Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It might help if you narrow it down a little bit. What type of Rv? What do you plan to do with it?
I don't know much about truck bed mounted campers.
For travel trailers, you can't go wrong with Arctic Fox, but even a less expensive trailer can be good if you take care of it. I bought a Salem because it was cheap, had an excellent floor plan, and off road suspension, and I've had it for almost 20 years and used it a lot and it still looks almost brand new and everything works, because I take good care of it and store it indoors.
I've heard to not buy a motor home after it has 100,000 miles on it, but my son just bought one a couple of weeks ago. He was shopping for a specific diesel motor that the new ones don't have and he found one in perfect condition that has always been stored in heated storage and he paid about $40,000 for it.... But he is a pretty good mechanic and can tell if the motor is good and transmission is good and he tests systems. Everything about his new motor home looks brand new and he is confident that the engine is good for another couple hundred thousand miles.
Also, on the motor home, he has been shopping for nearly a year. There are a lot of bad ones for sale out there. But mostly the time to find one was about the engine and the towing capacity. Lots of them are under-powered. If you are buying used, you need to be prepared to take your time to search and also to move swiftly if you find the right one. Right at this time, halfway decent units are selling fast.
Many of the better RV parks will not allow anything over 10 years old, though sometimes will make an exception for restored classics. Thor is a huge company, and not all are bad, in fact they own Airstream.
What I found while shopping for our trailer is that "cheap quality" is fairly obvious. Look at the fit and finish, inside you may see gaps, crooked moldings, sharp edges, thin mattresses. Outside look for cheap Chinese tires, sloppy caulking, manual tongue jack, crooked trim, bubbles in the vinyl graphics.
And I’ve seen some pretty nice classic ‘vintage’ looking trailers. Whether they’re restored or made that way in the factory as new they still look good. Totally agree though about the newer models, they’re very poorly assembled and warranties only cover certain issues. Then you wait for several months to get your trailer back. Or RV. One excuse after another as to why it’s not done yet. We put only the best tires on mine. We put an electric tongue jack on ours. Airstreams are awesome! I’d love one but they’re very pricey.
OP needs to definitely narrow down what they are looking for, and how OP will be using it. (vacation, weekends, part-time living, full-time living). We bought our first camper in 1984, an old pop-up, and since then, have owned a variety of types and brands.
Don't buy anything with water stains or smells that you find undesirable. I would worry more about how it was taken care of, which will be obvious, than anything else when it comes to used. Actually, when they are used, it is much easier to see lack of quality and crappy workmanship, than when they are new.
Most of the stuff is like everything else now, crappy. Avoid Thor, and probably Forest River as both are notorious for issues. Once you narrow down your choices, google for owners groups where they discuss the issues, this can be depressing though.
Do you want to drive or tow? If you want to tow, do you have a tow vehicle and what is it? Length? How many people do you need to sleep? Do you need a bathroom? What is your budget? Will you be doing winter or severe summer camping?
OP needs to definitely narrow down what they are looking for, and how OP will be using it. (vacation, weekends, part-time living, full-time living). We bought our first camper in 1984, an old pop-up, and since then, have owned a variety of types and brands.
Don't buy anything with water stains or smells that you find undesirable. I would worry more about how it was taken care of, which will be obvious, than anything else when it comes to used. Actually, when they are used, it is much easier to see lack of quality and crappy workmanship, than when they are new.
Most of the stuff is like everything else now, crappy. Avoid Thor, and probably Forest River as both are notorious for issues. Once you narrow down your choices, google for owners groups where they discuss the issues, this can be depressing though.
Do you want to drive or tow? If you want to tow, do you have a tow vehicle and what is it? Length? How many people do you need to sleep? Do you need a bathroom? What is your budget? Will you be doing winter or severe summer camping?
Forest River is not a bad brand to go with. They're just one of the bigger Thor-sized players. I've had a Coachmen Chaparral fifth wheel for a few years now (owned by FR since 2009ish) and have literally had zero issues with it ever. I bought it brand new and it didn't even suffer with the normal after-sale nagging problems.
