Yahoo Message Number: 13150 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/13150)
I just ran across this little tidbit, is it possible that someone is finally going to regulate the industry. If you have info that can help you might want to send an email. I have sent an email to Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison with my observations of the many people I have come across who have horror stories which might help in her decision to go farward with a bill to regulate the industry.
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Motorhome Owners - Attention Please
Do you believe that your motorhome is as safe as it can be - that it is as easy to keep "between the ditches" as it should be - that it is put together as well as it could be?
Do you believe that you should have to pay for after-market suspension and/or steering enhancements to a brand new motorhome simply to make that brand new vehicle safe to drive at highway speeds?
Do you believe that driving your motorhome should be a "white knuckle" experience? That a passing vehicle should be able to make you nearly lose control?
Do you accept shoddy workmanship and lies and indifference by the dealer and manufacturer to the defects that were built into your motorhome because the old-timers tell you "that's the way the motorhome industry is" or "all motorhome manufacturers are like that"?
Or do you believe that the manufacturer and dealer of your motorhome should be responsible for producing and selling a reliable - and safe - product?
United States Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas is requesting correspondence from motorhome owners who have had experiences which make them believe the motorhome industry needs to be regulated, just as the automobile industry has been for decades.
Please send your comments to:
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison ? 284 Russell Senate Office Building ? Washington, DC 20510 ? Telephone 202-224-5922
E-mail: senator@... (senator@...)
Send a copy to your own senators and representatives as well, both state and federal.
Yahoo Message Number: 13152 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/13152)
I know where you are comming from, but I do'nt think you want "Big Brother" envolved. They will double the price of the coach with rules and regulations and and don't forget about the EPA and the fuel milage folks. Well things are going to change anyway. What we need is for Japan or Germany to start building coaches. Anybody want a Lexus or BMW 11 meter coach? (That weighs 20,000 lbs and gets 15 mpg with diesel/electric combo drive).
Yahoo Message Number: 13164 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/13164)
"C. Marshall",
I'm with you. The best way to regulate the motorhome industry is to spend your motorhome dollar very carefully.
JMHO
Steve
Intigue #10673
Brother"
regulations
things
start
(That weighs
Yahoo Message Number: 13165 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/13165)
We don't need more regulation, we need more COMPETITION. We don't need more government, we need LESS. This industry is selling every coach it makes, even if they are junk. As soon as Honda starts building motorhomes, you'll see this industry change overnight, just like the auto industry did. I saw an for the new Honda jet airplane a few months back. Maybe we aren't too far from seeing a Honda motorhome.
BUT, I hate to see more of our American dollars sent overseas - we already have a really big problem with the trade deficit. The best possible solution is for an American company (hopefully Country Coach) to step up to the plate and make a decision to start building a really quality coach - a ZERO DEFECTS coach. If a manufacturer truly designed a Zero Defects process so that every failure or problem resulted in a permanent change to the design or manufacturing process, we would have near-perfect coaches rolling off the assembly line within a year.
The key to fixing the poor coach quality is total commitment to Quality with a Zero Defects process driven by the Free Enterprise system.
Bob Kumza
is
people
it
motorhome
which
just
Building ?
Yahoo Message Number: 13178 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/13178)
The bottom line is....the bottom line. The RV industry will never improve their product so long as the majority of buyers put up with shoddy workmanship. The corporations are in business to make money.
Period. And they will cut corners as they always have done in order to make the largest profit possible...they know that there are certain parts that they use that will fail and that they will have to replace in nearly every coach, but they use them anyway because it looks better to the investor when they make X# of dollars on each sale. The investors don't look at the amount of money that is spent on repairs at the factory or at the dealerships. Maybe they should do so.
If there were no regulation, there would be no safety innovations in motor vehicles or other items sold to us. There would be no seat belts and, therefore, more deaths in crashes. There would be children choking on parts of toys that fall off, or being injured by some piece of furniture. There would be no regulation of emmisions and those suffering from asthma and other diseases would be even more miserable than they are now...I still won't ever go back to the LA basin...can't breathe there. We do need less government - in areas where there is no safety issue and no harm to citizens. Hmmmm...that is a politica;/religious discussion so will leave it at that.
