Last June I wrote about how my parents decided to buy a new 2022 Heartland Mallard M33 travel trailer. The 37-foot-long, 7,746-pound beast is like a luxury hotel on wheels, but it came from the factory so broken that we couldn’t safely sleep in it. Over a year later, my family has finally taken our first camping trip in it. Guess what? This trailer is still broken! It’s so broken, it reminds me of the late ’70s cars tested by the charming Bob Mayer. Do you want to laugh today? Let’s check this thing out.
Let’s talk about the state of RV quality at large before I show you the pathetic state of my parents’ expensive, almost-new travel trailer. In recent times there have been a number of reports about a slump in the quality of RVs being churned out of Indiana factories. I wrote one of those reports! Then I got to see the quality in person. When I attended the Indiana RV Open House dealer show, I spoke with several dealership representatives, and many of them were there to figure out not just which campers to sell, but which ones they shouldn’t sell due to poor build quality. At the show I saw hastily-applied spraypaint covering up frame rust, an awning installed with such little care that the wall it was hung from was compromised, and even interior material choices so poor that the mere act of opening a cabinet door causes damage. These were all RVs that, according to their manufacturing stickers, were put together only a month or two before the show.
Building Them As Fast As Possible
One of the Camping World affiliates I spoke to claimed the problem has to do with how a significant portion of the RV industry operates. Workers in many RV factories are paid by the piece, so they have an incentive to complete their work as fast as possible. RV demand hit record numbers back in 2021 and was still hot in 2022, so these factories were churning out campers as quickly as they could. The Camping World dealer representative then said dealers are then responsible for fixing the many quality problems that arise from speedrunning camper builds. These practices have been called out by independent trailer manufacturers like inTech, which uses a profit-sharing model.
If you’ve owned an RV before, you already know that they aren’t the most durable things out there, so the fact that they’ve possibly gotten worse is almost impressive. Dave Solberg, an RV repair expert over at RV Travel, echoes what you just read above:
Most RV manufacturers build the cheapest rig as fast as possible
Keep in mind that most RV manufacturers strive to build the cheapest rig as fast as possible. Fit and finish is hidden with expandable foam, silicone, and a product called gimp, which is a vinyl strip used between cabinets and walls to hide uneven cuts and gaps. They use cheap fabrics, single-layer foam in cushions, and even low-level furniture that they give a fancy name like it’s designer quality when actually it’s a lower level than what you would find at a big box store!
Take a closer look. You’ll find particle board with a vinyl wrap, paneling used to look like solid wood, holes that look like they were cut out with a hatchet inside those cabinets rather than a nice cutout with decorative trim to finish it off. Nope, that all takes time, which costs money. Since the unit sitting across the aisle doesn’t have it, it’s a waste of money.
Solberg’s conclusion is that buyers are letting the manufacturers get away with bad quality by scooping up poorly-built rigs, essentially enabling the manufacturers to not care.
What Living With One Of These Campers Is Like
So, what do you get if you happen to buy one of the campers that was likely built at a lightning pace? Back in March 2022, my parents purchased a 2022 Heartland Mallard M33. Last year, I wrote about how the camper was delivered to my parents with faulty safety equipment. One of the safety chains broke when my father first tried hooking up the unit to their tow vehicle. These are chains that are supposed to keep the trailer from killing someone in an emergency. If for whatever reason your trailer comes off of the ball, the chains are a redundancy. In a freak accident, those chains can mean the difference between life and death. But, according to my father, the hook came off of one of the chains while just getting hooked up. How does that even happen?
That wasn’t the only piece of safety equipment that failed. This trailer also has a breakaway cable on its tongue. When this cable is pulled out, the trailer activates its brakes. The idea here is that in the event of an emergency like a trailer detachment, there isn’t a 7,746-pound missile going down the road. Well, that cable fell apart in my hand. In a real emergency, it would have done exactly nothing.
So, with critical safety equipment broken, my parents sent the trailer back to the dealership for fixes. Thanks to parts shortages at the time, it took a couple of months to get the camper back. And that’s when we discovered all of the other things that were wrong with the camper, and my, the list is long.
I’m sure you don’t have all day, so I’ll just list them out. In addition to the safety problems, we found three light switches that weren’t even screwed in, random staples everywhere on the ceiling, a window valence that fell off a wall, and a bathtub that wasn’t even close to being installed correctly. In fact, the bathtub wasn’t even screwed in or secured, but just sitting in place. Because of this, there was a huge water leak when we tested the shower and tub. Amazingly, that wasn’t even the only place water was gushing out into the wrong places. The water heater also sprayed water all over everything inside and outside of the trailer.
