Alfa Leisure Inc. of Ontario, Calif., has ceased operations April 30. The shutdown impacted about 150 employees.
The company offered both luxury motorhomes and fifth-wheel travel trailers. The company sold its 35-foot and 40-foot motor homes under the See Ya! brand. Alfa’s fifth-wheel models included the Toyhouse, which featured a storage area intended for motorcycles or all-terrain vehicles.
“This is a sad day for Alfa Leisure and for the RV community” stated Founder and CEO Johnnie Crean, “We gave this company our all, fought tooth and nail and in spite of a Herculean effort, could not overcome the financial headwinds that continue to plaque our industry.”
Known for RV designs that bucked most trends and tended to focus on the genuine enthusiast, Alfa had attracted a loyal following and was in the midst of a turnaround that under different circumstances might have produced far better results. Ongoing challenges with key supplier Crane Composites further exacerbated the situation.
“Alfa has been fighting an uphill battle and the final straw was certainly Crane’s unwillingness to stand behind their product” stated Crean. “We’d like to thank all of the owners and dealers who over the past 35 years have been our catalyst and our inspiration.” Crean went on to say that “about 90 days ago we were excited to bring in a high powered new management team to try and save us, but it was far too late. The Crane issue quite simply became insurmountable”
There are currently no plans for additional operations and the company shutdown is just one of a growing number of RV manufacturers that have closed their doors. As housing values have dropped, many potential buyers have lost the equity in their homes they had in the past used to purchase big-ticket items.
This entry was posted on Thursday, May 1st, 2008 at 3:26 pm and is filed under Fifth wheel trailers, RV manufacturers, motorhomes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
oh i am so surprised and sadened about this news…………….i just traded down my alfa gold to a 26ft’r coachmen but i would have bought another alfa had they made some smaller models like coachman………….we loved our alfa gold and had no problems what so ever with it………..just the small regular kinks as we had previously a rose aire and a monaco windsor but i will swear on a stack of bibles that we loved our alfa gold but with this hi diesel price and our fixed income we just had to trade down and our age driving etc; was becoming a more nervous item….but we loved our alfa and once in awhile we called for minor things and everyone was so nice that we just loved everything possible about our alfa family…………..they will be greatly missed……i am so sorry to see this happen as i am experienced about closing an loosing a business on a much smaller scale so I am with you 100%…………..please hang in there and be dam proud of what you accomplished…….we will miss you and our thoughts and prayers will always be with you…………………take care and keep your chin high! signed jerry nordquist, billings,mt and sun city festival by del webb out of buckeye az….we did business with sun city rv in peoria, az…………….they were very nice and courteous all thru the trade in and they sold our alfa gold with in 3 or 4 wks……..
What a sad day for the RV industry. Over the past 10 years of so we owned two See Ya”s, a 2004 and a 2006. At that time we were full-timers, but now have settled down and own a new home in TN. We still think that the See Ya is the best value on the market for the money. They held up very well with few needed repairs. We will see more of this before our economy recovers, I guess I should say, if it recovers!!
I’m sorry to see you go, my first Alfa was a new 1979 40’ Alfa Gold 5th wheel with a living room “tip-out”. That was before the slide-out, I loved that trailer and we pulled it everywhere with no problems, my second Alfa was a 1999 32’ Ideal with three slide outs also pulled that one everywhere with no problems. I loved the idea of having the AC unit under the trailer making it very quite when running the AC. I was even hoping to buy a new Alfa 5th wheel in the future. Thank you for making a great product. MJ
This is sad news… we have a National RV Dolphin LX Motorhome and although we are not yet directly affected, I feel for the Alfa folks as well…
I’m saddened to see Alfa stop operations. The RV industry is at a crossroads for survival.
Poor quality, failure by the manufacturers and sales organizations to honor manufacturers’ warranties (1 year - 10,000 miles) and the mind-set of “if you didn’t buy it here we wont service it”. When I picked up my motorhome I had 80 quality issues and because I purchased the unit on the Internet I had truble getting service at my local RV service center. They though that I should have bought it there for 35,000 more then I paid. Did they think they were the only game in town??
Cheaply built units, motorhomes, 5th-Wheels and trailers, sold by non-committed sales force will lead to more unsatisfied customers then currently exist. Very, very few RV owners return to their current RV manufacturer.