Bottom line to me in this discussion is that there needs to be regulation of the RV industry because they obviously won't regulate themselves.
Carol
Yahoo Message Number: 13181 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/13181)
Sounds like the Democrats need another cash cow. Just what we need more regulations.
Yahoo Message Number: 13186 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/13186)
Actually Hutchinson is a Republican from Texas.
Yahoo Message Number: 13187 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/13187)
Are most coaches made in blue states or red states?
Yahoo Message Number: 13189 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/13189)
Sounds like you want a Mercedes Coach. TWI
Yahoo Message Number: 13191 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/13191)
Carol, I'm not sure that I could disagree more completely.
The investor does see the cost of repairs, redos, and warranty work.
Those are all expenses that come out long before they get to the bottom line.
On the subject of regulation I see it differently. The safty innovations that are in cars today were not invented because they were required. They became required after they were invented. Seat belts, shoulder belts, abs, and air bags all came along because of competitive pressures. Some folks want safe cars and are willing to pay for them. That drove competition for their dollars. Today the regulations do not require that a car be as safe as a Volvo. But the Volvo is there anyway. Customer demand is a much more efficient force than regulation.
The same is true with quality. If everyone wanted the highest quality there would only be one car/RV made. What people want is there own balance between some set of perceived features and benfits. Style. Comfort. Performance. Safety. Value. We all make these decisions and I do not want the government making these important decisions for me.
George Sanders in Birmingham, AL
Allure 31038
money.
to
spent
in
by
more
Hmmmm...that
Yahoo Message Number: 13192 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/13192)
What difference does that make?
Yahoo Message Number: 13194 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/13194)
You have every right to disagree, George. >> The safety innovations were invented, yes, but were not used in vehicles until they were required by regulation - except for maybe Mercedes. Volvo or BMW. They became required after they were invented, but also after people discovered that they worked and the auto companies refused to do anything about it until regulations were passed, much like the CAFE regulations. The seat belts were not installed as standard equipment until the corporations were regulated into doing so.
If customer demand were as strong as regulation, my Explorer would have all of the safety innovations included in the Volvo..at a fair price. It doesn't. I still choose to purchase an American-made vehicle, rather than one from Sweden, though my cousins there might appreciate the business. 8-) My next car will probably be a Ford Escape Hybrid...if it can be towed behind my coach.
Without government regulation, you and I would not have the protections we currently enjoy. I do agree with you that the government is much too intrusive, however, that extraordinary intrusiveness is not in the area of safety, but in social issues.
That said, I do wonder if you can make laws that will cause any corporation to do a better job of building motorcoaches or other RVs. Maybe it has to be a decision made by the corporation; as has been said here many times, CCI needs to institute better quality control and make an effort to use only quality parts...the small parts are the ones that fail us - right height valves, etc. But the laws, if used properly by the consumer, can force corporations into taking action to provide the safety and good quality product for which we pay.
Carol
work.
Seat
to
the
make
never
with
order
have
it
should
emmisions
LA
areas
regulate
Yahoo Message Number: 13195 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/13195)
No difference. Or at least I don't think it should. It was tongue in cheek.
Yahoo Message Number: 13197 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/13197)
Oh - couldn't see your cheek. >>
tongue in cheek.
Yahoo Message Number: 13235 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/13235)
The motorhome industry is to small for the Japanese. No big manufacturers or investors are interested in this size industry, thats why you don't see any of the big automakers in the business anymore. They just like the engine and chassie part because it also works on trucks. Thats the other reason why you don't see a large varity of conponent parts. We think this is a big industry but it is actually a small business when it comes to manufacturing numbers. Auto companies stop making certain models when they can't sell 50,000 a year. .
Yahoo Message Number: 13239 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/13239)
Well said George. I actually liked cars in the 50s when they actually could tell one model from the other.