We live in Iowa, after all…
Both of us are from Iowa, so we grew up with knowledge of the Winnebago manufacturing plant. It was only natural that our first inquiries and exposures to RVs were Winnebagos.
When we inquired about a plant tour of the Winnebago manufacturing plant in Forrest City, Iowa, we were offered a personalized tour. We immediately accepted the gracious offer and headed to northern Iowa.
You can’t miss the facility in Forest City and there is also a Winnebago dealer right down the road from the manufacturer. The manufacturing facility sprawls across many buildings and we were patiently led through several of these to watch RVs being built real time. Everything from watching the roof being put on to the genius way couch cushions are stuffed (seriously awesome!). The plant is clean and the people are knowledgeable and friendly.
Watching an RV being put together, you get a much better high level understanding of why some of the things work they way they do and just exactly what is between you and the open road when you are driving.
75% Convinced Before the Tour…
Our guide did a great job of explaining why Winnebago was better than its competitors, and let us tour several coaches fresh off the line. He also shared that Winnebago still has all the molds for every RV part they have created, so if you need it, they can make it. This is incredible when you think about it -they have been creating RVs since 1958. It also seemed like a lot of overhead to us. Winnebago also has a great story – the city actually created Winnebago to give residents jobs and keep them in Forrest City instead of moving away.
Winnebago wouldn’t let me take pictures!
We spent roughly 4 hours on the tour and were 99% sold on buying one when the tour was over. We even stopped by the Forest City dealer to see their 42QD that we wanted and pulled the trigger on checking financing options. So how did we end up in a Tiffin? Find out how here.
The Winnebago tour was amazing and we highly recommend taking one if you can. We would also recommend reaching out to the manufacturer and explain what models you are looking at so they can recommend a tour that let’s you get to know the product you are considering. As our travel schedule permits, we plan on visiting the other RV manufacturers to round out our knowledge/appreciation of what they have to offer.