Fixing up fiver to trade for new

camperkilgore wrote:
I wonder how many others have walked this path.

We got the bug for a new fiver recently. Made the mistake of looking at some of the new spacious floor plans with opposing slides, which are lighter than our camper in some cases. So we cleaned up our fiver and made a list of all the improvements we have made to it over the years. And you know what?

Our existing fiver has more nice features than most of the new ones that are in our weight range for our truck. We also just coated the roof to prevent leaks(being proactive). Some of the things we added can't be purchased even as options on some of the new fifth wheels. Restrictions on what can be attached or welded to frames of the new ones limits the nice things that can be added: like electric leveling jacks, rear mount cargo rack to name a couple that we have on our fiver. They can be added after the warranty expires, but we camp a lot, and doing without those things would be a hassle....on top of the monthly payment for the camper.(Ours is Paid For)

I also consider the 30 grand we would pay for the trade difference would finance years of traveling in our current fiver and the repairs that it might need along the way.

On the other hand being 65 years old, I feel we may have 10 more years in our rving future, and it might be good to trade for a new one now instead of nursing ours along for the next 10 or more years. Is a 10 year old Cougar fifth wheel pushing the limits for rving?

Anybody have a benchmark for when to buy a new one, or experience with keeping the old one and maybe regretting it? Or happy you kept the old one?

There are a lot of mid-size (+/- 30') FWs that are coming with 4-6 pt leveling systems and a number of mfrs do put factory hitches on the back. One, that I'm looking at, is the Jayco Eagle and Eagle HT models. Both come with a 3k rated receiver on the back and both come with optional leveling systems. My only real knock on the HT is that they have smallish (IMO) black tanks and, for boondocking, this leaves something to be desired. Another brand I'm looking at is the KZ Durango 1500. Larger tanks, also with optional leveling system, but no rear hitch option. For me, that's not a huge deal, but it =would= be nice. The Jayco gives me the option of putting a genny on the back, while the KZ can be had with gen-prep. I just mention these since they're on my short list for our next FW and both are lighter than my current Komfort. There are any number of others out there along the same lines.

Lyle