2006 Kodiak Skamper 26qs

[mamaloya]

OK guys, Does anyone have any experience with this camper or any other Skamper with the hard slide bed?

Turns out that our cub had extensive water damage resulting in bunk end door failure. I am not a happy camper. We are working with the dealer to have the purchase price of our cub applied to the cost of a newer camper.

This camper is the one we have wanted, but could not find used. It is $15,988. It has an electric slide bed, 2 sets of bunk, sofa bed, cd stereo, micro, bigger bathroom, etc. Here is a link to the pictures. Skamper photos It has a little damage on the upper and inner closet doors, but it is something that we could do in minutes. There are also some nicks and dings in the kitchen cabinets, which again my kids could do getting in and out. Of course we still have the PDI to do. We will get there early this time. We were running late and it was close to closing time and we were rushed last time. That won't happen again. This time I looked for signs of water damage everywhere and found none. Only worry is a few black marks in the drawers in the kitchen which could be mold, but could just be stains from kitchen stuff. I will pull out the drawers on PDI to make sure there are not signs of a leak.

The kids really like the bunk beds and this is THE camper for us, but don't want to get burned again. I feel better that it is an almost new camper. Oh, the fridge and water heater are also auto ignite. The sewer hose storage is itty bitty though. Only a 10 ft will fit. We have a 10 and 20 ft. (Anyone have ideas on storing the 20 ft hose?)

The UVW on this is 4254 and GVWR is 6000. Our van's rating is 6600. It is close, but we never pull with full tanks and are very light packers.

We are totally prepared to walk away if they don't meet our terms, we will just deal with getting our camping repaired, we do like it very much as well. It will be hard as we love this camper, but dh and I have already agreed to walk away if we have to.

We planned on having our current camper for quite a while, so this is an unexpected purchase, we love camping and traveling and need a camper that sleeps us.

Oh, and btw, why is it that when I ask about the GVWR salesmen always respong "Oh, you don't need to worry about that, you will never hit that limit." Do they not realize that you also have to add in the people in the TV and their luggage? I now just give them a look like "are you stupid", ignore them and discuss the GVWR with dh. I think I am to the point that salesmen are irrelevant to me. I will get the facts, do my research, and then crunch the numbers with the sales manager. By the time I am looking at the camper, all I am worried about is the price. Just let me make sure it is not rotten like our last one.

OK, I rambled on enough (what me ramble, never ) So, any thoughts?

[mamaloya]

OK guys, Does anyone have any experience with this camper or any other Skamper with the hard slide bed?

Turns out that our cub had extensive water damage resulting in bunk end door failure. I am not a happy camper. We are working with the dealer to have the purchase price of our cub applied to the cost of a newer camper.

This camper is the one we have wanted, but could not find used. It is $15,988. It has an electric slide bed, 2 sets of bunk, sofa bed, cd stereo, micro, bigger bathroom, etc. Here is a link to the pictures. Skamper photos It has a little damage on the upper and inner closet doors, but it is something that we could do in minutes. There are also some nicks and dings in the kitchen cabinets, which again my kids could do getting in and out. Of course we still have the PDI to do. We will get there early this time. We were running late and it was close to closing time and we were rushed last time. That won't happen again. This time I looked for signs of water damage everywhere and found none. Only worry is a few black marks in the drawers in the kitchen which could be mold, but could just be stains from kitchen stuff. I will pull out the drawers on PDI to make sure there are not signs of a leak.

The kids really like the bunk beds and this is THE camper for us, but don't want to get burned again. I feel better that it is an almost new camper. Oh, the fridge and water heater are also auto ignite. The sewer hose storage is itty bitty though. Only a 10 ft will fit. We have a 10 and 20 ft. (Anyone have ideas on storing the 20 ft hose?)

The UVW on this is 4254 and GVWR is 6000. Our van's rating is 6600. It is close, but we never pull with full tanks and are very light packers.

We are totally prepared to walk away if they don't meet our terms, we will just deal with getting our camping repaired, we do like it very much as well. It will be hard as we love this camper, but dh and I have already agreed to walk away if we have to.

We planned on having our current camper for quite a while, so this is an unexpected purchase, we love camping and traveling and need a camper that sleeps us.

Oh, and btw, why is it that when I ask about the GVWR salesmen always respong "Oh, you don't need to worry about that, you will never hit that limit." Do they not realize that you also have to add in the people in the TV and their luggage? I now just give them a look like "are you stupid", ignore them and discuss the GVWR with dh. I think I am to the point that salesmen are irrelevant to me. I will get the facts, do my research, and then crunch the numbers with the sales manager. By the time I am looking at the camper, all I am worried about is the price. Just let me make sure it is not rotten like our last one.

OK, I rambled on enough (what me ramble, never ) So, any thoughts?

[MonacoMama]

SAndra...
I have had no experience with it - but I hope everything works out for you! When will you go in to see them about the deal?

