Is Closing LL for the best?

[Capt J-rod]

I know everyone is wondering whether or not this rumor is true, but after sleeping on it I think it's for the best. CampLite was a small company that solved a lot if not all the flaws that campers have become notorious for. I like it because he built a camper and then put an interior in, THEN priced it accordingly. Seems like the big guys do this backwards... Set the price, design the floor plan, then build it as fast as possible with quality being second to profit. The changes that Thor was making made some serious waves in the Camplite community. The final blow for me was the new "PLATINUM" fiberglass wall model. By closing it down it kinda locks in the quality and reputation before it was on the same line as a jayco or KZ. The residual values and desirability of our used trailers will be interesting. Will they become an Airstream? Probably not due to the box design. I think what will be fun to watch is the opportunity that has been created for a company to try again. As mentioned in another thread, Scott Tuttle is already invested in another trailer company and all the pieces of the puzzle are present. The lack of quality in the mass production lines is disgusting and the price for airstream, Oliver, and Lance keep the door open for a better mousetrap. As for the members on here, we are locked in with what we have for now. What's everyone else's thoughts?

[Apollo]

thor makes livinlite in name only now so does it really matter if they close it down? probably not. Unless there are warranty issues however they are still obligated to fix those.

I plan on keeping my 21BHS for a long time and if anything ever happens to it I'll buy a VMI Alpine or Canyon.

With Scott Tuttle at Intech he might be able to buy the name back and start making real livinlites again, maybe the more things change the more they really do stay the same, haha!

[Merlin]

No particular thoughts yet; it's a lot to process. But, after I read the rumors, I spent an hour last night on the Lance website.

[Apollo]

Might want to get a Lance asap, they were just purchased by REV group so no doubt the cost cutting will soon commence.

[gbpack]

Has this been confirmed for certain yet (Thor shutting down LL)?

[djsamuel]

No confirmation yet, but a lot of smoke.  I sent a PM to the guy who is the default admin at the company forum telling him that if this isn't true they should make an announcement.  No reply yet, but it hasn't been that long.

[pjcd]

I still didn't see a thing on the internet about LL closing down, I'll take a wait and see approach before commenting on any speculation as to the demise of LL.

[Steve Sanders]

I don't think a shutdown of LL will significantly affect anything. They have already stopped producing the original Livin' Lite products.

They also don't really do that much to support the older units. Last year we bought a 8.1 that spent about 2.5 years in outdoor storage under a tarp. When we got it home, there was about 3 inches of water inside the dinette bases! We bought it as a body only restoration project, and had to replace everything that wasn't aluminum, plastic or other other protected metal. So far, the A/C unit is still working. The new tent & cushions came from Top Stitch, the new electrical controller from Amazon, other electrical components from Home Depot. The only thing that came from Livin' Lite was the tonneau cover, but I don't think it was made by them either. LL just made the shell (that's unlikely to require anything) and attached replaceable parts made by other companies.

How this will affect the value of the LL campers that exist will be a function of the open market laws of supply and demand. The supply has become a constant, leaving demand as the only real factor. The biggest obstacle to demand is the fact that they aren't very well known. Another is if we (the owners of the existing units) are willing to sell them for market prices of similar traditionally constructed campers. Used Airstreams are worth more because the owners and purchasers recognize the value. We recognize the value of Livin' Lite products, but if we sell them for the same price as a comparable "Brand X" units, then that value will be lost.

We will probably be selling our very early production 6.0 this year. It has been garage stored since new, and it still looks like a new unit.  I ordered it with almost every option, and I've added several upgrades since then. I haven't set an asking price, but the fact that you can't buy a new one like it anymore will definitely affect the price.

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[ADR]

Unless there are warranty issues however they are still obligated to fix those.

That is my concern- sure they are "obligated" but when?  I already tried to take mine back to the factory for warranty work and was told sure no problem but it would be mid June or later that they could get to it.

That is the supposed timeframe of the shutdown.

How motivated will an employee be to do a good job on a repair when he knows they are closing and he is losing his job?

Several dealers have confirmed they cannot order Livin'Lite products anymore.  So they lose the line, can't sell new ones, so they won't likely be motivated to do warranty work either.   There is already an industry wide problem where many dealers won't touch it if they didn't sell it.

My 16TBS has sat at a local independent repair facility for over 3 weeks now.  Livin'Lite demanded photos before they would approve the repair- then they tried to cheap out on a shortcut that will not fix the problem.  So it will probably be another 3 weeks before they do that per LL's instruction.   Then when it doesn't work, another 3 week delay to try something else...
I'm just glad I haven't sold my Rpod yet- problem is I transferred the license plate to the new Camplite and will have to jump through some costly hoops to get a new license plate for it if I want to go camping.

Frankly if a manufacturer is backed up 6 months on warranty work then they are either building a POS product or don't care at all about customer service..

[Apollo]

Bummer that your camper has a problem like that, I really hope it gets sorted soon and that is the last of the problems.