Why New RV Model Years Show Fewer Complaints (It Is Mostly Time)

Through 30 September 2026, owners had filed 155 NHTSA complaints on model year 2024 RVs and 405 on model year 2016 RVs (snapshot taken 2 October 2026). The gap is mostly time, not build quality: a 2016 RV has had ten years to collect reports and a 2024 RV has had under three. Only a count that gives every model year the same amount of time can be compared.

Why the all-time count favors the older years

A complaint is a consumer report to NHTSA, filed by an owner. RvCrunch assigns each one to the RV's model year. The all-time count for a model year is every complaint received from 1 January 2016 through 30 September 2026, so older model years have simply been open to reports for longer. The data this site reads says so plainly: the all-time figure "favors older model years" and should never be used to compare them.

The equal-time count

The fair measure is complaints received by 31 December of the model year plus two. That is three calendar years for every model year, and it is the figure shown first on the RV Complaints by Model Year tool.

Model year	All-time complaints	First three years
2016	405	244
2017	467	271
2018	476	226
2019	426	255
2020	448	259
2021	667	409
2022	573	424
2023	241	211
2024	155	not over yet
2025	85	not over yet
2026	42	not over yet

Source: NHTSA's consumer complaint files, complaints received 2016-01-01 to 2026-09-30, snapshot taken 2026-10-02. One complaint is also on file for model year 2027.

On the equal-time count, model years 2016 through 2023 ranged from 211 to 424 complaints. Model year 2023 is the lowest of them at 211, which is closer to the older years than its all-time count of 241 suggests next to 2016's 405.

A worked example: complaints keep arriving after year three

Model year 2016 had 244 complaints in its first three years and 405 all-time, so 161 arrived after 31 December 2018. Model year 2018 had 226 in its first three years and 476 all-time, so 250 arrived after 31 December 2020. Model year 2023's three years ended on 31 December 2025, and 241 less 211 leaves 30 complaints received since, over nine months of 2026.

Those later arrivals are why a 2024, 2025 or 2026 RV will show more complaints over time without anything changing about the RV. The window for model year 2024 closes on 31 December 2026, for 2025 on 31 December 2027 and for 2026 on 31 December 2028. Until then the tool shows no equal-time figure for them.

The limitation: nothing here is per RV built

There is no public source for how many RVs were built in each model year, so none of these counts is a rate. A model year with more RVs on the road can be expected to collect more complaints. Every complaint is an owner's unverified report, and a complaint is not a recall: a recall is a manufacturer's report to NHTSA. The 2021 and 2022 figures above are the highest on the equal-time count; what they do and do not show is covered in Were Pandemic-Era RVs Built Worse?.

Using it when you shop a recent model year

A low count on a 2024 or 2025 RV means the record is young. It does not mean the RV has no problems. To see the complaints on file for one year, make and model, use the RV Complaints by Model Year tool alongside the RV Recall Lookup, and read the individual reports rather than the total. For how to check a specific RV's recalls, see How to Check a Used RV for Recalls.

By Eric, RvCrunch founder. Informational only, not professional advice. Last reviewed: October 2026.

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: October 2026 · Against the sources listed above.