Is There Really A Difference Between Brands?

[freetheheal]

Here's the back story. I'm looking at purchasing a Hyper Lite 27HFS made by Forest River. It's the floor plan I really want and it is only 11'2'' tall which is another plus for me. Now there is at least one other company that makes this floor plan and it's Keystone (Carbon 27). I've been trying to find a used one to save money and recently ran across a Keystone Raptor 27 (same as Carbon just older). It was being sold by a dealer who took it in on trade.

I called the dealer (who is not a Keystone dealer) and talked to him about it. I was telling him I was looking at a new Hyper Lite and it's the same price as his Raptor that is 4 years older. He was saying that he is also a Hyper Lite dealer and they are complete **** compared to this Raptor. He said he doesn't even want to sell them used because they only fall apart blah, blah, blah,....

The Raptor is 12' 3'' instead of 11' 2'' but the unloaded weight is only 300 pounds more on the Raptor. So I'm confused at how the Raptor (or Keystone) is such a better trailer when they are almost identical weight (and a lot of the weight may be in the 1' of difference in height between the two). The sales guy was saying how the frames are completely different along with the fiberglass and every other item in it down to the cabinets.

I personally feel like the guy is feeding me a line of ******** but I thought I'd reach out to this community as everyone seems to know way more than myself about these things.

So, what are your thoughts? I personally wouldn't be surprised if they were made in the same factory next to each other but I come from the bicycle world and that's how it is. Thanks for any and all advice and Happy Holidays.

[2500_Grunt]

A dealer makes money by doing service repairs to either a new or an old pre owned rv. Not sure why that dealer you spoke with would not want to sell a particular new brand. They would make money taking care of all the pdi repairs. Compare warranties like mentioned above just about everything else is the same. There are only a couple of different frame, appliance and hvac manufactures for rv's. Unless there really is a difference at the factory where they piece all of this together.

[bakedalaskan1]

Is one really 1 foot taller than the other? I took a quick look at them to see if one was measured with an air conditioner on the roof VS the other without. You might want to research this. One foot of headroom inside will also limit the ramp door height which will dictate the height of a side by side you can haul.(if you are hauling something with a roof or roll cage)Have fun shopping. Good luck.

[NC_Hauler]

I would look at warranty also. Jayco has a 2 year warranty, most others only have 1 year warranty....just another thing to look at if purchasing new.

[Y-Guy]

Folks here will lay it out if they have a bad experience, the search feature goes back 1 year and if you go into Advance it will go back over a year and beyond. I think there was a rating site, but honestly I don't hold much value in that as it's such a limited number. Even hear you need to listen to the comments and look for trends, you will find one person with a bad experience but that doesn't mean much, but when you start reading about several with similar issues that's something to take note of.

[midnightsadie]

this is it, you,ll here the good,bad and ugly. try next week lot rv,ers doing xmas stuff.

[freetheheal]

Thanks Y-Guy that's some good info.

It seems at one time I ran across a link where you could go and find people that talked about the units they own and the good and bad on them. Does this sound familiar to anyone? If someone has that link do you mind posting it?

[MWJones]

Freetheheal-

I have been to both Forest River & Keystone (Thor) factories at Goshen,Indiana. Not a dime's difference in construction.
As for the frame, I think they both are built by Lippert.

Seems strange that dealer would trash his own brand in favor of a brand he don't carry!!!!! Think about that.

Yes, too many salespeople will tell you ANY THING to make the sale!!

[Y-Guy]

Hard to say over time to be honest. Some units are going strong while others are junk. Even within a brand you have some Friday afternoon Gilligan builds that were junk the day they were sold and others were great units. It appears that right now Grand Design is running the crest of good quality and customer service. Take your time shopping looking at new and used units, the used give some picture of quality. Find a good supporting dealer that isn't just a sales lot. Then do you're self a favor and do a detailed Pre-Delivery Inspection, grab one of the many check lists and don't accept the rig if it doesn't pass, have them fix everything before you sign for it. They are a lot more eager to please to get it out the door then after the sale it seems.

[freetheheal]

Thanks for the input. I'm not going to lie, I kinda think all they are all **** and fall apart over time. So if there really was one that was above another I'd be interested but I haven't found that yet (unless maybe you go custom and spend $$$$).

[Y-Guy]

There are pluses and minuses to new vs. used and brand to brand. The biggest thing to a good RV IMHO is a good dealer. If you're getting a bad impression of the dealer already keep looking. You can search the dealer name hear to see what others think. I'd put the two brands on about equal footing. Raptor used to be the mid-grade unit now appears they've moved it up to the higher end. Compare parts used, fit & finish, etc. Then spend some time researching the units you are looking at, see if there are owners of the same year/model and get their input, read past posts, etc.

Both Forest River & Thor are the two big boys when it comes to # of brands and sales. You will get good and bad, neither are prefect.

[midnightsadie]

A sales person will tell ANY THING if it,ll help him make a sale.