Not a current model - should I care?

Hi when I needed a simple part as the door jam catch for the screen door. My camper manufacture sent me a used part that was already cracked. I went back to the door builder and he sent me two new complete door handle assemblies at no charge. That was sweet! Bill

Don't think that because a model is currently in production that you will get better support from the manufacturer as it is not going to happen. Are you really going to drive it back to the factory for a defect to be corrected?

The parts that matter are those in the furnace, fridge, stove, hot water tank, etc. and these do not change from one year or model to the next and you will be getting parts from the manufacturer or through a service center (as with Norcold refrigerators). Whenever a part has broken on my Lance the help I got from their people was zero, and tough luck but it was my problem to find a way to fix the matter.

The advantage of a older model is that if it is not broken now it probably has either been free of defects or the prior owner(s) fixed them for you.

New models may have new features like a slide-out or factory installed solar panel but they are also likely to have new points of failure that it will be up to their customers to find out about and then have to fix themselves.

You can also save a great deal of money. We bought a 3 year old Lance 845 for $12,000 that the original owner had bought for over $17,000 and the replacement model, the Lance 855, was selling for over $25,000. We saved at least $13,000 in hard cash.

Okay here is what I think about buying anything used. If you are buying anything that is listed as used and does not have a sellers warranty (from the RV dealer you are buying from) you are buying as is where is and whether the manufacturer is in business or not makes zero difference. The fact that some manufacturers help out the second or third owners is great and they should be commended for that, but honestly they have no responsibility to do anything.

As for electrical or plumbing schematics GOOD luck with that. It seems that RV's have zero consistency from one unit to the next, have seen some big name units that wires run one way in one and different in another unit. That is why one unit will have a door that pinches a wire and the next unit the wires are put out of the way. I have been told many stories about why that is "things shift in an RV", "different features require different routes for services", etc. Honestly this happens in homes as well as other buildings, even with schematics things are put in a little different in each one. The good news is that with an RV you are dealing with a small unit and it is easy to trace and follow things yourself.

If you want support from the manufacturer buy new, but honestly most repairs will be easy enough to look after yourself if you are even just a little handy. So you can save the cost of a new unit and look after the repairs using the money that you saved and be way ahead!

Just for info BIGFOOT is not an orphan, still being made in British Columbia, good camper and all parts are still available as most manufactures use the same off the shelf parts.

Thank you!

ruthiebaby88 wrote:
. . . or are parts fairly standard?

Parts are very standard.
Newer is better when looking for repair parts.
Your camper will come with a refrigerator made by either Dometic or Norcold.
The water heater will be either an Atwood or Suburban.
(Odds are 90-percent the above will be true.)

Basically, the camper manufacturer builds only the frame (body and roof) and cabinets and maybe the shower enclosure.
AS a rule, the rest of the equipment such as water pumps, toilets, fans, microwaves, air conditioners, stoves, generators, hatch covers, windows, faucets, door locks, etc. etc. will be "generic" things that are made by other companies.

Newer campers will be pre-wired for things like solar and generator (if not already equipped with such).

Arctic Fox, Lance and Eagle Cap all have owner forums which in addition to the fine folks at rv.net can help with technical problems.

monkey44 wrote:
Very few campers have proprietary parts - Fridge, Heater, Stove, etc all come from the same factories no matter which brand campers its in ...

The other parts - cabinet hinges, etc, plumbing fixtures, lights can be replaced with similar items available. Windows can be replaces with another brand ...

The list goes on -- you might have to modify some things occasionally, but parts don't go obsolete when a company folds. You need to be handy and flexible, but as long as the camper is in good shape and no leaks, no water damage, and all appliances work when you buy it -- you should be OK.

This is it, pure and simple. I have a 1988 Bigfoot, bought it in 2004. Bigfoot was in business then. For support, I could not even buy new decals from them, of any year. In my opinion, they were complete jerks in every conversation I had with four different people. Fortunately, the decals have been the only thing unique to Bigfoot.

If you need a wiring diagram, you probably should not be messing with the wiring. The same is true with plumbing. I have installed five additional 120V outlets in different parts of the TC. Removed and re-caulked the windows.

I have had some type of RV since 1972, and never had needs from the manufacture, other than the decals. I did remove the old decals, looks much better with no decals and I will never replace them.

Wayne

I once had a problem with and RV, went into a supply house and asked "what is the standard way to do this?". The sales guy looked at me quizzically and said, "'Standard'? That isn't a term we use in this industry...."

Most RVs are built in prototype quantities. Everything in them with rare exception is either supplied by a 3rd party vendor or hand fabricated with little or no tooling in house. In either case you can duplicate nearly everything in them either locally or out of an internet catalog.

Bigfoot is most definitely in business - for the third time!

I recently asked questions of, and got some great answers, from Palomino Customer Service re: my 20-yr-old Bronco 1200. While I could have figured out the wiring, for example, through trial-and-error (and I was prepared to do that) - it was awfully handy to have someone give me a definitive answer! If I had found two equally-nice campers priced the same, I'd give the nod to the one with factory support. But as others have said, orphans are not really a problem.

Bigfoot went out of business, someone bought everything including the rights to the name and is now in business making most of the same models.

Doesn't really matter is the company is in business or not. Most parts are fairly standard. And even non-standard parts become obsolete even if the company is still in business. Don't think you can still get every part from every Lance camper do you?

Very seldom does the camper ever go back to the factory for repairs, but goes back to an RV center who does the work. Unless of course you decide to say money by doing the work yourself.

Before we decided to go to the Lance 915 next, we were looking at Alpenlite which went out of business in 2008 without any worries about getting parts if necessary.