Too quick to upgrade?

[ciditad]

Just posted an ad selling my 7 months old 19BHLE. I really like the TT but we've recently added 2 cats and realized it's just too small for the entire family. We looked at a Rockwood 2509S and LOVE it, so the plan is to buy one of those after we sell the 19BHLE.

Are we moving too quickly on this decision? Or should we try taking the cats on a trip and see how that goes?

My wife jokes that in a year or two I may sell the Durango and get a big diesel truck so we can upgrade to a Fifth Wheel...I don't think that'll happen...right?

[dalford]

… believe me, if you like the camping lifestyle it will happen! Start looking at those 5th wheels now.

[bikendan]

There's an old RV saying:

"Buy your second RV FIRST".
Normally you would have lost a lot of value, once you drive it off the lot.
But with RV prices being so crazy, you might lose less money on the upgrade.

Sent from my SM-T377T using Forest River Forums mobile app

[ARhappycamper]

2 cats made the camper too small ? How big are the cats ? Do they not get along ?

[Backcountryboondocker]

Too quick to upgrade? Hmmm…. Well you have lasted 7 months with it so you’re doing pretty good compared to others. I know a family who lasted 1 week with theirs before they moved to a bigger size. Took one weekend trip and decided it was too small. In truth even without the cats your trailer was on the verge of being too small to begin with.

The 2509S is a nice upgrade, the double bunks will be a lot nicer than the ones your kids have now. But…. Just pay attention to the trailers weights. I saw that the 2509 tongue weight is considerably heavier, and the trailer is about 1600 lbs heavier to start with than the 19BHLE.

For your selling price I don’t think you’ll have an issue selling it.

[Nick Danger]

Life is short. If you can afford it - get what you want!

[stephensatt]

Originally Posted by Nick Danger

Life is short. If you can afford it - get what you want!

Right now everything seems to be appreciating, especially on "housing" which trailers seem to fall into right now. For instance, our 2020 NOBO 19.1 Toy Hauler was $24k in Sept 2019. I have seen them going average $32k right now and saw them advertised as high as $42k by dealers during the peak of the Covid thing. I am sure also this is being helped by our 1978 era inflation.

[Reverse_snowbird]

Personally, I'd take at least one trip with the cats to see if your rig is too small.
Then if it's too small, I'd order the trailer and see how long the delivery time is. On this forum, some people have reported a 6 month wait time for a new rig.
You can sell your camper when the delivery time is close.

It's not fun to miss out on a camping season because you have no rig.

[BrandonSmith]

Those cats are going to cost you a fortune

[RussPastuch]

And we just downsized from a 26' to a 19', which I hope won't be too small.

Kids are gone and with the price of gas, the 10,000km trip we are planning this year would have just been too expensive.

[PopFla]

In boating, there is a thing called "twofootitis". I had it. I went from a 26' to a 28' to a 30' all in a three year span.

Got out of boating and into RVing.

Went from a popup to a 27' TT, to a 33' fifth wheel, to a 26' Class C, to a 30' Class C, and now a 38' Class A.

There's no known cure. Go for it, and

[CaptnJohn]

Years ago we went from a 5er to a TT. 4 months and into a bigger 5er than we had.

[Jeff from Burlington Ont]

Go big as you are comfortable. We were in a tent for 15 years, bought a pop up when the kids wanted ac at night, that lasted 18 months, traded up to hybrid, that lasted 4 years, traded up to a F150 Eco boost and a 35’ 5ver, that lasted 6 years, bought a F350 diesel and a 42’ 5ver for my retirement

[FrankH35]

We recently upgraded from a 263BHXL Salem Cruise Lite to a Coachmen Catalina 323BHDS. I was of the mindset that I could continue making payments on something I no longer wanted or start making larger payments on something I did. We were able to sell ours for slightly more than we paid for it--but obviously paid a much higher price for the new unit than we would have even a year ago. It's all kind of relative.

I'm kind of like most everyone else has said--just go for it if you're financially able or you're going to be constantly thinking about what "could be".

Best advice anyone ever gave me (and I should have listened to) was to go up one size from the size you think you want.

[MCTroy]

Two mistakes we made (and we have made plenty more) is trying to take our cat camping and buying trailers that were too small.

Our daughter begged to take her cat camping. So we left the dogs at home and took Kitty one weekend. The cat screamed on the way down and throw up on the ride home. First and last camping trip for Kitty.

We thought our first very old trailer was great. a 16 foot trailer seemed large and dry compared to our tent. That lasted one summer. We went through 3 more trailer, each a little larger, until we found one that really fit our needs. We had a Mallard for 13 years.

If i had to do it all over, I would make sure the cat WANTED to go camping and liked a car ride, and I would buy the 31 foot TT as the 2nd camper, not the 4th!

Good luck!

[0rion100]

Personally....I would hold out for the 5er. Kids grow....and cats too sometimes.

[TeachTexas]

Rvs come and RVs go. The size matters not. Get what is comfortable for you. Why suffer with something that doesn't meet your needs. Needs will change and if you have the means there is no reason to make do.

[Jeff DeRouen]

I'm for going larger, but I would also caution about taking the cats camping if they are not already comfortable in the camper. There are plenty of cats lost, because they were not acclimated to the camper, and took off at the first chance never to be seen again.

Also agree with Backcountryboondocker - don't buy more camper than your vehicle can safely handle. Don't rely on the salesperson to determine what's safe.

[The Newsoms]

Originally Posted by RussPastuch

And we just downsized from a 26' to a 19', which I hope won't be too small.

Kids are gone and with the price of gas, the 10,000km trip we are planning this year would have just been too expensive.

We upsized from a 19’. We spent a month in it and were tripping all over stuff and each other. It was great for weekend trips where you could just pack a bag.

[jbflag21ds]

That Durango likely doesn't have the payload capacity for a 2509S