Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
RV Trip Planning Discussions

Go Back   iRV2 Forums > TRAVEL TRAILER, 5th WHEEL & TRUCK CAMPER FORUMS > Trailer Towing and Tow Vehicles Discussion
Click Here to Login
Join iRV2 Today

Mission Statement: Supporting thoughtful exchange of knowledge, values and experience among RV enthusiasts.
Reply
  This discussion is proudly sponsored by:
Please support our sponsors and let them know you heard about their products on iRV2
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 08-28-2019, 11:48 AM   #1
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 17
Confidence in the TT industry

The more I research the travel trailer industry and the brands offered, I become more and more concerned with the issues that may arise. Me and my wife are looking to purchase our first TT so it makes us weary. I start to feel good about a certain brand(s), but then the more I dig, those too have issues in shocking numbers. I read of quality issues and problems with getting warranty services. Can anyone shed light on this or offer any positive experiences they've had. I don't want to invest $20k+ just to end up with a lemon and hole in my pocket.
Boodro is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 RV Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

iRV2.com RV Community - Are you about to start a new improvement on your RV or need some help with some maintenance? Do you need advice on what products to buy? Or maybe you can give others some advice? No matter where you fit in you'll find that iRV2 is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with other RV owners, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create an RV blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 08-28-2019, 11:58 AM   #2
Senior Member
 
450Donn's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Dallas,OR
Posts: 4,584
Nearly all RVs regardless of price paid are junk. They are slapped together by a bunch of low paid assembly line workers.
Stay away from new, instead look for a used about 5 years old. There are a few brands that are better, but may not be available where you live. Search for a used Arctic Fox, Nash, or one from Outdoor RV. Their all made in the Pacific Northwest on in house built frames. All designed for longevity and strength. Not necessairly light.
__________________
Don and Lorri
Resident Dummy.
450Donn is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2019, 12:13 PM   #3
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 17
I agree with what you said about the quality for sure. It opened my eyes to the lack of detail and worksmanship. They are slapped together on an assembly line, sent to dealers, sold, and then the dealers are stuck fixing the builders problems which seems to be an issue in itself.

I have a 1/2 Chevy with a payload of 9400 so light is my key. I guess I was naive to believe that they could still be build with quality. Lesser quality material and less material all to meet a weight requirement. Even if I would to upgrade a truck and then a heftier trailer, still think thats a gamble.
Boodro is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2019, 12:37 PM   #4
Senior Member
 
Bob_C's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Vancouver Wash
Posts: 7,227
Mine has held up quite well.....Monday will be the start of it's 4th cross country trip, and I live in it 6 months a year....and it's never been into any repair shop....
Bob_C is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2019, 12:37 PM   #5
Senior Member
 
tuffr2's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Palm Coast Florida
Posts: 12,995
I have had 2 trailers and 1 5th wheel. 1st new trailer was a 2008 Gulfstream Streamlite 22 SLB. I had zero issues with this trailer. I had this trailer for 4 years and it had heavy use.

My 2nd RV was a 5th wheel. A new 2011 SunnyBrook 3510 Bristol Bay. This 5th wheel had extreme use as my wife and I lived in this unit about 10 months a year. We had a house we lived in 2 months. This trailer was used to snowbird in Florida and then was used in Pa. in the summer. This 5th wheel did have 2 nagging issues.

1. After towing the Dometic Refrigerator door front would slide down. When opened it would slide down to the floor. I had to get on the floor and fiddle with it to get the bottom plastic piece snapped to hold the fridge door up.

2. The 6 point leveling system control panel was finicky to get turned on. Like the on button would not work.

3rd RV was/is a 2013 Vantage 25 RBS. This trailer had the window blind cord holders break. But these were fixable by me.

I have never had a problem with a RV refrigerator cooling. But I have friends that always have a problem with their RV refrigerators....go figure.

If you buy a RV you do need a tool kit to fix various minor things. Towing a trailer on the highway is like an earthquake. I had to tighten up the sink drains because they were leaking after towing 950 miles. I had to reseal the shower after every 2,000 miles of towing.

I never (knock on wood) had a problem with hot water heater or A/C units.
tuffr2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2019, 12:45 PM   #6
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 17
I understand not all will have issues but seems to be a fair number having some issues especially after even short use of less than a year. I also understand that not all things are perfect, but I feel alot of the issues could be fixed with better quality control and simply putting out a better product. If I haven't read and watched so many videos on the nightmares of getting warranty work, maybe I'd feel a little more at ease. If you are willing to make it right and stand behind your product, I would feel better about it.
Boodro is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2019, 12:49 PM   #7
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 17
I can deal with minor things I can handle...but delaminating countertops, sagging cabinets, weak/broken supports on dinnette table and bed supports are the things I'm more worried about. Those are all structural. Those require repair/replacement.
Boodro is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2019, 12:58 PM   #8
Senior Member
 
tuffr2's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Palm Coast Florida
Posts: 12,995
Agree that those catastrophic issues do exist. I also agree that the work force sometimes care and sometimes not. I consider myself lucky that I have had a myriad of smaller issues.

