Cardinal or Alumascape

We had a 2006 HR Alumascape for 9 years. It actually was a great camper with very few problems.

We have a 2008 Cardinal that we purchased new. Some of the Cardinals did have problems with the frames cracking. We have not had it happen to ours. We have not had any problems that would be specific to Cardinal. I did replace the hydraulic pump that operates the slides, it is made by Lippert and used by many RV companies. You can go to the Cardinal RV Owners Club and research the frame problems. The frames are Lippert too and Cardinal was not the only one to have problems. The frame problems were mostly before 2008. Ours still look great inside and out.

We had a 1990 Holiday Rambler. It was a great camper, built with lots of quality. Sometime after that Holiday Rambler closed it's doors. When it was reopened, I don't think that it had the same quality.

Had my 33CKTS Cardinal for 10 years. Great trailer!

C.B.

Thanks for your quick replies. I loved our Presidential. It had minor issues due to the people before us not taking very good care of it. However, we put a lot of miles on it. We got rid of it because as our girls got older, they brought people with them. I ended up with beds all over the living area. So we are needing a bunk house for a few years longer. Small issues I can handle, but frame problems I do not want. The reason I liked the Cardinal was because it had a boat hitch already on the back. We have a Harley Ultra Classic we want to take with us and I thought the boat hitch would be the ticket. So I'm thinking now that might not be a good idea. Is there a way to check the history on a unit? Maybe service records or anything else reported? I know on vehicles you can get a carfax. Not sure about RV's. Never did any of that before.

we have a 2001 cardinal and love it
had looked at alumascape and liked it also..

I feel the Holiday Rambler is by far superior to a cardinal. I have had only a few minor issues with my HR while friends with cardinals were experiencing catastrophic failures. Frames and axles, fiberglass cracking, slides inoperable, landing gear etc.
Dave

Alumascape is by far the worst RV we've ever owned out of 6. They look good at first but junk IMO. Big sales pitch was "made by the Amish with their old world work values". Metal roof, A 1/4 inch depression around the A/C unit created a "bird bath". Constantly fixing water leak it created. Foam A/C gasket doesn't work real good under water. Water pipes were used for target practice with a staple gun when it was being assembled. Most plumbing had to be re-done along with flooring, cabinets etc. It was one problem after another the whole time we owned it.

Nothing like word of mouth advertising for HR.

We called it "HR" not for Holiday Rambler but "Hourly Repairs"