This is just wishful thinking. When you buy a house, do you not do a thorough walkthrough? In fact, if you buy a house and don't have a professional inspector examine it before signing, you are asking for trouble and being irresponsible - many banks demand a professional inspection. When you buy a car, do you just take the keys from the dealer and drive away? Of course not - you inspect it, drive it and have them rub out every little smudge in the paint. RV purchasers need to get real - caveat emptor - it is
YOUR job to inspect what you buy. Why is this any different than buying a house or a car? And, if you don't know what you are doing, get someone who does to help you OR spend two to four hours with the dealer asking every question you can think of (by the way, you don't have to walk the roof - any large dealer will have a lift) and before that read some stuff, so you at least have a clue what you are doing. I the case of an RV, you are spending 5 or 6 figures and you're not going to do (or have done by a third party) a thorough, top to bottom inspection???
Regarding how we all need to get tough on the RV industry and their admittedly weak warranty process, good luck. Consider this:
- as a voting bloc, RVer's are a tiny group and we are spread out. Do you think your politicians are going to waste their energy on legislation that delivers negligible results at the polls? If you don't vote for them because they wouldn't get tough on RV manufacturers, they won't miss your vote. In the overall scheme of things, this really is a tiny industry.
- the manufacturer is seling all of their output (at least right now). Why would they extend the warranty and increase their costs when they are selling everything they can make?
- remember that in addition to the disgruntled customers, there are also hundreds or thousands of satisfied customers who don't feel compelled to rally aroud the better warranty cause
- this isn't a criticism of anyone's opinion - it's just the way it is
Here's how you can give yourself a real good chance at avoiding major problems:
- do your homework. Read everything you can get your hands on, visit forums before you buy, talk to other RVer's, go to shows, shop (interview) several dealers and believe your eyes when you shop. Many signs of shoddy workmanship can be readily identified if you look.
- when you do buy, do a thorough top-to-bottom inspection before accepting delivery of the coach. Don't rely on the dealer - his motivation is to turn a profit with you and move on to another sale. Do the PDI with the dealer but don't rely on their word.
- if there is a warranty problem, don't go emotionally overboard working with the repair facility. They really don't care what your opinion of the manufacturer is or the general state of the RV industry. They just want to fix you and get you out - beating on them serves no purpose and in fact, making them angry may delay your repair
- try fixing the easy stuff yourself. If you present a long list of minor warranty things for the dealer to fix, the big ones will just take longer (ie - if a lock sticks, put a little silcone or graphite in it)
- give the manufacturer a shot to make it right and when you deal with them, treat them as you wish to be treated
- if you do get a lemon (and it certainly can still happen to even the most savvy buyer), rely on lemon laws or any other remedy that your jurisdiction allows
Of course you all won't agree with evrything I just said, but hoepfully you can take something away from it that will ease your problems and make the RV lifestyle more fun for you. If you go to bed letting this stuff eat at you, you're not going to have a lot of fun.
I'm just sayin' ...
