Brand New, Just beginning process

[SuttonKS]

Hello! Empty nesters looking into first traveler trailer purchase and already overwhelmed. Is there a really good resource/guidebook to navigate through all the brands, models, best/worst years, reviews, costs, etc?
We know what we can pull, what we can spend, will buy a model a few years old, and have used NADA but it takes a lot just to figure out if one for sale is decent or not. Just looking to streamline/simplify a little bit. Looked around the forum a little and not sure where to start. TYIA if you reply or point us to a place to start!

[toedtoes]

Here's some additional that hasn't been mentioned:

1. Test EVERY appliance and system in the trailer. If the seller gives you a reason why you can't test it, walk away. It will never fail - you won't test the water and when you get it home you find out the hot water tank has a hole. Or you don't test the electrical on 120v and 12v and find out the converter is bad. Test everything - no excuses, no reasons, no "we have to charge you to plug it in (yep, had that one on a lot- wanted $400 to plug it into an outlet for 5 minutes).

Stove
Fridge
Water heater
Electrical - 12v and 120v
Propane
Water pump
AC
Toilet

2. Check under cushions, mattresses, in corners of cupboards, etc, for signs of leaks.

3. Consider your "test the waters" minimum usage plan. For me, it was three 4-day trips per year for three years. As long as I met that minimum, I felt having a camper was worth it and I could consider upgrading to something I liked better. I also used that as an idea of how much to spend on a camper - my minimum usage equated to $2700 for lodging at $100 per night. So that was my max budget for a camper I didn't know if I would really enjoy.

My first trailer cost $1700. I used it just over my minimum usage. After three years, I knew what I liked and didn't like about the floorplan, rv type, etc. I was also much more knowledgable about maintenance and identifying issues. I also knew that I was going to use it a lot, so putting money into a camper wouldn't be a waste of money.

4. Nada, etc, mean nothing. Determine what the trailer is worth to you, add 5-10% (most of us lowball what we want to buy and highball what we want to sell) and offer that. As mentioned, right now prices are off the chart so it may take a while to find something.

5. When you check out the trailers, walk through your morning ritual, meal preptime and eating, and your nighttime ritual. Those are the times when a floorplan will fail.

[Gdetrailer]

Since you are not planning on buying new, totally avoid going to "RV shows", those will be a waste of your time or result in you blowing your budget by having to have a certain model/layout.

Buying anything right now whether new or used is going to be extremely expensive so your timing for getting into camping is not good in this respect.

Throw out the price guides, they truly do not mean a thing, folks selling used RVs are getting top dollar because the demand is high and supply of used units is very low.

Your gonna have to go with "gut feeling" on the price, it is what you and the seller can agree to and both fell comfortable with.

Your going to have to make a few concessions, you may not get your choice on layouts, colors and so on.

Start searching your local Craigslist.org postings, just be very leery of any listing that seems way out of this world too low, those are scammer posts and they are not bashful about stealing your money. Scammer listings often are easy to spot, typically they use really odd dollar amounts like $2001, $2102 and so on. Very few legit sellers bother with listing a $5,000 item for $5001..

Be careful of any seller that wants to ship a RV to you, those are scams.

Same goes for sellers asking for payment to be in giftcards, Walmart green cards, Western Union or any other untraceable and unreversable payment that is not cash and in person.

You can also drive around your area, I scored my current TT just because it was on my way to work and it was put out in the yard with a for sale sign on it.

Ask your friends to watch out for used trailers for sale, they may see a yard one for sale.

As far as leaks goes, yeah ALL RVs are subject to leaks, basically if it isn't leaking now, it will be eventually. Just be aware of possible long term water damage to ceiling or paneling. Warps or discoloration is typical signs of long term leaks. Check the floor at the door, near or around the fridge for weak spots and paneling around corners the windows for warping, discoloration or being soft.

[Grit_dog]

OP, no, there is basically no comprehensive google ready real world comparison of brands models, types, years, etc.
Doing your homework, of which rvnet is a great source of information, you’ll be able to narrow down the “premium” brands like Lance, Grand Design, Northwoods, Outdoors RV and see the differences between them and the cheaper tin can RVs.
From there, the list should be narrowing significantly.
Personally, especially for new to RVing folks, the sweet spot is the few years old models. Both from price standpoint and reliability. RVs seem to have more “warranty” type issues than a vehicle imo. The defect type stuff usually shows up early and then gets fixed. So you generally get the benefit of the defect or warranty stuff out of the way but get a RV that has used up very little of its useful life.
Hope this helps.
Aside from that, as you narrow down options, ask questions here. Most popular models are owned by someone on this forum. Makes for a good second opinion.

