Forum Discussion

Monster1's avatar
Monster1
Explorer
Aug 17, 2018

New to RV's but not really

First time posting here. I grew up around RV's since before I could walk. My family owned a dealership since before I was born. By the time I was a teenager, I was a a full time lot boy scrubbing RV's all day long and doing misc work. I started in sales when I was of legal age to do so and did some repairs. Our dealership closed due to the recession in 94. Forward nearly 25 years, I'm looking at buying my "first" RV (lol). I might as well be new to all this because so much has changed. We used to be a skyline and cobra dealer. Cobra has since become forrest river of I'm not mistaken. 25 years ago, construction used to be more maticulous. I'm hearing now that some RV's are able to be assembled completely in 8 hours. My mind is blown. I can't imagine quality control would be up to par in those cases. Anyway, I've started looking for a 26-32ft travel trailer. I figure trailers are not as popular as 5th wheels and tend to sit longer for sale. They always sat longer on our lot anyway. I'm not in a great rush. I know buyers season is approaching with the fall/winter being prime buy time. I'm looking for something around 10k. I looked at a Tango 32ft travel trailer yesterday. I was impressed with the build quality. It seemed well made. But I read some very negative things about that brand. I looked at an Outback today. It was nice as well but the front and rear cap was bubbled. No big deal if nothing is rotted as I've done skin jobs. If I can buy something heavily discounted that needs repairs, I'm fine with that. But I dont want something that is poorly built right of the bat. What advice can you give a "new" guy and what brands should I stay away from? My tow vehicle is a 2500 5.9 Cummins so weight isn't an issue. PM me if you'd rather not publicly down talk any particular brand.

Thanks
Monty
  • Monster1's avatar
    Monster1
    Explorer
    Aug 28, 2018
    Well, we have looked at many trailers the last week or so. Lots of way overpriced undermaintained stuff out there. Everything we have looked at we have compared to the 309bhss we first looked at. Nothing seems to compare. Anything from the cabinetry to the solid flooring and lack of delamination of the entire unit is very reassuring. We went and looked at it a second time and I did a more thorough inspection and found the wheel wells are not protected. It seems the curbside wheel well has some damage to the water barrier in the under carriage. This has caused a small section of the flooring to separate and rot. I'm not sure how far the rot goes, if at all. I'm thinking of the floor joists are good then it is just contained to that area. If it is, then I'd think injecting epoxy into the separated wood would be a good repair. If not, then a floor replacement would be expensive due to that it's on the side where all the appliances and cabinetry are located. If that's the case, it would be several thousands just to repair a section of floor. I'm thinking I'm going to get under there with a flashlight and see what I can find. Maybe see if I can remove some drawers and see if there are any soft spots. The floor is rock solid though. I can't imagine there being much damage under there. I've learned that tongue and groove 5/8" OSB has been used in this years model. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Our sandpiper line had 3/4" tongue and groove ply. Thoughts?
  • Monster1's avatar
    Monster1
    Explorer
    Aug 17, 2018
    Monster1 wrote:
    JAC1982 wrote:
    I think with a 10,000 budget, your main focus should just be to find a trailer that doesn't have any major problems individually, since it will be an older model in that price range and when you're at a 10+ year model, the manufacturer doesn't really matter at that point... how it's been maintained and used matters much more.


    I think you may have hit the nail on the head. I've always been under the impression that they are all constructed the same. But I seem to be running into lots and lots of deterioration due to lack of maintenance and people (even a few dealers!)are looking at trying to get high retail or better for a unit that obviously had water damage/moisture issues.
  • Monster1's avatar
    Monster1
    Explorer
    Aug 17, 2018
    Turtle n Peeps wrote:
    Monster1 wrote:
    Thanks for the replies. I'm trying to stay at about 10k for my purchase. I'm not going to be living in it or full time rv'ing. My plan is to do several weekend trips and a few one week trips a year. I'm primarily a boater, but I'm just looking for an upgrade from tent camping with the family that we've been doing. Here's a link to the 07 tango I'm looking at.

    https://bakersfield.craigslist.org/tro/d/ft-tango/6668657329.html


    After reading about the company that makes that trailer I wouldn't touch that thing.

    Do you research or you will be sorry.


