Went TT shopping this weekend 8-(

I know what you mean. It's like the dealership doesn't even notice the glaring defects.
Sadly, it doesn't matter a whole lot what brand you look at, you'll find lots of junk.

If you spend enough money you can still get quality.

Based on my research, to get something of quality it is going to be expensive and heavy...which makes sense. I just wonder if these $20K trailers are worth it. So many horror storries and they feel like they are made of paper mache.

K Charles wrote:
If you spend enough money you can still get quality.

On a travel trailer? I don't know.
I looked at Airstream and Arctic Fox (which is what I settled on). Both are thrown together nearly as bad as all other brands with many of the same junk materials.
Paying more seem to get a few niceties but not better quality.

Yep. Good observation

However we bought a new 33ft entry level wildwood TT a year ago. Have had no issues but i maintain and inspect it myself bumper to bumper and we have enjoyed the heck out of it.

These are not stick and brick homes, they are moving earthquakes built light and cheap.

This past winter we walked thru a bunch of campers on a camping world lit for the heck of it. Wife opened a cabinet door on a 50k fifth wheel and it fell of the hinges onto the floor. I said oh ****! You broke it now you gotta buy it. We got out of there fast.

Pick a floor plan u like , that you can tow safely and go camping. Dont sweat the details or you will not be hapoy

SoonerWing03 wrote:
We went and looked at 4 different dealerships this weekend and I was unimpressed to say the least.

Today I am feeling overwhelmed and disheartened.

Welcome to the world of RVs built in N America, it's why some recommend buying used your first time around, if for no other reason than your investment will be less and so too will your losses. Frankly, to get "quality" you'd have to travel overseas.

Check out Outdoors RV and Northwood products.

Quality is a rare bird in a sea on cheap junk - That's why I finally settled on a Lance. Yes, they're spendy but if you look on YouTube you'll see videos that show the quality of craftsmanship. They're also built in Lancaster, California which is a huge plus. Anything coming out of Indiana is suspicious, to me anyway. Lance uses CAD to design the trailer, then these designs are sent to a CNC machine. They also use great products in manufacturing (Azdel, LitePly (50% lighter than plywood) PVC roofs, and they're also considered lightweight.

Spend time on YouTube and look up as many trailers that have construction videos, and you'll see the difference - it shows!

Good luck

FrankShore wrote:
Quality is a rare bird in a sea on cheap junk - That's why I finally settled on a Lance. Yes, they're spendy but if you look on YouTube you'll see videos that show the quality of craftsmanship.

Yet Lance has it's share of disappointed owners as well. ;)

SoundGuy wrote:

FrankShore wrote:
Quality is a rare bird in a sea on cheap junk - That's why I finally settled on a Lance. Yes, they're spendy but if you look on YouTube you'll see videos that show the quality of craftsmanship.

Yet Lance has it's share of disappointed owners as well. ;)

Not to offend anyone but Lance was my biggest disappointment. I took a buddy that was in the market to look at new Lance trailers since they are so highly thought of by some. After looking at them he thought I was nuts.
They were ALL put together terrible with lots of broken and damaged parts and panels. Even if they fixed everything they were clearly built very cheaply.
On the positive side they have low height and are lightweight.

He finally decided on an Arctic Fox but it has had quality and engineering issues as well.

With all that said, I could write an almost equally disparaging report on my 32A (albeit without the damage and broken parts).

My post is only to show that no TT is what I personally would call good quality.