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Old 03-26-2016, 11:11 AM   #21
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I feel sure the plumbing was checked prior to pickup - but that chunk of caulk (or pipe dope?) may very well have not broken loose to clog the water line until after the trailer was pulled over a bump or two. Yes, it's regrettable and ETI should know about it, because of course there shouldn't be any caulk on the INSIDE of the lines; but, I'm not worried that QA is going to suffer with the company expansion. I'm sure Reace has planned for it.
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Old 03-26-2016, 11:33 AM   #22
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I would suggest again that anyone picking up a new trailer, any trailer, from any dealer or manufacturer, take it on themselves to be their own QC person and verify that everything works before leaving the lot, more so if you live 1000's of mile away.

If you'll do a Google search on Travel Trailer, or Fifth Wheel PDI checklist you'll find tons of them out there. There is a reason all these folks took the time to type up these lists for NEW trailers.

Here's the first one that comes up http://www.angelfire.com/trek/buenav...PDI_V113_2.pdf

Just ignore the parts that don't pertain to your Escape.
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Old 03-26-2016, 11:54 AM   #23
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I would suggest again that anyone picking up a new trailer, any trailer, from any dealer or manufacturer, take it on themselves to be their own QC person and verify that everything works before leaving the lot, more so if you live 1000's of mile away.

If you'll do a Google search on Travel Trailer, or Fifth Wheel PDI checklist you'll find tons of them out there. There is a reason all these folks took the time to type up these lists for NEW trailers.

Here's the first one that comes up http://www.angelfire.com/trek/buenav...PDI_V113_2.pdf

Just ignore the parts that don't pertain to your Escape.
Bob don't you think you are shifting the responsibility of your trailer workings onto the purchaser now . You paid for the trailer and you shouldn't have to work on it or go around checking out the systems when sometimes you can't or it is a learning curve which takes time . I still think the manufacturer needs to do a little more oversight and it is their responsibility . Pat
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Old 03-26-2016, 12:06 PM   #24
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My guess is that with the increased production and larger facility there will be a dedicated QC person hired. Just judging from previous posts and things that got let out on our trailer, I don't think that position currently exists. Just little things on ours, but stuff that wouldn't have been handed to the consumer if a dedicated QC person was on staff.
ETI does things right based on their history, and as they grow even larger, I'm sure they will address this.
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Old 03-26-2016, 12:15 PM   #25
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I looked my trailer over pretty good before I left Chilliwack and found a few small items that I had fixed back at Escape. In my mind this is no different then when I purchase a new vehicle. My last truck was looked over, with a critical eye and a few things found which of course were taken care of. Even buying a new house upon delivery you go through everything with the builder or their representative and write up a deficiency list of items to fix.

Maybe as a retired owner of a small manufacturing company I view things different. Nobodies perfect, but in my mind what makes a company shine is how they handle problems as they arise. To that end I give Escape full marks.

That said the other thing I discovered early in business is that no matter how hard you try you just can't please everyone.

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Old 03-26-2016, 12:38 PM   #26
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I looked my trailer over pretty good before I left Chilliwack and found a few small items that I had fixed back at Escape. In my mind this is no different then when I purchase a new vehicle. My last truck was looked over, with a critical eye and a few things found which of course were taken care of. Even buying a new house upon delivery you go through everything with the builder or their representative and write up a deficiency list of items to fix.

Maybe as a retired owner of a small manufacturing company I view things different. Nobodies perfect, but in my mind what makes a company shine is how they handle problems as they arise. To that end I give Escape full marks.

That said the other thing I discovered early in business is that no matter how hard you try you just can't please everyone.

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Old 03-26-2016, 12:44 PM   #27
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Do not agree .Pat


Come on Pat, I know you agree with my last paragraph [emoji6]

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Old 03-26-2016, 12:46 PM   #28
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Bob don't you think you are shifting the responsibility of your trailer workings onto the purchaser now . You paid for the trailer and you shouldn't have to work on it or go around checking out the systems when sometimes you can't or it is a learning curve which takes time . I still think the manufacturer needs to do a little more oversight and it is their responsibility . Pat
I don't see a problem with taking responsibility to verify everything works in my new $40k trailer before leaving the lot. I would hold ETI responsible to fix anything I find before I leave. Just kind of makes sense to go over everything to make sure everything works to your satisfaction. A heck of a lot easier to point out anything you find to the people at ETI and waiting an extra half hour for repair, then finding out after having driven hundreds or thousands of miles away.