    I've researched the company and found that this particular model was manufactured during original ownership of the company when quality control and customer service was high. When the company was sold, everything deteriorated (supposedly). Being an 11 year old unit, I'd think that any design flaw or manufactured defect would present itself and be evident with a thorough pre-purchase inspection. There was a post someone made on this form about this brand and how "never again" etc. It was their 1st post and they never did say what the problem was. They then disappeared. That kinda leaves me skeptical of what, if anything, really was wrong. There are other owners who had very little issues. We had a similar type of person bad mouth our Sandpiper line back when we were in business. At the factory there was a water line inside the subfloor that didn't get crimped. The unmarked compression ring didn't have a mark on it from being crimped. The trailer passed PDI and we sent the customer on their way. A week later, they brought the trailer back screaming at us that it was a POS and full of water in the undercarriage. The entire undercarriage water barrier was sagging due to many gallons of water. It was obviously a manufactures defect in the production of the trailer. We repaired the damage and the manufacture made it right. If we had internet back then, I'm sure it would have been posted online that Sandpiper was the worst brand ever. Hardly the case though.
  • Monster1's avatar
    Monster1
    Explorer
    Aug 17, 2018
    JAC1982 wrote:
    I think with a 10,000 budget, your main focus should just be to find a trailer that doesn't have any major problems individually, since it will be an older model in that price range and when you're at a 10+ year model, the manufacturer doesn't really matter at that point... how it's been maintained and used matters much more.


    I think you may have hit the nail on the head and that is what I'm running into. Lots and lots of deterioration due to lack of maintenance and people (even a few dealers!)are looking at trying to get high retail or better for a unit that obviously had water damage/moisture issues.
  • JAC1982's avatar
    JAC1982
    Explorer
    Aug 17, 2018
    I think with a 10,000 budget, your main focus should just be to find a trailer that doesn't have any major problems individually, since it will be an older model in that price range and when you're at a 10+ year model, the manufacturer doesn't really matter at that point... how it's been maintained and used matters much more.
  • old_guy's avatar
    old_guy
    Explorer
    Aug 17, 2018
    when I went to work in the rv dealership, they told me that building a rv was not rocket science. what a under statement. they can fall apart in a heart beat and take weeks to get them back together. no recommendation for you, because they are all built the same, fast and bad. only thing I would say is one that had a metal frame .
  • Turtle_n_Peeps's avatar
    Turtle_n_Peeps
    Explorer
    Aug 17, 2018
    Monster1 wrote:
    Thanks for the replies. I'm trying to stay at about 10k for my purchase. I'm not going to be living in it or full time rv'ing. My plan is to do several weekend trips and a few one week trips a year. I'm primarily a boater, but I'm just looking for an upgrade from tent camping with the family that we've been doing. Here's a link to the 07 tango I'm looking at.

    https://bakersfield.craigslist.org/tro/d/ft-tango/6668657329.html


    After reading about the company that makes that trailer I wouldn't touch that thing.

    Do you research or you will be sorry.
  • Jayco-noslide's avatar
    Jayco-noslide
    Explorer
    Aug 17, 2018
    I question if there really was a "good old days" in RV quality and I think it's really hard to pin down the quality of all of the various RV's. We currently own a 15 yr. old Itasca(Winnebago) 30 ft. Class C on a Ford E-450 chassis. If I ever have another one I will stick with Winnebago. It's not that quality is guaranteed but I do think a lot of the company and have visited the factory. Apparently you can get any part for any unit ever made. We've had ours 5 years and have spent plenty on repair, replace and improve but have no regrets.
  • Monster1's avatar
    Monster1
    Explorer
    Aug 17, 2018
    Thanks for the replies. I'm trying to stay at about 10k for my purchase. I'm not going to be living in it or full time rv'ing. My plan is to do several weekend trips and a few one week trips a year. I'm primarily a boater, but I'm just looking for an upgrade from tent camping with the family that we've been doing. Here's a link to the 07 tango I'm looking at.

    https://bakersfield.craigslist.org/tro/d/ft-tango/6668657329.html
  • 2012Coleman's avatar
    2012Coleman
    Explorer II
    Aug 17, 2018
    Check out the Imagine Series from Grand Design. Grand Design is one of the few companies that will certify their products for full time living without voiding the warranty. Consider the TV placement. You want to be able to sit across from it - not look at it from an angle or across the room in a corner. Good luck!

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