The first thing RV owners learn when they start the RV Lifestyle is that if something can break… it will. The second thing is getting RV repair and service done is never an easy task.

That’s one of the top reasons many RV fulltimers are coming off the road. RV repair and service is nothing like automobile service. Getting parts, warranty service and repairs can easily take weeks.

Before COVID, the average wait time for RV repair or service was 21 days, according to the national RV Technical Institute in Elkhart, IN. That's the amount of time that it takes from the day you drop a unit off at a dealer to be repaired, to when you pick it back up.

Since COVID, the wait has increased dramatically. Dealerships shut down, manufacturers and parts suppliers shut down. Even now, many suppliers are still basically closed, with service and warranty folks working for home. Parts and supplies are, well, in short supply.

Repair facilities at dealerships are jammed, catching up on their own backlogs from the shutdown and trying to cope with slowed shipments from suppliers. Add in the crush of so many new RVers who chose the RV Lifestyle for their vacations this year and you'll understand why RV service shops have to triage their repairs, prioritizing who gets fixed first based on the severity of the problem, just as emergency room doctors have to triage those in a hospital waiting room.

Sometimes, it takes weeks to even get an appointment. All too often, more weeks once the RV is in the shop.

In our question of the week segment coming up a little later, we'll share some of the issues we've heard from various RVers.

Even mobile RV repair technicians are experiencing delays. Instead of same-day service as they used to deliver, more often than not it's next week. Or the week after.

You can listen to the podcast in the player below.  Go to about 33:30 into the podcast to learn about peer to peer RV storage. And scroll down this page for shownotes and a transcript of the interview, plus links and resources about all the things we talk about.

Also this week, we'll learn about a new way to find a place to store your RV... think the equivalent of an Airbnb rental applied to storage for your RV. And we have some good news about RV shows starting again after the first of the year!

This part of the RV Podcast is brought to you by Camping World – America’s #1 RV Dealer  Use the coupon code rvlifestyle10 for 10% off purchases over $99.Check rvlifestyle.com/campingworld to see the many RV accessories and supplies Jennifer and I use with our RV. 

RV LIFESTYLE NEWS OF THE WEEK

Wildfires ravaging much of West - California, Colorado, Arizona and more

Wildfires burning the West are making headlines this week, closing campgrounds and causing evacuations in many parts of California, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado to name a few. In California, at least a million acres have burned in seven days, with wildfires reaching historic size. Elsewhere Utah's Minersville Campground was evaluated over the weekend because of wildfires, Arizona officials closed at least two campgrounds because of wildfires near Saguaro National Park, and wildfires are raging across large areas in Colorado . Every year around this time we hear of wildfires ...