the RV industry. It's our disposable culture.
For RV quality I have been very happy with my NuCamp T@B. They are not cheap but quality and cheap almost never go together. The designs are well thought out and they use quality components including custom made baltic birch cabinets which are very solid. None of this quarter inch luan ply **** they use in most campers now.
They are also coming out with a larger trailer soon that looks to rival Airstream in quality called the Avia. There are some tour videos on Youtube. Look them up.
โMay-12-2019 06:43 AM
colliehauler wrote:rbpru wrote:I don't know about electronics lifespan but on ebay you can buy pallets of new television's that are non-functional. I know several people who have had issues with their phone and simply replace them or upgrade offten. My last washing machine went out after 8 years of use (plastic gears). My last high end HP laptop the mother board failed after just a few years, cost more to fix then replace. Good friend is on his 3rd Sony lcd tv, was told average lifespan was 8 years. Another friend was already having to replace their Blu Ray DVD player. Look at all the posts about the even cheaper RV electronics that go out or fail without making it out of the 1 year warranty.
In spite of all the whinging and complaints, the only thing I can figure is, the construction practices and rework levels on an RV are satisfactory for the market.
We expect phones, television's, computers, monitors and other cheap, off shore, electronic products to work first time and every times. Not so our RVs.
Go figure.
To me it comes down to price.
I personally think a lot of the stuff we buy is garbage and we have become a throw away Society. I think planned obsolescence is alive and well.