Newbie purchasing a Travel Trailer
I have been reading on here a bunch, but i have a ton of questions myself that it would be nice to have answers and opinions in one location. My wife and I are moving to CA from VA and are planning o...
Forum Discussion
I've had a new Starcraft popup (for one summer), then a new 23' Rockwood with slide, followed by an old used 17' Burro, then a new 16' KZ Escape E14RB, then a 4 year old Aliner (for one year). Some observations:
The tent popup and Aliner had no upper storage, and bending over for everything gets old quickly.
The tent material on the popup flapped in the wind, we could hear the neighboring campers way too well, and in bear country my wife was nervous.
The Rockwood and KZ both seemed decent for the money, although certainly not inspiring in cabinet sturdiness and such (but they're striving for light weight, after all).
You won't find anything great for less than about $20k. And you will find plenty of units that aren't great for more than that amount! If you're trying to stay low-budget, you could get something like the Sportsmen Classic for as little as $10k-$12K new, and just don't have high expectations. If you also want something that will not depreciate too fast, then you want a used trailer so someone else has taken the biggest depreciation hit. For a trailer that may not depreciate at all, look for a Scamp or Casita; these small, molded-fiberglass trailers have very small frontal areas, tow more easily, and have a cult-like following that supports strong resale value.
The tent popup and Aliner had no upper storage, and bending over for everything gets old quickly.
The tent material on the popup flapped in the wind, we could hear the neighboring campers way too well, and in bear country my wife was nervous.
The Rockwood and KZ both seemed decent for the money, although certainly not inspiring in cabinet sturdiness and such (but they're striving for light weight, after all).
You won't find anything great for less than about $20k. And you will find plenty of units that aren't great for more than that amount! If you're trying to stay low-budget, you could get something like the Sportsmen Classic for as little as $10k-$12K new, and just don't have high expectations. If you also want something that will not depreciate too fast, then you want a used trailer so someone else has taken the biggest depreciation hit. For a trailer that may not depreciate at all, look for a Scamp or Casita; these small, molded-fiberglass trailers have very small frontal areas, tow more easily, and have a cult-like following that supports strong resale value.
