Should I Throw In the Towel?
Been camping for a lifetime, but over 25 years as a husband and father. In the last 25 years, we’ve owned two pop-ups, one hybrid, and three travel trailers. Out of the hybrid and three trailers, th...
Forum Discussion
There are so many issues with the construction of RVs from design, to workmanship, to materials. Also the fact the we consumers want it as cheap as possible, and as light as possible so we can tow a 30ft house with a minivan does not help us.
I've got a 5 year old Heritage Glenn Hyper-Lite, and these are some of the things that drive me nuts.
The construction is so sloppy, screws that are in crooked drives me nuts, shower head holder that is not in a stud is crappy, and the list goes on.
The wood in the seat in the dinnette looked like balsawood from a toy airplane. On our second trip out my daughter went crawl to the back of the U-shape, and her knee went through the wood. The "wood" was less than a 1/4" thick, with few cross supports. Now the floor has soft spots, not from water, but from usage. Apparently they think that the same balsa wood with foam between it, is ok for a floor. From feeling the soft spots, in front of my sink (high usage area) it is 24" between the floor joists.
I will never buy another camper marketed as light, as I feel that means flimsy. I know we bought low/middle of the line, but I really was hoping for more quality.
We love to camp, and are thinking of going to a couples 5er since the kids will both be in college in a month. But honestly I'm not sure how far up in price do we have to go to decent quality, or do you ever get there? It seems like Grand Design, and Jaycos(nicer lines) may be somewhat better, but you still see many of the same issues.
In basically the same floor plan we like I can get a $50k Jayco Eagle, or a Grand Design Solitude for $70k, or a Mobile Suites for $150k. I like the price on the Eagle, I could swing the Grand Design, but is there $20k of better quality? The Mobile is Nice, but not in my budget.
When we bought my wife her Honda CRV, we looked and came to the conclusion it was worth it to spend the money on the Honda over a Kia, for the quality and reliability of a Honda. We looked at Lexus, and felt it was probably not anymore reliable than the Honda, but did have some nice features and was pretty, but not worth the extra money to us.
I've got a 5 year old Heritage Glenn Hyper-Lite, and these are some of the things that drive me nuts.
The construction is so sloppy, screws that are in crooked drives me nuts, shower head holder that is not in a stud is crappy, and the list goes on.
The wood in the seat in the dinnette looked like balsawood from a toy airplane. On our second trip out my daughter went crawl to the back of the U-shape, and her knee went through the wood. The "wood" was less than a 1/4" thick, with few cross supports. Now the floor has soft spots, not from water, but from usage. Apparently they think that the same balsa wood with foam between it, is ok for a floor. From feeling the soft spots, in front of my sink (high usage area) it is 24" between the floor joists.
I will never buy another camper marketed as light, as I feel that means flimsy. I know we bought low/middle of the line, but I really was hoping for more quality.
We love to camp, and are thinking of going to a couples 5er since the kids will both be in college in a month. But honestly I'm not sure how far up in price do we have to go to decent quality, or do you ever get there? It seems like Grand Design, and Jaycos(nicer lines) may be somewhat better, but you still see many of the same issues.
In basically the same floor plan we like I can get a $50k Jayco Eagle, or a Grand Design Solitude for $70k, or a Mobile Suites for $150k. I like the price on the Eagle, I could swing the Grand Design, but is there $20k of better quality? The Mobile is Nice, but not in my budget.
When we bought my wife her Honda CRV, we looked and came to the conclusion it was worth it to spend the money on the Honda over a Kia, for the quality and reliability of a Honda. We looked at Lexus, and felt it was probably not anymore reliable than the Honda, but did have some nice features and was pretty, but not worth the extra money to us.
