Long story short wife and I are researching a future purchase, and started looking at "full time" campers, after having owned aluminum Starcraft and Salem products that fell apart after a couple of years. We looked at brands everyone should know, Redwood, Landmark, Solitude and Pinnacle, to name a few, to avoid those same issues. Keep in mind these are my observations and opinions. Use them as a tool, but don't take anything here as definitive.
They all looked nice inside; the common theme seems to be bling over substance. Residential fittings, upgraded carpet, nice floor plans. However, after looking for hours, the bling becomes distracting, and they all start to blend together. I took a step back and started noticing the important details.
Price does not dictate quality. All were either at or approaching 6 figures. Keep in mind these are brand new units and considered "full time".
One of the Landmarks had a complete wall cover separating from the wall in the kitchen; bottom corner, about 2 feet and climbing. Was not properly stapled. Another had rust covering most of the frame (and was starting to penetrate the layers as evidenced by blistering and flaking). A Solitude had a cabinet door that flexed so much it broke the staples at the bottom edge. The Redwood had a musty smell, like there was an old leak. The Pinnacle had a bathroom door handle not installed; it was sitting on the bed. Most of them had cheap feeling "wood" trim that looked as if it would start peeling like my Salem did. Even the underbelly coverings we low quality; coated cardboard that most only attached with a few screws directly to the frame. At least the Solitude used strapping to spread out the stress. I've looked at much cheaper campers with better underbelly materials. I can't recall which, but one of them also had a cheap plastic faucet in the kitchen rather than the expected true residential unit.
From my online research, there are a few true "full time" campers being made; Spacecraft, DRV, Augusta, Renegade, New Horizon and others I've forgotten. From my research you can get into one of these new for not much more than the volume models. Spacecraft, for example, has units starting well below most of those, and you can customize, something not available with dealer stock brands. And the used market attests to the quality; I find a lot of the custom brands on the used market for substantially more than a comparable volume brand.
For transparency, we cannot afford those luxo liners, and are looking at smaller and lighter. We do not plan on full timing, but need something for extended stay that will also allow us full access to state parks and other areas where monster coaches won't fit. We wanted to know if spending more actually gets you better built; the answer is, sadly, no, just more expensive repairs. Our current choices are limited to about 25' (23 or less would be better) with minimal to no carpet, minimal or no slides, simple but comfortable floor plan, ease of repair and maintenance and low out the door cost (willing to spend more for better quality and durability).
Airstream is out; I saw a new $50k Bambi with a bunch of dents and creases on the curb side rear 1/4 and know, from experience, that will need replacement rather than repair; it's ugly and expensive to fix. Every Airstream I've seen on the road has some sort of damage. And we don't like any of the floorplans.
With that criteria current contenders are:
Keystone Bullet Crossfire 1800RB
Lance 2285 or 2295
Bigfoot 25B25RQ
Oliver Legacy Elite II standard
We know all trailers have potential issues, and Keystone is not highly rated in that area. However, if we're going to be stuck with potential issues, anyway, we're looking to spend as little as possible upfront. We like that floorplan and, with it being a basic box design, repairs and maintenance will be relatively simple. I plan on having a "lifetime" roof process done at some point, which will eliminate a large percentage of complaints.
2008 Ram 3500 SRW
2006 Salem 32SRV
***looking for a better truck this fall***
