2020 Factory workmanship issues

[Paulbrady]

has anyone who bought a new winnebago has quality issues with their Rv, we have a 2021 View 24D on order, and have heard many stories of lack of quality control from the factory, have you had problems with your new rv and what problems were they, thanks

[Truckman]

All the manufacturers will have problems on new units. I can't really speak to how Winnebago is doing now, but we bought a new '17 Journey. I had its share of problems that we went back to Forest City for. I think they worked on it for 3 1/2 days. Most everything was things that should have been taken care before leaving the factory, like the shower door not caulked and bathroom door not set square in the opening. There were other things like the bedroom door that fell off the track before we left the dealership, fell off again before we got home (1200 miles), the rod in the closet which they reattached, then I reattached again before I finally measured and found the ceiling framing was 3" from where they attached it originally . Since then it has been many miles and not fallen again. You will find some things as you use it and that is what the warranty is for so they can fix it all later.

[AJMike]

Originally Posted by Paulbrady

has anyone who bought a new winnebago has quality issues with their Rv, we have a 2021 View 24D on order, and have heard many stories of lack of quality control from the factory, have you had problems with your new rv and what problems were they, thanks

We bought a 2018 Fuse and had a few quality issues that had to be fixed after we picked it up. Not too many, but some. The stabilizers were wired backwards - that is, the left switch controlled the right stabilizer and vice versa. Some lights were out in the rear stop light unit and the whole unit had to be replaced. The tank heating units were coming off and had to be replaced, and perhaps a couple of more issues. Nothing very serious.

All RVs suffer from this as far as I can tell, and I believe that some manufacturers are better than others. I have seen statements that Winnebago quality is better than, say, Thor, but I have no hard data to prove that one way or the other.

[creativepart]

No one should purchase an RV with the idea that there will not be problems from the factory.

Like any very complex man-made factory built item, especially built on an assembly line with hourly workers there will be mistakes, short-cuts taken and just plain bad luck all working against any quality control measures that have taken place.

All RV buyers, of all brands experience this. These are not designed or built like current day automobiles. I spoke with a guy next to me at an RV park with a $2 million Prevot/Marathon that said it was in for warranty repairs for 3-months after he picked it up and went on a short shakedown trip.

Also, unlike automobiles, RVs are full of items built by some other manufacturer on their assembly lines and these items are subject to the same good day/bad day "luck" in their build, as well. Air conditioners, water heaters, water pumps, TVs, refrigerators, furniture, fans... just about everything.

Fortunately, it all works most of the time. But the RV sitting on a dealer's lot with zero defects or problems does not exist.

[AJMike]

Originally Posted by creativepart

No one should purchase an RV with the idea that there will not be problems from the factory.

Very good and very accurate summary.

In terms of defects I have had more luck with used models than new since the used models, in many cases, have already had the factory issues taken care of.

[Trout One]

We've not been very far yet - five local camping trips to check everything out plus pulling the trailer home from the dealer. That said, we've found no build quality issues with our 1706FB yet. Everything is working as it should. So the operable word is "yet". We've (meaning mostly my wife) found a lot of places for "improvements" but so far, all systems are working well.

We're planning another trip to the lake one weekend in September and then a 400 mile round trip through east Tennessee in October; I might know a little more after that.

I did have to take action on correcting a major design issue - reinforcing the bed frame (https://www.winnieowners.com/forums/...fb-355756.html). But like the OP of that thread, I don't see that as a build quality issue. I view it as a design flaw.

Will report more in October.

[sundog964]

Yes, we purchased a 2020 Vista 29V, and had quite a few quality control issues with the RV. First was the pantry slide out, something was wrong with it from the factory, and the dealer took out the bottom slide, causing it to break on our maiden voyage (3000 miles, 14 days).

Lots of other things, rattles that were just things not tightened or aligned correctly. Taping of the wallpaper seams not centered. One of the lower outside storage doors not aligned.

But as others have mentioned, there are issues with all RV's. I would say the VISTA was the most "well built" of the different brands that we looked at.

[AJMike]

Originally Posted by Trout One

I did have to take action on correcting a major design issue

The OP asked about quality issues, but I think that also includes poor design issues and my Fuse has a couple of those.

The sink in the bathroom drains into the blackwater tank instead of the grey water tank. Apparently that was how they designed it, probably because. they did not see an easy way to get the sink water to the grey water tank given the locations of the black and grey tanks, but it is a major pain in the neck. It means that the blackwater tank fills up more quickly and there is less grey water to rinse out the hose when I dump. Winnebago did not hide this issue, it states right there on the specs page that some models drain the bathroom sink in the blackwater tank, but it seems to me to be a poor design.

The microwave in our Fuse model (bedroom slide) is only a microwave, not a convection microwave, and it is the only Fuse model designed that way. Not having any way to bake food (there is no oven) is just another pain in the neck and I would pay to have someone install a convection microwave in the current microwave location if I could find a m/w model that would fit.

