Advice for Newbie

powhatanone wrote:
Will we likely want something larger in the future

Almost certainly. Some folks stay with their first small trailer for years, but most decide they need something bigger quickly.

The saying is "You should buy your Second Trailer, First" - which none of us do.

powhatanone wrote:
Our trips will be weekends and at most a week at a time.

I meet people who travel extensively, up to full-time, in 18 ft Casita's and other similar sub-20 ft trailers almost daily while park hosting. It's a matter of adapting, and having a rainy day strategy. Slideouts are wonderful for making a small trailer more livable when the weather keeps you indoors. But their add weight and cost.

powhatanone wrote:
Opinions on Jayco Hybrids, quality, service, etc?

Jayco is a good brand. But quality is a perception - means different things to different people. I don't see many people who complain about their Jayco products. Jayco has some nice small hard sided trailers.

I saw a new really neat r-pod RP-176 the other day - the couple loved it RP-176

Hybrids are another subject. One question - do you want to camp in bear country / the mountains? Some places require hard sided camper units only - no popups/ hybrids. Do your research.

I don't blame you one bit for wanting a new TT. I would have considered the buy used advice, but most likely would have gone with the new one anyway because I could afford it and that's what I wanted.

I also was going to get a hybrid - don't know why, just liked them. But while shopping during the summer, I noticed a huge increase in the temps inside hybrids compared to fully enclosed. My inlaws have one and their AC runs constantly.

What you also need to do is fully understand the capibilities of your TV. Hopefully you are not focused on stated tow capacity instead of payload. You are most likely correct that your truck can pull the hybrid, but if you decide to go bigger, do your research, and get a weight distributing hitch.

Above all don't listen to what the salesman says you can tow.

We've owned 3 Jayco's. One was a '93 popup that we bought new and owned for 10 years, the second was a '03 Kiwi 17a hybrid that we bought new and had for 10 years, the 3rd is our current 2013 X20E hybrid. Yes, 2 hybrids. We love them. But as said, they are not for everyone. You really do need to like tents and pop-ups if you are considering a hybrid.

Regarding quality, the initial fit and finish on Jaycos is a bit sloppy. Nothing serious, things like mis-aligned bathroom door, loose interior trim, etc. You can fix these yourself, or find it all on the walkthrough and make your dealer fix them. Otherwise they ares solid well built units. Notice we had 2 of them for 10 years each and they were still in excellent condition when we were done with them.

We loved our 17ft. We often camped with 3 adults (wife and adult daughter) and it was a bit tight but OK. Our X20E has plenty of room for 3 people, but the daughter is getting married soon so no need to worry about that anymore! We looked at the 18 ft. It wasn't much bigger than the 17 we used to have. Also the X20E has a small slide out that makes a world of difference in floor space. We love it. So if you're looking at Jayco and you know you want to move up in size at some point, you might really like the X20E. Your Durango will handle the X20E just fine.

And you'll want to join the Jayco Owners forum. Even before you buy!

Welcome and have fun!

donn0128 wrote:
Start used. Keep the price down to bare minimum. It is a lot easier to sell a used trailer loosing maybe a few hundred dollars in the process than trying to sell a nearly new one loosing thousands of dollars if your desires change. Which they likely will judging buy the quantity of decent uses ones on the market.

This is really good advise when starting out. We found a floor plan we liked but saved a ton on our first RV because we went with a used one from a private owner.

Even though we were thrilled with it and thought we would probably keep it for several years, that didn't happen. In a year we traded it for a new bigger one.

The good thing was the dealer discounted the new unit plus allowed us more than we had paid for the used trade-in.

I would decide what you want to start with then locate any late model used ones. We used Craig's List to locate our used unit in a neighboring state.

Hybrid TT's aren't for everyone.
If you have questions about Jayco hybrids, you should visit the Hybrid section here.
do some simple searchs on Jayco there and ask questions there.

Have ever owned a popup? Most hybrid owners are former popup owners who want more amenities and less setup but want to keep the canvas bed ends.

Think carefully about buying one and make sure you know the pros and cons of them.
we've owned ours for over 8 years now and still love it.

Bottom line: if you aren't in love with the idea of sleeping under canvas, DON'T buy a hybrid.

My wife and I had a hybrid for 8 years and most of the time it was just the 2 of us.

If you've tent camped or had a pop-up then a hybrid is the next step. You're still sleeping under canvas and can unzip the tent ends for some flow-through ventilation. And you can get more room in a shorter trailer than a full hard sided trailer.

But - since you're in Virginia the air conditioning will be working harder to keep it cool. And you'll hear every noise through the canvas. My wife's knees are not so good and it was getting to be a pain for her (literally) to climb into the bunk ends to make the bed and climbing in to sleep. Also, there are the stories of bunkend leaks when travelling down the road.

We've done 2 weeks in it and on a rainy day it can get tight. I'd recommend one with a slide if you can swing it.

Personally, since the Durango can handle it I'd be looking at something like a Roo 23SS or similar trailer. Or do what we did and go to a hardside.

Start used. Keep the price down to bare minimum. It is a lot easier to sell a used trailer loosing maybe a few hundred dollars in the process than trying to sell a nearly new one loosing thousands of dollars if your desires change. Which they likely will judging buy the quantity of decent uses ones on the market.

Welcome to the site!

Will you want a bigger one? Only you will know that! For what your describing as weekend use I think you will be just fine! Check your door sticker for payload before moving up. So many people do move to bigger units and or certain floor plans after being in the camping life for awhile.

Good luck and enjoy the camping life!

If you have never camped before I would rent a few in different sizes to get an idea what you can live with and can't live without. For me it would have to have a walk around bed that didn't have to be made up and taken down each morning and night.

Will we likely want something larger in the future, should we stretch a couple thousand dollars more now.

Depreciation is horrific on new RV's. In five years it will be worth about half of new. If you even think you might want bigger later then get it now. RV's get small in inclement weather, wind, bugs, etc. Unless you have a compelling reason to need to be on the small side why do it?