First time buyer, please alleviate my buying worries!

[esloan]

This weekend, my wife and I are going to be buying our first RV. We are going with a smaller unit because it will just be her and I 90% of the time, and the rest of the time, we may have one of our grandkids with us. So we don't need anything huge.

We have visited countless RV stores in our area and we have decided on a 2018 Forest River Wildwood 197BH. It seems to be a good size but still has the bunks for the few times we have grandkids along with us.

We have looked at some used ones as well but we think we want to go new. Yes, we know they depreciate in value quickly but we are getting what I think is a great deal, under $10,000 all in. This is less than most of the used ones we have seen. I am also concerned with things breaking on a used one. Spending this money and having the fridge go out in six months worries me. I have read a few horror stories about Forest River's warranty service but I have also read a few positive stories as well, and I am not going to lie, not having any kind of warranty worries the hell out of me.

We will be using this RV mainly for 3 and 4 day trips and the very occasional long trip. We aren't looking for anything fancy and this seems to fit the bill. However, I still worry with any fairly big purchase, especially with something I have never bought or owned before.

Please alleviate my worry and tell me we are going in a good direction or tell me we are making a really bad decision here or ignoring something important.

Thanks!

[russhd1997]

Welcome to the forum. All new RV's have problems, most are minor fix it yourself issues though. There are some horror stories on here where someone got a lemon but those are the exception and not the rule.

For your first one buying new isn't a bad idea because you are getting a full warranty. I'm sure that you are aware of the fact that if you don't like camping you are going to lose a lot of your purchase price if you sell it. Buying used isn't a bad idea either because most of the problems should have already been fixed. You can buy warranties for used campers too.

Get to know your dealer too. Read reviews of their service department to see what others think. Some dealers are great up front but trying to get your TT in for warranty repairs is next to impossible. A good dealer is very important.

I bought used because I found a TT with the floor plan that I wanted and got a higher quality trailer than I would have spending the same on a new unit. It came with a 90 day warranty too.

[jd50i]

I was relocated to another state by my company and a travel trailer was the most economical for me until I bought a house. I told the salesman I needed it ready to live in. I researched enough to know I would need sewage hose, water hose, power cable and a battery so when I did not see these I started to get nasty and loud, the owner came out and had the salesman give me all of it. I don't know how they thought they would get away with no battery since that is what powers the break away brakes.


Also make sure the propane tanks are full, one of them was not.


If they connect your hitch to you vehicle, know enough to verify it is done correctly.


Do a good inspection of the trailer, it might be difficult taking it back to have workmanship issues fixed.

[youroo]

Since this is a Single Axle trailer,what is your Tow Vehicle going to be? Youroo!!

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by russhd1997

Welcome to the forum. All new RV's have problems, most are minor fix it yourself issues though. There are some horror stories on here where someone got a lemon but those are the exception and not the rule.

For your first one buying new isn't a bad idea because you are getting a full warranty. I'm sure that you are aware of the fact that if you don't like camping you are going to lose a lot of your purchase price if you sell it. Buying used isn't a bad idea either because most of the problems should have already been fixed. You can buy warranties for used campers too.

Get to know your dealer too. Read reviews of their service department to see what others think. Some dealers are great up front but trying to get your TT in for warranty repairs is next to impossible. A good dealer is very important.

I bought used because I found a TT with the floor plan that I wanted and got a higher quality trailer than I would have spending the same on a new unit. It came with a 90 day warranty too.

This is the single most important factor, unless you are capable of doing most of your own repairs. Also it helps if you are handy enough to do small repairs yourself.

With most dealers they have a pretty substantial backlog in the service department, if you can do the small stuff you will get to use your RV a lot more often than if you have to take it to the dealer for every little thing that comes up.

RV's ALWAYS need some sort of tinkering. Face it, you are exposing your rolling house to an earthquake and a hurricane every time you tow it!

I review warranties as part of my job description, most if not all are CYA for the manufacturer, NOT to protect the consumer.

Aaron

[esloan]

Originally Posted by youroo

Since this is a Single Axle trailer,what is your Tow Vehicle going to be? Youroo!!

Ford F250 v10 super crew cab.

[youroo]

Originally Posted by esloan

Ford F250 v10 super crew cab.

Great your WAY Ahead of Most! Youroo!!

[esloan]

Originally Posted by youroo

Great your WAY Ahead of Most! Youroo!!

Thanks! We just bought that too, for this specific purpose.

[wmtire]

Welcome aboard. As others stated, your dealer can be of great importance and either help/hinder your RV'ing experience.


Knowledge is key, and how things operate in the RV can also add to your confidence level. We have compiled some useful links for new RV'ers like yourself that may help build your confidence/knowledge so you aren't operating totally blind or solely relying on someone else (aka dealer) to teach you.



You can find these link at this forum below. Hope it helps:


http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ts-157524.html

[Cowracer]

My advice:

Buy used, and don't give it a second thought. Even new stuff can have issues. The single thing that can help the stress the most is... KNOWLEDGE, and this forum is a feast of knowledge. Become fast friends with the search function, but don't be shy about asking questions.

In my experience, about 90% of what can go wrong in a camper can be fixed by someone with enough mechanical skills to assemble IKEA Furniture. The daunting thing is 'where to start'. There will be someone on this forum that has already had your problem and can walk you thru how to identify and correct it. It's a VERY rare day when someone posts up an issue that no one has ever seen before.