Mind you, these were all problems in a trailer that at the time, was just four months old, never camped in, and still had factory plastic and stickers over everything. And we’re not done yet! The trailer’s body was also already falling apart. The perimeter of the Mallard has side skirt-like parts that our dealership calls J-channels. These thin pieces of metal are there for aerodynamics and style. The J-channels on our trailer appear to have been secured with self-tapping screws and one of them was halfway through a self-deletion process.
The body also had signs of a rushed, cheap build, like the sloppily-applied sealant around the windows. Also notable is the front end’s LED light strips, which looked like they came from Amazon and were already falling off.
Oh, and did I mention that this trailer, which was then just a few months old, already had rust on its frame?
Our dealer believed that there isn’t anything in the form of rust prevention there. Further, the dealer tech said that the trailer was actually delivered to the dealership from the factory with surface rust. The recommended solution is to spray paint it and ignore it.
Fixed, But Still Broken
It took a full year to fix all of this. Sometimes, the first fix didn’t work. For example, the bathtub was mounted by the dealership, but it was mounted in a horribly crooked position. It took two more visits before the bathtub was finally put in correctly. Other times, the dealer had to wait months for a part to come in. Our dealership said that they were swamped with work, so even when the part came in, there was additional waiting time because there are only so many technicians to work on so many broken campers.
Further complicating things was stuff going missing from the camper. Apparently, a new Mallard arrived from the factory without seat cushions. Our dealership took the still new cushions out of our camper and put them into the other Mallard. They then forgot to replace the cushions in our camper. So, we had to wait for those to come in. Eventually, we spent so much time waiting for things that the camping season was over.
The camper stayed at the dealership for the winter. Apparently, during the winter, someone cut through the dealership’s fence and then stole just about everything that wasn’t bolted down. The alleged thief entered our camper and stole everything from plates and silverware to towels.
Finally, after a year of trying to fix a camper that was broken from the factory, my family was able to take our first camping trip in the Mallard last weekend.
To prepare for the occasion, my parents bought a 2016 Ford F-350 to tow the trailer. Their Chevrolet Suburban did tow the trailer, but we were riding the SUV’s limits, which wasn’t good. The F-350 tows the trailer almost as if it’s not even back there. What an amazing difference having the right equipment makes. As a bonus, the truck–a former municipal vehicle–came with snazzy graphics that sort of match the trailer.
Anyway, things were fun until they became comical, and they became comical because somehow, after a year of repairs, the trailer is still broken!
We first discovered things weren’t quite right when we tried to turn on the kitchen’s LED lights, which now don’t work. That switch knows what it did wrong…
Then, we tried to open the refrigerator to put food in it. The door jammed on the second closure, and when we tried to clear the jam, the door responded by snapping off its handle. I couldn’t help but laugh so hard that I started crying. This is the kind of stuff from a comedy movie, but a dumb one like an Adam Sandler flick.
And we’re not done yet. We found that the water heater wasn’t working. While I was troubleshooting it, I opened up the outdoor kitchen, which revealed that the refrigerator had pulled itself from the wall, taking its holder with it. Meanwhile, the ceiling of the outdoor kitchen is separating, causing a snow of particle board dust.
Inside, we found that the window shades don’t like to stay open on their own and perhaps thanks to Chicago potholes, interior wall trim is falling off. Also comical is the fact that every single fixture mounted to the walls is crooked.
I did figure out what was wrong with the water heater. The valves were turned off and its breaker was switched off for the winter. This trailer was supposedly de-winterized, but I’m not sure about that. The water heater is conveniently located behind the battery disconnect. I turned on the valves, which gave us hot water…and a water leak. But hey, at least the water heater leaks only outside now.
Speaking of water leaks, the kitchen sink’s plumbing has a bad leak, and the rear door, found in the bathroom, is so poorly sealed that rainwater gets in. You can see the ground through the lack of seals!