Good luck!

[Grit_dog]

Lwiddis wrote:
Avoid all RVs you can’t pull, afford etc. That will cut the clutter in you head and make it easier to decide.

Per their post, saying they know what they can pull and know their budget would seem to cover this recommendation…

[bgum]

Whatever you decide on check out the front and rear roof really good. A roof leak is a deal breaker and is somewhat common. You may want to take a inspector or rv tech with you.

[aftermath]

You know what you can pull and what you can spend. These are a couple of good starting points. The (old) conventional wisdom says that for a first trailer buy used and save the money. Well, saving money on used trailers is not as easy as it used to be. Whatever you get, you will learn all about what you can pull. Find a floor plan that fits your needs and jump in. Soon you will learn a lot of stuff. Hopefully it will be good stuff. I found the hunt for our trailer to be challenging, frustrating at times but exciting over all. Best wishes with yours.

[obiwancanoli]

All good advice that's been offered here... you might also check out Lazy Days RV and La Mesa RV... two of the biggest dealers in the country, and they have a search feature that allows you to narrow down some basic parameters. Do online searches to get some good ideas, and they generally include a lot of pics to offer you some visuals...

[GrandpaKip]

First, learn about weights of your tow vehicle and trailers. There’s a big difference between what the max tow weight of your TV is and what size trailer you can actually tow. Once you have an idea of the range of what you can safely tow, you can look at trailers that match.
For example, my Silverado has a payload of 1800 pounds and is rated to tow up to 9000 pounds. In reality, about the most it can tow is around 7000 pounds loaded before it runs out of payload.
Go to every RV dealer in your area and peruse the offerings.
Good luck and happy hunting.

[tomman58]

I got my best advise on our 2nd trailer ..... go to a ma and pa dealer away from the city. I did just that and found a dealer that has worked for US on the last 4 trailer we have owned. Personally we like the Jayco brand they are a fair value and pretty much stay together in our very high usage.

[Lwiddis]

Avoid all RVs you can’t pull, afford etc. That will cut the clutter in you head and make it easier to decide.

[bob213]

Look...Find a floor plan that you think will fit your needs. Almost all mfg.'s offer the same floor plans. Now go look at the floor plan you like made by different mfg.'s.
They ALL have their short comings. Once you find a brand that appeals to you more than the others start looking for used.
Remember...This is your first trailer. You may not get everything you want, but it will let you decide if RVing is for you. You can always get another(like most of us) down the road.
Good luck

[rlw999]

I'd recommend narrowing your search to what you think you want, then try to rent one as close as possible to let you see how much you really like it. RV rentals can be expensive, but not as expensive as buying a RV and finding out that your wife can't reach the over-the-refrigerator microwave, or that your legs are too long to sit on the toilet.

[Carlos___Ranae]

If there is an RV show near you, I suggest going to it. You will be able to compare brands and floor plans.

[MitchF150]

You just have to get out there and start looking at them... You won't know anything until you can physically see and touch them. NADA is worthless IMO..

Since you are looking used, even the best quality built model, (if any actually exist) can be a POS if it was not maintained well be the prior owner.

Go to RV shows and just walk thru them and find what things you like and what things you don't like and go from there..

They will be all the new/newest models, but will show you what's out there now.

You can poke and prod as you want, ask questions, but they are dealers and will basically tell you anything you want to hear...

When I first started looking for an RV back in 2002, we looked at used rigs.. Only looked at about a dozen of them from every make and they all were just trashed.. Not sure why the dealers put them on their lots to be honest..

After that, only looked for new.. Sure, they cost more, but it would be ours and not someone else's trash.

We bought a new Prowler Lynx made by Fleetwood RV.. They don't make TT's anymore, but that rig carried us to a lot of good times over the next 16 years!! And never let us down.. Sure, basic maintenance and a couple of minor initial things that I took care of myself.

Traded that rig for our current trailer a 2019 Rockwood made by Forest River.

Got one hell of a deal on the trade.. ($6500 and it was still in great shape)

I probably could have gotten a little more selling myself, but I hate doing that.. I just had to sign the title and they applied the trade amount to the new trailer and all was good!

Anyway, just saying you may get a lemon or you may get a diamond.. No one can say one way or the other and for every bad experience with a particular make or model, there are probably 2 times as many that love them...

Good luck and make it fun! Mitch