You worried about the fridge going out in six months. Don't look at in those terms, because the fridge most likely won't shoot craps on you. What might happen is some little component may die, and shut down the fridge, but not the WHOLE fridge.

In my first trip in my brand-freaking-new camper, I had just that. Fridge quit working. I got some good advice here, and I have a few basic troubleshooting skills myself, and I found a $3 little part that died. Took 2 days to get via Amazon, took every bit of 5 minutes to install, and like that, the fridge was operational again.

My point is that big problems are usually little problems with delusions of grandeur, and that if you worry about every little thing, you will NEVER have any fun in the camper. Relax, and roll with the punches.

Tim

[MillMitch]

x2
Welcome to the forum from MN. Like buying a car, things will come up, but you deal with it and move on. We tent/popup camped with our kids for many years, and that is some of our kids best memories. Kids are now grown and DW and i bought our first TT last fall - we love it.
Enjoy the camper. F250 I'm jealous

[Reverse_snowbird]

Originally Posted by esloan

We have looked at some used ones as well but we think we want to go new. Yes, we know they depreciate in value quickly but we are getting what I think is a great deal, under $10,000 all in. This is less than most of the used ones we have seen. I am also concerned with things breaking on a used one.

Please alleviate my worry and tell me we are going in a good direction or tell me we are making a really bad decision here or ignoring something important.

Thanks!

We bought new because it really was cheaper than buying used.

Things break on new ones too. Just make certain you do a good 'walk through' and make certain that everything works. They usually will hook up to electricity and water and let you test everything. Don't sign the final papers until everything works.

Then stop worrying and go have some fun!

[JimMorrell]

I don't want to discourage you, but I have 2 comments....first, I have had 3 experienced when a tire blew our or has gone flat. If I had been towing a single axle trailer, it could have been disastrous. With a tandem axle, the trailer remained fully upright . I didn't even know I had a problem till a passer by told me. Then, as an older couple, we found that our smaller trailer was quite uncomfortable when we were out a week or longer. Short periods were fine. So now (we're in our 80's) we have a full bath, a queen bed and 2 lounge chairs, and we live as well as at home (nearly).

[Philkaty]

Make a list of all things you need to check before taking off from the dealer. We did make that mistake last year. It had to go back several times to them and we are not happy with them. They are Mike Thompson in so-cal, don't go there if in California!!!

[azwiz]

Don't ....save yourself the aggravation! There are no well made rv's!

[stantyszka]

Originally Posted by esloan

This weekend, my wife and I are going to be buying our first RV. We are going with a smaller unit because it will just be her and I 90% of the time, and the rest of the time, we may have one of our grandkids with us. So we don't need anything huge.

We have visited countless RV stores in our area and we have decided on a 2018 Forest River Wildwood 197BH. It seems to be a good size but still has the bunks for the few times we have grandkids along with us.

We have looked at some used ones as well but we think we want to go new. Yes, we know they depreciate in value quickly but we are getting what I think is a great deal, under $10,000 all in. This is less than most of the used ones we have seen. I am also concerned with things breaking on a used one. Spending this money and having the fridge go out in six months worries me. I have read a few horror stories about Forest River's warranty service but I have also read a few positive stories as well, and I am not going to lie, not having any kind of warranty worries the hell out of me.

We will be using this RV mainly for 3 and 4 day trips and the very occasional long trip. We aren't looking for anything fancy and this seems to fit the bill. However, I still worry with any fairly big purchase, especially with something I have never bought or owned before.

Please alleviate my worry and tell me we are going in a good direction or tell me we are making a really bad decision here or ignoring something important.

Thanks!

I have had a Wildwood xlite for 3.5 years. I’m pretty fond of the Wildwood product line. Seems like decent bang for the buck. That being said we had 1-2 issues that we needed the dealer to address in the first year. Anything else that has come up has been either something that was a simple fix OR general maintenance. Go into it with an open mind that you are buying something that needs to be taken care of and maintained and you will be fine. Our WW has been towed close to 7500 miles since we bought it. It’s still in great shape and we still enjoy using it.

My best word of caution before you pull the trigger, ask your dealer for customer references of people that have used their maintenance department. A good dealer with a reputable maintenance department will give you this info. Talking to people that have used your dealers maintenance shop may put your mind at ease. I believe that certain dealers can be the shadiest cog in this whole process. There are a lot of fantastic dealers but that small percentage brings them all down.

[Cover Dog]

This being your first RV.........RECORD your PDI walk through, either on I-Pad, cell phone or video camera. You won’t remember everything and it’s great to be able to go back and see what you forgot.

Any problems that are found during your walk through need to be corrected/fixed BEFORE you sign or pay for your new RV. Don’t accept them telling you to bring it back.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by Philkaty

Make a list of all things you need to check before taking off from the dealer. We did make that mistake last year. It had to go back several times to them and we are not happy with them. They are Mike Thompson in so-cal, don't go there if in California!!!

Or look for dealer reviews on the Internet.
For example, Mike Thompson is infamous for all the bad reviews they have, both sales and service.

Unfortunately there are very few good dealers in SoCal.

[cmysstailights]

do not sign the paperwork till you go over the rv fully and all issues are fixed before you sign the paper

[Philkaty]

Originally Posted by bikendan

Or look for dealer reviews on the Internet.
For example, Mike Thompson is infamous for all the bad reviews they have, both sales and service.

Unfortunately there are very few good dealers in SoCal.

Yes the sales guy was good. just when we went to pick it up. not sure if this is our last rv, but if not I have a lot of info now on what to do next time and this includes buying a car.