Spartan 1245

[ependydad]

I'm fairly positive we're going to pull the trigger on a Spartan 1245 by Prime Time Manufacturing. I have a few immediate upgrades in mind (adding a 3rd A/C, slide toppers, and vent covers). But overall, it seems like a very livable unit.

Thoughts? Comments? Witty commentary?

[Nicodemus]

Well, guess the shakedown cruise is always full of surprises! We bought the same model and have had a few problems too. Fridge came without the center sealer so had the thing running constantly but that was added and it's good now. Island countertop has a crack - our tech has the replacement waiting for us to get there. Ditto the king pin shroud. Most annoying right now is a thumping from behind the pantry. That might be the wash/drier lines but it happens when we aren't using them so it's a puzzle. And I can't get the back door to let down now either. My tech said it was a cheap plastic part - a lever or something - but he'll have to replace it when we get back to CO.

[trikeflyer]

We own a '17 Spartan 1032 and love it. Sure we have had a few issues, nothing major, but you won't find an RV without some issues. Yes they have stopped production on the Spartan's but Primetime has several models and they will stand by the warranty and if you didn't know Primetime is owned by Forest River. We are always going to RV shows and still haven't found anything close that we would trade for our Spartan.

[ependydad]

RVbikers wrote:
I am sure Prime Time will honor the warranty without issue. They are great and worked with us on our unit. Key to getting stuff done is to be respectful and talk to them the way you would like to be treated. Folks that go in yelling, demanding, threatening get no where. I hope they come back on line, I'd love to upgrade mine in a few years.

Yep. I've had very good luck with warranty work in the past with another brand- and you're absolutely right. My mother used to always say, "you catch more flies with honey than vinegar."

Funny that my Facebook Memories just reminded me that back in 2013, my trailer was sent back to me after a factory return before it was done. It came back with more damage than it left. I ended up working with the warranty manager then to get everything made right. In the end, he thanked me for not screaming into the phone and even acknowledged I had every right to.

[RVbikers]

I am sure Prime Time will honor the warranty without issue. They are great and worked with us on our unit. Key to getting stuff done is to be respectful and talk to them the way you would like to be treated. Folks that go in yelling, demanding, threatening get no where. I hope they come back on line, I'd love to upgrade mine in a few years.

[ependydad]

Nicodemus wrote:
So how do you like your unit now that you've been living in it?

We took possession of our Spartan 1245 that we bought in early March and have lived in it since. We traveled from Florida to PA/NJ/NY and now back to Florida. It added up to about 6,000 miles of towing.

Overall, we still love the rig. It's had a few minor hiccups but overall, I can't really complain as it's treated us pretty well.

One of the first things we did was removed the theater/love seat and put in a table, benches, and chairs. We later built a custom L-shaped bench for that area and still keep 2 cheap chairs for the other 2 sides.

We converted the garage into a kid's room with furniture from IKEA and modifications to the HappiJac beds (we removed the couch portion on the bottom; turned the upper portion long ways with the camper and put twin mattresses up there). Here's a video walk through of that area.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7_8KRUhlng

We've replaced a few outlets that were broken + cracked from the factory. They didn't hold up to use.

Towing-wise, we run right about 21,000 lbs. but only 3,400 lbs. of pin weight or so. It's fairly pin light, but we haven't had any sway in the areas that we've gone so far. However, it's not the greatest ride in the truck and I think it's because it's so pin light that it bounces around a bit. Coupled with an Andersen Ultimate Fifth Wheel Connection, it was pretty brutal. We went nuts and bought a Trailer Saver TS3.

Slides, leveling system, etc, have all worked (knocks on wood).

My warranty list is fairly minor items:

Warranty Items

- Water pump periodically lets water back-flow through it into the freshwater tank (I have tried resetting the internal check-valve by switching back and forth)

- On the Dometic thermostat, Zone 2 always shows the same inside temperature as Zone 1. It originally worked and then back in May, it was showing wildy inaccurate temperatures. A mobile tech did something and now it just always shows the same inside temperature as Zone 1.