One thing I hate is everytime I try to force something it breaks. Also when I fix something I fix it better than the factory. Like rusty exterior screws are replaced with stainless steel screws.

My next trailer is likely to be a Winnebago Mini Plus. Fingers are crossed that it will be a good trailer.
tuffr2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2019, 03:08 PM   #9
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Oregon
Posts: 1,052
Quote:
Originally Posted by Boodro View Post
I don't want to invest $20k+
I know you probably didn't mean it this way but RVs are in no way an investment. As your research has shown and as the previous posters have confirmed, RVs are low quality and problems come up.

There is some good news, though. The horror stories you read of are a very small portion of what goes on. People are far more likely to take to message boards or social media to share bad stories.

I've owned 5 RVs over the last 20 years and have yet to have anything I'd consider significant or surprising go wrong. 2 of the RVs I bought new and was very happy with both the price and depreciation curve. I've never understood this whole idea of buying used to avoid a problematic unit. Countless times I've read of people fed up with an RV so they just trade it in.... and it becomes a used RV.

As for price, if you negotiate a good deal, new is just fine. The people complaining usually overpaid and got burned. You should be able to get a TT or 5th wheel for around 65-70% of MSRP.
mtofell is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2019, 04:14 PM   #10
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
Posts: 2,959
Quote:
Originally Posted by tuffr2 View Post
Agree that those catastrophic issues do exist. I also agree that the work force sometimes care and sometimes not. I consider myself lucky that I have had a myriad of smaller issues.

One thing I hate is everytime I try to force something it breaks. Also when I fix something I fix it better than the factory. Like rusty exterior screws are replaced with stainless steel screws.

My next trailer is likely to be a Winnebago Mini Plus. Fingers are crossed that it will be a good trailer.
I have folks I know that bought a Minnie Winnie w/1 slide. It has a leaky roof after 1 year of use. It had supposedly been checked and sealed at winterizing time fall of 2018 and was leaking spring of 2019. Unsure if everything is fixed but seems quite typical on most modern RVs,
__________________
2011 GMC Sierra 3500HD gas 6.0 dually
1994 K1500 Suburban shop mule and plow truck
2006 Lakota 29RKT 5th wheel
kdauto is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2019, 04:40 PM   #11
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 17
Investment wasn't the best word choice and not how i intended it. Simply mean't its alot of money involved in it. I had an eye opening experience today. I took time to email Grand Design to stress my concerns with all I've mention in above posts and never was expecting a response....an hour or 2 later I got a call from the main office and we spoke for 20 mins going over all they offer before and most importantly after the sale to ease my mind. Is it legit? Who knows, but they've given me some hope in this search.
Boodro is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2019, 04:52 PM   #12
Moderator Emeritus
 
TXiceman's Avatar
 
Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Bryan, TX when not traveling.
Posts: 22,945
Blog Entries: 21
My daughter and hubby looked at everything out there for a 30 ft bunkhouse travel trailer and were really discouraged. They finally saw a Winnebago Minnie Plus and bought it. They refused to take delivery until the dealer had everything 100% to their liking. So far, no real issues and still love the trailer.

Ken
__________________
Amateur Radio Operator (KE5DFR)|No Longer Full-Time! - 2023 Cougar 22MLS toted by 2022 F150, 3.5L EcoBoost Tow Max FX4 Lariat Travel with one Standard Schnauzer and one small Timneh African Gray Parrot, retired mechanical engineer
TXiceman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2019, 04:58 PM   #13
Member
 
SteveNdebbie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Dalton, OH
Posts: 87
We bought a 2006 25’airstream safari two years ago and love it. We did pay $36,000 for it but if we take care of it we will be able to resell it down the road.
SteveNdebbie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2019, 05:12 PM   #14
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 17
Yeah well with super sized rv dealers that have such a high volume, I'm sure alot pass out of pure complacency. Another problem is that alot may appear fine on visual inspection but add weight to structures, towing strain and basic use and problems will start showing their ugly faces.
Boodro is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply



Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
We are buying a 2016 DSDP 4312 with confidence! JETJDM79 Newmar Owner's Forum 16 04-24-2016 08:19 PM
Lazy Days Driver's confidence course dianestew Entegra Owner's Forum 18 05-15-2013 01:36 PM
Lazydays RV driver Confidence course Tractor16 Class A Motorhome Discussions 11 12-28-2012 09:08 PM
Losing confidence in ability to start engine USMCRET Cummins Engines 10 09-18-2012 08:20 PM
Cajun Confidence TXiceman Just Conversation 2 10-30-2010 03:01 PM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 03:39 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.