Is to help provide guidance to my parents who are looking for a new fifth wheel. They started looking before speaking with me and started out at a dealers lot. The sales guy placed ideas in their heads that are simply wrong and no matter what I say, evidence I provide, and references I suggest they are stuck on what this dude planted.So they are looking to spend between $30-$40k (personally I think they can find exactly what they need at half that range). I will layout the planted "facts" for reference.1. Keystone Cougar is one of the brands nicest fifth wheels and will hold its value better than most.2. Buying new alleviates major headaches over owning a fifth wheel.3. They will be fine fitting into forest service and nps campgrounds with a 35' rig (they will spend most of their time in the Eastern Sierra Nevada)4. If they do buy used they should go thru a dealer since they have the best inventory (contradicted by the guys crappy inventory conveniently placed next to the new rigs)Their real world requirements and use habits:1. Boondocking at FS NPS parks2. 1x10 day vacation per year plus 6-7 weekends per year3. They have a '10 F-350 SRW 4x44. This will be their one and only rig and they will not be trading up.5. My FIL is disabled (back/ neck issues) and they will be traveling with a dog.They live in the Reno NV area so feel free to even reference rigs that you would suggest from Craigslist, Private Party, or dealers in that area.Your mission should you choose to accept it is to help me guide them down a reasonable path. Anything above is fair game for your topic. I will simply copy and paste this thread in my email back to them. If you were in my shoes what advise would you give them?Thanks in advance

Spend as little as possible on the nicest 5th wheel that meets your needs but remember it is a depreciating asset and will never be worth what you pay for it. RV's can be a high maintenance item and the RV industry is not known for quality control. Some feel buying new and having a warranty is important to work out the issues with any RV.

Is to help provide guidance to my parents who are looking for a new fifth wheel.So they are looking to spend between $30-$40k (personally I think they can find exactly what they need at half that range). I will layout the planted "facts" for reference.1. Keystone Cougar is one of the brands nicest fifth wheels and will hold its value better than most.I would suggest they look at the Lance trailers.2. Buying new alleviates major headaches over owning a fifth wheel.Buying new is no 100% guarantee that the 5th. wheel won't have warranty issues that have to be fixed. I have never talked to anyone who bought a new trailer who didn't have problems to have fixed. I just bought a new Big Horn last year and probably had about a dozen issues that had to been replaced or fixed under warranty. Buying new will only make sure that your wallet is much lighter. 3. They will be fine fitting into forest service and nps campgrounds with a 35' rig (they will spend most of their time in the Eastern Sierra Nevada)Getting a 35 ft. 5th wheel into a forest service or NPS campground is not going to happen. All state parks in Calif. have a 30ft. maximum length requirement. 4. If they do buy used they should go thru a dealer since they have the best inventory (contradicted by the guys crappy inventory conveniently placed next to the new rigs)The only thing buying a used trailer from a dealer will guarantee that the Dealer sales person is going to get a $$$$comission.Their real world requirements and use habits:1. Boondocking at FS NPS parksAll the more reason to buy a 25 to 30 ft. trailer.2. 1x10 day vacation per year plus 6-7 weekends per yearAll the more reason to buy a used trailer as the new trailer will sit and sit and sit for about 11 months of the year. Storage is another issue for a trailer not being used 11 months of the year. Sitting for long periods is hard on the tires.3. They have a '10 F-350 SRW 4x44. This will be their one and only rig and they will not be trading up.So why buy a NEW trailer that will probably out last them as far as actively RVing.5. My FIL is disabled (back/ neck issues) and they will be traveling with a dog.They live in the Reno NV area so feel free to even reference rigs that you would suggest from Craigslist, Private Party, or dealers in that area.There is a big Heartland dealer in the Reno area to check out. Tell them what you want and they will help you find it.

I live in Reno and just purchased a new 5th in South Sacramento- the dealers here consider their inventory "gold" and it's easy to save many thousands of $ by driving over the hill...

