Roadtrek Factory Tour

[markopolo]

Anyone here been on the Roadtrek Factory Tour?

I found this little fellow in my van today hiding in the folds of the curtain. I'd never noticed him before. He has a pin attached to the tag that says Roadtrek Home & Park Motorhomes Plant Tour!

Guess he gets around. I wonder where else he has visited?

[Steve_Guelph]

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1338

Not sure if the link will work. We have done the factory tour and it helped us make up our mind in regards to PW vs RT.

[booster]

I have to agree with Steve, our tour in Sept of 09 (already had our Roadtrek and brought it in for repairs) was a similar disaster. A tour guide that couldn't answer questions and bitched the whole time about people who asked him questions in the past. The factory was chaos, the models they had were full of defects. We haven't seen any of the other factories, but they would have to be better than what we saw. When we started looking on 05, the quality of the brands looked pretty equal, but Roadtrek has since lost ground, badly. I hope they get it together now that they have an new partner with manufacturing turnaround experience.

[markopolo]

I kind of wished I hadn't asked............. Just kidding.

This forum is all about information, good or bad. Booster and Steve are trusted members and I appreciate them taking the time to reply.

I summarized the complaints:

construction/quality/defects visible
45 minutes late
not able to see one finished model in the factory
tour guide that couldn't answer questions
tour guide complained about people who asked him questions in the past
the factory was chaos
they knew we were coming to look at two models and they didn't call me to say they don't have any
they located a dealer that had them but they were almost 3 hours away
they could not build unsold units and just have them sit

Some items are understandable - the factory is not a showroom etc. and Roadtrek sells through a dealer network, not direct to individuals. Other items are not understandable like the tour guide that couldn't answer questions. It sure would have been nice of RT to let Steve know when the model he was interested in was going to be in production.

I'm happy to post any comments from Roadtrek so that we hear an explanation.

Just last week I toured the plant at Kent Homes in Bouctouche. http://www.kenthomes.com/kent-homes-home.aspx The person I was with was a potential customer, not me. We dropped in unannounced and after initially being advised that they sell through a dealer network etc. and being handed a brochure by reception we got to meet a very knowledgeable young woman who took us on a tour of the factory. We were impressed with the plant and the production process. She referred us to the closest dealer to answer questions about pricing etc. It was an enjoyable experience. We then drove to a dealer and toured some finished homes. Really a fun day.

Has anyone out there had a good experience at the Roadtrek plant tour? People like Booster and Steve can afford to buy what they want. The last thing RT needs is to miss a sale because of a bad factory tour process.

[booster]

I have heard quite a few good reports of factory tours at Roadtrek. Most of them were from the tours given in combine with Roadtrek Rallies, though.

To be fair, we hit them when they were in the process of bringing their painting back into the main plant, and were just coming out of the almost entire shutdown from the economy, so some of the issues are understandable. What isn't understandable was their willingness to ship marginal quality, in an effort to gain market share (which they did). Folks are paying more for Roadtreks than other brands based on reputation, so that is the thing they need to protect the most.

I am actually glad that we already had our C190P when we got the tour, so we wouldn't have had second thoughts. We bought the Roadtrek based on their more efficient use of space and storage areas, so it wasn't an equal choice between the brands based on quality issues. If it had been equal on utility, as it was for Steve, I think the tour we had would have sent us off to see how the tour would be at Pleasure-way and Great West.

We would get a Roadtrek again, but I doubt it would be new, as the prices and quality issues would make it prohibitive for us. There is no way we could drop $90K to get the same thing we pain $58K for in 2008 (very well optioned C190P, model year 07).

[Steve_Guelph]

I am very local to RT factory (20 minutes) so it was my first choice as I wanted to support our local business. Now when I shared my time at the factory with other people that took the tour some said it was great others shared the same feeling. In the end purchase what you can afford, suits your needs and only you can make that choice.

[Barman]

We took the factory tour about 3-1/2 years after purchasing our new RT. I'm glad we did the tour, but it was dissapointing in some ways. We have been extremely pleased with or 2006 190 Versatile, but truthfully, after seeing some of what I did on the tour, it would give me pause to purchase another one new. I witnessed some practices that pretty much shocked me. I suspect that is why we hear so many complaints from RT owners on the forums. And I also asked some pretty basic questions that the tour guide had no idea about. I really was not overly impressed. Having said that, we still have zero regrets about our purchase, and would probably purchase another RT if something were to happen to ours. It would probably be a used one however, and I hope that we never have to make that choice. As far as the furry little creature goes, we never recieved one of those while there. I sincerely hope that Roadtrek is able to get a handle on some of the bad practices going on, that in my view will hurt them seriously down the road if they don't.

[SilverTrek]

Hi I'm new to the forum, but not new to other forums. Still, I see a commonality. People that have a complaint, or have had a bad experience tend to say they had a bad experience, but never want to specify just what. In your post you say that the RT factory was employing some poor manufacturing practices, but what? You don't tell the other forum readers the whole story.
Would lend some credibility to what you are talking about if you were more specific. Might even help the manufacturer to "clean up their act". Just a suggestion.

SilverTrek in WA.

[Barman]

Thank you for that comment, I guess I should have been more specific. The most bothersome item that I saw while on tour in the factory might not even bother other folks, but I am pretty anal about things being done right. I witnessed employees laying items on the hoods of the vans that were in various stages of conversion. To me this is really uncalled for, and is asking for problems where the company will have to repair damages from scratches or dents. We purchased our RT new, and I failed to notice two very small dents in the body, one towards the front and the other towards the rear on the side of the van. By the time I did notice, they would not warranty it. These may have been there prior to Roadtrek getting the van, who knows, but they may also have been from the practices I witnessed. In any case I think these companies should exercise very strict and high standards to minimize these kind of things. That was not the case when I toured, because I saw it more than once. As I stated in my previous post though, we have had our RT for 6 years of fun filled use, and we like it very much. Compared to many of the posts that I see on this and other forums, we have had very minor problems. We love the Roadtrek, and hope it lasts a long time because we would be pretty nervous about replacing it with a new one.