Old quality versus new junk

[Gramps]

Today we spent yet another day shopping for 5th wheels at yet another dealership.
Of course the sales person wants to show us what he wants to sell, not what we want to buy.
So we look at 2018 rigs trimmed with wood grain stickon vinyl and furnature and cabinets made from particle board selling for the low low low price of $60,000?!!!
Then we are totally blown away by the awesome ONE year Factory warranty???!!!
If that's what you can see, what is under the hood?????
One year's about how long these things will last and then, friends, you're on your own.
Almost accidentally we climbed into a 2007 Hitchhiker by NuWa, now Kansas RV Center.
Wow! Yes, the carpet is worn-out and the decals are coming off but definitely in a class by itself! Wish I had the time and energy to restore one of these fine made coaches.
Anybody know of some other high end 5th wheel campers now priced to be purchased by us ordinary poor people?
Gramps

[wingnut60]

HitchHiker and Excel are the most-mentioned well-built units of past years. Travel Supreme, King of the Road, Carriage also had good reputations.
Unfortunately, finding one that is in great shape will be tough and most of them are very heavy.
I am sure I missed some brands that held together well.
But remember, some of the appliances were old-technology, whether that is good or bad, I don't know.
We just recently traded for a newer used Mobile Suites at that KS RV Center, seems to be holding up ok as we are now living in it.
Joe

[Gramps]

Thanks, Joe, for writing,

We will keep those brands you mentioned in mind as we shop.
Glad to hear your new rig is working out!

[JtC]

Gramps, the title of your thread got my attention. Back in 2015 we bought a new Forest River, Cedar Creek, Silverback (these names and sub-names kill me). Anyway, a couple of folks we know who RV said these were good quality and one guy I worked with said he always wanted a Silverback. Sure, there are some things we really like about it and I’m not going to bash the brand, it could be we got a “Friday” model, but here are some problems we’ve had in the last 2 years (most occurred within the first year, some on the first DAY!):

-one of the brake/turn/tail light LED pods didn’t work (I removed it and found it had never been wired in. I wired it in and to this day only 2 of the 4 LEDs work)
-black tank valve failed to close –I think the cables are too long to be effective (warranty repair but still flaky)
-interior wood molding falling off in 4 places (at least it is real wood with finishing nails –I think the headless nails are a bad application in an RV though)
-cabinet glass falling out
-1/3 of the LED strip on the nose cone has never worked
-light fixture over the kitchen island broke and fell (found it hanging by the wires after a trip)
-light fixture shade over the dining table broke off and fell –my wife is very good with JB Weld
-the RV came with CHEAP tires –one got a blister the size of my fist and we noticed it but the next time, not so lucky. Blew a tire and it shredded the slide out/wheel wells NASCAR style -$2500 and had to pay my $500 deductible plus the $600 I spent buying all new quality tires (Goodyear)
-slide out hanging up (only once, had to have the wife play with the leveling system while I worked the slide controls and freed it up)
-slide not staying in (made an adjustment and that seems to have fixed it)
-slide out gouged the vinyl flooring (deep!)
-reclining theater seating is crap (hard to get to recline then hard to get back up and won’t stay that way and the cables are down to about 2 strands on each. It’s only a matter of time before those snap)
-oven door came off the first time I opened it, I called the dealer and they guy walked me through putting it back on over the phone
-can’t get the oven pilot to ignite or the oven to work at all -followed the directions in the book to the letter
-kitchen faucet connected backward, hot=cold; cold=hot
-remote for the bedroom TV missing (no biggie, we have yet to use it and probably never will)
-we have to open the door and give the “motorized” awning a shove to get it going
-the covers that protect the awning wiring fell off as we were going down the highway

Now, this is our first RV other than our beloved Casita, so maybe this just comes with the territory for hauling 14k+ pounds down the road (especially with the condition of roads these days) or maybe, like I said, we just got a Friday build. It’s nothing we can’t live with but for that kind of money you’d think we wouldn’t have to deal with this many issues.

We plan on getting rid of the Silverback in a few years and getting a toy hauler, which makes this thread also more interesting to me. I hope more people will chime in.