Were Pandemic-Era RVs Built Worse? What the Complaint Data Can and Can't Say

The short answer

Owners have reported 2021 and 2022 RVs to federal safety regulators far more than any other recent model year. That much is solid. Whether those RVs were built worse is a different question, because the industry also built far more of them, and complaint data cannot fully separate the two. Here is what it can show, and how to use it if you are shopping one of those years.

First, compare the years fairly

The obvious count misleads. A 2016 RV has had years to collect complaints and a new one has had months, so all-time totals make new RVs look good for no reason. The fair comparison gives every model year the same amount of time. The model-year ranking does that by counting complaints NHTSA received in roughly each model year’s first 3 years on the road.

On that measure, model years 2016 through 2020 all land between 226 and 270 complaints. Then 2021 jumps to 409 and 2022 to 424, and 2023 falls back to 211. That is a clear bump, two model years wide.

Then account for how many RVs were built

The RV Industry Association reported a record 600,240 RVs shipped in 2021, up from 430,412 in 2020 and past the previous record of 504,599 set in 2017. By 2025 the figure was 342,220. More RVs on the road means more complaints even if nothing about quality changed.

A rough check: shipments rose 1.4 times from 2020 to 2021, while first-3-years complaints rose 1.6 times from model year 2020 to model year 2021. Complaints grew faster than production. Treat that as a hint and not a measurement, for three reasons. Shipments are counted by calendar year and complaints by model year, and the two do not line up exactly. Shipments cover the whole industry, while our complaint data covers makers that have filed an RV recall. And who bothers to file a complaint can change from year to year in ways no dataset records.

What this means if you are shopping a 2021 or 2022

• Do not rule the years out. Inspect harder. A model year is every maker and every model lumped together, so the total says nothing about any one RV from those years.
• Look up the exact RV. The recall lookup shows the recalls and the owner complaints on file for one year, make and model. Ten complaints describing the same failure tell you where to look.
• Have the VIN checked for open recalls by the maker or one of its dealers. Recalled RVs often go unrepaired, and the full check is here.
• Pay for an independent inspection. Complaint data covers safety problems owners chose to report. It says nothing about leaks, delamination or how one particular RV was stored and maintained.

What the data cannot tell you

It cannot give a complaint rate per RV built, because nobody publishes production by model year. It cannot tell you which makers or plants were responsible, because a few hundred complaints a year split across dozens of makers leaves too few per maker to compare by year. And every complaint is an owner’s unverified report. The honest summary is that the record is consistent with a rough couple of years, and it is not proof of one.

This guide is for informational purposes only. It is not legal, mechanical or purchasing advice, and it is not a safety rating of any RV or manufacturer. Recall and complaint counts are not adjusted for how many RVs a company builds, because no one publishes that figure. Confirm anything about a specific RV with its maker, a dealer or NHTSA before acting on it.

Last reviewed: September 2026 · Against the NHTSA complaint snapshot this site is built on, and the RV Industry Association's 2021 and 2025 year-end shipment reports.