My daughter's family is growing up quick and they will likely be shopping for a new TT within a year or 2. Their "must have" list is pretty short, but how to do shop for these specific features across multiple brands ?True bunk house (4 separate beds)Slide out U-shaped dinette (bonus for love seat)Max loaded weight less than 8,500 lbsLower priority would be a Murphy bed.

Personally livability is utmost on my list. Everything else is just fluff. Go spend a half hour inside playing house. Can you bathe easily? How about using the toilet without chasing everyone oitside, or can you actually cook a meal? How about sleeping, is it comfortable, or are you making up the couch every night?

You begin by visiting RV dealerships and just window shop the various campers that are there. Or, you visit an RV show where they have the latest models on display. After looking at a few, you begin to develop an idea. Then you go to the internet and begin searching RV manufacturers web sites and study out the floor plans. Once you begin to formulate what you like, don't like, you start a short list of your likes. Then visit RV dealerships and take a second more careful hands-on look at the models you are most interested in.You can search floor plans on line, but you still need to actually visit dealerships or RV shows to see and get a real world "feel" for what those floorplans actually represent.Here's a couple RV related web sites to get them started:Of course, for a brand new beginner, one of the best introductory web sites to RVing is Go Rving. Changin' Gears and the link to the RV manufacturers web site (which is an awesome list by the way) Manufacturers list of web sitesYou can also do a Google Search, for example: RV Bunkhouse Models.RV Bunkhouse four beds These are images, select "all" and go to the dealer web sites.

Google is your friend. RV Trader is an excellent place, once you get in the ballpark to check on pricing. I'd start looking for bunkhouses. Google travel trailers bunkhouses. Some places have advanced searches that let you narrow it down by lots of different variables ranging from length, number of slides, weight, axles etc. AND even RV trader is a place to look. Pull up the different companies and look at the list of their trailers and pull up the ones with BH in the name. That will take you to a page with trailers from all over the country including prices and pics from the dealerships. Look for sites with lots of pics so you can get the picture. Pricing is all over the place with as much as 10,000 differences on single models. You will find that northern Indiana dealers often are some of the cheapest, because they don't have to ship far from the factories. Want to visit Indiana? But there are deals all over. Google google google. But based upon your stated preferences, are you talking an actual bunk room with four separate beds? That is rare but they are out there and they are long and will likely exceed your weight. If not, your choices increase dramatically. It can be fun if you don't mind spending time looking but you can save a lot of money doing so. Another thing to look at is that once you find what you want check the manufacturer for identical units under other names. For example, Rockwoods and Flagstaffs are identical units with different badging...and different pricing in many cases. Another example is what I bought. I found that Dutchmen makes a Coleman version and Aspen trail version and a Kodiak version of my trailer. The Coleman and Aspen Trail are identical except for badging but the Colemans tend to run about more than the Aspen Trails. Why? I'm thinking it is because Dutchmen has to pay Sunbeam the holding company that owns the Coleman name a licensing fee to use the Coleman name. The Aspen Trail name is free. As far as the Kodiak version, it is definitely a step above the other two. It has the fiberglass shell, and lots of bells and whistles that make it nicer and most of those bells and whistles are worth it (e.g. black tank flush, camera prep, tub/shower vs shower, outdoor speakers, nicer wheels and tires and more. Mine is a single axle unit and pricing runs from 10,400 new to 21,000 with 12,500 to 12,900 being average good prices for Aspen Trails and 500 to a thousand more for a Coleman. The Kodiaks run from about 14,900 to 25,000 but generally run about 4500 to 5K more. So, you could get the Kodiak (best deal) about 2K more than an Aspen Trail avg deal. BUT and and big but...you gotta be willing to drive 1500 to 2,000 miles to do so. West Coast pricing can also differ quite a bit from East pricing. So, there you go. Find it online then go check in dealerships. I'd be willing to get one as far out from home as a few hundred miles IF there is a really big differential in pricing. If they are close in price buy from a local dealer and try to get em down but go anyway as they will be the ones working on yours. That's how I did it, AND, if you are patient, look for previous year models on lots early in a given year. They may deal on those and often will.

First, I go to every brand's website and look at floorplans that have the features I want.Second, I then find dealers that carry those models and go look at them in person. If they don't have that model, I look at other models of the same brand, to determine quality and fit/finish of that brand.Third, I then do a web search on the RV I've selected, for price comparison. Especially dealers like RVW and RV Direct.

I always suggest people go to an RV show so they can see many floorplans and makes in a single place.