Good quality RV manufacturers are at risk due to rising cost to manufacturer as well as rising costs to own and maintain.
Wait until the Japanese and Chinese get into this market. The free ride is over and so are healthy margins.
This is the start of a downsizing in this industry.
i agree with chuck and jeanne f. the rv industry doing itself in via poor quality, even poorer quality control, failure to back the product. we had an alfa gold for 2 years. in that two years we were not able to use it for just one year. all of the many , many issures we had were the result of poor workmanship and poor quality control. alfa spent way to much money cleaning up after market problems that could have been corrected at the plant with some simblance of quality control. when all else failed they would come at you with the statement that (the program works as it was designed). you would not believe the problems that were addressed with that statment.
durring many talks in vaious campgrounds the statement invariably came up that just wiat until toyota, nissan etc got into the motor home business . when that happens then our industry will have to shape up fast. will they or will another american industry fall as a result of poor quality control.
chuck hudson
I am sorry to see Alfa close due to the high potential for future parts and service requirements. Will the factory extended warranty still be available for the endless repairs that poor workmanship created? I have had more than my share of warranty issues to the point I purchased a second insurance carrier to fix what the factory warranty wouldn’t cover. Recently the factory was my last resort to repair my slide as two other RV repair dealers could not fix. It was a 2000 mile roundtrip but they got’er done. Amen on paying for repairs at dealers other than where you originally made the purchase. I like our Alfa RV but quality of workmanship was extremely bad on my unit. I bought it to enjoy camping and just haven’t enjoyed the repeat trips to make repairs which take a bite out of your vacation and wallet. Alfa created a wonderful line of rvs but craftsmanship monster to which quality was lacking. This will devalue Alfa RVs and make resale difficult for a lot of campers. Happy trails to the cast and crew of Alfa management. I bought my last rig from them. I think of lemons when I see the word Alfa.
This is for Donnie Smith,
Donnie, could you please post what model Alfa you refered to in your post? I am in the market for a late model Alfa RV and want to avoid the model you had problems with. Thank you for sharing your experience. This information is very helpful.
Steve Becker (becker_sm@yahoo.com)
Hi Steve,
I bought a 2007 Alfa Gold 30 ft model 319, 5th wheel. It has many more luxury and features not normally found in most 5th wheels. The prices varied from $58k to 72K. The reason I can say that is I ordered and cancelled one from Polsboro RV in Seattle for $72k and later found and bought the $58k from Curtis RV in Hillsboro Oregon. It has a garbage disposal, electric dump valves, electric reel for water and power. It has a 500 pound capacity trailer hitch receiver, dual heat pumps, auto ignition and a pull out for the large storage. The water and holding tanks are huge and I got a 100 watt solar panel and 4, 6volt batteries. It’s heavy to pull but the disk brakes stop it nicely. Overall it is a very nice unit, but poor quality manufacturing makes it a constant pain to repair. I have met others who swear by these RVs, and I do admit I really like it for camping in Luxury. It has a 32″ TV as well as a twenty inch outside and one in the bedroom. The 2000 watt inverter, 3 electric vents, electric awning and unique front opening make it a very nice camper, but expect problems and you won’t be disappointed. The factory service was excellent to get any repairs made even though it had a lengthy waiting list, but the 2000 miles round trip is a killer. Overall it has generatered a hundred discrepancies, but now that is behind us and hopefully most are worked out. I would be leery of buying a newer unit compared to the older models.
Donnie
Sorry for the folks employed…But the product. Geez what a mess. I’ve heard of disgruntled owners in the past but the Alpha owners I’ve run into in the past three years have been livid. Poor follow up on warranty claims, parts falling off, etc. Of about 8 owners I’ve known directly, none are surprised at the turn of events. Two took a terrific beating on trade in just to get rid of them.
Not to repeat what has been said but the Americn RV industry is doing everything they can to put themselves out of business, never mind the price of fuel. Poor workmanship, warranties which are a joke, sales people who say anything to get a sale.
Can’t wait until Toyota or related introduce an RV. I will be 1st in line!
