Conclusion made: 95% of all TT's are a crapshoot

^ Thankfully I have tools and am pretty handy. We are now deciding between a Coachmen Spirit 2557RB, Surveyor Legend 202RBLE, and Surveyor Legend 272FLS. I'm going to use a local mobile RV repair guy for any warranty. These dealers are both 2 hours from me.
Being a new car dealer service advisor for 22 years, I realize most people who fill out surveys only do it if they're mad about anything. All the happy ones you have to beg to send one in.
I think all 3 of the trailers have many really cool features each and we plan to make a deal this Saturday, assuming the two Legends are available. That dealer didn't respond to my email yesterday, so I will call tomorrow. All have 12V frigs (required by me), one has a ladder, all 3 are Azdel. The Spirit and Legend 272 have a fiberglass front end cap. All 3 have PVC rooves.
No Northwoods or ORV's near us and most are quite a bit heavier and more expensive.

Your assumptions are correct.
Trailers are built on an assembly line using minimum wage employment.
Get some tools and familiarize yourself with there intended use.

That's not an easy question to answer. Because one TT might not have any issues, another identical one might. I had a Heartland Trail Runner that I had no issues with at all. I had a Forest River 5th wheel that had only a couple of minor issues and now have a Grand Design fifth wheel that had a few minor issues. I also know people who have owned TT's and fifth wheels from those same manufacturers and they all had one issue after the other. I think Customer service is very important and buying from a dealer with a good reputation is just as important. Everything with owning RV's is a roll of the dice.

Northwoods (Arctic Fox & Nash) and ORV (Northwoods sister company) are well built, but ORV does use some Lippert components still, and of those parts, I've had nearly all fail at some point. Northwoods uses less Lippert stuff. Northwoods builds the chassis for both subsidiaries.

Warranty support was great, other than the 1st dealer I tried to get service from was sometimes a PITA to deal with. At least ORV allows dealers to make a warranty request without holding the unit in their possession. So for me, I'd visit the dealer's service writer, they'd make the request, a week later they'd schedule the repairs, and I'd only ave to leave it for a couple of days. I did have multiple issues with the Lippert Schwintek system, and the dealer didn't have the equipment to remove the mega slide, so ORV picked it up from my house and took it back to the factory using one of their regular transport contractors. I did end up picking it up myself both times, only because ORV won't ship trailers out when tire-chains are required on the highways, due to potential for body damage if a chain breaks.

Stclairm wrote:
Other than Airstream, Oliver, and a few others I can't afford, there are so many nightmare stories and terrible warranty/service issues it will make your head spin off. I guess I know going into it that my handiness will be in continual use. I've already experienced it when my new TT I bought in February sprung a leak due to a crappy caulk job and while the dealer recaulked that spot, it has been 2-3 months and they still haven't contacted me saying they have authorization from Gulfstream.
Are there some brands under $30k that any of you recommend who stand behind their product and don't make the consumer regret their purchase? We're ready to pull the trigger on a larger TT, then sell ours, but man, this is disheartening. I will say my local mobile RV repair guy likes Forest River, so I guess he has no problem fixing them and getting paid properly.

Honestly. Both TraveTrailers I have owned have been pretty good. The 2004 Fleetwood Pioneer only went back ONE TIME FOR WARRANTY WORK AND IT WAS A rcall..
And the 2013 Apex has only been back once for warranty work. I did have to replace a couple of trailer hubs. but that is pretty much it. so in reality. they aren't all that bad. As long as everything works, and it don't leak. I'm happy.

Complete inspection inside and out, run every system and “road” test before any money changes hands. Take it home and do a annual roof maintenance.