If you get lucky, you find nothing. A few small things, no big deal, that's about what I'd expect buying an Escape.

A few big things, I'd think I was picking up my Starcraft again. Just for giggles, I should come up with a list of repairs I had to do to the Starcraft in the 8 years I had it. The Escape is a piece of cake.
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Old 03-26-2016, 12:50 PM   #29
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Some memories from my days in manufacturing (Large equipment costing up to $750,000) The company found that the best thing that could happen is the equipment was shipped with a couple minor problems. When the company (dealership) repaired the problems in the right way, the customers tended to be more impressed than the ones where there was absolutely nothing wrong at delivery. That being said, our Escape 19 was picked up with absolutely nothing wrong at the factory. Over the 2 years that we have owned it, we had an inverter go bad, a pump go bad & a window leak. None of these items were the fault of Escape and could not have been caught during the testing and inspection. I was impressed with Escape's quality checks - I believe each item on their list was checked 3 times with initials for accountability.
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Old 03-26-2016, 12:57 PM   #30
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My guess is that with the increased production and larger facility there will be a dedicated QC person hired. Just judging from previous posts and things that got let out on our trailer, I don't think that position currently exists. Just little things on ours, but stuff that wouldn't have been handed to the consumer if a dedicated QC person was on staff.
ETI does things right based on their history, and as they grow even larger, I'm sure they will address this.
During our plant tour last September I asked our guide (who had worked in QC before Sales) if they had an incoming QC function. She said they did not. I think they should. I expect many QC issues emanate from outside suppliers, e.g. Anderson Hitches, and if a big enough problem someone at ETI takes ownership and resolves the problem. I gathered at least some of Anderson's products were dropped due to some finger pointing and a lack of desire on Anderson's part to recognize and solve the problem. The feeling I got while there was ETI was small enough and involved enough to trap a production problem and fix it.

I fully expect to have some break in issues when we get our 21. Anytime you put a house on wheels and vibrate it going down the road things are going to settle and change. As a newbie in RVs I expect to get myself educated on preventive maintenance and maintenance. That's why I like this forum so much. Lots of good advice from people willing to share their experience. I have learned a lot.
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Old 03-26-2016, 01:27 PM   #31
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Come on Pat, I know you agree with my last paragraph [emoji6]

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Yes I will agree to that statement . Still for some, impossible to check out the workings of their trailer . We are overwhelmed first of all . Looking at the material , floors etc. not the plumbing , electrical etc. some wouldn't know how to do or can't for physical reasons . We bought this trailer and expected it went through some inspection for the plumbing , electrical etc. I did find some items wrong after but not a big deal . I just fix them myself and never complained . Forgot, I did about porch light not working on the road . I did have my new pump not work in first few months ,but that was in my driveway . Seems the flat top on filter was cut in letting air in system . I have worked in construction and can fix things . Others are relying on the manufacturer to check these systems out and that they are working properly when they take delivery . Yes things will and still can go wrong no matter . I just get their frustration with being on the road and far from home . Pat
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Old 03-26-2016, 01:33 PM   #32
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People don't expect to drive a brand new car off the lot with liquid leaking from a hose, or the radio cutting in and out due to a faulty connection.
Unless they just bought a GM!
When I was a kid I went with my father to pick up two consecutive GM station wagons that he bought. On both of them, there were clearly obvious defects - such as the window crank (yes, they were hand-cranked back then) that fell off in my hand because it simply hadn't been pushed on fully... in both cars 8 years apart.

This stuff should not happen, but it does and it is even more likely on essentially hand-built products with low production volume. Escapes probably have fewer issues than most brands - nobody has reported as many issues with their Escape as I have had with my motorhome - but there will be some. I agree with others who have noted that this is a good reason to pick up at the factory, check out as much as reasonable there, and camp locally for a "shakedown" period. Even a trailer which is delivered long-distance should be tried out thoroughly at home to find any issues before heading out on a long trip.

One of the most popular quality measures to use in automotive advertising is the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study. All it does is count issues found in the first 90 days of ownership, so it says nothing about how well cars work or how long they last... only how many glitches are in them right out of the factory door. I think it's popular because it is available on new vehicles (it's hard to claim your car is good when you have to wait 20 years for evidence). The fact that issues are common in the first 90 days shows that people really do buy cars and find that the radio cuts in and out due to a bad connection (entertainment systems are the most problematic category).

