Well I guess I don't have any common sense Travelnutz, but it seems like to me that there really isn't much difference in cabinets, hardware, latches etc etc between the 850 & say the 1181 Lance. I may be wrong, but at least I'm not wrong about where they mount the batteries in boxes under a step! Thanks but no thanks.
I've had my Lance for over 12 yrs & really enjoy it! but have had to remove all mlgs & reseal everything & fix rot in the wings (I don't think there's a Lance made that if they have "chip board' there & used in the rain a lot that it won't rot IMO, even yours!)They never sealed the lag bolts the held the bumper to the wooden cross member & of course it rotted away, even though it was always stored indoors when not used. I guess I was surprised when taking it all apart to see all the plain steel staples, & some wood screws holding everything together. Of course these were all rusted away. I replace everything with SS.
I actually like Lance camper's, but am not so obsessed with them like Travelnutz, I think they have made great improvements in the last yr or so with there counter tops, interior wood finish, etc over what I saw 3-5 yrs ago at the Seattle RV show. They were terrible then IMO. Hard to believe that one could have had several Lance's over the yrs & never had any issues with them, I guess its possible if maybe one didn't keep them long enough for problems to start to show up, or ever use them in the rain (if they were wood framed)
It is strange & unfortunate that our local dealer in Bellingham only keeps one on there lot at a time, (they do stock several Lance trailers though) I didn't see how they could keep there franchise either. Its typical of business's locally as they struggle with the Cdn border & the large dealerships an hour away to the South.