Still, I think it is all relative. I saw a review of the 2020 Thor Axis 24.1 and the reviewer said you have to lie on the ground and crawl under the RV to open the grey and blackwater drains. Compared to that my Fuse is an exemplary example of great design.

[TroutBum1971]

The microwave in our Fuse model (bedroom slide) is only a microwave, not a convection microwave, and it is the only Fuse model designed that way. Not having any way to bake food (there is no oven) is just another pain in the neck and I would pay to have someone install a convection microwave in the current microwave location if I could find a m/w model that would fit.

same in my 2021MicroMinnie 2306BHS!

[PaulandSue]

We have a 2017 24V. We would NEVER buy another Winnebago. The workmanship is horrible. They look good until you look at how they are put together. You should look a little more before you buy.

[Frazier5421]

We purchased a new Winnebago 24d 2020 from a dealer in May; here’s a list of our issues so far:
Murphy Bed broke on walk through
Murphy Bed wouldn’t go up on last day of camping trip
Murphy Bed not fixed properly at RV dealer and had to be returned for another fix
We switched out the toilet
The awning refused to retract all the way had to be redone
A small leak in fresh water tank
And lastly the AC started blowing hot air and has to be replaced.
It’s been in the shop about 6 weeks total out of 12 weeks ownership. Still waiting to hear from AC manufacturers on replacement. Be three weeks in shop tomorrow. Believe it or not we’ve had worse. But we love the RV so far anyway.
On our own we replaced the shocks and added a bigger sway bar.

[AJMike]

Originally Posted by Frazier5421

We switched out the toilet

I am curious as to why you replaced the toilet. Was something wrong with it? Or did you just want a different toilet?

[oppositelock]

thanks paulbrady for the opportunity to vent about our one year old 524d. the problems from the factory were: the Truma HWHeater was never connected from the control panel to the unit, the awning was out of adjustment that one end was a 1.5 foot lower, cabinet hardware needed adjustments and would not stay closed. Those items were not caught at factory inspection, delivery inspection or PDI. But I corrected them without going back to the dealer. So yes, the factory has issues. The other issues were things that took eleven visits (combination of 5 to Mercedes and 6 to the RV dealer). This week we will be contacting WGO to try to make an appointment for problems of: generator inop (this followed the dealer repair of the MB engine alternator not charging the house batteries) and the backup camera inop that has not been resolved over the past 10 months of visits to both the RV dealer and MB dealer.
We have also composed a letter to WGO customer service asking for some compensation for our $125k RV that has not been available to us and still has issues. They responded with, keep taking it in for service and they will keep paying the dealer for the warranty work on the original problems that occurred during the first year.
I won't get into the clearcoat overspray that got no the Alcoa aluminum wheels. Also, I'm sitting outside the RV typing this with the keys in my pocket because the doors sometimes lock on there own.
Best of luck with your new purchase, and again, thanks for asking.

[rprochnow]

We purchased a 2021 View 24D from Lichtsinn in early June.

We spotted a few minor items during our walkthrough, which they fixed before we left Forest City.

On our first several trips, we spotted a few additional minor items (nothing that needed urgent service), and had Lichtsinn take care of the issues when we were back there in July for the lithium battery upgrade.

Like with any large product (vehicle, home), you're likely to find a few items either during your walkthrough or after you've started using the RV.

We haven't had any major issues with the View (so far), and are satisfied with our purchase.

Our only major unresolved issue is with Mercedes - after almost 3 months, they still haven't been able to activate the Mercedes Pro Connect in our 21VD, despite working with their 1st tier and 2nd tier (in Germany) technical support. Until we get Pro activated, our Sprinter is not automatically getting software and map updates.

Winnebago's customer care group reached out to their Mercedes contact to escalate resolution of the issue. Our View is now at the nearby Mercedes Sprinter dealer for service and (hopefully) get this fixed.

Before picking up your new View, watch the orientation videos (Lichtsinn has a lot of videos on their website). Download the View and Sprinter documentation from the Winnebago and Mercedes websites and review those documents.

When you're picking up your RV, make sure the dealership gives you a thorough walkthrough of everything. Take as much time as you need to familiarize yourselves with the RV, and also take note of anything that doesn't seem right.

Before leaving the dealership (if it isn't near your home), strongly recommend staying at least one, preferably two, nights near the dealership. Lichtsinn had hookups in their parking lot where we stayed for two nights in our new View. And during those days, exercise as much as you can in the RV (including loading fresh water and dumping the tanks). And if you find any issues, get the dealership to fix them before you leave.

We were apprehensive about purchasing an RV from a dealer over 1000 miles away (especially during the pandemic). Lichtsinn was fantastic to work with - and if your dealer provides similar support - you should be fine...

