I want to remind people that there are thousands of these out there. They were manufactured in such a rush and so cheaply that they had dangerous levels of formaldehyde in them. The usual supply chains were stressed by the volume so the factories started buying products from other countries and regulated sources. Many people, including children, became very sick while living in them. Some people even died in them after surviving the original disaster.

Many of these trailers have never even been lived in. Some have had flood damage increasing the health hazards that already existed in these sick campers from the beginning.

In the nature of good old American capitalism, there are people out there that would love to sell you one of these campers, possibly disguised as something else. It is up to you to know what you are buying.

Please take extra care when looking at any trailer made in 2005. Yes, the worst of the gases would have dissipated into the air but the levels are still higher than normal all these years later. The crappy foreign glues they used were so deadly to begin with, they are still above recommended exposure levels.

So you save a few bucks. You give those savings to your insurance. They take your money, deny your claim and then you’ll be both sick and out of money while some suit is richer for it. That is what is happening to many people that are still in the wake of disasters like Katrina. They got taken by their home insurance company. They got taken by a private company under government contract. They got taken by their health insurance company. That’s the nature of business these days and it’s up to you to avoid it at the start.

Many companies and factories produced these trailers in Indiana. Many employees of those companies have become very sick. Note that the regular branded retail products from these companies are fine. The retail products are were made with more care and expense than the rushed and cheap bare bones FEMA trailers. It’s up to you to decide who took the money and ran and who is being responsible.

According to documents shown on a HDNet news report by Dan Rather, companies that were sued in the aftermath of these FEMA trailers include the following companies:

Gulfstream
Fleetwood
Starcraft
Pilgrim
Monaco
KZRV

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provides a deduction for state and local sales and excise taxes paid on the purchase of new cars, light trucks, motor homes and motorcycles through 2009. The deduction is available regardless of whether a taxpayer itemizes deductions.

It is for new buys after Feb. 17, 2009 and the deduction is limited to the tax on up to $49,500 of the purchase price of an eligible motor vehicle. So it may not cover the entire price of a big new RV but it certainly helps quite a bit. The deduction is phased out for joint filers with modified adjusted gross income between $250,000 and $260,000 and other taxpayers with modified AGI between $125,000 and $135,000.

And please note that you can then take advantage of some great energy credits and improve your RV with solar power as well. Solar credits are up to 30% on Federal now.  I installed solar on my RV a few years ago and haven’t needed the generator since. Plus it means you don’t always need such an expensive campsite and can save more money on camping fees.

I have been reading lately about how many RV manufacturers have had trouble in the economy. Here is a sample of recent headlines from 2008 and 2009.

• Fleetwood struggles, closes plants, is delisted from stock market.
• Winnebago forces workers to take unpaid vacation.
• Country Coach slims down and scales back.
• Bigfoot Industries shuts down after 31 years.
• Monaco lays off hundreds and is bankrupt.
• National RV files for bankruptcy.
• Thor California shuts down facility to save on production.
• Jayco Corp closes Topeka plant.
• Weekend Warrior cuts 100 workers. Three executives resign. Goes out of business
• Alfa Leisure closes
• Ameri- Camp closes
• Chinook closes
• Dolphin shuts down
• Extreme RV closes
• King of the Road shuts down
• Sun Valley shuts down
• Sunline Coach is gone
• Teton Homes closes
• Trail Wagons closes down
• TravelSupreme closes doors

I could go on but it’s too depressing for those of us that love RVs. It’s hard to tell if this is going to nearly kill of the new RV market entirely or not. The RV shows certainly won’t be as lively. Aftermarket products and service will likely benefit some.

One of the downsides of this is the ripple effect that hits in places that we don’t immediately think about. Your local RV dealers are stuck with an inventory of brand new RVs that no longer have a warranty with them. They have money in the inventory and now the product isn’t as attractive at retail prices. What does the dealer do? The RVs get older and no one is even coming onto the lots to look let alone buy. Sure, there are aftermarket plans that can be purchased at a cost. Buyers are used to some things being covered for a while though.

I wondered just how big of an impact this is on the looking buyer. What do you think?  Would you buy an RV from a manufacturer who can no longer provide a warranty?