Thinking of getting into the TT market

Definitely try renting a trailer first. However, I'd recommend buying new or nearly new. RV's require a fair amount of maintenance. From what I've seen most are not very well cared for and it's going to tough for a new guy know whether he's buying a piece of junk.

I'd suggest one of the more "entry level" trailers like the Grey Wolf. You can get a very nice rig for well under $20k.

Bucky Badger wrote:

Gdetrailer wrote:

Bucky Badger wrote:

donn0128 wrote:
No. As a first trailer, buy used. Why take a bath on a new trailer that you likely will be selling in a couple of years for another one. Just does not make any sense.

humm, We bought our first Trailer new, and glad we did...and we still have it too

I would tend to agree with buying a USED trailer first especially for new comers who may or may not "like" camping after the first outing (this HAS happened and will happen again).

Used allows you to save some money upfront without taking a total bath on the devaluation. It also allows you to see what you like or don't like in the layout.

If you don't like the layout you can resale and not lose much money a new one you will take a huge hit in loss of value.

I would however suggest renting a trailer for one outing to test the waters, camping is not for everyone..

The Op is not new to camping

Being a first time buyer and not knowing anything about TT's you may be stepping into someone else problems, which can be a BIG headache and a VERY costly mistake.

Buying NEW DOES NOT "guarantee" that you will not have big problems nor mistakes. In fact many new RVs end up returning back to the dealer waiting in line to get warranty work done. Worst of all is the NEW units less than a year old which get declared scrap due to severe water damage.

Worst of all the "buyers remorse", that is when someone realizes the new RV they bought doesn't suit their needs, doesn't work for them or they found out the hard way that camping is not for them. This one hurts in the wallet for sure since you can expect to lose 20% or more of the "value" once that RV has been signed for... Sell it and the bank will want full value of the loan balance, kind of hard to sell a RV when you are that far upside down in the loan.

Each to his own but whether new or used it is "buyer be aware".

Gdetrailer wrote:

Bucky Badger wrote:

donn0128 wrote:
No. As a first trailer, buy used. Why take a bath on a new trailer that you likely will be selling in a couple of years for another one. Just does not make any sense.

humm, We bought our first Trailer new, and glad we did...and we still have it too

I would tend to agree with buying a USED trailer first especially for new comers who may or may not "like" camping after the first outing (this HAS happened and will happen again).

Used allows you to save some money upfront without taking a total bath on the devaluation. It also allows you to see what you like or don't like in the layout.

If you don't like the layout you can resale and not lose much money a new one you will take a huge hit in loss of value.

I would however suggest renting a trailer for one outing to test the waters, camping is not for everyone..

The Op is not new to camping

Being a first time buyer and not knowing anything about TT's you may be stepping into someone else problems, which can be a BIG headache and a VERY costly mistake.

Bucky Badger wrote:

donn0128 wrote:
No. As a first trailer, buy used. Why take a bath on a new trailer that you likely will be selling in a couple of years for another one. Just does not make any sense.

humm, We bought our first Trailer new, and glad we did...and we still have it too

I would tend to agree with buying a USED trailer first especially for new comers who may or may not "like" camping after the first outing (this HAS happened and will happen again).

Used allows you to save some money upfront without taking a total bath on the devaluation. It also allows you to see what you like or don't like in the layout.

If you don't like the layout you can resale and not lose much money a new one you will take a huge hit in loss of value.

I would however suggest renting a trailer for one outing to test the waters, camping is not for everyone..

RV shows are a great way to see lots of different floor plans. Walk through them all and even visit your favorite floor plans twice.

Research what size and weight trailer you can safely pull also. Don't trust a sales reps opinion on what you can tow with your Tow Vehicle (TV), you need to understand the numbers and check them yourself. Write them down.

Once you know the size and floor plan, you can start watching craigslist for deals on used trailers that meet your criteria.

Or if you got the money, just visit a dealer, tell them the floorplan you want, buy one they have on their lot and go camping. Just get the floor plan and the size (for safe towing) right.

Ed

donn0128 wrote:
No. As a first trailer, buy used. Why take a bath on a new trailer that you likely will be selling in a couple of years for another one. Just does not make any sense.

humm, We bought our first Trailer new, and glad we did...and we still have it too

I don't have a Swift SLX, but do have a Jay Flight (heavier and larger) and love my Jayco...

A couple of things that I saw on the Jayco site that jumped out, was that although the Swift SLX is very light... it has almost NO carrying capacity.. less than a thousand pounds is not likely to be enough. look at weights and carrying capacity carefully.. For only 1000 lbs more than the biggest Swift SLX you can get permanent beds for all (assuming no more than 2 kids) with a walk around bed for adults and 5 more feet in length in the Jay Feather line.. also a more reasonable amount of carrying capacity.. So research what you are looking for carefully

At least one of the Swift SLX's had "expandable bunks" which is basically a heavy weight canvas tent... it has to be opened and closed to tow, may have to be opened to load trailer (and will definitely affect how you load). When it gets wet, you have to open it back up to let it dry. And it is harder to heat and cool than the rest of the trailer.

I would recommend if you really want to get away from tent, don't buy a trailer with a tent as part of it. Yes, you are up off the ground and have a/c and heat, but you still have some of the hassles of a tent.

Thanks all - I appreciate the knowledge and non-biased opinion.

My advice as not-too-long-ago newbie is buy used too.

Not that used doesn't cost money but to be frank, we've done a lot of learning on our first FW. We love it and hope it serves us for years to come but there have been a few things that I am SO GLAD we learned (the hard way) on a paid for rig than on something we put a chunk of savings or payments on. KWIM?

Having lived with ours a few years in we now know better what we would like to look for in the future. I am certain that had we jumped into new for our first RV we would already be regretting what we would have chosen at that time.

Happy Camping!

My quick and dirty get-in-the-ballpark calculation to determine the correct size of trailer for a 1/2 ton truck is:
(TV GCWR - TV GVWR) *.9 < TT GVWR


Of course there are many many variables that can change the actual values. Such as how many adults are in the vehicle as a 1/2 ton payload will max out before the listed towing capacity, per manufacturer, as one example.