[JoeC]

How about asking if the pope is Catholic? You'll get the same response. These things are mass produced and thrown together in a hurry. The technology is there to do a better job, but that takes a bit more time and costs a bit more money. Now your flashy competitor is beating you on sales. So the business model goes like this: Turn out as many as you can as fast as you can all the while paying cheap labor in some of the more depressed areas in the country. And you won't even be home free on the expensive big rigs either. Just maybe a little better off driving higher quality interiors around the country. There. I got that off my chest. I'm not really negative, because I'm positive this is the way it goes. :-)

[rprochnow]

Message to the OP and others who already have or are preparing to place an order:

Online forums are not accurate indicators of product quality.

Owners with bad experiences are more likely to report on their problems. But unless there are multiple reports of the same or similar issues, or a lot of "me too" comments, those experiences may or may not indicate there is an issue that should be a concern.

So far, we've had a good experience with our RV and working with Winnebago and Lichtsinn on resolving the few minor issues we've encountered.

That doesn't mean someone else will have the same experience - but at least for us, it's working out so far...

Best wishes to the OP and starting their RV life with the new View!

[Frazier5421]

The toilet that came with was all plastic and very shallow. When it filled up certain parts could touch the water. Not fun for me. We bought a really nice part porcelain toilet with a deep water pool a soft closing lid. Very much more comfortable and easy to clean.

[Lou D]

I purchased my 2020 24D from Lichtsinn in October 2019 and I have been very happy with them. When I've had questions or needed help they have always been there for me.

One problem I have not figured out how to resolve (and haven't contacted Lichtsinn about) are the pantry slide out drawers not staying closed. When driving, the drawers slide out and bang into the closed pantry door. There are only a few inches between the drawer fronts and the pantry door so it's not like the drawers go flying across the room but it is noisy and annoying especially when there are some canned foods in the drawer.

Has anyone found a way to solve the problem? Hopefully a fix that does not require a slide bolt. Maybe better sliding hardware or a passive mechanical catch of some sort.

[Goodspike]

I think it helps to be able to diagnose and fix problems yourself. If you cannot do that I think owning an RV would likely be a huge PITA and you'd have several frustrating trips. Back when I was renting motorhomes it was typical to find about 10 things wrong with each one, most of them being things that would be easy to fix if I had the time and inclination. and some of which I did fix (e.g. the winterizing valves being in the wrong position to get hot water--showers were the motivation).

Covid-19 has severely restricted the use of the new trailer I bought this year on closeout. Just yesterday though I gave it a good once over and cleaning. Lots of work.

[1237dmctlc]

Originally Posted by creativepart

No one should purchase an RV with the idea that there will not be problems from the factory.

Like any very complex man-made factory built item, especially built on an assembly line with hourly workers there will be mistakes, short-cuts taken and just plain bad luck all working against any quality control measures that have taken place.

All RV buyers, of all brands experience this. These are not designed or built like current day automobiles. I spoke with a guy next to me at an RV park with a $2 million Prevot/Marathon that said it was in for warranty repairs for 3-months after he picked it up and went on a short shakedown trip.

Also, unlike automobiles, RVs are full of items built by some other manufacturer on their assembly lines and these items are subject to the same good day/bad day "luck" in their build, as well. Air conditioners, water heaters, water pumps, TVs, refrigerators, furniture, fans... just about everything.

Fortunately, it all works most of the time. But the RV sitting on a dealer's lot with zero defects or problems does not exist.

I beg to differ your comment on RVs are built differently bc they have different suppliers for parts. Autos are built with many part suppliers though Bosch is the world's largest supplier of auto parts there's Dana on rear end parts, Delphi on cables, Takata on airbags of which I'm sure everyone in the world heard of their quality issues and massive recall still ongoing, the list goes on and on. Of course different cars can mean different suppliers as well.. The difference is auto suppliers have is there's such a large stake to lose if quality doesn't meet expectations you don't see the issues like the RV industry. Car industry produces millions of cars a year i don't think the RV industry comes close to those numbers. The RV industry go for savings and probably little to no insight or oversight into the quality control their subs have so crap in produces crap out...the amazing thing is the money we all are willing to pay in spite of these many issues, it takes away the incentive for higher quality. In most cases people fix the "little" items themselves bc the dealers never do it right on the larger things never mind the smaller issues. Its no more right a brand new $2 million dollar coach spends 3 months getting repaired than a $20,000 trailer. The Mfgs. Don't want to pay the dealers but a small fee compared to their normal rates. So I'll say it again until they are held accountable things won't change very much. Unlike the Japanese invasion of high quality automobiles in the 70s and 80s did the American industry wake up. The RV industry doesn't have that type of competition. Pray someday they do but I have my doubts I'll be here then...lol of one note automation was huge in increasing quality in cars takes out human error for the mundane repeated tasks in most cases.