Tired of Land Yacht Toy Haulers: Challenge to the Industry

[miboje]

You know, I think every toy hauler manufacturer out there has catered to all the elite toy hauler buyers. It's been overdone at this point. And it's frustrating to see that most of the new toy haulers being introduced are no different. There is little that is new or innovative at this time, and the toy haulers just seem to get bigger and heavier.

It would be nice to see some innovations that bring lighter, well-insulated, and more affordable luxury toy haulers to the rest of us. Just because I don't want to spend $50,000+ doesn't mean I deserve a piece of crap. So that's my challenge to the industry. We are just about slipping through the cracks with our one ton turbo diesel truck. There are just so few options. Many of us are not in a position, or do not want, to buy a special, expensive truck just to haul a toy hauler. That just doesn't make any financial sense to me, and my frugal mind cannot justify doing that unless you are going full-time. So, come on manufacturers - how about some more choices for the rest of us?

[glazier]

joebedford wrote:

Oaklevel wrote:
We are very happy with our 2013 Puma Unleashed 35.5 ft fiver 12" garage

You must have VERY small toys. 🙂

That is funny, a pile of Hotwheels cars in the 12" garage

[joebedford]

Oaklevel wrote:
We are very happy with our 2013 Puma Unleashed 35.5 ft fiver 12" garage

You must have VERY small toys. 🙂

[JIMNLIN]

And to reiterate, something towable by a 1-ton turbo diesel rather than a land yacht.

A one ton TD can be a one ton SRW with a 10xxx gvwr and 6200 rawr or a one ton DRW with a 14000 gvwr and 9800 lb rawr.

Maybe you don't have the best size one ton with DRW's for pulling a big toy hauler.

[otrfun]

miboje wrote:

Bad Brad wrote:
There's options for everyone, but you can't expect a Rolls Royce if you don't pay for it. Personally, I'm happy with a Honda. The bells and whistles don't impress me...the camping experience does!

I drive a 1999 Subaru Outback SUS sedan with 198,000 miles on it, so that should clarify that I am just not into ego and prestige.:B

I'm not asking for a prestige brand product to stroke my ego. I am asking for something of good quality that is durable, comfortable, attractive, and doesn't cost an arm and a leg. And to reiterate, something towable by a 1-ton turbo diesel rather than a land yacht.

If you buy a Honda vs. a Rolls Royce, should you expect that Honda to be a piece of sh!t?

Behind the scenes, most mechanics will tell you cars like Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar, etc. are less reliable than your typical Civic or Corolla. Granted these luxury cars will blow your socks off when you open the door and that's worth more than reliability to some folks. But, year and mileage being equal, you're more likely to be sitting on the side of the road calling AAA in one of these European luxury cars than a Civic or Corolla. FWIW, the Consumer Report reliability charts pretty much sum it up.

IMO, when you get down to the nuts and bolts, literally, there's very little difference in the way RV's from one manufacturer to another are constructed. It's very much hit or miss. There is no consistent quality. Over and over again I've seen folks buy a unit based on personal owner feedback from another owner. They purchase the same unit and when it arrives it looks like it was built on a different planet. On the flip side, if you go down to the local Toyota dealer and look at 20 Corolla's, you'd be very, very hard-pressed to find even one single difference in construction or quality.

[miboje]

Bad Brad wrote:
There's options for everyone, but you can't expect a Rolls Royce if you don't pay for it. Personally, I'm happy with a Honda. The bells and whistles don't impress me...the camping experience does!

I drive a 1999 Subaru Outback SUS sedan with 198,000 miles on it, so that should clarify that I am just not into ego and prestige.:B

I'm not asking for a prestige brand product to stroke my ego. I am asking for something of good quality that is durable, comfortable, attractive, and doesn't cost an arm and a leg. And to reiterate, something towable by a 1-ton turbo diesel rather than a land yacht.

If you buy a Honda vs. a Rolls Royce, should you expect that Honda to be a piece of ?

Mod Edit: Removed masked inappropriate language.

[Y-Guy]

Back when we bought our 2005 Raptor we were allowed to see it the day it arrived from the factory - probably not such a good idea in hindsight. I was shocked how it came from Keystone. There was building materials all over the inside of the trailer, staples, nails, paper towels with sealant, etc. They had missed caulking several of the outside joints and a few other things. I was less then impressed. Thankfully we had no major problems with our Raptor that our dealer couldn't quickly address and before I did my PDI they had all those issues from the factory taken care of.

Fast forward to the day we saw our new Winnebago Sightseer arrive from the factory. I was shocked at the difference, no junk laying around, I didn't see one thing that needed to be "fixed" and it was clean, plastic covered the entire floors.

Neither the Raptor nor the Winnebago we bought were high end units, so I must say that its an attitude that the factory permits to take place. I think far to many just let the dealers deal with the details. If a dealer is spending that much time fixing and cleaning up a manufacturers mess its no wonder some don't discount their units - they've got to much time invested.

