Trailer Life Interesting Article on RVTI

[RAurand]

Chris Dougherty talked about how the RV industry is trying to turn itself around. manufacturers building PRE-DELIVERY facilities that are independent from the manufacturers assembly lines and are to look for and fix any problem they can find BEFORE it ships to the dealer.

Hmmm, WE WILL SEE!

He also talked about the industry starting the RV Technical Institute (RVTI) where they will train and certify RV technicians. Camping World also attended the opening.

Again, WE WILL SEE how this all pans out.
I truly hope this does lead to much improvement to the length of time and quality of the repairs.

[DocBrown]

The announcement about the RV Technical Institute (RVTI) came out a while ago. The thought about the pre-delivery facilities I have not heard, although it doesn't surprise me. About the same time the RVTI announcement, one state passed a law including RVs in their lemon law (can't recall which one, but I know it was discussed here). This all makes me think the changes in the industry are an effort to self police rather than have government regulations involved.

I agree, time will tell.

[Camper_bob]

One would think that at some point, the cost to implement better QC processes would be less than warranty fixes and upset customers. I would mention something about the altruistic reasons for manufacturing and selling a quality product that your customer can depend on, but it seems like that attitude is something out of the past any more. It's a lot easier to get management's attention by looking at numbers.

I agree with Chuck in that it seems like the industry is getting a couple "shots across the bow" regarding the quality of their products. If constituents keep bothering elected officials about the condition of the industry, it won't be long before those elected officials begin taking notice and creating more robust consumer protections.

[DocBrown]

Here's an interesting article related to what we're talking about. Looks like rather than do in house QA someone might be selling their services to QA various units for more than one manufacturer.

https://www.rvtravel.com/rv-inspecti...lity-rvt-923b/

[RAurand]

Originally Posted by DocBrown

Here's an interesting article related to what we're talking about. Looks like rather than do in house QA someone might be selling their services to QA various units for more than one manufacturer.

https://www.rvtravel.com/rv-inspecti...lity-rvt-923b/

Interesting Article. It is what we need. We also need lemon laws for RV's.

[ALJO]

It isn't only the consumer who faces problems, but it is also a nightmare for dealers with lots of pre-repair issues and it is not the dealer who sets the cost of repair but the manufacturer. I'm telling you we rather have them perfect from the manufacturing plant.

[RetiredOne]

Originally Posted by RAurand

Chris Dougherty talked about how the RV industry is trying to turn itself around. manufacturers building PRE-DELIVERY facilities that are independent from the manufacturers assembly lines and are to look for and fix any problem they can find BEFORE it ships to the dealer.

I worked for Delorean back in the day, and they had to institute that type of program. The cars coming out of the factory in Ireland were so bad, they had to form Quality Assurance Centers here in the states to fix all the issues, before sending the cars to the dealers.

This is what ultimately killed them, the additional, unplanned costs to fix the cars, when they should have been done right the first time.

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

One would think that at some point, the cost to implement better QC processes would be less than warranty fixes and upset customers.

I agree with Chuck in that it seems like the industry is getting a couple "shots across the bow" regarding the quality of their products.

We can only hope Thor (and others wake up) and change their process, knowing that spending a little bit more time on manufacturing, and buy a little bit better fixtures, appliances, etc. will save them money, grief and headaches in the future.

Instead of the government stepping in (which you know what will happen there), maybe the dealers need better representation or a stronger dealer group that will push back at the manufacturers to clean up there messes?

Unfortunately, in the end, it will be us that pays for it....

[dartwest]

Companies do things for one of three reasons.

1. Increase profits
2. Decrease costs
3. Reduce risk.

When one of these metrics takes a hit, quality will increase. As long as the consumer continues to buy a product that has poor quality and poor service the manufacturers will continue to do the same math and pursue the same go to market strategy. If you are old enough to have purchased an American made car in the 1970s and 1980's then you probably had the same poor quality experience I did. Detroit started making better quality cars when Toyota and Honda began to produce similar priced vehicles of better quality and Detroit lost market share. The RV market is ripe for that same sort of transition. Being an American I hope it comes from an American company.

[Cincinnati Kid]

I read that a large RV dealer in Texas, i think, opened their own pre-inspection facility in Elkhart area. Makes sense to catch problems before towing it a thousand miles from the factory.

[Flyingaggie]

Originally Posted by RAurand

Interesting Article. It is what we need. We also need lemon laws for RV's.

Thankfully, Texas has had lemon laws for RV's for at least the past decade. I only know because I had to start that process in 2008 or 2009. The manufacturer for that trailer (wasn't Jayco) finally stepped in and just bought it back before it was tagged a lemon by the state. It would have been a decent process to go through, but I did at least have the protection under the law and was able to leverage that to get quick resolution to my situation. It did help that our state AG and DOT weighed in threatening the manufacturer that they would quit allowing their products to be sold in Texas.

Maybe things will finally start getting better. I know mine's a 2015 model Jayco now. But, compared to the other brands I had before it, my Jayco had many fewer items over the first couple years while it was under warranty and has held up well so far since.

Tim

[Octane2Go]

I think the manufacturers are flooding the market with propaganda about change.

Customers being unhappy is only a cost if it takes money out of the pockets of the manufacturers. As long as they are months behind in orders, I doubt they are worried about it.

The customers with their time off and all the other issues and time, probably doesn’t register with the manufacturers.

[EA37TS]

Just for the heck of it I was checking out Elkhart, IN on the web the other day. One interesting thing that came up was an article about a zoning meeting for the development of an RV Quality Inspection and Training Center in the Elkhart area. The business plan mentioned was for an entity to build and run the facility and offer their services to the numerous RV manufacturers in the area and perform quality inspections before units are shipped to the dealers. The residents in the area do not like the thought of the increased RV traffic but it was stated it it would not be more than 30 units (if I remember correctly) a day.

[Golfnut]

You are so right. The Japanese car makers forced the American automobile industry to change their ways and improve their products. The trouble is there’s no real foreign challenge to the rv industry.

[Crabman]

From March

https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...ing-64974.html