Gjac wrote:
Bruce Brown wrote:
Some companies put their $$$ into fluff, some put it into quality.
You can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig.
Look past the fluff and I think you'll see the bigger, more important differences. If you can't see them maybe they're just not important to you.
Remember, even Alfa sold some SeeYa's, (arguably the worst MH ever made) so not everyone values the same things.
I agree with Bruce, the salesmen will focus on the outdoor TV's, indoor fireplaces etc. Look at things like CCC, HP/WT ratio, towing capacity, wt distibution etc. Try to understand the construction process of the MH it self, which is harder to find and understand, the salesmen will only use marketing terms rather than eng specs. All MFG's use the same refers, WH's, AC's furnaces, chassis (Ford or Chevy) so to me brand in and of itself is not important. If you search the type of problems folks on here have with the MH itself, sidewall delaminations, leaks, harsh riding chassis, poor assembly, most can be corrected except for major delaminations. Some MFg's like Newmar and Monaco use hung walls which can't delaminate, which to me is a huge discriminator having fixed and lived with this on my current MH. Design features like being able to access your batteries, gensets, and dump and fill areas are more important to me than the flat screen TV's or surround sound. If all these other reqs were met I would choose a TPO or FG roof over EPDM rubber. Having said that my EPDM roof is 20 years old and has never leaked.
This type of info is the "gold" I am looking for. I appreciate it and will ponder it as we start shopping. I would prefer to have a solid and quality "foundation." I went through poor design and quality issues with our Forest River hybrid travel trailer years ago in 2009-2011+. To FR's credit, they took the unit back to the factory in Indiana and did a massive repair and reconditioning for us for free outside of our warranty term. But we'll be spending a huge amount of more money on whatever we buy next so we want quality.
Thank you to the last two posters for your wisdom. I love RV.net for that very reason!