It’s Not All Bad
So, our first outing with the Mallard was sort of a crapshow. We spent more time laughing (or crying, if you’re my parents who actually spent a ton of money on this) at all of the hilarious faults than enjoying ourselves. There’s no reason things should be this bad. It’s almost as if this camper was built with the least amount of care one could get away with. Thankfully, this trailer has a warranty, so it will keep on returning to the dealership until it works as it should. Sadly, the one thing that will never get fixed by the dealership is the rust, which has advanced in the past year. Check this out:
This trailer has never seen salt or been towed in winter!
I’m not sure if the trailer’s quality will ever be good, but I’m rooting for it because aside from the issues, the Mallard really is a fun rig. In our brief moments of having fun, I really enjoyed the outdoor stereo system and the beds are actually quite comfortable. I also love the power awning, the power stabilizer jacks, and the fact that I actually fit in the shower without feeling like I’m fighting the shower curtain. From a towing perspective, the Mallard tracks well and when it’s windy outside, the trailer doesn’t feel like it’s trying to yank the tow vehicle off of the road.
Also, the fact that the steps actually touch the ground with today’s campers is brilliant. No more feeling like you’re going to rip the steps out.
I reached out to Thor Industries – the parent company of Heartland RV – for comment on quality struggles in the industry. As of writing, I haven’t heard back. I didn’t hear back when I asked a similar question last year.
Don’t Be Distracted By Pretty Features
So, what should you take from all of this? For one, don’t buy a camper sight unseen. Go and take a look at the one you want in person before you exchange any money. While you are there, try not to let the camper’s awesome features and design blur your vision. Try to focus on how it’s built. Is it just a month old and already covered in rust? Don’t assume the camper is built like your house or your car. Look it over inch by inch. You might be surprised at what you find.
If you find out that the camper wasn’t built well, don’t fret! The great thing about the RV industry right now is that there are perhaps countless brands out there and a lot of them do care about quality. If one brand doesn’t jive well with you, try another!
As for our camper, it goes out for another outing this weekend. Hopefully, this time we’ll have more fun and spend less time inspecting things.
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I’m in Australia and bought a New Forest River Puma 5th Wheeler I can match all those problems and add the front almost ripped itself off within 5 years due to the really bad workmanship during manufacture according to an independent engineer’s report.
I’d NEVER buy American built production line crap ever again. Australian built vans are at the level you Americans wish you had.
USA =
Unprofessional
Standards
Applied
Buy Forrest River or any of its subsidiary companies (there’s many) and you’ll get their USA good luck with that!
People complain about airstream prices, but articles like this make me think I’d rather take a loan on an airstream than buy something cheaper outright… Seems like you’d still get more out of it counting depreciation.
There’s an RV dealership not far from my house. I enjoy watching the RVs get sold from the lot only to show back up in the overflow lot days later. I can tell they’re the same ones because the rust, paint chips, and bubbling vinyls make each one very distinct.
Obviously they make a ton of sales, but I’m pretty sure that’s because people buy one camper or RV, realize it’s a travesty, sell it back to the dealership for credit on another, and then realize they’ve made a horrible mistake and that they’re all crap.
My one takeaway is that 1970s fiberglass RVs are the best option.
My takeaway is to open an RV dealer and make phat cash just off of warranty work.
Hah! One of the big problems with warranty work is that the manufacturers pay an hourly rate that’s just about equal to the cost of providing the labor….so the independent repair shops/dealers don’t want to hire anyone extra or do much work at all. When they sell the RV they will tell you about the thousands of dealers across the country to do warranty work. Ask about how long the wait is right now for a trailer from out of state (that they did not sell) for warranty repairs and it will be months. Ask about the average time from reporting the problem until it’s done, and that will be months.
Seems my plan was the best option.
I picked up a 1997 Foretravel U320 and I’ve been nothing but impressed with the quality. Then again, in 97 it was $400k.
I decided to go digital nomad for a couple years. Solid as a rock, no chassis (subframes and monocoque), 450hp Cummins, Allison MH4000, and a 12kw diesel generator. All for less than what your folks paid.
40’ of air ride thunder pulling a 24’ trailer.
I did do a single top speed run, and oh boy, it’s faster than it needs to be.
Anywho, my experience is anything up to 2007 is higher quality than most anything after. Even Foretravel is buying chassis now.
More important is the previous owner’s attention to maintenance. Mine came with all records from new. Purchased first by an apparently successful diesel shop owner, then an airline pilot, then an engineer couple, and now me.
All that said, it’s still a maintenance hog. $1100 oil change…
Glad it worked for you. Getting a 2- or 3- year old unit is usually better because the gremlins have been mostly removed. Better still to avoid it altogether.
