Thanks. Good point about being handy.

Totally agree. Impress the customer by them never needing to use it.

Funny quote! Glad your 2004 is still working well for you. Incentives to build slowly are missing, so I’m also skeptical that anything will change. Thanks for taking the time to comment!

Thanks, appreciate you commenting!

It took me three years with my Keystone Bullet and more with my R-Pod to get them dialed in. The Keystone was mainly the Dometic components going bad. I was impressed with the Winnebago models at the Tampa show this past January. You mention the factory service center. Every RV manufacturer should have this option for any customer who would rather go there than to their selling dealer. I think manufacturers are effectively shooting themselves in the foot with the dealers they choose.

Thanks for sharing your experience with your R-Pod 171.

Glad you enjoyed it

Interesting idea to purchase a new but slightly used model. Almost sounds like a certified used car that was a dealer demo. Glad it is working well for you with only minor fixes. Thanks for taking the time to comment!

@@JohnMarucci Pretty much. I think the key piece is having the dealership own and maintain it for a duration vs just an inspection/road test. If someone is okay with an RV having some miles on it, this approach may help curb some new-RV quality anxiety. The downside is: I think dealers don't rent out every model they sell, they only come available every 6 months (or however long they rent them), and probably not all dealers get into the rental biz...which all together limits your options.

Glad the newscast and new chart are helpful!

@@JohnMarucci it's going to be interesting to see the final July shipment report next month given the lay offs and shutdowns

I also hope the manufacturers learn a lesson during this slowdown and begin focusing on quality. Thanks for taking the time to comment!

Thanks for sharing your experience. I think RVs were made very quickly the past few years. Thanks again!

Just wondering if you ever pursued a legal route with your Ember?

Good choice to go to the Goodyear Endurance, I had very good experience with those tires. The R-Pod floor sag should have been a recall. Just a horrendous structural flaw passed on to the customer. All the best!

Thanks for sharing your experience!

Thanks for sharing your experience!

Right! The dealer is usually who you will have to deal with on any warranty issues. I really think finding a good dealer is as important as finding a good trailer. I have a very good smaller dealer nearby which makes my ownership experience with my 2020 Keystone Bullet very good.

Great commentary. Thanks for taking the time to write this. I especially like "I buy RVs because I love camping, not because I love RVs." Classic. I'm sure I'll reuse that line. Thanks again!

Good to hear. Thanks for sharing your experience.

That is a hard list to fill. I had an older Pilot with the 4WD that could tow 4,500 lbs. Sounds like keeping your trailer in good shape is a good idea. Besides the Ember, the slides on my other RVs have work fine long term. It would be much easier and less risky to not have a slide if possible. All the best!

On the high-end market, Airstream, Oliver and ATC is what I would consider if I were in the market. Likely in that order. It is a buyer's market even on these higher-end units.

Sounds like my R-Pod experience. Used it a lot, enjoyed it a lot, and fixed it a lot! It did help build my channel, so can't complain too much. If anyone needs them, I have 37 R-Pod specific videos at this link on my website: johnmarucci.com/r-pod-video-list/

You are not alone. Fellow 2018 rpod 180 owner aka survivor. Plumbing, electrical, & structural repairs have been completed. We are hopefully trading it in next week on a rock wood mini lite.

We have an 2018 RPod. Overall happy with it, luckily my husband is a retired Union plumber and has been able to handle all repairs.

Thanks for sharing your experience. The Rickwood mini lite seems to have many fans.

Thanks for sharing your experience with your trailer.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

The fridge you mention is not residential.....it's just a 12v compressor fridge, which many manufacturers have gone to.......and like you mentioned, it has caused problems with the boondocking crowd. The only way to fix the problem is to add more and better batteries, plus solar to keep them topped up. Then you can boondock with it.

I have a gas/electric fridge in my Keystone Bullet and would never change it. My Ember had a similar 12v fridge which was loud and it drained the 4 x 100 watt lithium batteries pretty quickly when not plugged in. I never understood this decision by Ember given that the unit is supposed to be for off-grid. I guess they are trying to move away from propane components to be more eco friendly?

Thanks for sharing your experience with your Lance and your Oliver trailers. People perceive Lance to be a step up in quality, so your story is an important one to share. I have heard nothing but good things about Oliver. NO dealers is one of them. My question is how do they handle it if something is an issue given they are so far away?