Is your FIL in good enough shape to wrestle with getting a fifth wheel unhitched when the conditions aren't perfect? He-Who-Drives-The-Tow-Vehicle has aggravated his back a couple of times jerking on the lever when we haven't been able to line-up perfectly. I predict we have about five more years fifth-wheeling and then it's on to a Class A.

I would start looking at a class b/c rv. Even at 40k you are below what all new and most class a rv's run. Back issues and hooking/unhooking an rv don't go well together - even with liperts 6 point auto leveling to aid setup / teardown.

Your Mission Should You Choose to Accept It...

Cougarnewbie
Explorer
May 06, 2013
After leaving one small dealer, we bought our Cougar from a much larger dealer for a much better price. Seems the bigger guys can get better prices from the manufacturers because of volume. Find what they are looking for, than shop around.
RVcrazy
Explorer
May 05, 2013
Do they even know that they like RVing? With a 1 ton truck, they have lots of options. If they like Cougars, have tham look at Mountaineers. Both are Keystone products. For dry camping and FS campgrounds, I would suggest looking for a nicely maintained, shorter used Arctic Fox. They have good-sized holding tanks and are well built for the $. A used Carriage or Nuwa trailer would also make the top of my list for buying used. For ease of finding somewhere in more natural settings to park, I would suggest they look at overall length of 30' max. Do not go by the labels! The fifth is likely to be easier to handle because of the hitching issue and back troubles.
Veebyes
Explorer II
May 05, 2013
So I take it that they want to do a fair amount of dry camping. If so has anyone considered the importance of a large water tank? Has anyone considered the importance of space for a decent amount of battery amperage?

$30-40 should buy a very nice lightly used 5er in the upper market group. Builders like Mobile Suite or Carriage, even pre 2005 Alpenlites come to mind. Used quality trumps new blingy junk everytime.
restlesswind
Explorer
May 05, 2013
Hopefully,your parents will adjust to the fact that very little of what many RV salesmen say can be counted as truth.
Print out these pages for them,pointing out that the folks here on the forum have nothing to gain by giving their advice,while you parent have much to lose ($$$$$) be only taking the advice of someone who has everything to gain ($$$$)
deleted-2
Explorer
May 05, 2013
Have the parents check here: www.demartini.com
They have always treated us right.
tsetsaf
Explorer III
May 05, 2013
Awesome feedback and excellent points. I will mention the class A idea but agree that it will sit allot so the trailer might be better. The power jacks are a great suggestion. They were last at the Folsom dealer and their prices were reasonable compared with Reno.
thomasmnile
Explorer
May 05, 2013
fla-gypsy wrote:
Spend as little as possible on the nicest 5th wheel that meets your needs but remember it is a depreciating asset and will never be worth what you pay for it. RV's can be a high maintenance item and the RV industry is not known for quality control. Some feel buying new and having a warranty is important to work out the issues with any RV.

X2 on Gypsy's thoughts. That's how we approached buying our first RV (a fifth wheel). Worked nicely for us for 5 years, though we did move on to a TT, as the fifth wheel proved to be more trailer than we needed.
Dayle1
Explorer II
May 05, 2013
SuperDutyMan wrote:
I wonder if all of you recommending a MH noticed the OP said his FIL has a 2010 F-350 already??????

Sure did, but that is probably not the #1 factor to use in making the best decision about an RV setup. In fact, too much focus on the truck may result in a less than ideal decision.
SuperDutyMan
Explorer
May 05, 2013
I wonder if all of you recommending a MH noticed the OP said his FIL has a 2010 F-350 already??????
deleted-2
Explorer
May 04, 2013
kopy kat wrote:
I live in Reno and just purchased a new 5th in South Sacramento- the dealers here consider their inventory "gold" and it's easy to save many thousands of $ by driving over the hill...

I agree with kopy kat.

Over this way there will be much better deals and NV residents won't pay the big sales tax or fees anyhoo.

Hope the folks find what they need!

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