I see this as a trend as folks realize that high gas prices and higher RV park fees make traveling with an RV as expensive as other types of lodging. Fewer RV’s will be sold and it will be harder for smaller companies to make a profit. We are definitely cutting back on RV travel this year as our gas mileage even with a 4,000 lb. trailer is under 10 mpg while towing, and we have also reconsidered purchasing a newer trailer. My neighbor recently drove to Los Angeles from the SF bay area with a Toyota Prius on one tank of gas. At $4.00 per gallon (higher on the freeway) other types of travel and lodging are making more sense.
My heart goes out to the employees of Alpha. I hate to see anyone loose their job when its beyond their control. As far as Alpha’s demise I feel that could have been avoided. First of all trying to manufactor anything in CA. Let alone anything that gives off fumes like composites and sealents. Is insane, Its like adding a 15% extra cost to everthing else you do. CA. has the most anti business climate in the lower 48 states and Alpha should have known that. I would have moved my factory to OR, NV, ID, The company I was with bugged out of the Bay area to Reno in the 80’s.
Quality is another thing, but there is a double edge to it. I think many comsumers of RV’s are expecting it to be like a new Accord or a new Toyota Pickup. Just sign papers and go. That is unrealistic as can be. I have had 2 travel trailers and 2 class c motorhomes and I have battled with all them. When an RV company makes all of its own inverters,sinks,carpets, chassis,light swithces ect. ect. Then you will get closer to the sign and drive experence. An Accord is what it is beacuse Honda has a grip on everything that goes in to it, that and its not a house on wheels. With that said, Manufactors need to pay on the warranty claims, period. Nothing kills product loyality like not backing up your stuff. Dealers don’t turn away orhan owners just to be mean. They do it because their shop isn’t pair for the warranty work. In the end $4.65 diesel will be a killer to a lot of companys that don’t have much cash on the books. Blue Bird and Prevost won’t be bothered but the rest of them are worried.
I will always buy from a dealer, cause these things break. And I want someone to handle it. PS. I don’t work for Honda, Alpha, or an RV dealer and my motorhome is a Bigfoot on a Kodiak chassis. Dave
It is by far a very sad day to see a large RV manufacturer shut down. ALfa has been a great trailer for many people and have given us lots of memories some good some bad. Yet I believe that the RV industry as a hole is still very strong. Granted some manufacturers have called it quit yet there are several 100 manufacturers still going strong. If you take into consideration that there is no better time with the family than sitting around a camp fire learning about Johnny’s new girlfriend you did not know about as parents. Come on what other time in this busy world do you take time to slow down and enjoy your surroundings than out camping. If you’re reading this than stop for a moment and reflect on the great memories you made while camping and remember that for some families Johnnie Crean was the reason you where able to make memories. Good luck to Johnnie and Thanks for all the great years .
My wife and sold Alfa products in 04/05. Between the two of us we sold 17 motorhomes and about a dozen fifth wheels. Over half of these folks had traded within a year or two of their purchase.
Our dealership had many problems with quality control and also warranty reimbursements. We feel badly that so many folks bought a product from us that wasn’t up to our standards. Whenever folks ask me about an Alfa, I tell them I could have bought a brand new motorhome for dealer cost. I’m still fulltiming in my 99 Fleetwood Discovery. That should speak volumes to our feelings on the products produced by them.
Great concepts, very poor QC and follow up. I’m not surprised that this downturn in the industry has taken Alfa out of the business. Western Rvs, Travel Supreme, National and now Alfa are gone. They won’t be the last.
I too am sorry for the employees but what about RV repair companies that have completed work under Alfa warranty and are waiting to be paid? Like with National RV, warranty payments are probably out the window. We have several customers that have done Alfa warranty work for, but now we are trying to find out what will happen to our completed jobs. We don’t sell any RVs, we only repair what the mfgs don’t get right during the build and what the selling dealers don’t take care of during the PDI.
If the Mfgs would really do quality work that they boast about, they would save a ton of money in warranty repairs….it wouldn’t hurt our business in the least since warranty doesn’t pay, in fact we usually end up maybe breaking even if we are lucky. Most of our customers are very dissatisfied with their selling dealers and would rather have our quality work done by us than the Dealer.
There are always 2 sides to the story, the consumer isn’t the only one left out in the cold by a Mfg going out of business.
