Don’t Get Suckered by RV Companies That Don’t Make Their Own Products

There’s an interesting trend emerging across the RV industry – a growing number of manufacturers aren’t even making their own RV major components let alone their own RVs anymore. They buy cheap parts from third parties, many of which are sourced outside of North America, and simply are assembled in American factories and in some cases entire RVs are made in China. In essence, it’s challenging to find true manufacturers like Bowlus.

While this cost saving practice is a great way to get as many units out the door as quickly and as cheaply as possible, it does little to benefit or protect the customer. Quality control issues have long been a challenge for the major RV brands, and purchasing inexpensive parts from suppliers is only exacerbating the problem. In fact, the lack of quality control up and down the line has made it nearly impossible for most major brands to deliver consistent quality. As a result, the industry has been embroiled in multiple class action lawsuits in recent years as RV owners find their shiny new RV spending more time waiting for repairs, that may or may not be covered by the warranty, than it does in a campground.

Of course, it’s not surprising that mass-produced RVs built with a “fingers-crossed” attitude around quality control leads to problems. When you don’t own or manage the factory making your RV components or RV is built in, problems are, dare we say it, inevitable.

At Bowlus, we take quality seriously, and because of that we fabricate 70% of the components that go into every Volterra, Terra Firma, and Rivet ourselves, right here in the U.S. We don’t like third party parts from other countries because we want to be able to control the quality and ensure that every Bowlus-centric part can be seamlessly integrated, delivering a RV with a pristine fit and finish. The only thing we outsource are the appliances, and those suppliers have been carefully vetted – we only work with the top providers in the U.S. Canada and Europe.

This isn’t the cheap way to do it, but it’s the only way we can ensure the industry leading quality control for which the Bowlus brand is known. It’s also the only way for a company with a user centered approach like Bowlus to build an RV that will deliver luxurious outdoor adventures for a lifetime so you don’t spend time with a poorly made product that looks nice but isn’t built for the long haul. Your first question should always be when looking at an RV is where exactly is this product built? If it isn’t the USA or you’re given a vague answer back away immediately.The second question is, is it built in a factory owned and operated by the management of the company in the USA? If it isn’t, look for a product that is. No one can manage quality far afield, especially in the RV world so you can expect serious problems. Yes, quality and American-made may cost you more upfront but will save you time and money so you can spend your time adventuring which is your objective.