Popups not as popular ?

[upflying]

I started out with a Starcraft popup in the late 70's, perfectly fine if you dont have anything else to compare it with. If you dont have it, you dont miss it.
One big plus with a popup is you can store it in your garage. Water leaks and dry rot is the big enemy on popups.

[Cowracer]

popups have seemed to price themselves out of the picture. I see very few budget PUPs (in the 6k-8k range). All you see is loaded up large box hi-walls with power lifts and all kinds of comfort items, and they are priced right where a entry level "box" camper begins.

I bet a large chunk of people who go to a dealer with PUP in mind come away with a standard RV.

tim

P.S. To put some data with my claims, Local RV dealership is advertising the following...

[rfifer]

We tent camped for several years before moving up to a pop-up. Ours was a Rockwood 277HW and we absolutely loved it. It was perfect for my wife and me and our son. One thing I learned in the process was that not all RV dealers will maintain an inventory of pop-up trailers. Some will allow you to custom order one, and a few will specialize in pop-ups. But I did not come across many who kept a large inventory in stock in the same manner as TTs.

As some health issues kicked in, ours became too much work for me to set up and take down, even with my wife's help. So last year we moved to a Grey Wolf 26 DBH. I truly love this TT, but I also miss the connection with the outdoors, especially leaving the tent flap open for fresh air at night. A TT just isn't the same.

[NJKris]

Originally Posted by Cowracer

popups have seemed to price themselves out of the picture. I see very few budget PUPs (in the 6k-8k range). All you see is loaded up large box hi-walls with power lifts and all kinds of comfort items, and they are priced right where a entry level "box" camper begins.

I bet a large chunk of people who go to a dealer with PUP in mind come away with a standard RV.

tim

P.S. To put some data with my claims, Local RV dealership is advertising the following...

Wow, that's nuts!! The Rockwood A-frame I wanted was 14-15k. I got the TT for 17.5k. The salesman did a good job changing my mind.

[drkaj1]

I downsized from a traditional 26' tandem axle TT a few years ago because I usually go by myself, and I felt silly dragging that big box behind me 1000 miles to Colorado and then back again. Now I have an A-frame (Rockwood A192HW) and love it. Lighter. Shorter. No wind resistance. And best of all, I can store it in my garage, saving monthly rent on a storage space!

Still, I do miss my full indoor bathroom, especially in the middle of the night.

[Jfkmk]

Originally Posted by NJKris

Not when you are sound asleep, lol.

The bears leave me alone when I’m sound asleep. I sound like one of them!

[Jfkmk]

Originally Posted by Cowracer

popups have seemed to price themselves out of the picture. I see very few budget PUPs (in the 6k-8k range)......

I bet a large chunk of people who go to a dealer with PUP in mind come away with a standard RV.....

You’re absolutely right. We (at least I) wanted a pop-up. Nice and small for towing, yet large when set up. My wife insisted on a bathroom, which pop-ups don’t really offer. No curtain for a wall for her! Add on the high price a pop-up commands relative to a tt, and the choice was easy.

[67L48]

Originally Posted by dtacmed

Is it just me or my location but new popups and pretty much non existent in the Charlotte area. Are they just not as popular anymore ? After going through different size trailers we are back in a popup but had a time trying to find a new one.

I can't comment on Charlotte, but they're still quite popular here in Colorado. Might be the type of camping you do, also. I only camp at public campgrounds -- usually USFS and less frequently at State Parks. These cater mostly to the 32' and under crowd, fewer amenities, and more PUPs ... albeit mostly older (5-15 years old).

I'm a huge PUP fan. We bought a used 2007 Fleetwood (Coleman) Utah in 2012 ... used it for 6 seasons ... sold it to the penny for what I bought it for. Granted, I put two new tires on it, added dual propane, and took great care of it. But, once these things hit their price floors around the $3-6K range, they depreciate little.

I noticed what Cowracer and others have noted: new PUPs are expensive to the point of competing directly with conventional trailers. There are some very nice, tiny bunkhouse travel trailers in the $13-18K range ... right where new PUPs sit. I'm not sure that was the case 10-15 years ago.

One nice thing about PUPs is that they better accommodate larger families. My Utah had 2 Kings, a slide-out dinette, and a couch that converted to a bed. A couple of times, we had me, my wife, our 4 kids, 2 inlaws, and two 80lb dogs sleeping inside. But, for a family of 6, this thing was an absolute dream ... a workhorse.

I just got tired of cranking the roof after 6 seasons and had one kid age out of camping.

[dblr]

I went looking for my first camper which I THOUGHT was going to be a popup, salesman asked what I would tow with and then started showing me self contained units that I could to with what I had. Started thinking ( which a lot here know is dangerous ) I could get a truck and a bigger camper....ended up leaving with a used Dodge truck and a brand new Terry 5th wheel, that was back in 1979

[bikendan]

"One nice thing about PUPs is that they better accommodate larger families. My Utah had 2 Kings, a slide-out dinette, and a couch that converted to a bed. A couple of times, we had me, my wife, our 4 kids, 2 inlaws, and two 80lb dogs sleeping inside. But, for a family of 6, this thing was an absolute dream ... a workhorse"

Hybrid TTs with the 3 bunk ends, like the Roo 233S, can sleep up to 10.
3 queen beds, large U-dinette and sofa bed.

