Unique Usage -- Looking to Buy

[abimarye]

Good evening,

New to the forums.... so thanks in advance to everyone.

I'm an insurance adjuster who travels 200 plus days out of the year that recently did the math and figured out how much she can save with a trailer rather than hotels. Looking to buy a small trailer and saw one I really liked today, a Jayco 2016 White Hawk 23MRB. I"ll be in this thing for a majority of my year, and am looking for a solid investment. I know a lot of people have concerns about ALL types and brands, but is there anything in particular I should be aware of? What are comparable models to this for me to look into? A lot of the advice I've read so far is the dealer is more important than the brand, but since I travel so much all over the nation, I really have to be hopeful that I would find help wherever I might find myself.


Really, any and all insight is helpful. My dad and I just want to make sure I make the best possible decision I can make before dropping 20k+ and we just know so little...

[Durb]

BigFoot trailers got a couple of mentions on this post and rightly so. I was a BigFoot owner, had it for 5 years, loved it, and sold it for what I paid with inquiries from all over the country. My guess is that it is worth more today. The secret to BigFoot is they eliminate the problem areas: slides, seams, caulking, rubber roofs, moldings, roof decking, leaks, stress risers, weak frames and studs.

Even though BigFoots are outstanding trailers I would not recommend for your use. The factory does not recommend their use for extended stay. They are extremely tight and do not breathe like looser units. If you do, be very cognizant of air management and open it up and ventilate frequently.

[abimarye]

wanderingbob wrote:
Abimarye ,
Many of my sites were pretty primitive , garden hoses running every where , grey water on the ground , every week a septic truck emptied the black tank

What did you do for basic deployments like normal wind/hail? Just find a KOA or good sam?

[wanderingbob]

Abimarye ,
Many of my sites were pretty primitive , garden hoses running every where , grey water on the ground , every week a septic truck emptied the black tank .
After Andrew a tractor with a hoe would dig a whole between trailers and dump the black tanks and refill . Sounds awful but the whole city was doing worse ! I would not spend a lot of money or time on your first trailer , it ain't gonna be perfect anyways !

[wanderingbob]

Abimarye ,
Many of responses assume that you are an RVer and are lookin for that camping experience. What I believe what ya want is a dry , warm , cool place to go potty , sleep , work , less expensive than a motel . An RV worked for me for thirty years . I bought some new,some used . Ain't a whole lot of difference . The new warranty ain't worth a **** as you will not be able to take it to a repair facility anyway . Imagine working in New Or
leans after Katrina and trying to get something fixed under warranty
Consider a used trailer , if ya do not like it , trade it off.

[hvac]

You are looking at commercial use. That's my world for the past 30 years. You need all metal. No wood. No plastic or rubber roof. I would suggest custom built.

[am1958]

Abimarye:

Do yourself a heck of a favor and ignore almost everything Gdetrailer has to say...

If you read his posts carefully you'll note that he was building up to his "look how good I am" moment...

You're clearly smart - you've obviously thought this through and now you're looking for the _practical_ help of which you have had much in this thread.

In your position I'd be looking down the alley you are... Go for it and keep asking for advice from those who aren't judging you or your situation.

[abimarye]

wannavolunteerFT wrote:
A couple of comments, not all RV's have issues that cause them to stay in the shop. In fact, the only ones I have had in 5 years of ownership, were all self-inflicted due to my lack of attention to details/awareness of what I was doing. It seems the folks that have issues are usually more vocal in warning of dire situations than those of us who just keep rocking along with no major problems.

The Whitehawk you mentioned, had a sofa that converts to a bed. I would strongly recommend a separate bed. You will not want to set up bed at the end of a long day. and you might want to sit somewhere besides at the dinette or on the bed. Take the time to spend at least an hour in the trailer before you purchase, imagining all the things you do in a day and how you would do them in the trailer.

edited to add, I looked st Grand design floor plan and think it would work much better for you..

In response to how long to hook up and to set up. I am a 50+ year old female, and I can do either in less than an hour. How much less is dependent on temperature when I am setting up. I tend to work much slower in high temperatures. Be sure you have electric tongue jack as that will make setting up much much faster.

