Love to argue with RV dealers.

[Lakota Wolf]

I recently decided to go to RV World, locally here.  Sure they have some nice new shiney rigs of all shapes and sizes.I was asking about power cord plugs and misc.. the owner replies hes been in the RV buisness for 30 plus years and has never ever in his life seen a power cord tucked into a storage box or one that has two plugs,, one to go into shore ped and the other end plugging into a plug on the RV side, He said sinse the mid 50's ALL rv's have been designed with a screw in type power cord.

He has NEVER seen a fuse/breaker box on the outside of an RV. He said the breaker box IS ALWAYS installed on the inside of the RV in a closet, and power inverters and converters are never in a kitchen area of an RV, they are always built next to the battery storage box.

I was showing him my RV which is 90% original, and all equiptment as far as shore power to breaker box is FACTORY, and inverter/converter is same factory installed location. He said at some time someone moved the inv/conv. along with ALL the wiring in the trailer, to under a cabinet near the sink and someone installed the breaker box on the outside and even installed a access door.He even commneted on the Factory info sticker on the inside cabinet door was WRONG. He said ALL 5th wheels built in the 80's should have 3 axels Not 2. And he has never in his life seen a 24 ft 5th wheel with a complete rear bath. He said 5th wheels always have side bathrooms, never in the rear.

I looked around his lot and pointed out several 2014 model trailers with De-Laminating panels, and his excuse was,, the laminating is still settling and will look ok after a few months. One had excessive floor damage from a roof vent being left open during the rain.. He said its not a worry, it will DRY out and be ok.. (I'm laughing at his wise wisdom).

He even tried to say on one unit,, a 33 foot 5th wheel, that the single battery (which by the way was a walmart car battery), would supply enough power to run all the lights in the RV for up to 3 weeks, without having to recharge,, due to the 1157 light bulbs they use are special kind of incondecent car light bulb. I turned one overhead light on and it only took about 10 minutes for it to start to go dim, and he said he hasnt charged the onboard (car) battery in a few days.He said the 22 gallon fresh water tank is the biggest on the market and is enough water for over a month. I told him my fresh water tank is 50 gallon and he said no one has ever made a 50 gallon water tank,, he even said they dont even make 50 plus gallon waste tanks. I showed him mine along with factory specs etc to prove it and he said someone musta put them in there.. I told him I had bought my 5th wheel brand new in 1984, for the 1985 model year, and I wonder during this whole time of owning it for the last 30 yrs, when did someone have time to CHANGE everything without me knowing about it.

I tell everyone here in the RV park, be very leary with dealing with RV world down here, cuz the owners and salespeople are good and shoveling the ole horse manure to potential customers.

He sealed his fate when he said RV's life spans are about 4 to 5 years before needing major repairs or trading in., I told him, wow,  I guess I'm behind the times with my ole trusty and NOT rusty 30 year old 5th wheel.. He said as I was pulling out,,,, Be careful it dont break in half going down the road... I said no worries,, I will just pass all the garbage RV's your selling now, along side the road.

[John "T" Nordhoff]

  I like your style Wolf Man, you and I would get along great. As an Electrical Engineer (and any non engineer or anyone with any sense or who has ever camped before would know) that single Semi Deep Cycle RV/Marine Battery wouldn't last but a couple nights subject to how many lights and especially if a furnace was used. Hmmmmmmmm no one ever made a 50 gallon water tank????? I bought a 79 Gallon just last year and I could have got one anywhere from 16 up to 100 Gallons!!!!!!!!!!! Five Year Life?????? My current one is a 2001 and its like perfect condition, I guess I better go see him and trade mine in YEAH RIGHT LOL I wonder if he has a 29 Ft Class C with 110 Gallons of Fresh Water and Four Golf Cart Batteries and 200 Watts of Solar ???????????

 John T

[Lakota Wolf]

This may sound like a RANT, But like you said, I would hate to see a newbie get shafted on one of the great joys of life, being able to travel and camp.