Best place to buy travel traler in Intermountain west

One thing to consider if buying new is that some dealers only service units that were bought from them. Almost all RV dealers give service preference to units bought from them. I bought my first TT out of state and what a mistake that was. Getting service was a nightmare and I live in a large metropolitan area. If I needed something done in May, when I de-winterized, I couldn't get an appointment till basically the camping season was done in the fall. I imagine the same thing applies to used units too. If you are a handy type that helps a lot. I've seen posted where lots of folks just fix things themselves even though they are in their warranty period because of service appointment delays. If you have a used unit or out of warranty unit being handy is a real lifesaver. I've always been real handy but I cannot do anything anymore because of back and arthritis problems. Fortunately the handy man I now use for the house works on almost all my TT problems. Getting him over here is a lot quicker and a whole lot cheaper than a RV dealer.

paul judd wrote:
We are thinking of buying a travel trailer in the 30 foot range. Does it make sense to buy one 1 or 2 years old and let someone else take the initial loss?

Looking for the best place in Idaho Montana or Utah to buy one. Any suggestions?

Not all salesmen are create equal? Prefer straight shooter. Really do not want to deal with dishonest company or salesmen.

Nearly every dealer has good and bad salespeople.

Best place to buy depends on the brand you want and how far you are willing to travel.


Lots of good used rigs out there. I'm pretty partial to Arctic Fox / Nash, other the other brands from Northwood Mfg in LaGrande, OR
or Outdoors RV, also in LaGrande, OR

ReneeG wrote:
I highly recommend Nelson's RV in Boise, Idaho. We've purchased 4 of the 5 we've had from them. Great service from sales to maintenance and in between.

I can also vouch for Nelson's RV. They are easy to deal with.

We have driven to Boise and bought from Nelsons with good results. We also had a pleasant dealing with D&D RV in Helena.

I highly recommend Nelson's RV in Boise, Idaho. We've purchased 4 of the 5 we've had from them. Great service from sales to maintenance and in between.

Personally, I didn't want to inherit another person's problems, so I bought new. You never know how a used RV was treated or maintained.

My wife and I went to RV shows where RV's from multiple dealers were in a large field. After attending several shows we found the trailers that we liked best. We didn't really know which dealer was selling a specific trailer, but we knew which ones we liked. When it was time to buy, we visited the dealer selling that model, made a fair deal and went camping. We haven't been back to the dealer since the purchase. If I need help with maintenance I use a mobile RV tech who comes to my house.

After the snowbirds leave, Arizona is full of good used RVs. A month like April would be about perfect for finding a deal. I like em more than 5 years old.

Yes, buy used from Craigslist.

Bill