"Before I take delivery on a new RV, I shall ..."

Sometimes I'm embarrassed by what RVers have to say about their RVs. But if we listen to them, especially those who seem to have the largest problems, we will know what we need to do make our industry the best it can be.

From time to time we run across some interesting ex-changes or opinions expressed by consumers on the Internet that we believe would be helpful to those of us in the industry providing products and services to RV consumers. This particular post to the RV America BBS, the General RV Forum, is especially interesting and we believe it will help make us all more professional so we can provide a higher level of customer service.

The Internet discussion started when Greg Harvey posted a rather intriguing question to the RV America Bulletin Board. Greg asked, "Knowing what you know now, if you had it to do all over again, what would you change about your RV buying experience?"

One of the more thoughtful responses was posted by Robyn S. Robyn said, "Before I take delivery on a new RV, I shall . . .

"Actually, not even before I take delivery. Before I sign anywhere, on anything ­ be it an informal four-square write-up or a simple deposit and offer-in-earnest ­ before I ever pick up a pen, I will first pick up a dental mirror.

"Not because I think a root canal can be a better experience than buying an RV.

"No, knowing what I know today, I would first pick up the dental mirror, along with a very bright flashlight, a power screwdriver, and a large flat square piece of cardboard all for the purpose of inspecting the RV I was considering.

"This inspection would be way beyond a walk-thru. Back when I bought my first RV, I made a really big deal about going out on a test drive, taking it out on the freeway, measuring the overhang, testing all the appliances, and visually scouring the interior and exterior for any nicks, stains, scratches, misalignments, or anomalies. I even insisted on staying overnight at the dealer's just to make sure.

"But all that wasn't enough. It never occurred to me at that time to bring along a creeper so that I could slide underneath the coach. Had I had that insight before I purchased, I would have discovered several splintered wire splices that were already fraying, the missing bolts/nuts that were supposed to attach the coach to the frame, the twisted/rotated coach support bracket, the generator fuel line (rubber) in near contact with the generator exhaust (hot), the generator exhaust that terminated underneath the vehicle instead of outside the perimeter, the uncovered holes in the floor that allowed the intrusion of exhaust gases into the interior, the abrasion of wires against unfriendly surfaces without protection, the missing chassis exhaust heat shields that were removed during motorhome manufacture and never replaced, the mis-aligned fuel inlet lines, the potential for fuel spillage to leak onto the kitchen floor, the several seams which escaped the factory un-sealed, the luggage bay whose screws were anchored in Styro-foam instead of the steel support a millimeter away, the propane lines which were tweaked and stressed at the elbows, the propane manifold (metal) which was chafing against the gray water tank (plastic), the open holes at the floor where missing supportive steel for seatbelts should have been attached, the exposure of all fuel lines and power cables to the direct path of wheel splash and road debris kicked up from tires, the automotive chassis wire harness split open within 3 inches of the Y pipe which exposed the interior circuits to excessive exhaust heat, the exhaust extension support bracket that was twisted and torn, the coach battery grounding bolt in too large of a hole in the frame without washers (inadequate ground contact), and other non-conformances to industry accepted standards published by the FMVSS, ANSI, NEC, SAE, the chassis supplier, the generator supplier, etc -- and even the motorhome maker's very own standards as published in their manual.

"Of course, at the time I would have had no idea what those published standards en-tailed. But, most of the problems I saw would have been really obvious to just about anyone, let alone an excited first time RV buyer like me, had I just got under there and looked. I didn't. Next time, I'm bringing the cardboard! I fear a creeper might be a little much. It would certainly be more comfortable, but might intimidate the dealer. Of course, that's the last thing anyone would want to do,

"Cardboard or creeper, one still needs a flashlight to be able to see anything down there, as the difference in light from the bright daylight lingering in your peripheral vision to the dark mass that you're peering into is usually of too high a contrast to discern anything of importance. The ultimate buyer's demand is to have the motorhome driven to the service bay where it can be elevated on a hoist. This is a far more elegant and dignified way for a buyer to insure the safety of their life and their children's lives. I would insist on this in-spection opportunity before I signed anything. Remember, I have an inspection mirror in my hand, not a fancy fountain pen with the dealer's name imprinted on it.

"Oh, certainly the dealer will assure me that I can inspect the unit to my heart's content, but 'why not let's get some of this paperwork in the finance office started while the service personnel are moving the unit to the hoist?' No, I say, let's not. The moment I sign, it's mine. Regardless of the "We'll take care of everything" and 'You're fully covered under warranty' assurances, to them and the law, the signature represents a decision without recission.

"The dealer will surely be agitated at this point and say 'we can't afford to have every Tom Dick & Harry customer turning our inventory upside down for a look-see before a commitment to buy is made.' I'm sorry, I will say, but turning a blind eye to these underlying issues is why RV's make spectacular bonfires on the side of the highway. And having the look-see before I buy means that I get to USE the motorhome the day it's delivered, not spend the next year or two seeing that it is repaired.

"Now, why the power screwdriver? Well, if I had brought along that power screwdriver, I would have been able to quickly unscrew some of the access panels in the interior of the coach. Then, I might have seen that the screw that was supposed to hold the furnace in place was in-stalled next to the support brac-ket instead of through the bracket. I might have noticed that the steel support brackets that anchor the seatbelts on one side were missing, and a pair of seatbelts was missing altogether. I might have noticed the 110-volt wires that were rubbing against sharp edges, already penetrating through the romex jacketing in one instance. I might have seen that the brackets to hold the water tank were there, but they were unattached. I might have noticed that the genset compartment was not entirely insulated and sealed from the interior. I might have seen that the dinette framing was cracked and separated. I might have observed that the heater ducting fabric was chafing against a slivered edge of luan. I might have noti-ced all the daylight gleaming through the edges of wall penetrations, where light leaks, air leaks -- where air leaks, water leaks. I might have noticed more crimped butt connector splices where the copper wire strands were exposed and already fraying. I might have observed that the way the galley supply lines were plumbed, water would remain trapped in them even when winterizing, as they were lower than the "lowest point" drain valves. I might have seen, had I removed the drawers, that the plastic drawer guide holders were mounted crooked, missing screws, and cracked where there were screws.