I actually am not considering Jayco due to the caveat in their warranty now. I read through the warranty for Grand Design and it's much better, including if you purchase the extended 5 year warranty they will pay $250 a night for hotel/food if you are 50+ miles from home and the trailer is unusable. I agree, I tried the Murphy bed (it's a Murphy not a converter and while I like the extra room in genera, the Grand Design floor plan is exactly what I've searched for. Plus people in general seem MUCH happier with them. Since price wasn't really a problem, I'm hoping research will continue to be positive and I will soon own a Grand Design.

Hoping I have the benefit during walk through that my attention to detail will help prevent some of the issues I've seen people have. A former RV dealer gave me a list of things to inspect myself on top of what they're likely to show me

[wannavolunteerF]

A couple of comments, not all RV's have issues that cause them to stay in the shop. In fact, the only ones I have had in 5 years of ownership, were all self-inflicted due to my lack of attention to details/awareness of what I was doing. It seems the folks that have issues are usually more vocal in warning of dire situations than those of us who just keep rocking along with no major problems.

The Whitehawk you mentioned, had a sofa that converts to a bed. I would strongly recommend a separate bed. You will not want to set up bed at the end of a long day. and you might want to sit somewhere besides at the dinette or on the bed. Take the time to spend at least an hour in the trailer before you purchase, imagining all the things you do in a day and how you would do them in the trailer.

edited to add, I looked st Grand design floor plan and think it would work much better for you..

In response to how long to hook up and to set up. I am a 50+ year old female, and I can do either in less than an hour. How much less is dependent on temperature when I am setting up. I tend to work much slower in high temperatures. Be sure you have electric tongue jack as that will make setting up much much faster.

[abimarye]

wanderingbob wrote:
Abimarye ,
For most of my CAT work I pulled a travel trailer and carried a generator .
For Cat work it is nice but not really necessary to have one of the quiet generators as everyone else will be running open contractor generators . I do not know how soon you arrive at the scene but we got there early so we had to carry 20 or so gallons of generator gas as there were no services many times for several weeks . For Katrina there was no fuel west of Tallahassee unless you traveled the back roads .

Did you use it for basic deployments too, or just the extreme cats?

[Gdetrailer]

abimarye wrote:

Gdetrailer wrote:


Do what you want..

But you do need to consider in most cases you are taking a risk that the manufacturer could void the warranty.. That would mean that every repair cost will be your burden making an already expensive depreciating asset a even bigger hole in the ground that you simply dump money into.

Even IF you manage to get warranty approval, you WILL lose the use of your "home".. The warranty work is done at a authorized dealer.. Very few dealers will allow anyone to live in their dealer lot (that darn "liability thing").. That would mean you would have to find alternate living quarters while repairs are done..

Often times repairs may take weeks or even months due to dealer's service department work load and or parts..

Once in a while some folks end up having to have their RV hauled back the factory.. This happens when repairs are not able to be done at a dealer (like replacing a side wall or other major parts)..

Buying new and having a warranty does not assure you that it will get fixed right the first time or in a timely manor.

But hey, what do I know? I have only been messing around with RVs for 16 years now..

Often times folks mix up RVs with saving money, not realizing the pitfalls that can be a rather expensive mistake.. Once you sign the papers, you HAVE lost money.. And that is before you even take it off the lot.

Buyers remorse in this game can be one heck of a financial loss.

If you have never towed before, you will have a huge learning curve in front of you..

I can assure you I've considered all of these options. I"m not saying that you don't know what you're talking about, I'm quite confident that you do. I appreciate your input. It's not ONLY about saving money, it's about having something to show for money I am going to spend either way.

All you will have to "show" is an old USED trailer and it WILL be only worth what the NEXT buyer is willing to pay for it (which depending on age and wear not to mention water damage can be the value of the sheet metal scrap)..

RVs "age" very quickly, that is just one of many reasons I intentionally bought a 20+ year old TT for $700 and fixed it up myself..

One "little" hidden water leak from roof, windows or door can take your $20K purchase "value" down to a couple of hundred dollars in as little as 3-6 months..

There have been folks who bought a new RV off the lot come here and find themselves with a highly water damaged RV 6 months AFTER they bought it..

