Coleman Fold N Go Grill

[Big_Rig1]

I am looking to buy a Fold N Go Grill. There appears to be 2 models, the regular one & one with InstaStart. I called Coleman to see if that was the only difference & to make sure the had the same quality materials used in them. He said "Yes, they are the same except for the Instastart feature." When I go on the Amazon & Walmart web sites, the InstaStart is $15 less than the one without. I would think the pricing would be the other way around with the InstaStart costing more. Did the guy at Coleman know what he was talking about when he said they were made the same except for the InstaStart feature? The Coleman web site offers the InstaStart for about $26 more than the regular. Doesn't make sense. If anyone has any knowledge of the two types & whether they are the same, I sure could use some help figuring this out. Thanks,

Big Rig (John)

[mkirsch]

When you look through Amazon & Walmart, you are looking at a "marketplace." Amazon & Walmart will let anybody that claims to be a vendor sell through this marketplace, and take a small piece of the sales.

With this model, you get many fly-by-night discount drop-shippers who offer no service to speak of, so pricing is all over the place. One place may sell the more expensive model for less than other people sell the cheaper model. Another place overcharges for everything hoping to prey on people's stupidity.

The only way to get a clear picture of the pricing is in an apples-for-apples comparison. Make sure you are looking at "Vendor A" for BOTH versions of the grill.

It's also possible that one version is discontinued. Some of these fly-by-night vendors will charge a premium for the discontinued model hoping to prey on people who want THAT specific model for some reason. I've been bit on that before myself. At one time I wanted a second cooler to match one I already had, but it had been discontinued. There were plenty of new ones to be had on Amazon, just at a 2X what retail was before they were discontinued.

[cdbinns]

We have a Fold n' Go with the instastart. Initially the starter did not work, although we could use it by manually lighting it. we contacted Coleman and they we great about sending us a new part for the starter. It now works great. We purchased the griddle as well as the grill for it. It cooks quickly and uses very little propane. The only complaint I have is that it needs to be cleaned before being packed away and that can sometimes be a challenge when dry camping and conserving water (which would be an issue with any grill). The drip tray is always easy to clean, but the grill sometimes requires quite a bit if scrubbing. Oiling it before use definitely helps. Overall we love our little Coleman.

[realter]

What did you end up with? Are you happy with it?

[errante]

we have had a fold n go for about 4 years and have cooked on it a lot. We do not have the insta-start feature. Having said that I would love to have it and would gladly have paid extra for it. We normally cook with a much more sophisticated unit but for traveling where weight and space are at a premium this unit is ideal. It cooks hot and almost as well as our home unit but you need to be careful of it's weight balance when nothing is on the grill. I think the ads I have read are a little overly optimistic about propane usage. We use a regular propane lighter with it but it is a pain. Cleaning is a chore but so it is with most bbqs. The latch is next to worthless. After it cools we clean it out prior to storing in a plastic storage bag, otherwise there will be a big mess. Bottom line, it is not as good as a regular bbq but is serves our purpose.