How did you decide on a particular brand?

[BigBaron]

How did you decide on a brand (or brands) when buying your trailer? There are soooo many!

[Scratch]

For us, the qualifiers are: Quality build, floorplan, size well-matched to TV capabilities, and strong customer service.

[DDC]

Started with floor plans then looking at quality (although thats hard to find) so you pick the best of the bunch.

[OldCoot]

Pin wt, floor plans and one we could pay for with trade-in and cash.

[Wiscampsin]

Quality, floorplan, features, reputation, met our wants & needs list, value for the $, a good dealer.

[bikendan]

we decided which floorplans we liked and began looking for which brands had that floorplan.
we then went and actually looked at those brands. if the dealer didn't have that particular flooplan, we looked at other models of that brand.
we quickly decided who made a quality product and who didn't.
then we would review sites like this one, looking for feedback from owners of that brand, to get an idea how that brand responded to their customers.
lastly, we looked at price.

[checca]

Floor plan, quality, and then $$

[asquared]

create a spreadsheet, across the top put categories that are important to you (ie TT weight, tongue weight or 5er pin weight, length, specific items about floor plan you want/need, holding tank size, cabinet space etc.). Down the side put make/model. go look at different TT or 5er and the ones you like fill in the blanks. This will narrow the playing field for you.

Any tt/5er you like, spend some time sitting in it and imagining your usage of it (ie moms cloths in this cabinet, dishes in that cabinet, kids toys in that drawer etc, have mom pretend to cook while dad walks around TT to bathroom, TV etc, have any kids pretend to play or whatever and think about any pets you might trip over). Also think about your style of camping because that will determine your tank size needs..... fhu you don't need very big tanks, w/e site you need a pretty decent sized grey and black tank, and boondocking you will need a pretty good sized fresh tank as well. Also boondocking, BLM, and state or national parks tend to have more sites geared to smaller trailers whereas rv resorts tend to have more big rig parking. look at your TV and realistically understand its weight capabilities once you have all family, pets, gear and fuel in it (hint the more you put in a TV, the more its capabilities drop, this includes purchased options on a vehicle, if you need a tutorial lots of us here willing to help you with these calculations).

once you have all this figured out and narrowed down to a few rigs, then compare brands. Owners forums and RV.Net RV and Camping Forum ? RV, Trailer, Camper, Motorhome, Camping and Campground Information are great places to ask about brands (good and bad) but please only ask this once narrowed down as it will be like asking which is better, ford, Chevy or dodge. Read the forums to get a feel for customer service and general problems seen with a brand but remember that more people post negative items than positive. Also remember every rand asked good trailers and every brand makes lemons. The trick is to have a really good pdi, a really good dealer, and a company that honors its warranty. Happy hunting!

[Duckogram]

Deciding on a brand is all about research.

Read reviews.
Go to dealership and look at fit & finish.
Go to RV shows.
Go to parks and see who has what. Stop by and ask. The folks you meet will tell you more than you need to know.

Here is a good place to start...
http://www.rv-coach.com/rv/rating/ra...v_results.html

Hope this helps...

[Oaklevel]

Originally Posted by Scratch

For us, the qualifiers are: Quality build, floorplan, size well-matched to TV capabilities, and strong customer service.

X2


We went to RV shows, & internet, lots of looking at dealer lots, learned a lot after 4 campers over almost 30 years what we were looking for in a layout........

It changes over time no kids......with kids.......no kids........with grown kids........ with grand kids.....

We have a great nearby dealer so we went with the Forest River products that they carry (we ordered ours).

[bakken]

Where we live, our regular drivers licences limit the trailer weight to 10,000 lbs GVWR, so that was the starting point. We wanted a fifth wheel, so looked at all of the locally available makes and models under that weight. Then it came down to which floor plan we liked the best.
The construction doesn`t vary much if you are looking at a certain size camper at a similar weight, but fit-and-finish does seem to vary. We are very happy with our Flagstaff in that regard.
There were also little things that entered into the process, like having access to the fridge when the slides are in. Surprisingly, some are not accessible!
There is no such thing as the `perfect`camper, so don`t kill yourself looking for it. But yes, there are lots to consider. We spent about 6 months researching.

[clancythecamper]

We typically look at campers that meet our needs and budget then decide if the quality is sufficient. I have learned over time which brands I would prefer (Jayco, FR) could do if I loved everything else (Dutchman, Thor) and wouldn't touch with a 10' pole no matter how pretty they are (Gulfstream). It's all about personal experience.

Obviously from my post, the quality of the construction and way they are designed work their way to the top of the list.

Happy Hunting

[BigBaron]

I'm starting with floorplans. Quality is next, but how can you tell by looking at just brochures?
I guess it does take a heck of a lot of driving and looking...
Something to do when we are in the States for a while.

[asquared]

When in the states if you can time it for an rv show that is a great way to go. Otherwise checking out interior pics from dealers websites helps. Or you can't find that on a dealer's website check out http://www.rvtrader.comfor some pics.

[wyo700]

I really did not have any idea when it came to brands. I did know that all the toy haulers in the size we wanted pretty much had the exact same floor plan just all in which one we like the best. Well the sand storm line we liked a lot and most of all the price was right and had absolutely everything I wanted. So I just kinda fell into forest river all together. But I am so glad I did.

[bodzcampers]

We looked at several and walked into the one we purchased and said "this is it". It happened to have the floor plan we liked, finish and upgrades we liked, and a great price. To me most rvs are essentially the same components and materials since the mfgrs all buy from a very limited number of sources. Is there anything other than a dometic refrigerator? Or lippert frame?

[dretired]

Originally Posted by bodzcampers

We looked at several and walked into the one we purchased and said "this is it". It happened to have the floor plan we liked, finish and upgrades we liked, and a great price. To me most rvs are essentially the same components and materials since the mfgrs all buy from a very limited number of sources. Is there anything other than a dometic refrigerator? Or lippert frame?

I had a Norcold Fridge in my cougar high country ..and it worked excellent

[dretired]

$$$ That you can afford to spend... Does your tow vehicle have the capacity to handle everything ?? Trailer...all that's packed in it..would you carry water ? anything and..everything going inside tow vehicle weighs something..including fuel ..passengers... what are your needs ?

[Oakman]

It took us two years of looking before we found the right combination of floorplan, a price we could afford, and a dealership within a 100 mile radius of our home.

[H Pyke]

We have 3 kids ( 2 boys and 1 girl ) and we seasonal camp so we were looking for a trailer that would allow the kids to have their own space and that was large enough that they could bring one of their friends with them for the weekend etc, we looked for 2 years ,we found the trailer we wanted early which was the Wildwood 408 loft but kept on looking and narrowed it down to 3 trailers which happened to be all Forrest River products. We went to every RV show in the North East and spent a enormous amount of time on the Internet. We got a great deal on our trailer and that put a end to the search. I still go on line to look, can't help myself.