Buying first TT - New or Used?
Hello! We are a family of 5 with three small children (ages 7,6,2) and we are wanting to buy a travel trailer - doing alot of research - and wondering if we should buy new or used. New we are thinking...
Forum Discussion
I highly highly highly recommend a 3/4+ ton. If you are willing to consider them, full sized vans represent tremendous value on the used market at about 50% the value of a used SUV. You can find 2011 3/4 ton GM vans with 6.0L/6-spd trans with 50k miles for under $15k. And once you are into 3/4+ ton, you can tow a lot more TTs and finding one you like is less compromise.
Why 3/4 ton? Half tons and larger families run out of payload and receiver limit well below their tow ratings. You'll be traveling at 1000-1500 pounds over any TT dry weight. The food, clothes, chairs, toys, tools, bikes, etc. It all adds up. 7k loaded means about 900 pounds of tongue weight. A half ton Suburban that has the same equipment as my loaded 4WD LT has just under 1400 pounds of payload. That would leave about 500 pounds for the family left for payload. That is not much for any family of 5. Kids grow. You'll bring friends because you have seating and beds for 7-8. It happens - See my T-Shirt?
So as you shop for a tow vehicle, locate this sticker when you open the driver's door and kick the tires. Note what they each have where mine says 2051:
As for your first TT: I was very confident that we would be happy and could afford new. So I ordered exactly what I thought we wanted. It has been a great TT for us for 4 summers. We do want a different one now that we have a more capable tow vehicle, but would be pleased if we had kept our prior truck with this TT. Finding TT weights that worked out for our prior truck was more difficult used.
Why 3/4 ton? Half tons and larger families run out of payload and receiver limit well below their tow ratings. You'll be traveling at 1000-1500 pounds over any TT dry weight. The food, clothes, chairs, toys, tools, bikes, etc. It all adds up. 7k loaded means about 900 pounds of tongue weight. A half ton Suburban that has the same equipment as my loaded 4WD LT has just under 1400 pounds of payload. That would leave about 500 pounds for the family left for payload. That is not much for any family of 5. Kids grow. You'll bring friends because you have seating and beds for 7-8. It happens - See my T-Shirt?
So as you shop for a tow vehicle, locate this sticker when you open the driver's door and kick the tires. Note what they each have where mine says 2051:
As for your first TT: I was very confident that we would be happy and could afford new. So I ordered exactly what I thought we wanted. It has been a great TT for us for 4 summers. We do want a different one now that we have a more capable tow vehicle, but would be pleased if we had kept our prior truck with this TT. Finding TT weights that worked out for our prior truck was more difficult used.
