I am going out tomorrow to examine in detail a new DRV Tradition at a local dealership before possibly buying it. I need to know what to expect.
I have owned 3 prior RVs that we fulltimed in briefly: a new 2000 National Tradewinds Diesel pusher that we part-timed in for a year, and fulltimed in for about 5 months, a nice but old (1978 converted in mid 1990s that we bought in 2009) Eagle bus conversion that we fulltimed in for a year, and a barely used 2011 Heartland 27 foot "vacation type travel trailer" that we ended up fulltiming in for over a year despite its limited quality and size.
We felt that the Tradewinds was pretty reliable except for a circuit board failure in the RV refrigerator, and the annoying habit of the ECM to go nuts once in a while, sometimes while doing 60 mph, and having to stop and shut off the ignition to "cure" the computer problem (not kidding). We felt the bus conversion was an unreliable money pit - (never did get one of the 2 basement AC units to work, hot water heat system sprung a leak and spewed glycol into the bathroom vanity cabinet, water lines froze when the temperature dropped even a BIT below 32, etc). The Heartland's biggest issues were a rainwater wall leak that we never actually fully fixed, a cheap kitchen water faucets that didn't last long, a furnace that failed one cold day but whose repair was not very costly, and a cheap toilet whose pedal kept breaking until we replaced the darn thing with a $250 Sealand.
We have been thinking about getting back into fulltime RVing, but have a limited tolerance for "problems". To illustrate our tolerance level:
- We look back on the Tradewinds diesel pusher as mostly fine
- The bus conversion we would never want to repeat - too many complex "luxury" systems with inadequately robust components - failures waiting to happen
- The Heartland we felt was overall "excusable" because it was an inexpensive trailer used by us in a fulltiming capacity it was never designed for, and our memories of it are actually pretty pleasant.
I am reasonably analytical and mechanical (I am a degreed mechanical engineer by education and have modified cars and motorcycles). We don't mind problems that can be repaired quickly and inexpensively. We don't want problems though that are hard to diagnose, costly to fix, and, worst of all, structural in nature and overwhelming in cost. We simply can't afford to fund another money pit like that bus.
We also can't handle numerous trips back to the selling dealer, because for the first couple of years, we don't plan on buying a tow vehicle because we can't use one yet (I am retired, but my wife can't retire yet), and we proactively plan to just keep the RV in a nice RV resort until such time as it becomes possible for us to travel. THEN we get a tow vehicle. This means we favor an RV brand that authorizes mobile RV repair services to do warranty work. My Googling of DRV warranty practices seems to show that DRV is cool with authorizing warranty work by properly qualified mobile RV technicians.
That apparent acceptance of mobile warranty work, coupled with the DRV reputation as being one of the highest quality RV production (not custom) manufacturers, is what is pulling us towards this DRV purchase.
What should I expect to encounter if I buy this brand new DRV Tradition?
Is the RV world still an unregulated wild west where some units come from the factory fine while others seem cursed, or have things improved over the years? (I have a friend who bought a brand new top model Winnebago motorhome, and in the course of a decade of ownership of it, never actually got even ONE cross-country trip without something breaking enroute!
. Winnebago kept fixing it for him, but it never achieved "reliability")
How many problems should I expect to encounter in the brand new RV? (Hopefully not the 30 to 40 that Heartland apparently now tells customers is typical for their highend Landmark 5th wheels)
What are my chances of getting a problem, like say a serious water system leak, or a roof that leaks, that could cause major damage if not detected instantly? I am asking because a couple I know with a 1-1/2 year old Landmark needed a new roof, including new plywood, at 5 months, have had multiple slide issues, and now appear to have a structural problem of some sort on their entire driver side wall that apparently will require replacing the entire wall. That couple has spent many weeks in hotels instead of in their RV while warranty repairs are attempted and run overtime, and they simply can't afford to keep doing so.
On a less traumatic scale, should I be bracing for lots of surprise problems and work on my part to get them repaired under warranty in a reasonable time period, or is DRV quality these days better than that? Again, I am asking because on various forums, with different brands, I read about refrigerator icemaker water line connections that leak from the factory, hydraulic leaks that foul the basement with hydraulic fluid, slide systems that fail repeatedly and get "fixed" with the same inadequate replacement parts, TV antenna wiring that got damaged during the build "somewhere" within the coach, and even one water tank that simply fell off the coach when it got somewhere close to full, because it had never been properly fastened to and supported in the chassis!
So, what should I expect if I buy the DRV Tradition? Is it likely to be a mostly pleasant experience like the 2000 National Tradewinds pusher, a reasonably happy mix of happiness and some minor problems like we had on the Heartland travel trailer, or a stressful struggle like we endured on the bus conversion that sort of exhausted us?
Jim G
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