Gulf Stream Motorized Going Away? Rumors?
 

RUMORS?

I heard that Brian Shea stepped down as the CEO. (He lead the motorized division)

I heard that Dave Middelton, national sales rep for the motorized division, left.

And I head that the CFO or COO, forget which, also left.

I heard that they are only producing towables now.

Anyone else heard such things?

CLASS A
 

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Not sure what you mean Jim.

gulfstream
 

If you here something put it on the post, You are a member of Gulfstreamers contact Bonny Cooper she will give you the full story

Still not sure what you mean Jim. I did put it in a post and am am asking if anyone else knows this to be true.

I just talked to Scott Pollum from Gulf Stream motorized division and he said that the rumor is not true. The motorized division is still going strong and he also mentioned that the towables are doing better then ever. So I hope this answers some of your questions about the motorized division closing down. NOT TRUE!

I am guessing the rest is true then about the key people leaving the motorized division. That to me does not sound good of GS. Yes, I knew the towables were being made, but also heard that is really all they are currently making.

To me, this doe snot sound to good on the class A area of GS.

Well, it might not be a bad idea to bring new blood into the company. Several companies have shed some top weight and are streamlining to a more effiecient and profitable with better quality coaches being manufactured. Gulf Streams quality control has been criticized a lot lately, so maybe they will bring in somebody from a different company that might do better. :wink:

Hope springs eternal. :wink:

From rv.net

Former Vice-President of the motorized division of Gulf Stream Coach, Inc., Mr Claude Donati will sometime in the near future begin building class A motorhomes either in Northern Indiana or Southern Michigan. The new company will be called: Nexus RV. I wish him good luck and hopes he build a good quality unit. Perhaps he'll bring some excitement to the motorized RV business. He resigned from Gulf Stream in Mid-June of 2010. It will be interesting to see how this all works out! What say you?

Don

I knew Claude had left, I wonder if Dave and others went with him for this new venture. I can only hope quality control is a top priority and also embracing the owners via support and even online.

I never had any problems as far as quality and workmanship on my coach. It has been a great coach with minimal problems.
Where Gulf Stream is really bad is customer service to answer their phone. That has been the biggest complaint from a lot of Gulf Stream owners.
I was one of the lucky ones, because just about every time I called they stepped right up and helped me. I remember when I bought the coach new and I was in Florida and I had a seal on the big slide that was not glued just right. I called them up and they found a place in Florida that was close to where I was and had it repaired at no cost to me.
But I have read in this forum and on RV.Net where they absolutely hate Gulf Stream that Gulf Stream has a bad reputation and to stay away from their product. I disagree with RV.Net on a lot of their issues because that forum is controlled by the Newmar owners and they believe that Newmar is the only company that manufactures quality coaches. And they are right that they do manufacture a good coach, but there are others that make good coaches also. Usually when you buy a top of a line of any company, you are getting a pretty good coach. Gulf Stream with their TM now manufactures a pretty good coach for the money.

Read about Donati new RV here: https://www.rvbusiness.com/2010/07/do...te-in-60-days/

I wish him all the best, he is a great guy.

Ron

The Tour Master was indeed Gulf Steams main high end coach. But it had its manufacturing issues that I still am dealing with. I am not alone in this I am sorry to say. The QC was totally lacking as far as I am concerned right down to them forgetting to put a slide seal on! How can that even pass QC??? Because of this out bedroom floor dry rotted out. Now GS still stood behind it, but it also put us out yet again.

In any case, I will be looking to Newmar I think when the time comes to look for another coach. I like the approach they have to running the line.

But you could not beat GS for the Bang for the Buck factor or the storage space of the Tour Master.

I just visited the Gulf Stream factory a week ago (It's still there!). Unfortunately, I didn't take the factory tour because it is given only every-other-day. I requested a face-to-face with Scott Pullin and he came to reception where we talked for at least a half hour. According to Scott, you will not be able to purchase new diesel units because the market is too saturated. Other motorized products are available & he confirmed towable is doing very well.

I also met with Jim Creech who has been there a billion years & seems to be ready for the next billion. They confirmed that Aaron is no longer with the company - difficult cuts had to be made in the business climate.

I was there for several issues that I only trust the factory to handle. For the 1st time, assistance was declined, but in a very courteous manner. I was however, referred to a small local shop named RV One. Scott called ahead to pave the way. Dave at RV One is very knowledgeable, & in fact GAVE me the replacements for broken parts of my FM antenna. It was the estimated charges for slide work that was declined by GS. If the internal factory "slide expert" employee wasn't on vacation, I had the feeling that perhaps the problems would have been taken care of within the factory.

Scott also got me immediately into the local Chevrolet repair center for an inspection on a strange motor behavior. The service manger himself was waiting for me as I arrived.

Further conditions that I noted was that the "camping area" was completely empty, though electric & water were on. The pool was closed ("expensive repairs" are being deferred). The visitor lounge building was locked. When I got it opened, I discovered it is being used as office space, but by who is unclear since it was vacant. The country club showers are accesible but have not been maintained for some time (clean, but could use some repairs & replacement). There were not many vehicles in the corporate office parking lot, but the mail-guy still makes deliveries!

It's my belief that they are surviving. Until you read that Scott Pullin has taken a position elsewhere, I think there isn't real cause for alarm, unless you positively, absolutely have to have a brand new Gulf Stream diesel - then it is "Ruhh-rohh"

You say that motorized coaches were not being manufactured at the moment, but you also mention that Scott Pullin said there was other motorized coaches you could purchase. Are you saying that TM are not being made at the moment, but that other motorized coaches are?
When I talked to him on the phone he told me that motorized coaches are still being manufactured. So I don't know what is going on here. He tells me one thing and then he tells you something else.

Ray,

It is my understanding (from Scott) that you would not be able to purchase a newly manufactured TM or any diesel-powered product - the factory is not now producing them. He indicated there is too much inventory (& competition) around the country. So you may be able to purchase leftover diesel units from dealerships.

I also understood (from Scott) that you could place an order on say, a brand new class A gas Sun Voyager for example. Motorized is strong enough, just not on diesel platforms.

Perhaps that is why Donati moved to Nexus RV? It might be interesting to see who is financially backing this new venture? Part of a "master plan"? hmmmm....

That was more or less my take also. But it went as far as no class A's and was only smaller units. Class C.

Yes, it will be interesting with the new company. Will be looking to see what comes of that.

I know I am late getting into this discussion but I support the fact that Gulf Stream needs to improve quality control. We did not even have a connection to City Water and we have had a slew of other problems due to a lack of quality control problems. How can you have a 6 sigma quality program and miss a major requirement for an RVer? I also have experienced the difficulty in getting customer service support out of Gulf Stream with one exception. Millie Birchfield, the Queen of the parts department, has been my "go to girl" at Gulf Stream. She has come through for me 100% of the time. She promptly responds to all emails and I have even spoken to her on the phone! I just could not miss the opportunity to put in a good word for a dedicated Gulf Stream employee who is truly committed to providing excellent customer service!

I second Millie and also Cindy and Pauline. All have helped "make things happen". Even Dave Millition was great but alas is no longer their.

WE LOVE OUR TOUR MASTER T40B. WE HATED all the QC issues we had to deal with in order to love out TM. The coach we have should have never been let out by any type of QC program. So it clearly shows their really was not not. (In our humble opinion.)