Forum Discussion

colliehauler's avatar
colliehauler
Explorer III
Feb 14, 2014

PUP trailer

I have never posted in the folding trailers section. I want to buy my Niece and her Husband and 4 kids a PUP. The drive a minivan so a folding trailer should work fine without having to upgrade tow vehicle. I was told Coleman would be the best. Are there other brands I should consider? It has to sleep 6. I plan to buy a used trailer around 3K. Any brands I should avoid? Thanks
  • You have to remember that the Coleman brand name was purchased by Thor Industries which is now making Coleman trailers. Quite a few years ago, the "real" Coleman company that made popups ceased operation. I can't comment on the current Coleman products. But, I highly suggest that you look and compare popups made by Jayco and Starcraft. They are actually sister companies as Jayco purchased the Starcraft company years ago, but Starcraft continues to be a separate entity in terms of product design and features.

    Jayco is known for its 2 year warranty and has a pretty good reputation for backing up their products. We owned three Starcraft popups and found them to be a really great product except for the 2nd trailer we owned. It was a 1989 Starflyer, manufactured in the year that Starcraft was purchased by Jayco. We had an axle fail, and then the roof failed. BUT...Starcraft was terrific in their warranty support. They overnight air freighted a axle to the dealer that was going to replace the axle, and the repairs were made without any cost to us. A year later, the roof structure failed, and there was no question that Starcraft would replace it for us. We decided to trade it in, and moved up to a larger Starstream. That trailer served us well for over ten years, and we have so many great memories of camping and vacationing in the Starstream as our two sons were growing up. When they were in college, we moved up to a travel trailer...but I still miss sleeping under the canvas!

    And, if you shop carefully, you may be able to find a mint condition, very lightly used trailer. It's pretty common for folks to start out with the smallest pop-up and then trade it in for a larger one. That's how we purcased our first Starcraft Meteor (8' box). It was only a year old and in mint condition as an older couple purchased it new, and within a year, decided to buy a bigger trailer.

    Good luck in your search!