[Bad_Brad]

There's options for everyone, but you can't expect a Rolls Royce if you don't pay for it. Personally, I'm happy with a Honda. The bells and whistles don't impress me...the camping experience does!

[otrfun]

CarterKraft wrote:
. . . in my limited experience all brands in the lower $ range have some QC problems . . .

Not sure what you define as lower $ range, but IMO QC problems exist in most make and model RV's. IMO, until you get into the $300k++ range, corners must be cut to compete. It's what you can't see, and what happens over time, that really defines quality in my book. Cosmetic first impressions are just that. What's behind the converter, behind the frig, the slide mechanisms, roof structure, chassis welds, etc. I've seen horror after horror.

IMO, the majority of the RV industry lacks the refined quality and consistency that the auto industry has managed to refine to a fine art.

[CarterKraft]

While the trailer I have ordered is surely not a "luxury" model or brand it does strike me as a different style of toy hauler. It's sub 10,000lb and has some nicer features of other trailers in the same price range, I know there are some issues with this brand but in my limited experience all brands in the lower $ range have some QC problems, I am hoping mine is more sound than not.
Under 30K for a 30+ ft. trailer with separate 10' garage fits the bill for me.
Kodiak 292TQB

[Oaklevel]

We are very happy with our 2013 Puma Unleashed 35.5 ft fiver 12" garage, can sleep 10 nicely..... Price tag out the door was under 30K. But does have the old school Alum siding.

[soonernation]

miboje wrote:

On edit: Last night I did some surfing and found a dealer in the Buffalo area with a CY4000 Elite. Looks like we might pay them a visit in the near future.

I've seen that 4000 Elite several times and it is a nice trailer. The layout is great.

[Bedlam]

Work and Play from Forest River are spartan compared to the ones I linked and much heavier due to their steel chassis and conventional RV compenents. I know InTech and Millennium welcome visits, but FeatherLite is a little aloof and snooty...

FeatherLite is popular with the richer horse crowd and has every upfitting a bus class A can offer if you're willing to pay. They were about 50% higher in pricing than the lowest bid from the two others.

If you are serious about these, the best way to approach them is go over the standard offerings on their websites and then give them a phone call. I got quality quick responses when i could talk to someone about the design and purpose I desired. These are build to order and highly customizable. The only reason we did buy one is that we decided to separate the garage from the living quarters. They had us sold on the quality and feedback they provided.

[dbear]

miboje wrote:
It sounds like a full time unit would work well for you.
1.) Right...I've heard a lot of people say they took out the RV mattress and went with a residential one instead.
2.) Hmmmm....I believe I have seen what you described. Would this work for you? (scroll through the images to the bathroom. This sucker is roomy-I've seen it in person:Cyclone King 4100
4.) I have heard a lot of people mention awkward neck positions to watch TV. My idea is to keep the TV in the garage on the wall in front of the bunks and chaise lounges. Since I don't actually plan on watching TV unless it's pouring rain or something, it's not a biggie to me.
5.)That would be a bit too heavy for our TV.

Yeah, I'm leaning toward the snowbird thing, and being able to take my HD with me.

I actually like the CY4000 Elite floorplan better, but 44' is huge. They could chop 2' off the garage, but that would still be huge. At 18k GVWR, definitely have to go diesel, min 1T, dually TV, if not MDT.

I know a few manufacturers used to offer a side loading model (6'? garage), but I don't see those anymore. I suspect they might have had issues loading cruiser bikes without a beavertail. I also wasn't that thrilled with their floorplans.

I like the look of LQ units, especially like Work and Play 34RLS, but I really want a standup bedroom. I've gone the TC route pulling a cargo trailer, and it worked well for occasional use. However, it got to be a pain climbing into bed. Not to mention the bathroom, quite frankly, sucked. I must be getting old...

I might be willing to pull the trigger on an Elite anyway, but I can't find a dealer with one on the lot to butt test within a reasonable drive. Might have to take some vacation and make a road trip. I'm thinking going directly to the factory might be the best option. Anybody been to the factory, and if so, are they receptive to meddling, prospective buyers?

On edit: Last night I did some surfing and found a dealer in the Buffalo area with a CY4000 Elite. Looks like we might pay them a visit in the near future.

[Bedlam]

Many of the enclosed trailers with LQ's share inside layouts you see in TC'c, but they are not limited to the 6-12' floor lengths of TC's and have much more room for tanks. We were looking at 38' GN's with 18' garages, street-side LQ slide, air conditioning, generator and large tanks for dry camping that were coming in just over 9000 lbs dry and could be configured with dual or triple 7000 lb axles. That would have put us about 55' in overall length. Our current setup gives us 20' of garage and 9' floor space (7' cab over not included) resulting in 45' overall length.

[Gale_Hawkins]

WOW!!