Alternatives to Lance 2185 Travel Trailer

Congrats!! Write a review when you get some time in it.

Congratulations on the new trailer, I hope it serves you well.

We just bought a 2018 ORV 21DBS. It was a tough decision between the Black Rock 23BKS and TimberRidge 23DBS. The smaller rig made more sense for us.

Over the past several weeks I looked at 5 different RV dealers and countless models from several manufacturers. I'm relieved to have a new camper and excited to go camping.

I'd like to do a final update on my thoughts on the different trailers we looked at and my experience with Lance in a future post.

Thanks to all for your comments and suggestions!

ORV 23bks
ORV 21dbs
Nash 25c

Those are the ones I'm looking at for exactly same reasons as you. Short, 4 season, durable/quality.

avoidcrowds wrote:

platbr wrote:

Lastly, we were seriously considering the Lance 2185 (were heading to see one tomorrow) but this is a sad and cautionary tale, and I'll hold off on Lance given your experiences. They should have stepped up to make it right, and not given you the run-around.

Go to the Lance Owner site, and read comments. There are many more happy Lance owners, and owners who got excellent treatment from their dealer and Lance, than not. Unfortunately, OP is getting the runaround, which is not normally the case. I would not rule out Lance based on one case, when many more have favorable outcomes.

OP, I wish you luck. I would second the suggestion to go through Trailer Life (you may need to be a subscriber, though), as your situation seems to be one they can resolve, as you have presented it to us.

I've been trying to keep this topic focused on alternatives to the Lance 2185. I know people are curious, loyal to Lance, supportive, etc I don't want this topic to go off track.

If you go to the Lance Owners site, you will find many happy owners. It is a great site with helpful members.

While you are there, I would encourage you to look at posts relating to the slide out rollers causing damage (the bottom of the slide floor cracked and splintered b/c it wasn't reinforced properly, I believe). This flaw seems to be addressed in starting with 2015.5 models (so my trailer wasn't effected), but there are several posts where owners just outside of the warranty were told too bad. Some were shipped the refurb kit and installed it themselves or payed a shop to fix. To me, this seems like a design flaw that should have been fixed by Lance but it wasn't.

I'm sure there are other issues that are dealt with in this manner by Lance, but this is main one that comes to mind during my brief time as a Lance owner. The Carefree awning had issues that were always blamed on the user or Colorado. I had mine fixed while under warranty. There was a break line issue but that was before my time and seems to be addressed as one would expect in relation to safety.

When I bought my Lance, the dealership owner mentioned the importance on staying on top of Lance for resolving issues related to warranty. I can't remember the context of that part of the conversation, but his words must be based on past customer experiences. Unfortunately, I do think this how Lance operates...

platbr wrote:

Lastly, we were seriously considering the Lance 2185 (were heading to see one tomorrow) but this is a sad and cautionary tale, and I'll hold off on Lance given your experiences. They should have stepped up to make it right, and not given you the run-around.

Go to the Lance Owner site, and read comments. There are many more happy Lance owners, and owners who got excellent treatment from their dealer and Lance, than not. Unfortunately, OP is getting the runaround, which is not normally the case. I would not rule out Lance based on one case, when many more have favorable outcomes.

OP, I wish you luck. I would second the suggestion to go through Trailer Life (you may need to be a subscriber, though), as your situation seems to be one they can resolve, as you have presented it to us.

tnrv'er wrote:
Did you look at the Outdoorsrv Creekside 23BHS

I probably need to take another look. If I recall, one of the units was sold and the other's bed was disassembled. Both had the couch conversion bed and we'd prefer a traditional queen.

platbr wrote:


Lastly, we were seriously considering the Lance 2185 (were heading to see one tomorrow) but this is a sad and cautionary tale, and I'll hold off on Lance given your experiences. They should have stepped up to make it right, and not given you the run-around.

You could get a lemon (as has been stated) with any manufacturer. But your last sentence is what its all about.

I had it happen to me with a Jayco. Their customer service left a lot to be desired.

TurnThePage wrote:
This particular issue could happen to Airstream, Oliver, etc. I still think the OP could get it taken care of by the manufacturer. Most manufacturers would behave in a similar fashion, simply because the fix has suddenly gotten very expensive. The new ones he's looking at are very nice, though just as likely to have a similar occurrence. The name of the game is thorough inspection, vigilance, and in this particular case tenacity.

Agreed that this could happen to any brand and to inspect on your own out the wazoo (beginning and end of season and a couple times in the middle!). We had a very similar issue happen recently with our Jayco. Neither Jayco or the dealer we were dealing with were helpful, even though we had suspected an issue and brought it to the dealer for inspection/help months prior and they claimed there was no problem. Their negligence meant the damage continued and got worse. The costs to repair came out of our pocket and we did the repairs ourselves, no longer trusting the dealer had our best interests at heart.

platbr wrote:
Thanks for posting this. We were looking at similar trailers in this size and I'm curious where you end up, and also appreciate the input from others here.

Lastly, we were seriously considering the Lance 2185 (were heading to see one tomorrow) but this is a sad and cautionary tale, and I'll hold off on Lance given your experiences. They should have stepped up to make it right, and not given you the run-around.

This particular issue could happen to Airstream, Oliver, etc. I still think the OP could get it taken care of by the manufacturer. Most manufacturers would behave in a similar fashion, simply because the fix has suddenly gotten very expensive. The new ones he's looking at are very nice, though just as likely to have a similar occurrence. The name of the game is thorough inspection, vigilance, and in this particular case tenacity.