Help me understand the difference?!?!

kfp673 wrote:
We are moving on from our travel trailer and looking to move into either a toy hauler or MotorHome. Seems like we are landing on the toy hauler. One of my must haves is auto level. I was originally considering travel trailer toy haulers in the 35-38' range but it is incredibly difficult to find one with auto level. So now we are looking at equal size 2 axel 5th wheel toy haulers.

A few questions. When I look at brands Like XLR Nitro or Impact they have an MSRP in the mid 70's and then sell for upper 40's to low 50's. What makes a brand like Grand design have a prices $30-50k higher? Are they really that much better, or is it more about interior features etc? I read about the GD "Dropped Frame" which gives you huge storage space. Anyone else doing that now?

Anyway, please share your thoughts. Is it worth the difference? XLR, Impact, Carbon, are they all about the same? I am struggling to understand what I am paying for with some of these. I am willing to pay more (within budget) for quality and longevity (we kept out current trailer 15 years) but not for fancy stuff. Thanks!

My wife and I went through the same conundrum. Unless you're willing to pay top dollar, they're all built about the same and are not designed for long term or full time usage.

When we searched for a toy hauler, build quality was a necessity for us. I'm a huge proponent of buy once, cry once.

With that said, we found Grand Design 351M to be head and shoulders above the rest, but you do pay more for it. The second option we considered was the Dutchman Voltage V3605 (both were close to the same price).

I'll say that Forest River is like the McDonalds of the trailer industry. The just crank out the volume and the build quality is just ok.

If you're considering a Keystone, I would look more to the upper end of the Raptor and Fuzion lines. They seem to use better quality materials.


Finally, if you're having trouble with a TT and the auto level, you can always have it added. LCI now makes an auto level system for TT and the cost is about $3k + installation. I know this as we are considering this for our ATC toy hauler which currently has manual leveling jacks.