[mamaloya]

They are 2 hrs away, so we are still working with them by phone right now. We have a price that we are willing to pay and that is all we are going to pay. I am a patient person and can wait. From what I see, a rig with 2 sets of bunk beds and no living room slide are not hot commodities right now. There was one up on ebay with a starting bid of 13,500 (reserve not met of course) and not a single bid was made. I am not too worried about it being sold. They have dropped the price a couple of times also before we even looked at it, so it shows me they have had it a while. My only rush is that we are moving in 3 wks. But they don't know that .

[Hoverbug]

Sandra, my neighbor has an'05 Kodiac 30BH-SL for sale. It's a very nice rig with what I feel is a nice family floorplan. Kodiac/Skamper is made by Dutchman under the Thor Ind. umbrella. The sticker says it has a 6000# GVWR.

[mamaloya]

Hoverbug, has he had any probs with it? It is a nice floor plan, but we need the 2 sets of bunk beds and a 30ft length is too long. the 26ft is pushing it for us. The ushaped dinete is nice though. Was your neighbor happy with it?

I am still dealing with the manufacturer to give me an answer on the repairs. The movers come next week. I want this taken care of by then. I don't need the repairs completed, just their agreeing to do it so I can trade it back.

Although, I really don't think that the repairs should be considered since the damage was already there when we bought it, but we bought it as is and I have no proof that it was there and that we were deceived. I only videoed the parts of the inspection that involved them showing us how to use the appliances. Next time I will film it all for proof if we are lied to.

[mamaloya]

Well, I emailed dutchmen again today and they emailed me back saying that, out of goodwill, they will replace the bunkend doors, including shipping.

YAY!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you to Ms Wolf at Dutchmen. Great customer service!!!!

Now, to work on getting our new camper!!!

[mamaloya]

We are picking up our new camper on Monday. As long as the PDI and paperwork goes as expected, we will have our new camper in time for our move. Which is great since we will be living in it for at least a week.

Let you all know how it turns out.

[Hoverbug]

Thats great Sandra. Just remember like in real estate it's 'Location,Location,Location' when buying a new RV it's 'PDI,PDI,PDI'. Could'nt get intouch with my neighbor about his Kodiac.

Best wishes on your journey. Happy Trails!!

[mamaloya]

We picked it up yesterday!!! Funny story about the "numbers game". We had agreed on a number before we arrived there. We go in, do the PDI (I went over it with a fine tooth comb), and then sat down to sign. The guy comes in and the numbers are higher. I am the bookkeeper in our family, so I immediately called him on it. He pulls out another paper with more details and they were charging us $784 for the dealer prep fee. I have seen $350, but $784. I nicely and sweetly in my sweetest southern drawl said, "What is that for?" They explained it to me, like I didn't know. And then I just acted like that was silly. I then explained that we had agreed at a number and we would not go over it. The difference came out to $35/mo in the end, but we just did not want to pay it. He said, "let me talk to 'so and so'" He came back and they refused to change the prep fee, but lowered the price of the camper. Whatever!! We then looked at the monthly amt and it was still higher. We said "we agreed to $xxx.00. We do not want to go over that." They came back in and it was $xxx.10. Dh and I looked at each other and both had the urge to grab the hot sauce for sassiness. We are not the type to get into peeing contests, so said "fine". As soon as he walked out of the room we were We thought it was so funny. They just could not bare for us to win. We were not going to fight over a few dollars in the long run. When all was said and done, the final number was $xxx.09.

BTW Hoverbug, I am glad I brought my PDI checklist. (Thanks Scott/disneycamper, I got it from your site.) I went over it well. Found that the smoke detector had not battery. Also pulled out the kitchen drawers to check for leaks and found that the water filter for the drinking faucet was broken. They fixed it on the spot. Also the hose for the outdoor shower was gone and they replaced that. Other than that, it was perfect.

dh said it was a little scarier to tow in traffic, but after we were on the open road, he was fine.

As for breaking it in...We have a 3 day journey to Ft. Polk ahead of us. dh will also be getting some block leave before he does his pre mobilization training. We plan on doing some traveling then. He will also get some leave right before he deploys.

As for me, I need to practice backing it in. I was better at backing up the popup than him, but the bigger camper I could not do. I just need some practice I am sure. ds16 will have his drivers license and can help some, although I don't think I will be fully comfortable with him driving. He is bigger than my dh and quite responsible, but still not experienced at driving.

Well, gotta go load up our new camper and get the house ready for the movers tomorrow.

[Hoverbug]

Ft.Polk eh? I'm having flashbacks of Leesburg,La Sounds like you done good! I taught DW to park a TT using some orange socker cones in a school parking lot. They squish nice when run over

[MonacoMama]

Mamaloya...
YIPPEEE!! I am so happy for you and your family! I am sorry you will not be able to make it to the IRV2 rally ...but at least you have a nicer trailer to use and you will be able to use it for next year's rally!!!
Again... congrats!

[JudeNZ]

I'm a newbie. PDI??????

[mamaloya]

Pre Delivery Inspection

It is a checklist that you go over when you buy an RV, new or old. It reminds you to check everything quite thoroughly so that if there is something wrong, they can correct it before you take delivery of it. You can also choose to back out if you find too much. It is a definite must, especially on a used one.

Go to www.disneycampers.com and click on RV101 and Scott has a great PDI checklist there that you can print. It is the one that I used.