Austin RV Expo

[aknavy]

Went to the local RV show this weekend. There were reps from most of the big brands, minus the Cedar Creek line that I'm interested. Interestingly enough, there isn't a big presence for them here around Austin.

Looked at them with alot more discerning eye that last time, as I've been looking for awhile now. First and foremost - across the board, they all have huge quality issues. Doesn't matter if it's a Landmark, Redwood, Big Horn, Grand Design, or Jayco...they all suffer in the quality arena, so there's that. Same issues I saw at the factories - too much rushing, or the builders are blind. I even looked at a Vilano that had the bed support falling apart - every mitered joint was coming apart. The only ones I didn't see problems with were the DRV's, and I only looked at the Aire version, as I don't have the truck to haul the others.

Units that impressed - Open Range 3x. For the price, they seemed on par with much more expensive units, and seemed pretty well built. Additionally, the last park that I stayed had 4-5 of them, and none of their owners had much to complain about, and at least two of them were full timers.

Grand Design had two floorplans that were nice - the Solitude 375RES / 375RES-R has a huge, cavernous storage area under the rear den. At least four feet tall, with a huge rear slide out. If they had a decent bathroom, I think I'd be buying one of these. Unfortunately, the bathroom is the wife's biggest non negotiable, so... The other floor plan that was really nice is the Momentum 399TH, which was open and roomy enough to do full time.

For now, we're still on the hunt. After looking at everything this weekend and doing some real evaluation of what we need, an ideal floor plan would have rear den, kitchen with pantry and decent counter space, and a bathroom with around four feet of counter space. Not too much to ask for, right?

Would like to be able to replace some seating with a desk for work, and still have decent seating area. Also contemplating the idea of a bunk model, as that could be office/storage space, but those really seem to sacrifice in the kitchen/bathroom area. Would prefer to buy used if possible. Open to suggestions or any input into ideas for full time living while working on a computer during the day.

[Wolffox00]

Originally Posted by aknavy

Went to the local RV show this weekend. There were reps from most of the big brands, minus the Cedar Creek line that I'm interested. Interestingly enough, there isn't a big presence for them here around Austin.

Looked at them with alot more discerning eye that last time, as I've been looking for awhile now. First and foremost - across the board, they all have huge quality issues. Doesn't matter if it's a Landmark, Redwood, Big Horn, Grand Design, or Jayco...they all suffer in the quality arena, so there's that. Same issues I saw at the factories - too much rushing, or the builders are blind. I even looked at a Vilano that had the bed support falling apart - every mitered joint was coming apart. The only ones I didn't see problems with were the DRV's, and I only looked at the Aire version, as I don't have the truck to haul the others.

Units that impressed - Open Range 3x. For the price, they seemed on par with much more expensive units, and seemed pretty well built. Additionally, the last park that I stayed had 4-5 of them, and none of their owners had much to complain about, and at least two of them were full timers.

Grand Design had two floorplans that were nice - the Solitude 375RES / 375RES-R has a huge, cavernous storage area under the rear den. At least four feet tall, with a huge rear slide out. If they had a decent bathroom, I think I'd be buying one of these. Unfortunately, the bathroom is the wife's biggest non negotiable, so... The other floor plan that was really nice is the Momentum 399TH, which was open and roomy enough to do full time.

For now, we're still on the hunt. After looking at everything this weekend and doing some real evaluation of what we need, an ideal floor plan would have rear den, kitchen with pantry and decent counter space, and a bathroom with around four feet of counter space. Not too much to ask for, right?

Would like to be able to replace some seating with a desk for work, and still have decent seating area. Also contemplating the idea of a bunk model, as that could be office/storage space, but those really seem to sacrifice in the kitchen/bathroom area. Would prefer to buy used if possible. Open to suggestions or any input into ideas for full time living while working on a computer during the day.

Well, after 12 years of researching 5th wheels, 8 years of serious looking, it came down to two Brands, Mobile Suites or Grand Design Solitude. Now that we retired, our next decision was do we want to sell our home and full time or keep our home and use our 5th wheel for just extended stays while we travel around the country once or twice a year.
I do have a question...what quality was suffering and what issue did you find with the Solitude?
The reason I ask is we decided that we would keep our home, so we made a decision to order a Solitude 384GK-R which was built Dec 16th 2016. Even though I had put down a deposit, before I was going to sign any papers, I was going to do a thorough inspection. On our POI Dec 26, I went over the Solitude with a fine tooth comb inside, outside, under it, the roof and I didn't find one quality issue or any flaws with it.
The reason I'm asking about the issues you found with the Solitude is so, I can be made aware of it? Even after or shakedown cruise through 6 states and 1,500 miles and three other 140 mile trips, we still haven’t had any issues arise. I could be missing something, so I would like to make sure keep an eye on it.
We came close to purchasing the Mobile Suites. I even made an offer which dealer accepted. After talking it over and going back and looking at both brands, my wife decided that she liked the Solitude better. Since we weren't selling our home at this time or going to be full timing, plus we would be saving 34,000... I decided I wouldn't argue with her.

[aknavy]

On the Grand Design, it was really just attention to detail. Nothing major, or even to troublesome. Can't remember specifics. What really stood out to me was that I kept looking at the little bathroom counter, thinking "If only it was bigger, this would be the right one."...so, I did like it. Also, the factory rep waffled on the trailer hitch question. Wouldn't give me a straight answer on if it would void the warranty. All I want to do is put a Weber grill back there, so I don't have to take it apart and take up covered storage space.

[DJNCJ]

Open Range 3X was on my watch list also. One reason we chose CC was the wall construction. Delamination (from my understanding) is non-existant.

[Wolffox00]

Originally Posted by aknavy

On the Grand Design, it was really just attention to detail. Nothing major, or even to troublesome. Can't remember specifics. What really stood out to me was that I kept looking at the little bathroom counter, thinking "If only it was bigger, this would be the right one."...so, I did like it. Also, the factory rep waffled on the trailer hitch question. Wouldn't give me a straight answer on if it would void the warranty. All I want to do is put a Weber grill back there, so I don't have to take it apart and take up covered storage space.

Gotcha. Usually when when someone waffles on a question, I've fond they don't know the answer. If, they would just say I don't know, but give me your contact info and I'll find out for you, I would have more confidence in their knowledge of what they are talking about...lol

[dexters]

Originally Posted by aknavy

Doesn't matter if it's a Landmark, Redwood, Big Horn, Grand Design, or Jayco...they all suffer in the quality arena, so there's that. Same issues I saw at the factories - too much rushing, or the builders are blind. I even looked at a Vilano that had the bed support falling apart - every mitered joint was coming apart. The only ones I didn't see problems with were the DRV's, and I only looked at the Aire version, as I don't have the truck to haul the others.

.

Check out Outdoor mfg rv - you may have to go further west.

[aknavy]

I've looked at the, and at the Arctic Fox (online). Outdoor RV fifth wheels seem a little on the small side. Arctic Fox doesn't have a bathroom with a decent counter, that I could find. Would be wonderful if one of them showed up around here so I could actually look at one. Being in one is far different that looking at pics/floorplans.