RV's

Anyone out there have a travel trailer? If so, would you buy again? Unseen issues? Short cuts? Secrets? Good stuff? Dealers to avoid?

On my 4th, though this is my first fifth wheel. Love it!

yes we live fulltime in it. Grand Design is a great manufacture to look at. McClains in Sanger treated us well.

Ive had two travel trailers and now a 5th wheel and a truck camper. Of all the horror stories of dealers I've heard, I have to say the best dealer I've ever dealt with was Genuine RV in Nacogdoches! We traveled from Ca to Nac and they held the 5th wheel for a month until I could get here before we moved back to Texas. Great owner. As to buying, hire an inspector if you want to buy used; the inspector is bound to find something that could potentially be hidden damage and the cost of him can be negotiated in the price of whatever he finds. If buying new, you might want to avoid any sales pressure for a extended warranty as it is a money grab for them and there are numerous restrictions they can deny any claim you may have. Find a RV group on FB to join and ask a lot of questions before you buy. You can't go wrong asking before, and could pay dearly for questions not asked. Good luck

We bought a new Heartland North Trail travel trailer in Oct 2019 from T&S RVs in Navasota, Tx. By the time we got home, 400 miles away, I discovered several things damaged, not working, rigged up to sell, and so forth. I believe it must have been a demo, a loaner, or slightly used. Dealer would not return phone calls. I would avoid this dealer. They are not the "good old boys" they pretend to be. Though it was under warranty, I fixed everything at my own expense since I could do that quicker and cheaper than taking it out of town and leaving it outside until a dealer could get to it.
It's been a good trailer since I got everything in working order, and my wife and I have really enjoyed it. We are in our late 60's, and stay exclusively in State Parks. I agree with Smurfs that Grand Design is a top brand to consider.

I bought a new Coachman Cadet travel trailer on Labor Day this year. When we looked at it and decided it was what we wanted, the salesman told us the missing mattress on one of the bunk beds would be ordered and drop shipped to us. Well, we waited a month and started trying to call the salesman. Left messages and he never returned calls. I finally called the parts manager and he told me he knew nothing about it and after checking, no mattress had been ordered. After proving to him that they owed us a mattress, he ordered one. He called a couple of weeks later and said he had the mattress and could we come pick it up. I told him no, that the sales documents I have said they would ship it to me. They delivered it a couple of days later. I wasn't home and the wife just accepted it. It was too wide for our bunks. Called the parts guy back and he had me take pics and measurements. He called back the next day and the factory said they don't make that size any more (2021 model) but would have one custom made. We are still waiting.
Also found the heater would not work, I fixed that, the pre wired solar was hooked up backwards, several other small problems.

I guess my point is the salesman will say anything to get the sale. Just be sure and get everything in writing.

Ancera RV in Boerne was the dealer, Steve Lyons was the salesman.

I just stayed in a travel trailer for a week in Pensacola, from RV share

It was bran new I assume a cheap one maybe 30 feet long

It worked and was shelter but man those things are just junk.

Felt like it was built out of wafer thin balsa wood. Every time I showered I felt like my foot would break through the tub basin

One of my "I'm going to have one before I die" purchase. Just need to get the wife on board.

It probably was

Look at PPL Motor Homes. They are a used consignment store and have 3 locations in Texas. I am not advocating you buy from them; however, I did and am very satisfied with the transaction. Why I would look at them is because they have all types, sizes and brands in one place. The trailers are in a fenced yard. They hand you a map and let you go look without a salesman going with you. Take the wife and spend some time looking. Go during a cooler time of year as they are not hooked up. Your wife will tell you what you like, cause if Mama ain't happy, well you know. You can look at stuff smaller and larger than you think you would ever want and get zeroed in on the must haves. I bet we spent an hour in the one we bought just getting the feel and acting like we were staying in it and seeing how it would function for our family. Its our 3rd and is the best fit we have ever had.
They also have an excellent web site with lots of pictures and explanation of how there program works. FYI RV's were red hot during covid with many dealers running low on stock. Many of the people will decide they don't like RVing and be trying to unload them in the next few years. Should be some good buying opportunities out there soon.

Good Luck

The guy above who recommended Grand Design is who I'm with. They make really good campers.

We currently have a Palomino Solaire. It's been structurally sound, but we're at the age where things start to go out and the water heater is having some trouble and I had to have the furnace control board replaced last year. The bottom cover ripped off on our way home from Yellowstone this summer, and I had to fix that. Carbon monoxide detector kept going off during that trip and we eventually realized that it was too old also (they time out at 4-5 years and just go berzerk). I had to replace the toilet when it went bad.

However, it's 5 years old and we've had it for 4 of those years and the first two years were 100% trouble free and none of the recent stuff has anything to do with the manufacturer - just the nature of cheaply made RV appliances.

All in all, I'll never not have a camper. We are building permanent storage on our shop right now so we don't have to keep paying for storage.

Our Grand Design Imagine 2150RB was bought in 2017 from McClains. Only thing I’d change would be to not buy it north of DFW when I live south of there. Wasn’t thinking. Had to have the fridge replaced early on. It was just bad from day 1. Other than that, no problems of consequence.

Observations:

- Grand Design appears to have better insulation than most.
- get the biggest AC offered. Your indoor temp will, at best, be 20 degrees lower than outside temps in summer.
- even Grand Design mattresses need replacing. Too thin and over hard plywood.
- make sure your truck can handle the load. We tow the 2150RB easily with a Tundra.
- towing the TT isn’t as much the problem as stopping it, so get a Tekonsha P3 brake controller.