This is a global problem. I’m active on some of the Australian camping/RV/caravans pages (we call them caravans down under) and the horror stories are every bit as bad as this sad story here. I’d happily take a 1970s-80s caravan and modernize it rather than buy some of the crap that is being churned out these days. I’d tell your parents to dump this heap of shit and get an old Airstream and throw some money at it to bring it kicking and screaming into the 21st century. You just can’t beat an old Airstream. They are things of beauty.
Not surprised by any of this, unfortunately, except the dealer literally stealing your cushions to sell them with another trailer. Your family had purchased that vehicle and the cushions, and they just took them, and prevented your family from using the RV in the first season! Shady as hell!
Our 2019 Forest River had so much wrong with it, and spent more time being repaired than used, so we sold it after 13-14 months (last 2 of that was sitting in a specialized repair yard waiting for the front wall to be reattached to the floor).
My sister’s family just purchased a 2022 Black Label Wolf Pup. It was delivered without half of the equipment, which they then had to go pick up from the dealer 2 hours away. Then on their first trip 2 weeks ago, the water heater blew out the anode rod (threading and all), leaking water all over the cabinet and then into the camper. When they got to camp, half of the electronics had stopped working.
The industry is a shitshow, yet prices keep rising and people keep buying absolute garbage for a premium.
This is why I bought an airstream! One and done. Why spend 60k on a camper that has an 8-10 year life at best and then have to buy another one? Over 70% of the airstreams manufactured since the 1940’s are still on the road today. Anyone that buys anything else is an idiot with money. Spend double and have a beautiful camper for the rest of your life that you can sell for 80% of what you paid for it years later.
Why did they not just return this POS and ask for their money back?!
I don’t know what you’re complaining about. It looks ok since they only paid $6,200….re reads headline….OMG!!!!!!!!!!
I am a lemon law attorney. Whether already said or not, it bears repeating that, in most cases, you do not have to pay a lemon law attorney out of pocket – in fact, they usually don’t even take a portion of your award. This is because many consumer laws require the manufacturer to pay the plaintiff’s attorney fees on top of what is owed to the consumer.
Reaching out to a lemon law attorney early is particularly important in the case of RVs because most manufacturers only provide a brief express warranty. Additionally, many attempt to shrink the window in which you can bring a warranty claim, attempt to limit where a case can be brought, and even attempt to prevent you from bringing an action in court at all by including unconscionable mandatory arbitration clauses.
I grew up in northern Indiana and went to elementary and middle school with some scions of the area’s RV industrial tycoons. In the time we all lived there, my parents got suckered into buying conversion vans, campers, and RVs from neighbors who worked in the industry. The amount of money they wasted on the purchase, maintenance, and upkeep of those things was staggering. Having seen them go through that, I can’t imagine purchasing one my family.
Sadly, we are in the same boat with an East to West (Forest River) Tandara. We bought in new, 2 years ago fo almost $75k, and NONE of our issues have been permanently resolved. 9 separate water leaks (Nautilus water mgmt. panel was replaced once and the new one leaked from the day it was installed), cracked solid surface counter top, blistering/peeling “wall paper”, two broken recliners, major floor squeaks… I could keep going.
The stealership (Appleway RV in Liberty Lake,
WA) complained that Forest River paid pennies on the dollar for warranty work and has been ignoring email and giving lip service when I call so long the manufacturers warranty has expired.
We purchased an extended warranty (probably backed by Forest River too), hopefully they can step in and help with getting these issues resolved… the manufacturer certainly didn’t!
I’ve toyed with the idea of a camper in the past, but could never rationalize the cost to garbage ratio of your average camper. Eventually I decided that the best route is to just buy the absolute biggest, nicest, easiest to deploy ground tent and every accoutrement you could think of to make camping comfortable. You’ll still be saving many, many thousands of dollars, don’t have to tow anything, and don’t have to deal with the inevitable when your poorly made camper starts falling apart.
Quite seriously, at what point is it worth the cost to engage a lawyer? Mercedes, I think you’re in Michigan, right? Here’s what 10 second internet search turned up:
UNIFORM COMMERCIAL CODE (EXCERPT)
Act 174 of 1962
440.2314 Implied warranty; merchantability, course of dealing, usage of trade.
(1) Unless excluded or modified (section 2316), a warranty that the goods shall be merchantable is implied in a contract for their sale if the seller is a merchant with respect to goods of that kind. Under this section the serving for value of food or drink to be consumed either on the premises or elsewhere is a sale.