[dtacmed]

Originally Posted by retireearly

We wanted one briefly when we first got into RVing until we started pricing small trailers. Pop ups are too expensive and they don't have bathrooms, which turned out to be a deal breaker. I always enjoy watching people struggle to set them up in state parks, the only place you really see them anymore

Actually ours has a bathroom and shower inside and outside shower, AC a Furnace and heated mattresses, Full size King and Queen Beds. A slide out with wrap around dinette. Set up takes less than 10 minutes. Also has an enclosed screen room. Definitely not like our previous Popups years ago. Our last camper was a 34' with 2 slide outs Oh it was nice just hated pulling it. Guess it's personal preference.

[67L48]

Originally Posted by bikendan

Hybrid TTs with the 3 bunk ends, like the Roo 233S, can sleep up to 10.
3 queen beds, large U-dinette and sofa bed.

That is indeed one of the exceptions. The vast majority of small TTs (on the order of PUP lengths -- 16-19') will sleep 4-5 people. The vast majority of PUPs will sleep at least 6. It's one of the advantages. It's not an absolute truth, though.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by 67L48

That is indeed one of the exceptions. The vast majority of small TTs (on the order of PUP lengths -- 16-19') will sleep 4-5 people. The vast majority of PUPs will sleep at least 6. It's one of the advantages. It's not an absolute truth, though.

True.

[rockfordroo]

I think the hybrids have taken a chunk out of the pop-up business. With fewer units to spread the costs over, the PUP's have gone up in price. Probably a self-perpetuating cycle.

[TitanMike]

It would appear to me that there are a lot of lighter weight regular TT's out there now so people with smaller vehicles have more options.

My neighbor has a real nice, small and light weight, TT that he tows with an older "Trailblazer". In years past I would see vehicles that size towing pop-ups.

I've seen a lot of pop-ups in my travels but most of them tend to disappear from the campgrounds as the temps go down.

[NXR]

Our 2003 Jayco Qwest 10B cost about $7,000 new and had a propane stove, a 3-way fridge/freezer of about two cubic feet, a furnace, air conditioner, electric brakes, and slept seven. The furnace kept it warm down into the 40’s but it was on as much as it was off. There was a sink with a five gallon tank and a little porta-potty in a cabinet that we never used. We pulled it with an original Escape because it only weighed 1,800 pounds. We used it a lot with two adults, three kids, and a large dog. Fun times for sure.

Ray

[Reverse_snowbird]

Originally Posted by dtacmed

Actually ours has a bathroom and shower inside and outside shower, AC a Furnace and heated mattresses, Full size King and Queen Beds. A slide out with wrap around dinette. Set up takes less than 10 minutes. Also has an enclosed screen room. Definitely not like our previous Popups years ago. Our last camper was a 34' with 2 slide outs Oh it was nice just hated pulling it. Guess it's personal preference.

WOW! That's a beautiful rig. Certainly not what I think of as a popup.
It was well worth you looking til you found it.

[rockfossilman]

Originally Posted by dtacmed

Is it just me or my location but new popups and pretty much non existent in the Charlotte area. Are they just not as popular anymore ? After going through different size trailers we are back in a popup but had a time trying to find a new one.

We loved our Apache popup that was our first trailer in the early 90's. We bought it used for a few hundred $. DW and now enjoy a 30-foot Rockwood with 2 slideouts. We have often said, "How did we travel the whole way from PA to Yellowstone and back with four full-size teenage boys in our beloved Apache? Where did we put everything?" I guess we packed more efficiently!😂 By the way, we did the whole trip for under $1700.

[CincyGus]

Originally Posted by flyflotrtim

I wonder if a part of it might be that over the years there seems to be an increasing number of mini lightwood hard sides that can be pulled with smaller Tow Vehicles.

X2

I think this is a big part of it. When I had a popup about 12 years ago, there were very few Teardrops and A frame's. Now you see them everytime you go camping so I believe they have cut into the popup sales some. Plus there are a lot of hybrids and even small travel trailers that are not much more than a new popup in price.

New popups can go $8k and up for some of the larger Jayco's. You can get into a new 20' travel trailer for $10k.

Don't get me wrong, I loved my popup as much as any camper I've ever owned. The tent atmosphere when sleeping, the fresh breeze blowing through the camper on a nice 65-70 degree night. The towing it with a half ton truck and not even feeling like you were towing anything!

I just think it's a sign of the competition, evolution of options available and prices being very close for some to make different decisions than they used to.

[nomad297]

Maybe it’s just because so many people have popup blockers on their web browsers these days, so they just don’t know that this type of RV exists.

Bruce