It is sad to see another big player in the RV marketplace close their doors. Employees, Dealers, and Customers (existing & potential) are all involved in this sadness. I also share others expressed opinions that the manufacturers must wake up, realizing that the customer will have the final word. When the service of the dealership, and the performance of the manufacturer’s product, provide more headaches than pleasure, then we have an industry in serious trouble. I’m afraid that for many of those concerned, it is now a bit late for the “wake -up call” for the industry. Feel good slogans won’t fix this dying behemoth of an RV industry. And the issue of higher fuel costs really effect the timid, who were thinking of getting an RV, serious RVers wouldn’t think of giving up their lifestyle. I’m also still very pleased with my ‘99 Fleetwood Discovery.
I have only had 2 RVs (fifth wheels), the first was a 7 year old Hitchiker with 1 slide. What a fantastic unit. Like a fool, I thought the entire industry would be this good. We traded up to a much larger, and very pretty cosmetically, unit. The problems we had from the outset were horrible. All the result of poor quality construction with no quality control at all. This seems to be the problem throughout the industry. My wife and I love RV’ing and will continue to do it.. We are now looking for another Hitchhiker, even though the prices are higher. We never should have left that brand.
I am not surprised. I feel terrible for the innocent, former employees but Alfa’s quality and lack of customer service certainly contributed to this issue. I can’t and certainly do not believe that the reason for them closing their doors were the issues they had with Crane Composites. There is another manufacturer that had the same issue with what Crane Composites is calling osmotic blistering. They survived and are doing fairly well at the moment. I am sure it was a contributing factor but Alfa was not even taking care of the side wall problems under warranty. How did this cost them money? They would repair it at a discounted rate if you drove your RV to California but it still would cost the customer thousands of dollars.
I am a service manager for a large dealership that carried Alfa for a number of years until we were fed up with the terrible quality of these units. In the opinion of the entire workforce in service, parts and sales, Alfa had the worst quality of anything we sold and we do sell some very low end, entry level RVs.
I will say you would receive many bells and whistles for the price but you have to make up for it somewhere else and that was in the workmanship and the materials used. Another positive is how the motor homes drove.
The story that I would tell people who were thinking of buying an Alfa is this: We had a customer that was on the road. His RBW slide out motor would no longer pull the living room slide out in. We looked things over and decided that we needed to put the Klauber upgrade in this unit. Alfa disagreed, they were sticking firm to not upgrading them until the customer had 2 failures of the RBW motor. This was a great policy for them because usually the customer would be out of their 1 year warranty with Alfa. They had us look over every little part. They had us even pull the carpet up. They then decided to have a meeting with their engineers after the customer was living at our dealership for 2 weeks. This was 2 weeks of us readily doing the things that they asked us to do. It was not 2 weeks of a repair one day and then 2 days before we would get back to it. They finally decided to upgrade the slide out system to the Klauber motor. We then asked if they could overnight the part because we are in the eastern part of the country. We were told that we would have to speak to the warranty manager for this to happen. I spoke with him around 2:00 PM pacific time. No decision was made until after 7:00 PM pacific time. They called the customer on his cell phone after 10:00 PM eastern time to let him know that they would next day air the part. Since it took so long, the customer had the wait another day. The bill at that point with Alfa was almost $3,000.00. It took them over 5 hours to decide whether or not they would spend an extra $45.00 in freight. It always seemed that we had to fight with their warranty department to get them to do the right thing.
This is just one of countless examples of Alfa failing to provide customer service. If you couple these type of common issues customers had and couple it with the inferior materials and poor workmanship you have a recipe for disaster. Alfa was substandard in an industry which is substandard. They seemed to always try to blame the problem on someone else. They didn’t want to own up to any mistake they made or a quality issue that they caused by what material they used or how they put it together.
This was the worst company we ever worked with for these and other reasons. I was never happier the day I found out we weren’t going to carry their line any more.
I may be sorry for the employees but I feel sorrier for our customers who purchased these units.