(2) Goods to be merchantable must be at least such as
(a) pass without objection in the trade under the contract description; and
(b) in the case of fungible goods, are of fair average quality within the description; and
(c) are fit for the ordinary purposes for which such goods are used; and
(d) run, within the variations permitted by the agreement, of even kind, quality and quantity within each unit and among all units involved; and
(e) are adequately contained, packaged, and labeled as the agreement may require; and
(f) conform to the promises or affirmations of fact made on the container or label if any.
(3) Unless excluded or modified (section 2316) other implied warranties may arise from course of dealing or usage of trade.
http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(1iylk01lxirkpl1oqw2tcocb))/mileg.aspx?page=getObject&objectName=mcl-440-2314
I’m pretty sure that most states have similar statutes, and hungry lawyers willing to take the case on contingency.
BONUS: Think of what a series of interesting and informative articles it would make!
She is married to a lawyer, so could maybe get it for free.
Oh wow, that dealership sounds like a horror story of its own. Did they even ask if they could use the cushions from your RV to “fix” the one that the builder forgot to put cushions in? Was the stuff that got stolen insured? It sounds like at the very least they choose to be understaffed despite the high volume of work, if even when parts arrive they may not have anyone to work on an issue for a significatn amount of time.
I’ve had my K-Z Spree for 13 years. Bought it for 30% below sticker in 20 minutes on a cash deal. And there’s no way I’d trade it in for a new one. It’s been pretty good to us, on the camper reliability scale (which means, they’re really crappy).
Sylvan sport makes really interesting and well designed campers and trailers. Their big boy is the Vast. https://www.sylvansport.com/vast-travel-trailer/#!
But I think the Go Pop Up is amazing. Saw one at a campgroud and it is a thing of beauty. https://www.sylvansport.com/go-camping-trailer/
Never heard of them. Their little Go Easy trailer is pretty cool… wonder if a motorcycle would fit in it.
Most RV manufacturers build the cheapest rig as fast as possible
So Thor and Forest River, that’s almost 80% of the US market.
The bigger problem is that you have to rely on Camping World to make all of the repairs. They are incompetent in every way. I have had the unfortunate experience of dealing with them and it has been disappointing both times.
OK so your folks are well over $100k into this. That’s a lot of money for vacations where you still spend hours on the road and share facilities and mosquitoes with your neighbors. Why not rent Kias and stay at hotels instead?
Perceived freedom.
Hotels very much frown at people drinking beer around a campfire in their parking lot. A guy I know…
Parking lot?
They frown even more if you make a campfire in the hotel room or lobby.
Stay on hotel, rent van there and go camp in the dirt in your tents. Shit, buy all new tents everywhere you travel and donate them when you’re done. You’re still way ahead.
Bedbugs
I have a client who’s a tech for camping world, he says give me a 15 year old camper over one that’s been built since then. He’s got plenty of gripes and horror stories about the lack of quality on late model trailers and RV’s
What a hearbreaking tale, not like campers or RVs were paragons of quality before but this is just laughably pathetic build quality.
Wow, I didn’t think my estimation of RVs could get lower. Even if they fix the issues, the indifference to build quality, particularly with safety systems, along with the cheap materials used would give me no confidence in its longterm (or shorterm, really) future. It more seems like an EoL vehicle ready for disposal or full restoration than a new one. If they want real environmental gains, The Man(TM) should make companies responsible for recycling their products or face massive fines for these garbage pits made of non-recyclable materials that end up in landfills well before a reasonable lifespan has been reached. They try to make individuals feel guilty about waste (not that it isn’t an issue), but just one of these RVs getting scrapped is a massive amount of material.
The worst of it is you don’t even get what you pay for anymore. Apparently Airstream (owned by Thor) has been getting a lot of quality complaints despite six figure price tags.
While I haven’t bought an RV I have rented a few. At the low end the circa 2017 Coachmen had peeling walls in the bathroom and generally felt flimsy but was also their cheapest model. At the high end the year old Lance was very solidly engineered and well put together apart from the plastic buttons flying off the electric tongue jack. Lance has a generally good reputation at the literal price of being near Airstream money. I’d still consider a used trailer on the theory the first year of warranty repairs are out of the way but a Toyota HiAce is looking good just for the build quality