"Listen, the above is but a fraction of the list, I'm just warming up -- but brevity must beset the point now. That point being: If I were to buy an RV today, knowing what I know now, I would look in all the places that were never intended for the customer to see. Under-neath the chassis, inside the service access panels, behind drawers, even underneath the door thresholds, where I found the auxiliary battery start wires straining against the step, for they were run too short.

"If serious enough about the rig, I might even remove an appliance to see behind it. When I removed my microwave, I discovered that the cabinetry holding it up was sagging, the staples were not opposed, and a wooden 1" x 1" support member had a 7/8" x 7/8" round knot hole that passed clean through the 1" x 1", (you do the math). Plus, while I had the microwave out, I discovered that the power cord was scraping against the pass through hole, and the exterior wall penetration for the range hood vent was not sealed. Notice that none of these defects would have been visible without a twist of the screwdriver, the reflection of a mirror, or the glimmer of a flashlight.

"These defects ain't no "my wallpaper trim is crooked" type of squawks. These defects do affect the safety, reliability, maintainability, service life, performance, and function of the RV and its related components.

"Had I brought these tools with me, got underneath and opened things up to look, I mean really look, I might have seen what I was really buying, and I would have been able to walk away.

"But I didn't, because I didn't know. Now you do. I hate to be so long in writing, but without giving you tangible specifics, how could any reasonable person even begin to guess at the type and the variety and the seriousness of the problems that I discovered when I finally did take a closer look. This is the only way to help you, should you be in the market. Look in, look under, look hard, and do all this looking before you sign.

Many of you may have RV's sitting on your driveway right now that have similar non-conformances lurking in unseen areas. I know this to be quite probable, because I have now inspected quite a number of other new motorhomes to develop a common reference, and have found several frighteningly common occurrences of similar defects. Yet, you may have en-joyed years and miles of trouble free use. When something shorts or fails, you may attribute it simply to age, or 'that's the way these things are.' You may never be told that it was not installed correctly in the first place.

This statement isn't made to instill fear and panic in one's comfortable sense of self-satisfaction in their purchase so proudly made. Let me freely admit, when I signed my deal, I could barely contain the grin of glee on my face. Talk about pride of ownership: I had just purchased the most stunning RV ever made! I thought it was perfect. No dealer service "due bill" for items to be fixed whatsoever. And I would have never bothered to look underneath the coach, had I not heard an ominous creaking sound -- (revealing the coach to frame mounting bracket problems).

"That's when the truly technical inspection began. However, by then, the license plates were already in the mail.

"Greg, I hope you find that this response meets with the spirit and intent of the topic you began. I certainly intend for it to. I have never before mentioned this many details about my experience, as it might ap-pear to some to merely be a 'b_tch list.' It is not. It is a thumbnail sketch of insight as to what to look for. I realize that folks like JD Gallant make money by selling books on this very same topic. I've read some of his materials, and to my knowledge, as good as his recommendations are, even he doesn't suggest this deep of an inspection process protracted to the detail that I now am recommending.

"A significant caveat is that this inspection process is not likely suited for everyone. Some of us simply lack the mobility that youth once blessed us with, or lack the mechanical aptitude to consider ourselves competent enough to know what to look for. That is one of the benefits of this board (the RV America Bulletin Board), and of surveys like this one of yours, Greg.

"We can help each other discover what to look for. As for youth and mobility, that is one of the benefits of having adult children that you can still get along with.

"I can think of a few other options, but will close here and refer anyone with further interest to e-mail me."

Robyn gave other visitors to the BBS food for thought, and it should also be marching orders for everyone in this business that cares about the future of the RV industry and has concerns for those we depend on to purchase the products and services we produce.

Admittedly, most of the responses to Greg's question confirmed that people are happy with their purchase, their dealer and the RV itself and probably wouldn't do anything differently.

I wish I could say that the RV industry is perfect and the products we build are perfect, but we all know that just isn't true. Some manufacturers are more quality conscious than others, and even products built by the same manufacturer could vary in quality from unit to unit.

The industry is doing continuing research on how satisfied customers are with our products and it's no secret that there are issues that need addressing. The good news is that organizations like the Go RVing Coali-tion's Committee on Excellence is addressing this problem and can have a positive influence in making our industry and our products better.

Our concern is can we get it done before the great window of opportunity passes. I urge you to read Bob Zagami's column this month because he addresses many of the challenges we have in selling the RV lifestyle to a new breed of buyer with different needs and higher expectations than the generation of RVers we have been serving for the past 20 years.

We know we need to improve the product; we know the RV consumer expects a quality product; we know we can do it if we all put our minds to it; and we know that our action has to be timely in accomplishing our metamorphous.

We need to stop talking about the problem and start taking positive action. When I was in the U.S. Air Force in the sixties, we had a program called "Zero Defects." In a nutshell, it made each person regardless of rank and position responsible for doing their jobs right the first time and striving for perfection. It worked.

Regardless of what the RV industry decides to call the program, it's this kind of philosophy that will help us reach the great potential we all desire and make us proud of the products we deliver to those wonderful people who trust us to give them the means to enjoy the RV lifestyle.

If you are like me, you dream of the day when no one needs to be embarrassed by the quality and value of products our industry produces.

RVN