The dark side of RVing (#GoRVing)

RVs For Less, Knoxville, Tennessee, December 2015

We started this blog so that people could follow along and, with the agreement with blogger, that the info could be used for research and "prosperity" - people just researching history.  Here goes history...

Staring us in our face is that it's time for the adventure to move on - another phase, if you will.  We don't know how this transition will occur or even play out.  We don't know what it will look like.  It's still part of the adventure.  What we do know is that people need to hear the dark side of RVing.  People need to know the truth.  For future readers who believe truth is for philosophers, then deal with the following facts. 

First fact: The Recreational Vehicle Industry Association (#RVing) is a failure.  Always has been; always will be.  The words sound right.  Unfortunately, results are missing.  Always has been; always will be.  If you are stuck with a bad RV, you WILL NOT solve your problem by buying another RV.  #GoRving is just as guilty.  Sell a dream; deliver a nightmare.  They won't admit that RV really stands for Ruined Vacation.

Second fact:  RV Manufactures (#RVmanufactures) :  Unless your intention is to build garbage, you suck at what you.  The product you build looks impressive.  The paint schemes & floor plans are impressive.  Features dazzle.  Durability does not exist.  Reliability...well, you know how bad it is.  Maybe you finished the plumbing.  Maybe you didn't.  Who knows where those wires go!  Yes, those hydraulic lines are meant to route between the trailer frame and the slide frame so that you cut them every time you move the slide.

Your workers are drug addicts because you work them at such a pace that only a drug addict can keep up.  You may be doing well today as a business.  I'd like to think there's some integrity in yours hearts.  Unfortunately, the results do not support this.  If you're a manufacturer and you think your product is the best, then explain the long lines and waiting lists of people trying to get into your service bays to be repaired.  Really, did you build them so well that the units are designed to break so you could have repeat business?  (a variation of the Bill Gates business model)  

Third fact:  RV dealers vary.  If Marcus Lemonis was as good as he brags he is on his shows, Camping World and the RV Industry brands it sells would be perfect.  I'm not hash-tagging Camping World.  It's all over the internet.  We know not to go there.  We suggest you look elsewhere, too.

Fourth fact - RV Repair:  Good ones exist.  They're worth their weight in gold.  If it weren't for Indiana Interstate Enterprises (#Cross RV), we would not have lasted this long.  Best ones are known by word of mouth.  Check brand forums for suggestions.  When you find one, treat them with the utmost respect that you can.

Fifth fact:  RVers.  Best people in the world.  We would not be here without them.  We would not have gotten a slide in on Nov 9th without them.   However, some of you RVers need to own-up to the facts.  If you tell someone that your unit/brand has never given you any problems, well...let's tell it like it is...either you're not smart enough to know there's problems with your unit or you're not being truthful.  I'll let you take your pick.   

We're tired of unplanned, annual catastrophic failures - frame, suspension, hydraulic failures, you name it that have put us in hotels for weeks at a time.  People will walk by our trailer and talk about how nice it is.  It's a piece of garbage.  Today it sits on site 286 in Gulf State Park, AL in a puddle of about six to eight quarts or more of hydraulic fluid and only one of the front legs is actually holding the front of the trailer off of the pavement.  We got the sides in with the help of about eight couples from the Folks-on-Spokes, Gulf Shores group.  The rear leveling legs did retract.  The hydraulics died at that point.  Everything that died on that trailer, Tuesday, has been replaced within the last two years.  I'm sure it created additional damage that we don't know about, yet.  We're in hotels or invading relatives probably until the first of the year.  Professionals are going to have to move the trailer.  We'll clean up the site when the trailer is moved.  We do not know when the trailer will be moved.  Hopefully, this week.  The trailer goes to RVs Unlimited near Robertsdale, AL for repair.

There's been only one planned "Leave the trailer while it's being worked on" in 2017 and it was overridden by a known-but-no-one-would-admit frame crack - or two.  A young Lippert tech had to convince Lippert management that we had a problem.  They finally came out and told us we had a "catastrophe" on our hands...as if we all didn't already know.  (See our post of September 14, 2011.  I'm aware that the following post was all rosy.  Little did we know.  Why?  Because other RVers who knew better wouldn't tell us and were too afraid of the push back by forum & Facebook Group administrators to say something.  Can't be too negative, ya know!  Donna and I are telling you today.)

We're not telling you to not go out and enjoy the RV lifestyle.  But if you're one of the people who have asked for our advice, you now know why we hesitated.  It is a wonderous life style!  We're just telling you to not be suckered in by appearances and pretty features.  Do your homework!  Be prepared!

An old cliché tells that the two best days of owning a boat are when you buy it and when you sell it.  This is not the case with us.  The day we leave our trailer to be sold by consignment - yes, that piece of garbage - will be a very depressing day for Donna and I.  We'll miss the people and the lifestyle.  The RV industry...not so much.

Look for the next update toward the end of the month...unless I need to vent, again.  Until next time, David

Dilbert Nov 14 2020