How do you shop for specific features | Good Sam Community

FunnyCamper
Explorer II
Apr 15, 2018
bikendan wrote:
First, I go to every brand's website and look at floorplans that have the features I want.

Second, I then find dealers that carry those models and go look at them in person. If they don't have that model, I look at other models of the same brand, to determine quality and fit/finish of that brand.

Third, I then do a web search on the RV I've selected, for price comparison. Especially dealers like RVW and RV Direct.

THIS!

On the internet the brand name sites, like Keystone, Heartland, etc is wonderful on posting their floorplans and spec info etc.

I googled RV manufacturers and it listed all the biggies, Forest River and more and then wittled down from that. I loved floorplan shopping the brands, so interesting. And you always find one that suits you :) Then ya go find it :)
Kavoom
Explorer
Apr 15, 2018
handye9 wrote:
Here's a start; Coachmen Freedom Express 292BHDSLE, Puma 29QBSS, Salem Cruise Lite 282QBXL, Shasta 30QB

Nice, I never found this approach.
moresmoke
Explorer
Apr 15, 2018
This was my experience... Went into the two local dealers... Told them I was looking for something in the 25-28 foot range, two full size bunks, and NO slide. I got the deer in the headlights look. After a few minutes, they each showed us two different units. One was a no go due to the kitchen (or lack thereof). We went home and spent hours searching the web, only to return to one of the dealers and pick one they had on the lot.

A half decent salesperson should be able to point you to what you are lookng for, that is their job.
theoldwizard1
Explorer II
Apr 15, 2018
DutchmenSport wrote:
... you visit an RV show where they have the latest models on display.

The last couple of shows I have been to had dozens of "top of the line" Class A coaches and 35'+ fifth wheel trailers. Very few non-fifth wheel trailers and even fewer hybrid/pop-ups.
2gypsies1
Explorer III
Apr 15, 2018
Shows tend to bring in all the dealer's glitzy or gimmicky stuff. Rarely bare bones RVs. You're better off looking at each manufacturer on the web for the different models.
Veebyes
Explorer II
Apr 18, 2018
Once you have your non negotiable must have list the herd gets narrowed down pretty quick before you even go out the door to shop.

We had it down to 4 models across 3 builders when we started to shop. All the others had eliminated themselves by not having one or more of the must haves. For us water tankage was a big eliminator. If it did not have 80 gal or more we were not interested. That simple.
Kavoom
Explorer
Jun 08, 2018
Fizz wrote:
You can start by looking at floor plans.
A few carefully worded searches on Google will give you 100s

FLOOR PLANS

Bunk Beds

Click the images and go from there.
It's a start

Great website
nickthehunter
Nomad II
Jun 08, 2018
theoldwizard1 wrote:
DutchmenSport wrote:
... you visit an RV show where they have the latest models on display.

The last couple of shows I have been to had dozens of "top of the line" Class A coaches and 35'+ fifth wheel trailers. Very few non-fifth wheel trailers and even fewer hybrid/pop-ups.
Yes, but the show will give you thousands of brochures. You can look at units on display and get an idea of the build quality for that line, and look at the brochure to find units that have the features you want. Eliminate lines that don't match your criteria and take home a brochure from those that do. That should yield plenty of brochures of different units that match your criteria to look at and compare. It'll give you names of dealers that carry them.
DrewE
Explorer II
Jun 08, 2018
theoldwizard1 wrote:
DutchmenSport wrote:
... you visit an RV show where they have the latest models on display.

The last couple of shows I have been to had dozens of "top of the line" Class A coaches and 35'+ fifth wheel trailers. Very few non-fifth wheel trailers and even fewer hybrid/pop-ups.

The last show I went to, granted a few years ago, had I think only one class A (a gasser), one or two class C's, one or two class B's, and several dozen trailers. The trailers were mostly fifth wheels and traditional hard-sided travel trailers, with only a few hybrids, pop-ups, teardrops, and similar little ones thrown in.

I suspect to some extent it depends on what the typical inventory of the dealers in the area is. Trailers are apparently quite popular in Vermont among new RV buyers.
myredracer
Explorer II
Jun 08, 2018
If they've never owned a TT before, be very careful to choose one they are going to want to keep for a long time. Going to a show or dealership is great but after you buy something, you can start to find all the shortcomings that never occurred to you. (BTDT) Even little things can quickly become pretty annoying. I would suggest if at all possible, rent or borrow a TT and test it out before buying. Some CGs even have rental TTs on them. Maybe take a friend of a friend of an in-law with RV-ing experience to a show or dealership who knows what to look for.

Choose wisely! :)