It is not normal for the compressor and dryer to fail this soon unless there was a manufacturing defect. Can you give more details? $700 sounds outrageous for a dryer.
Plastic tanks failing seems to be fairly common, but should not if they were made of stainless or brass, which for $200, they should be.
As someone else said, you need to be rich or handy or both to own an RV.
I write a blog of our travels, see my signature. Many of my readers think that we have an endless series of failures. As others have said, most are related to the cabinets and walls continually being realigned as we travel down the road. Making contact with fixed (and moving) objects can lead to more excitement than I care to think about.
With the coach we just traded in 100,000 miles and 8 years we were stuck for 1 hour once! Slideout room would not come in and I did not know how o manually retract it. Tech arrived 30 minutes after I called, determined he couldn't fix the motor and brought it in manually. Once I saw how he did it I smacked my foreheads and thought I could do that and I even have the tool - a large wrench.
First coach stranded us twice and even skilled techs were left scratching their heads and calling WorkHorse for help. They are great stories to tell around the campfire with an adult drink in hand.
Paul
Trucking down the road in our new Phaeton 36QSH on Freightliner Chassis with a Cummins 380 pushing it. 2011 Cherry Red Jeep Wrangler Rubicon with US Gear Unified Tow Brake System. Check out my blog
FMCA 352081 SKP# 99526
Yep: until you get into seven-figure custom coaches, motorhomes are usually built with quality that would have the builders of Yugos and Trabants hanging their heads in shame. Bluntly, the quality ranges from dismal to appalling. That's why I converted a bus...I saw just how BAD the build quality was on most motorhomes.
John and Elizabeth (Liz), with 3 nutty cats
My beloved St. Bernard, Marm, lost him 1/2/12
Current rig:
1992 International Genesis school bus conversion
I think some of it has to do with use....or maybe lack therof. Once you get through the initial hit list things will probably get better. Full timers seem to have the least problems with very low usage coaches having more problems. After 9 years full timing in our coach we have gone through a fridge, a washer dryer and a board in the water heater board. The chassis has been bullet proof with the exception of a transfer pump and fuel line issue. I suppose there have been minor things and cosmetic issues but that's just part of the aging process.
2003 Revolution 40C Class A. 2002 Vanguard 22 foot Class C. Diesel smart car Toad or pulling a 2009 Timeout Tent Trailer.
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but rather by the moments that take our breath away.
Oasisbob wrote: Sadly this theme of poor quality is common place. The RV industry should take note and raise the bar. But why should they if we keep buying? I considered buying a new trailer but honestly I am afraid of what I will get. I have spotted quality and design issues right on the sales lot.
Same here. I have a 2005 TT, and its still a great unit. While I would love to have a new one with some of the newer bells and whistles, I have looked at the quality of the new ones and it is much worse than even just 7 years ago. They just keep finding ways each year to make something a bit cheaper...each year that adds up to the point they are getting so much flimsier. I went from a '99 trailer to a 2005. Great Jayco unit, but I could tell a lot of the things in it and construction wasn't as solid and IMO jayco is one of the best, but still yet you can see where corners were cut to save money. I am afraid to see the decline in quality from '05 to '12.
Sorry to hear of your troubles. They certainly take some of the fun out of cruising the roads, but take heart. Better days may be coming.
Lack of quality in the RV manufacturing industry may be corrected the same way it was corrected in the automobile, motorcycle, aircraft, large home appliance market, heavy equipment, farm implement, and others: By foreign companies offering better products for less. So I will not feel any worse for the unemployed American RV company owners, managers, designers, assembly line workers, suppliers, etc. than I felt for the overcompensated, inefficient, arrogant and/or possibly just lazy workers that lost their jobs at Chrysler, Harley-Davidson, MAytag, GM, Boeing, on and on, due to free-market competition. Unfortunately "Buy American" is shouted loudest by people who can't or won't change their ways.
Today the above industries deliver a better product at better prices to Americans than they used to. With American labor and American suppliers.
Just my 2 cents.
Wow! this coffee is strong this morning....I'm certainly sorry if I offended anyone. But I started hearing this same complaint from my Dad before the Japanese cars started arriving years ago. He rebelled by purchasing a new 1959 VW Beetle made in Germany. Now i want one.
Mark, Jean, Paul & Lizzy (the mutt)
1997 Fleetwood Southwind Storm 34LS
Thirsty, noisy & clunky. She ain't pretty, but she sure is fun! "Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines." Enzo Ferrari
The more stuff you have the more stuff you have to repair. If you owned one car, rented a house, and never traveled, you would have a ton of $$$ and time. BUT what fun would that be. I love traveling in my MH and am paying for it in repairs and maintenance.
Not to be controversial, but they know how to build a reliable Class A DP in the greater Elkhart, Indiana area.
They just seem to have lost the recipe during the "go go" years of the 2000's.
Our "vintage" American Eagle has been as reliable as my 2005 Acura and DW's 2003 Nissan. Granted all the bugs were worked out way before we bought the coach in 2009, but there have been no issues, only small repairs in 3.5 years to the steps, fans and refrigerator.
Granted these older coaches don't have all the bells and whistles of today's new units, but there is plenty of complexity.
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