Page 47 - 05_June-2025

"
 At least every third
person who has
bought a new trailer
came to me with a
nightmare story."
_ Blaine Prudden, Prudden RV
if the RV is brand new from a dealership,”
said company president Philip Jordan,
confirming our regret.
After inspecting the problem, a
Canadian camper technician informed
us that antifreeze did not fully go through
the waterlines when the former owner
prepped it for winter. Trapped water, he
explained, could then freeze and crack
the toilet’s water valve. Improperly
de-winterizing an RV could cause
extensive damage easily costing $3,000 for
a new water heater, but we got lucky, pay-
ing only about $100 for a minor repair.
The issue did not result in any water
damage, but unfortunately we soon found
out about extensive damage elsewhere, in
the most common area — the roof.
While there was no visible damage on
the roof of our RV, the technician’s mois-
ture meter told a different story: at some
point, water had seeped into the roof and
caused extensive rot. When he climbed
on top of the vehicle to push on the roof,
it made a characteristic crispy noise,
leading him to conclude that if left
unrepaired in the long term, the air
conditioning unit might fall through
the ceiling.
Romantics like us want to believe
the RV is a home away from home, but
the fact remains they are two very
different abodes. “In my home,” Jordan
said, “I never think twice about my roof.
I assume it’s good for a long time. RVs are
different.” All RV owners, he said, should
routinely check for little cracks caused by
drastic changes in temperature between
seasons and general shifting as it gains
mileage. The damage is common, even
among new RVs that come off the lot
without sufficient sealant that prevents
water damage. And those issues can be
easy to miss even by dealerships, warned
Jordan, as many use apprentices or junior
technicians focused on sales rather than
service, resulting in critical oversights.
A new rig was never an option — new
motorhomes comparable to ours would
start at around $90,000, which is five
times what we paid (without repairs).
Still, we were curious if a rig straight
out of the factory would have been
problem-free.
But to our surprise, Blaine Prudden,
the owner of Prudden RV, a mobile repair
and inspections service (who we’d soon
hire for winterizing it), said otherwise.
Over the years, the quality of RVs has
deteriorated as manufacturers tried to
make them more and more lightweight,
he said. “At least every third person who
has bought a new trailer came to me with
a nightmare story,” said Prudden.
High demand for RVs and a lack of
quality parts and labour may have exac-
erbated the problems in 2020 due to sup-
ply issues during the start of the pandem-
ic. Typical issues include poorly assem-
bled brakes and low-quality appliances.
The older rigs, while they have their
own problems, are still a good choice
provided you know what you’re getting
before you sign on the dotted line. We
were feeling better about our choice
— and we were excited after four long
months and over $10,000 in repairs to
finally hit the road.
Most campsites were booked as we
neared the end of the camping season, an
unsurprising turn of events. Undeterred,
we took the RV to my parents’ farm.
Family time, after all, was the reason
we’d bought the rig. There were long
walks in the forest with grandma and
grandpa, picnics beside the motorhome,
rowdy play sessions with a cousin and
lots of laughs at the RV table. Sienna
loved it so much that she wanted to do
it again the next weekend. This time, we
parked further from the house, watching
wildlife run in the distance as we made
family breakfast. I finally understood
that what we’d wanted all along was the
ability to have nature and the comforts of
home all at once. And that we have. ED.
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