I am not sorry to hear that alfa is shutting down. I feel for the the workers on the ground floor. Ihad major trouble from day one the dealer that I GOT MY 2004 5TH wheel from did nothing to help me out After the factory sending a trouble shooter to see the unit twice once in SC and FL he said that the unit should go back to be checked out this had been going on for about 2 years with much haggling they had me bring the unit to chino ca. from fl. in this they were fair they paid my expenses up and back and paid for my motel expenses. the 1st year all repairs were supposed to be fixed by alfa When i got to chino they told me that i had to pay about 1500.00 because it was over 1 year and the warrinty company would have to fix it. I told them that all the problems were from the 1st year and that many dealers would not fix it unless I paid them and had alfa pay me this i said no to they all said the same story that alfa was pushing out production and let the dealers fix it. It took 2 and a half weeks to fix it. Idrove home and it was alright . When I left 4 months later the 1st nite out when I brought the slide in it ripped the carpet all up again i called them and they told me that they had fixed it I went to a dealer in fl and that was the best thing that happened to me since i bought it this man helped me out and talked to someone at alfa and he asked me what i wanted Itold him all Iwanted was to fix the unit he told me to tell the dealer to find out what it would take to fix it and they did . I had many more problems some have been fixed and some have not . we have not had a problem with the quality just the workmanship and the people that were in charge of the warrenty dept. this I blame this on J Crean for for hiring people that did not care about the workmanship they were putting out or did not care about fixing it I could go on and on but at least I have said my two cents worth THANKS FOR LISTENING TO ME
We have had our ‘03 Toyhouse for about a year (bought it used) and are absolutely delighted with it. We’ve pulled it about 5,000mi and have had no major issues what-so-ever. The fit/finish is equal to or better than 90% of the Indiana built trailers we’ve dealt with (We live in Elkhart, IN and are “in the business”) I am surprised to hear of all the complaints posted here, maybe these issues (quality control) surfaced after ‘02? The unit is heavy, but to me (commercial truck driver) that means well built. After looking at the junk being produced at most of the Indiana plants the Alfa was a pleasant surprise (and has continued to exceed our expectaions) To equal the amenities and quality you’d have to spend double the price for a Carriage or KZ/Escalade, anything less is not fit for four seasons - full time use.
I am sorry to hear of the plant closing, but trying to conduct business in the communist state of California is foolish at best, I’m surprised they lasted as long as they did.
I never expected a warranty for our 5yr old unit, and am perfectly capable of completely rebuilding an RV from the ground up using local suppliers. So their closing has minimal impact on my ease of ownership. It is unfortunate for those who do not live near Indiana, and have recently purchased a new Alfa expecting mfg support.
Unfortanatley the whole RV industry is suffering. As of Demeber we have lost National RV, Travel Supreme, Western Recreational Vehicles, Alfa and I hear now Country Coach is having issues. Having been in RV Service Industry for over 35 years now it’s scary seeing this happen. I can see where I work we are way off from where we were last year this time. Things are really slow. Hopefully nest year will be better.
It’s unfortanate, but not unexpected. I’ve owned my Alfa Gold since October 2007 and have had nothing but poor service from the Dealer in Pa. and from the factory. Most warranty items were never repaired. I also found that Alfa never sent in the warranties to Freightliner, Allison, or the engine co. I”m very concerned about future repairs on those items. I”m also disappointed that as owners were were never notified of their closure. Lets hope our devalued coach give us long lasting service.
Has it been coincidence that “big rig” mfgs are the ones closing and not the makers of the smaller rigs/5th wh & TT’s?
One of the big problems is there is no “Industry Standard” in the manufacturing of RVs, any of them. We tell people not to buy ones made on Monday or Friday..quality is worse, and it’s true.
I know companies are up to here with regulations, but if they want epeat customers and good word of mouth, don’t just slap them together. Be proud of your product.
The mfgs also need to realize that these rvs get worked on after the leave the plant..such as putting a black tank dump valve inbetween the tires, that when the rv is parked, the slide will be out. However, how do you et to the valve with the side out between the tires to dump? HELLO!!! yes this is on a Keystone that is in our shop right now.