But like any - FR has their entry level models, their mid-grade, and their luxury models. Entry levels all tend to have issues somewhere. They're built cheap to hit a price point. Not as much about built for longevity.
I'd be more concerned with it being a pre-COVID unit now than anything else. Their quality has REALLY suffered....
If a trailer, Grand Design. We bought a slightly used one, 2020 model that was built July 2019 well before the pandemic hit. It is serving us well. Almost all RV,s have soft hose water lines that tend to start leaking at some point. I knew this going in and budgeted for the replumb. Had it done while in a Texas state park backed up to the bay last year. The guy worked on it for a day and a half while I fished. $1,300 and done.
My advice, budget for upgrades/enhancements. I upgrade the suspension system myself. These things are rolling earthquakes and stuff can break just from traveling. Lots of issues can be lessened making them take the bumps in the a lot better with upgraded suspension.
I also upgraded the roof fans and installed a complete solar system with lithium batteries and inverter. We carry a inverter/generator now for when we want air conditioning when we are boondocking. Before we had it to charge batteries when needed and make coffee, use microwave, hair dryer and such when off the grid. With the solar system we can do all that with the exception of A/C.
If you can do your own repairs you can be ahead of the game. These things do require maintenance. Relying on a dealer for repairs is expensive and you loose use of your rig waiting for your turn in the shop as most require you to leave it with them for weeks at a time.
Biggest advice, keep the water out! Seal, seal and seal again. These things also flex so sealant joints can become compromised.
Grand Design has a good following and there are a number of forums and Facebook groups with a lot of good information.
We looked for months at many brands and for the money we felt Grand Design was the brand. Also, there are certain National dealer networks they won’t associate with.
I haven't looked to verify but with the high price of fuel, it might be a good time to look for a decent price on a diesel pusher motor home (and again, I don't know enough about engines to buy one without the input of my family mechanic. Price is a long ways from being the only consideration)
Contrary to Coldjensen's opinion, there are a number of good RVs made after 2008. I really like my 2016 Rockwood Signature Ultralight. It's one of Forest River's upscale brands and you can tell it was put together well. It's 6 years old now and has been all over the east coast. The ONLY issue, and it's one of all brands, is the travel trailers tend to use Chinese tires that are prone to blowouts (I've had one, on I87 north in NY. Luckily the spare got me home). Switch to Goodyear's Endurance trailer line and you should be fine.
Beauty is int he eye of the beholder. I can see quality issues in the pictures that you posted. However I am not going to belabor the issue. Your mind is made up and so is mine.
You are correct in one regard, there are some brands with less decline in quality. Most are small independent brands like Artic Fox. Winnebago also did a better job of fighting the quality decline, especially with Grand Design and Newmar. Still all of the companies have declining quality because many of the parts that are available to anyone are of very poor quality.
Too many big companies, and especially all Thor companies made the switch to chintzier components, especially those that are less visible in the showroom. They did this in order to maximize profits (required if you have shareholders). As a result, many of the companies making component parts that focused more on quality have gone out of business. Because of this, companies like Newmar, Grand Design and little companies like Artic fox cannot obtain higher quality components even if they are willing to sacrifice some profits for higher quality
I am only using Artic fox as an example, because they happened to pop into my head. There are a number of other small independent companies that still attempt to maintain quality. However none of the big ones except to some extent Winnebago companies, make much effort to do so. They cannot, they have to answer to shareholders and boards who care only about the money coming from the company, not about the level of quality of their product. There is no pride in ownership. The investors and of the holders of 401K stocks do not say "I insist that any stocks I hold a portion of are only with companies that make the best possible quality RVs." Their only concern is "What was the return on my 401K this year?" Thus, the necessary business model of most big companies requires that they use the cheapest parts they can get in order to maximize profits. In the past, family owned and run businesses would say I do not care whether I make 1.9 million this year or 2.1 million this year, my company is not going to turn out crappy products.I am going to buy the better complements, and if that costs a little more - so be it. That all changed in 2008 when the RV industry basically died and got taken over by big companies.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