Additionally many folks buy new, only to discover they don't like RVing, or the layout, or the color, or it is too small or too big.. They trade it in owing more than what it is worth on another one.. Piling one bad debt onto another loan..

As I said, your money, your life.. But perhaps listening to some "sage" advice from seasoned owners of RVs would be a good thing. Its the little subtle things that you don't know or understand that will end up wasting your "investment" money.

I spend pretty much the same amount of money camping as I would on vacationing using Hotels and I not talking about $20 per night places.. And that does not include the cost of my Trailer.

If you want to invest, buy money market, stocks and bonds, homes/rentals.. Not a RV.

[wanderingbob]

Abimarye ,
For most of my CAT work I pulled a travel trailer and carried a generator .
For Cat work it is nice but not really necessary to have one of the quiet generators as everyone else will be running open contractor generators . I do not know how soon you arrive at the scene but we got there early so we had to carry 20 or so gallons of generator gas as there were no services many times for several weeks . For Katrina there was no fuel west of Tallahassee unless you traveled the back roads .

[abimarye]

webwrangler wrote:

abimarye wrote:
How long does it take you all to set up/hook up/break down? Is an equalizer hitch a good choice?

My wife and I can set up and unhook in about 45 minutes or less. About the same to hook up and be ready to go. Once you've done it a few times, it's not that big of a deal. Of course, we're not staying in it for weeks at a time most trips.

The Equalizer brand is a great choice. If the TT you've chosen has a power tongue jack, the Equalizer will be easy to hook up and unhook. Be aware that to easily hook up with the Equalizer, you'll need to first get the ball and coupler latched, then raise up the tongue and the rear of your truck several inches in order to get the weight distribution bars onto their brackets.

Awesome - 45 minutes is totally reasonable. Hoping that my backup cam will help make it easier too. Going to test all of that when I do my test run, of course. My Uncle has an equalizer too, they had some small issues when learning it but after his last trip, he says he's got the hang finally.

[abimarye]

dodge guy wrote:
With what you are suggesting I would consider a small class C and a small toad, or if the class C is small enough you won't even need a toad! I think for your use a truck and trailer is too much!

need my truck for ladders and other equipment as well. I've got a truck anyway, so hauling a camper makes the most sense. I considered that option when I first started the math about a year ago, but even with a mid-size SUV I end up dependent on help for my two story ladders. With the truck I've got it set up that I'm more self-sufficient!

But great idea, I wish it had worked out for me because that was my ideal when I started considering options.

[abimarye]

pianotuna wrote:
I strongly suggest you rent for one trip.

'

Thanks, I'd mentioned that during my trip to a dealer today and they're working something out with me to test out. Great advice. :C

[abimarye]

Gdetrailer wrote:


Do what you want..

But you do need to consider in most cases you are taking a risk that the manufacturer could void the warranty.. That would mean that every repair cost will be your burden making an already expensive depreciating asset a even bigger hole in the ground that you simply dump money into.

Even IF you manage to get warranty approval, you WILL lose the use of your "home".. The warranty work is done at a authorized dealer.. Very few dealers will allow anyone to live in their dealer lot (that darn "liability thing").. That would mean you would have to find alternate living quarters while repairs are done..

Often times repairs may take weeks or even months due to dealer's service department work load and or parts..

Once in a while some folks end up having to have their RV hauled back the factory.. This happens when repairs are not able to be done at a dealer (like replacing a side wall or other major parts)..

Buying new and having a warranty does not assure you that it will get fixed right the first time or in a timely manor.

But hey, what do I know? I have only been messing around with RVs for 16 years now..

Often times folks mix up RVs with saving money, not realizing the pitfalls that can be a rather expensive mistake.. Once you sign the papers, you HAVE lost money.. And that is before you even take it off the lot.

Buyers remorse in this game can be one heck of a financial loss.

If you have never towed before, you will have a huge learning curve in front of you..

I can assure you I've considered all of these options. I"m not saying that you don't know what you're talking about, I'm quite confident that you do. I appreciate your input. It's not ONLY about saving money, it's about having something to show for money I am going to spend either way.