I guess we’ve been very lucky with our 06 SYAF. Yes, there were quality control issues but those problems which were minor were taken care of by my husband. Any other problems that we had were with Dometic, Attwood, Weldex, etc. I will check to make sure that Freightliner, Allison and Cat have our warranty information. We LOVE our Founder, and we haven’t had any real problems with our motorhome. Maybe we just lucked out, I don’t know. But, I do know that when you keep your employees happy and treat them fairly you have a better chance of turning out a better product. There were a lot of disgruntled employees and I blame that on Crean!! So, all of us who own an love our Alfa ’s will continue to enjoy them for years to come. Happy Trails…..
It is , indeed, a sad day for the industry. But for Alfa to seemingly site one supllier as the prime cause stretchs credibilty. I am sure that owners are not pleased, and those who were employed are far from happy. The truth is most likely that the owners, in order to save their own nest eggs, decided that closing doors would give them the least financial loss. They are not, and this is unfortunate, the only manufacturer who is experiencing quality problems. Our class A was purchased May 2007, and has been in the “shop” for almost 8 months for “warranty repairs”. Our nephew has a 31′ class C, and it has been “in the shop” for 11 months for a list of over 80 items of warranty work. The RV industry as a whole, needs to take a step or two back, look real hard at their failings to the consumer, to their employees, and to the industry itself, if they are to avoid further closesures. Other factors which may have contributed to the shut down may be the drop in the housing market, which represents a loss of funds that potential buyers would mave used to purchase, skyrocketing fuel cost, labor cost, etc.. These are valid reasons, however, there are other manufacturers who still seem to be holding the line. There is also the “High Cost of Corporate America”, (executive salaries, bonuses, stock options, etc.) That seems to also be a factor in American business today. It would not be surprising to see some of these businesses reopen in Mexico so their product could be made at a lower cost while still selling for the same or higher cost.
As a pusher owner myself, I am saddened by the whole fuel situation and what it has done to the RV industry as a whole. Makes us all ask who might be next before this is over. However I would like to say that comparing and RV (especially a class A or diesel pusher) to anything with a made in japan sticker even if it is assembled in the USA, is simply not apples to oranges. They both travel down the road and have tires but that is where the similarity ends. Automobiles are built in 100s of thousands exactly the same for the most part as they roll of the assembly line. RVs on the other hand are built and count in the thousands even for a large Mfg. facility. Cars don’t have upwards of 41 miles of electrical wiring systems, 4-door refers, 2 or 3 tvs, washer/dryer, ceiling fans, propane, plumbing, microwave/convections, tile/carpet and still be road worthy. Ask yourself, when was the last time you bought a semi-custom home with wheels on it that could withstand a 6.5 earthquake. And pack it all into 8 1/2′ x 42′ or less home. I understand the frustrations with service problems and also warranty issues but these rigs can in no way be categorized with a car. I don’t look forward to a Honda or Toyota RV because of the individuality that we would loose. Most of us should be able to remember the toyota chassis motorhomes from 20 or so years back, there were serious trade offs made by their owners over other units back then and I would imagine that it would be the same now. Cheaper yes, but not necessarily better. I don’t know that any of these companies would even want to deal with all the recall and service issues that come with all the systems in an RV. Fix the ridiculas high fuel cost problems and the rest will take care of itself, just my opinion.
I knew that sooner or later they would go under because of poor quality, also If winnebago and Fleetwood don’t get thier act together they will be next. I have been RVing for about 9 years and have heard nothing horror stories form owers of these products, but you can buy them a lot cheaper than most other RVs .
We have an Alfa See Ya, 2002 and truthfully love it. We had a lot of problems with
it for several years but finally worked our way through them. Alfa’s quality of
workmanship wasn’t good in some cases but most of the problems were from the
items furnished by other companies, appliances, ac, furnace, satellite, etc. We have
86,000 plus miles on it now. It drives, rides and handles great. It a shame that they
couldn’t have put better quality workmanship into this great unit. The front & back caps have faded bad and they or company that made them wouldn’t take care of the
problem and now I’m having some pop out spots on the sides. If anyone knows what
causes that or how to stop it please feel free to e-mail me at: dwalton@midwesternresearch.com. I would appreciate and love to hear from you.
It’s too bad they went out but if you look around you in today’s world it’s almost
impossible to find people that want to work and take pride in their workmanship.
I must tell you that when I dealt direct with the companies that made the items in the
coach the majority of them were fantastic to work with. We’ve been RVing since
1994. What a great life. Be Safe!!!!