One more shot at a car brand: I looked at new vehicles at a Ford dealership many years ago. I tried to get into the back seat of a two-door Escort, and the seat wouldn't fold forward - the release was defective. The same car had a screw holding a front fender on which was only half-inserted and bent over. I went out in the lot and opened the hood of a Taurus, and the spring which pops it up to the second catch position came flying out and bounced off another car - apparently it had been jammed in improperly and hood shoved closed in the factory, and no one had opened it since. The old advertising Ford slogan "Quality is Job #1" apparently meant "we really have to work on quality". Ford does a better job now, and I even bought one and drove it for six years, but they should - every detail of the construction process in a mass-produced car is precisely designed and mostly automated, so it is predictable and controllable. RVs just are not there.
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Old 03-26-2016, 01:36 PM   #33
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I don't see a problem with taking responsibility to verify everything works in my new $40k trailer before leaving the lot. I would hold ETI responsible to fix anything I find before I leave. Just kind of makes sense to go over everything to make sure everything works to your satisfaction. A heck of a lot easier to point out anything you find to the people at ETI and waiting an extra half hour for repair, then finding out after having driven hundreds or thousands of miles away.

If you get lucky, you find nothing. A few small things, no big deal, that's about what I'd expect buying an Escape.

A few big things, I'd think I was picking up my Starcraft again. Just for giggles, I should come up with a list of repairs I had to do to the Starcraft in the 8 years I had it. The Escape is a piece of cake.
Bob one of my items was the frame cut to my dinette on bottom .It is structure . I found it when I made my platform which took care of missing frame . I never saw it at pickup ,I found it when I made my platform . Another under middle of trailer I need to put missing foam I paid for . I just now found that after 2 1/2 years . You need to get under trailer middle , middle . Just some of items I find along the way . Escape is a good manufacturer but they are by no means perfect . My trailer was made when it wasn't crazy like now . Pat
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Old 03-26-2016, 02:19 PM   #34
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During our plant tour last September I asked our guide (who had worked in QC before Sales) if they had an incoming QC function. She said they did not. I think they should.
Hey Blue Bullet/Rob - good question!

And I see from your info on the left that your trailer was originally due on Oct 2016 and now you have a date of July! Ooooo - when did they give you a new completion date? A few months ago we were told we could expect ours 3 months earlier than originally scheduled for once they increased production. I have yet to get official confirmation on that, so I'm wondering when you did. I'm not counting on anything until I get that notification. I keep hoping to get it every day, but so far - nada. Your info gives me hope!

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!
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Old 03-26-2016, 02:48 PM   #35
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Hey Blue Bullet/Rob - good question!

And I see from your info on the left that your trailer was originally due on Oct 2016 and now you have a date of July! Ooooo - when did they give you a new completion date? A few months ago we were told we could expect ours 3 months earlier than originally scheduled for once they increased production. I have yet to get official confirmation on that, so I'm wondering when you did. I'm not counting on anything until I get that notification. I keep hoping to get it every day, but so far - nada. Your info gives me hope!

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!
We were offered a change date from 26Oct16 to 7Oct16 on 24Nov15. We accepted same day.
Then we were offered a change date to 11Jul16 on 8Jan16. We accepted same day.
We had no desire to give Wishbone a MgCl bath on the way home.

Thanks to advice given on this forum and recommendations from ETI we signed off on our build sheet over a month early.
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Old 03-26-2016, 03:08 PM   #36
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This sounds more like cancellations and production slot filling than changes due to an increase in production rate which is still likely to come.
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Old 03-26-2016, 03:59 PM   #37
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This sounds more like cancellations and production slot filling than changes due to an increase in production rate which is still likely to come.
No reasons were given, and I did not ask. I surmised changes were a result of cancellations.
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Old 03-26-2016, 08:18 PM   #38
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No reasons were given, and I did not ask. I surmised changes were a result of cancellations.
That's a lot of cancellations!

Well, I'm just going to have to be more patient in waiting for that email than.
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Old 03-26-2016, 09:04 PM   #39
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That's a lot of cancellations!
Maybe not. As CPAHarley pointed out in another thread, production slots are (were?) assigned according to the unit type (17, 19, etc.). So if there was a cancellation, it did not mean that everyone in line for all the trailers stepped up closer to the "finish line." Others in line for that (cancelled) model may not have wanted to move up so, in theory, someone could leap-frog over many people in the production queue.
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