Keystone, forest river, jayco, thoughts on reliability?

allenm wrote:
At the risk of being stoned, I have to comment on so called "Amish built" RVs. I used to live in northern Indiana where many RVs are built. Lots of builders up there from roofing companies to furniture makers leverage Amish workers, when nothing could be farther from the truth. If it was true, we wouldn't see the poor workmanship prevalent in RV's, especially trailers.

I won't mention the name, but my 2016 trailer was made by a company that says such things as "Amish inspire attention to detail" in their advertising. Yeah, right... I won't bore anyone by listing all the things in just 9 months of ownership that have come to light.

Maybe it's these companies that ought to be stoned for using the the Amish in their advertising!

FWIW, there are 50K Amish living in the State of Indiana (men, woman, children). There are 53K manufacturing workers in Elkhart County, IN, the hub of RV Mfg's. Are all of these Amish working in an RV plant? Probably not. :W

Well, since you live in Oregon, why not consider an Oregon made trailer?
IMO the Northwood MFG Trailers (Arctic Fox) and Outdoor RV MFG (Wind River, Creekside, etc) are some of the best. Of course they do cost a bit more. Both are made over in La Grande.
I personally have a Jayco and feel it offers good value, but having looked at a lot of brands, I can see it is not as well built as the ones I mentioned above.

At the risk of being stoned, I have to comment on so called "Amish built" RVs. I used to live in northern Indiana where many RVs are built. Lots of builders up there from roofing companies to furniture makers leverage Amish workers, when nothing could be farther from the truth. If it was true, we wouldn't see the poor workmanship prevalent in RV's, especially trailers.

I won't mention the name, but my 2016 trailer was made by a company that says such things as "Amish inspire attention to detail" in their advertising. Yeah, right... I won't bore anyone by listing all the things in just 9 months of ownership that have come to light.

Maybe it's these companies that ought to be stoned for using the the Amish in their advertising!

I would look at Article Fox or Nash by Northwood mfg. Probably a little more then 25k depending on what you buy. I own a Keystone and a Forest River.

I think the correct term would be "durable" rather than reliable.

I always think of those as the "big 3" manufacturers. Everyone has their favorite (or dislike), often based on some past experience. They are all similar price points and similar quality. Each is capable of turning out a lemon or a great unit and with RVs in this range it's a roll of the dice which one you get.

From reading experiences on RV message boards over the years I'd rank them as Jayco first, Keystone next and FR last but it's pretty close between them. And fwiw I own a FR product and it's been a decent unit.

As others have said, go to a show or some dealers to find out which ones you like best. Also, all 3 manufacturers have great websites with floor plans and specs to look over.

Go to an RV show and decide for yourself. Everyone has a reason for buying what they bought. I went to 3-4 RV shows a year for 3 years before I bought. I walked through every manufacturer that I could, every line that I could. I decided that I liked the build and feel and features of the Jayco.

My father-in-law went to the majority of the same shows with me, walked through the same trailers as me. He decided he liked the build and feel and features of the Primetime Avenger series.

Everyone has different needs and different quirks. Unless you are buying the trailer for me, it doesn't really matter what I like or anyone else likes... all that matters is what YOU and YOUR WIFE like.

This is a really hard question to answer. All of us own something different.
I have a keystone. That aside, all of them are built on a assembly line and unlike cars there is no standards needing met.

Best I can tell you is to go to a local Dealer and see what you like.

Just to many different things different. One trailer is built in a dust free environment and another have vacuum sealed walls. To many different ways to do the same thing.

At $25 you can get a good Coachman, Cherokee, Gray wolf trailer.

I like Cherokee due to it is built by a bunch of Amish Folk. The people building that trailer really take pride in what they craft.

All opinion based.