- Loose screws holding the wardrobe slide to the camper (Schwintek slide system); they seem to back out when the slide is extended and pull tighter when it's retracted.

- Popping noise in the leveling system (need to add anti-stiction fluid?)

- Washer/dryer is plumbed to rear black tank vs. rear gray tank (have gotten pre-authorization from Prime Time/Spartan for this fix)

- When rear blank tank has overflowed, water leaked into under belly

- When full, the fresh water tank drips into the under belly

- Rear patio awnings makes noise when the extend button is pressed but doesn't extend

- Rear garage door needs to be adjusted on the driver's side (it is looser than the passenger side and driving in a hard rain, we had water come into the camper once)

- Refrigerator seems to put out a lot of condensation and uses an exorbitant amount of propane (a 30lb tank in a week!). Can the doors be inspected for proper seal?

- Refrigerator temperature rarely gets below 50-degrees.


Maybe warranty, maybe not:

- Inspect and adjust brakes, if needed. The brakes seem really "grabby" at times when towing- especially when backing into sites.


Non-warranty Items:

- Repack wheel bearings (by hand, not with EZ lube axles); note: triple axle camper

- Inspect rear exterior steps (Torklift Glowstep Revolution)- I feel like the steps themselves are shifting in the box on the camper

[Nicodemus]

So how do you like your unit now that you've been living in it?

[Y-Guy]

Congrats, make sure you do a good PDI before you sign any loan/purchase paperwork!

[tinner12002]

After going back looking at some of my notes I had left, the RV I was thinking of was the Tesla RV toy hauler, again sorry for the confusion!
Good luck with your new toy hauler when you get it!

[ependydad]

Welp, I agreed to the purchase. Looks like I'll transition and take possession come mid-February.

[tinner12002]

ependydad wrote:

tinner12002 wrote:
I looked at them online and they appeared to only have 6 lug wheels, 5200 lb or 6000 lb weight rating on the tri-axle models which indicated to me they were already underbuilt in my opinion. Typ of a lot of manufacturers is to just barely use enough to get by.

Do you happen to have a link?

I didn’t crawl underneath but this one is supposed to have 7,000 lbs axles and 8-lug wheels.

I think we had been looking at the 1240 and not the 1245 as it looks like they are 8lug with 7K axles. Sorry for the confusion.

[ependydad]

slapshot12 wrote:
Check out General RV, they have several on their website and all are discounted around $25k.

Thanks. They’re all 2017s and Momma wants an 18. 🙂

[slapshot12]

Check out General RV, they have several on their website and all are discounted around $25k.

[ependydad]

slapshot12 wrote:
Be careful on Spartan. We were looking closely at them last year. But while shopping this year, our local dealer said they have stopped production. I'd be concerned about warranty work and parts if the dealer network goes away or factory parts aren't available. Granted, most parts are aftermarket, but it would be something I'd consider. Notice how you only see '17's and they are deeply discounted? Not saying I 100% wouldn't buy one, just be careful. I don't know what the Prime Time future holds. We really liked them, but once we looked at other brands, we chose a different one.

That's a good point. I swapped emails with a factory rep at Prime Time. He said that they don't expect to build any more Spartans until "Right now our best case scenario is production back up and running in Sept/Oct of 2018, but more than likely spring on 2019."

He did follow-on and say it was due to the factory being shared by 4 brands and they're hoping to build a new Spartan factory. (shrugs) It's hard to say how accurate that might be.

I have seen 18s but they're very limited. In fact, it's putting a bit of a rush on us to find one. 😞

[slapshot12]

Be careful on Spartan. We were looking closely at them last year. But while shopping this year, our local dealer said they have stopped production. I'd be concerned about warranty work and parts if the dealer network goes away or factory parts aren't available. Granted, most parts are aftermarket, but it would be something I'd consider. Notice how you only see '17's and they are deeply discounted? Not saying I 100% wouldn't buy one, just be careful. I don't know what the Prime Time future holds. We really liked them, but once we looked at other brands, we chose a different one.