Heartland, Lance, Jayco, Coachmen?

My local dealership is asking $32k for the Lance 2285...not even worth my gas to go see it. I am not cheap, but that is well over $10k more than the competition. I am on a road trip tomorrow and am going to stop and look at a 2014 Prime Time Tracer Air 252, but I appreciate all the feedback so far. I guess lots of choices beats too few!

Our final three for consideration were the Lance, Bullet Premier, and the North Trail.

The North Trail won by being 1.5 years old (big $$$ savings) and had much more space than the "similar" floorplan ID implied (26-ft box for a 22FBS model). However the extra size and weight meant buying a bigger TV so that negated the savings.

Last year was our rookie camping season and we managed to spend 30 nights in the TT. Having spent that much time with it we're happy with the combination of how well it fits our needs and how we've adapted to it's layout and features.

The new Lance have a Plastic window so they don't need a rockGaurd

Thanks for all the advice. Two questions about the Lance 2285 that I like:

(1) Should I worry about the design with the front window with no rock guard? I see two designs online and the units coming to my local dealer have yet to arrive, but should I avoid one without the rock guard? (I took a rock to my last vehicle's windshield frame so I know that stuff happens.)

(2) What sounds like a fair price range (I live in southern Ohio)? I know options can run things up but should I be looking at $20-25k? "List price" says $39k but I know how that is always BS.

I am admittedly a bit price-sensitive but a little more quality is worth the money. Thanks!

Looks like the nearest Jayco dealer is about 3 hrs drive away; they have some designs that look right for us. Good to hear the Lance recommendation, too, since we like those. Thanks.

If you are going to deal with Baja heat, go with a Lance or other well insulated 4 sessions camper. Your AC will work much better!

I've owned 6 different trailers over the last 34+ years. The last 3 were all Jaycos and could not be happier with the brand. I will say I did own a Rockwood that I had for 21 years. It did help that when not used it was stored indoors and never had a problem with the Rockwood.

I'm glad to see this topic! Let me know if I should start a new topic, or if it's okay to piggyback off this one? We're also strongly considering a Lance, but haven't looked at the other three models.

After living in a 17-foot Nomad Ultralight for 2 months, we decided we have to get a bigger trailer with a walk-around bed. We like U-shaped dinettes, or opposing couch and dinette, or the "rear lounge" design. Ideally, we'd like an exterior kitchen, but that's not a deal breaker. We like a slide-out (with manual back-up) for the roominess.

We need to keep the length under 28 feet, because much of our travel will be in the hinterlands of Baja California, to visit our property in the East Cape (no house yet, just land). The little road going to our property is small with some tight turns, so anything really long may not be able to get to the property without knocking down some huge cardon cactus:-).

Because of our plans to spend a lot of time in Baja, insulation and other features to aid in minimizing heating of the interior from sun and ambient heat are desirable.

We've been actively looking for a month or so. We're in San Luis Obispo County, California, and there are only a couple of big RV dealers within 100 miles, so we feel somewhat constrained to the models that they carry/service, in order to have access to good maintenance.

We really like the Lance 2295, but not the price tag; however, we're willing to go there if that's really a trailer that's put together better than the competing models. Keystone Bullet and Cougar have designs that fit. Quite a few other brands have designs that fit, but don't seem to be sold anywhere nearby.

It's been overwhelming and discouraging trying to figure out the best choice. Some people in online forums absolutely love Lances and think they are very well made; others say the opposite. There are whole websites set up for people who have had trouble with Keystone. Don't know how many of the complaints about Lance and Keystone are related to the "Friday Lemon" syndrome, or how many are inherent in the design of the models.

Is there a quality assessment group equivalent to "Consumer Reports" for travel trailers?

Any guidance appreciated!

Lances have the advantage/disadvantage of being 4 seasons trailers. Their nice if you plan to do cold weather camping. At a more moderate price, I think Jayco is a good choice. At the same time, if you haven't looked at the Winnebago towables, I would suggest you do.

I don't know anything about the Coachmen product, but would have no problem owning any of the others. As far as living outside, much more important than brand is ensuring right up front that it has no leaks and periodically check it thereafter. My brand was renowned for leaks and wood rot, and I did find some potential problem areas on that initial inspection. First think I did was ring the entire roof edge with Eternabond. Mine's been outside for 11 years without a leak, and still looks close to new on the inside.