@@JohnMarucci Oliver allows warranty work to be performed by any reputable RV service center provided the customer first seeks and gains approval from Oliver. The company's customer service is second to known, and I think that's an opinion universally held.

Good to hear that your Rv is working well!

Unfortunately, these are two items I can't speak to. You may want to try the owners forum: rpod-owners.com

@@JohnMaruccithanks, John, we appreciate you👍

Lance has historically been a higher quality unit. You may want to join one of the Lance FB groups and ask about folks experiences with theirs.

Great idea. Thanks John!

I agree here. Higher warranty lengths send a signal to competition and improve quality overall.

I am unclear what you mean by Point 1. Are you saying that some RVers upgraded regularly pre-pandemic and it stopped post pandemic? If so, why the pre-pandemic decline in production in 2018-2019? Further explanation would be appreciated. In Point 2, about negative dealer experience, are you saying poor dealer experience is a reason for post pandemic decline in current production and this is a greater reason than poor quality?

@@JohnMarucci Point 1: 2018-2019 was in the normal rhythm of trending a production low because of the upgrading cycle for what was the subculture size before social media and the pandemic turned RVing into trendy. The manufacturers knew exactly where they were and ordered raws accordingly. What happened with pandemic demand is the anomaly and we’ll all have to see what the new norm is after ~5 year stabilization. What is clearly already showing is that pandemic buyers are leaving the bloated subculture for many reasons. Now post pandemic, we are seeing the market adjust, and a sharp decline (it will be a trough) after a surge with unfavorable economic conditions is always the outcome in product manufacturing. The cost of money has increased and reduces accessibility to potential new owners but also turns away those considering an upgrade. So now we are back in times where a salesperson has to earn a sale, and polls run at every major show highlighted what those of us long-haulers have seen occurring for two+ decades - increasingly bad dealer experience from the initial contact, through the sales process, and the after-the-sale service. Tying to your points about quality, lack of dealering backing and timely response/repair reduce desirability. Now let's talk about the difference in consumer perception of quality versus the manufacturer. The consumer views RVs like automobiles - that's been established multiple times across the decades. However, they are not! They are more like residential homes. Why? In automotive manufacturing, every single part and component is specified by the designer, and they are provided by third-party suppliers to specification and incorporated into the manufacturing of a finished product. This is why the automobile manufacturer offers long-term bumper-to-bumper warranties. By large, mass production RV manufacturing is more an assembly of off-the-shelf parts developed by others following one of two standards (both weak IMO). So, more like a residence built with block, dimensional lumber, sheathing, wrap, siding, roofing and finishes all produced by others and built to building code (strength of which varies in the US) and then loaded with mechanicals and appliances by others. So, your RV gets an initial warranty from the "assembler" just like a new home. After that, then you have your individual warranties for appliances, mechanicals, roofing, etc. just like a home. So, the consumer has a mindset that an RV is like an automobile and should be fairly reliable out of the box and should be serviceable at any brand dealer. Obviously, not the case. RV manufacturers, like all manufacturers, have an acceptable failure rate and those rates consider what THEY did wrong and not went wrong with the installed components made by others. So, as the consumer, you want to believe that they account for every failed suspension, frame, refrigerator, air conditioner, slide controller, slide motor, roof fan, tank, awning, converter, range, microwave, and on and on, but they don't. No different than a home builder who built by Code would. Right or wrong is not my point here, but what is the point the statistics used in the RV industry don't show a manufacturer quality problem as bad as the consumer perceives. Arguably, if you consider the volume of pandemic builds, the actual number of units, versus the acceptable failure rate, I would wager it's didn't move the needle but maybe a percentage. Now component failures, I'm sure they're double digit increases! Take for instance your personal experience with Ember. Your issues were very frustrating to you, but none particularly serious and the manufacturer worked with you after your sort of lukewarm dealer experience. You pointed to quality-rightly so, and have the position that they basically should know better by now and the public is the beta tester. Well, it's always been that way in the RV industry! Roll back 20+ years with the introduction of the hybrid TT. Every single maker, every single model had problems with bunk ends leaking and have re-thought the doors and seals many, many times such that there were still issues on them ten years later and even some today! Consumers WANT the RV industry to like the automobile industry, but that will not happen any time soon. The fact is consumers are NOT the RV manufacturers' customers (direct to consumer like Luxe and SpaceCraft are few). The dealers ARE the manufacturers' customers.