We are fulltimers a 2006 Newmar Kountry Star. Made one trip to the factory to get some warranty work done. Nothing major and all handled reasonably. We love our coach!
I managed the Cabinet Department at Marathon Coach for 9 years, '93-'02, with about 600 coaches going out the door. They have a great Q.C. program, used to drive me nuts in their quest for perfection-what do people expect for a million dollars? The coaches were inspected during production as well as a PDI 1 and a PDI 2. Even so, various things escaped us. Part of the challenge was working with cutting edge technology in a production setting. To some degree, every manufacturer deals with that. Everybody wants the latest and the greatest right now-and it better work.
Each motorhome producer faces another challenge. Deliver the best coach at the lowest price for their target market. Supplier problems aside, getting the folks to do the job for the wages paid is difficult. At Marathon I used to say, "We hire the best and send them the rest." Good RV employees are hard and wonderful to find. They don't make great wages.
Basically, we get what we pay for. It takes research to buy a R.V. Even so, the best can come with issues. While it doesn't seem right, it is hard to appreciate the construction complexity of these rigs we love to hate.
I also put in a year as a customer service writer for La Mesa in Coburg, Oregon during their northwest years. I learned a lot about manufacturers' shortcomings.
As many know, if you buy an RV, you need a tool box and a sense of humor. A few thousand extra dollars doesn't hurt either.
Frank