Opinions on Travel Trailer Manufacturers

I am currently on my third trailer. I have upgraded and upgraded. One area that is overlooked is resale. Travel trailers have terrible resale. As to quality, after my last trailer, I decided to spend the money. I have a 25' Airstream and I love it. Yes very pricey but if you are going to really use the trailer, get one that will last for years. Also, they hold there value much better then any other trailer. Also, the construction can not be beat.
 
Every builder has their fans and their detractors. I have had relatively good luck with my first two trailers and a ton of problems with my current one. The only thing that keeps me in my current trailer is the manufacturers service people, they have helped me with several problems that they were not obligated to.
Our dealer service was laughable and they have lost me as a customer forever. Our next unit will be bought based on price only and I will likely drive a distance to get it.
If you really want to be a hardcore shopper you could make the trip to Northern Indiana and tour some of the factories. Even if you dont see your exact model it does give you a chance to see the bones of the trailer in a way the dealer will never be able to show you.
 
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I suggest you can visit some active and reputable forums like RV.net, RV2, RVnetwork to read reviews from RV owners there or even contact the company’s customer service to see how professional they are in handling customers. Airstream and Jayco are my favorite manufacturers that produce best travel trailers. Here is a good article from an outdoor blog I read daily, it shows best travel trailer brands in the market and also RV brands to avoid. Hope it can help!!!
 
We have had a Keystone Cougar for 14 years. It has served us well. It has the double bunks in the back but we don't need them anymore because the kids are adults now and they would not fit anyway! We are planning on selling in the next 3 months. I eventually want to get another that fits our needs now. I don't want to jump at it and I also want to make sure we have a cover to park it under "before" we buy it! The sun is so hard them. We bought a cover for our last one but it messed our stickers up because of the wind and the cover (i guess) slapping against the trailer. So this time, an actual cover.

My parent's are on their second RV but are pretty new to RVing still. They didn't ask our opinion on either otherwise the three things I would have told them:
1) go a little bit more than what you think you exactly want. You will eventually wish you had got a little bigger, little wider or wish for a couple extras. The depreciation on these is so much that you are better paying a little more to get more of what you want initially. (My parent's got an Rpod and figured out that 2 people and 3 dogs got pretty old in that little thing after only 1 year)
2) like the dealership A LOT that you will take it to be serviced under warranty and out of warranty. Look up their ratings and people's opinions. The one that services my mom and dad is 1 hour away and they keep their trailer for soooooo long for everything they take it in for. They also tell my dad things that are wrong and give him the run around. My dad only takes it in for big things now that are under warranty.
3) go to a couple RV shows. So much information under one roof.

I enjoy RVing so much but it is not cheap! It was a way for us to go to Disney many times with our 4 kids though. We bought ours at a RV show. We got it for 24K and it was priced around 32K. Fort Wilderness was so reasonable back then so we went about once per year for a long time. We went in 2005 on a military discount and got our RV spot for $23/night. We stayed at the Fort for 10 nights for $230!
 


We purchased our first travel trailer in February of 2018. We are still learning the ins and outs of it all.

We enjoy it a lot. We like being able to sleep in our own beds with our own bedding, have our own restroom with our own bath linens, and to cook our own food. We find that it allows us to take 3-6 vacations per year for what it would cost us for one vacation in a hotel and eating out every day.

We bought an entry-level Jayco travel trailer and paid cash. I did quite a bit of homework before purchasing, and felt that our trailer, in spite of its lack of the bells and whistles, was built fairly well for a trailer in its price range. The stick-and-tin campers aren't the prettiest or the lightest, but they have been around for quite sometime. If we can keep the frame from getting wet, I think we're good.

We have had at least one warranty item after each trip. The dealer has been excellent at repairing. They do not argue about it, try and blame us, or take six weeks. We find that they make note of it, remind us that it is under warranty, and they repair it in a timely manner (usually within a week or two).

The best thing you can do is start off with RV shows. There isn't a lot of high-pressure selling there, and you can ask questions and look at different models. Imagine how you will use it and consider what your goal is with this purchase. My parents have a fifth wheel that looks to me like a DVC suite without the Mickey theming. They have a king size bed, lots of storage, a nice island kitchen with a residential refrigerator, an electric fireplace, a tv that can recess behind the fireplace for storage, and recliners. Their unit has three slides. They enjoy their fifth wheel; it works well for them because they spend a lot of time in it.
We have a 29' stick-and-tin with no slides. We have an island queen, a set of full-ish size bunks in the back, a sofa that isn't the most comfortable in the world, a comfortable booth dinette, and what feels like the tiniest bathroom in the world. When we are all in it, it is crowded. We joke that we can't fit a water moccasin in it with us if he paid the campsite fees. But it works well for us. First of all, it was in our budget. And our truck can safely tow it (and that is something else you will need to check into. Make sure you have a vehicle that can safely tow what you purchase since this is a safety issue). It has what we need to sleep comfortably at night, the air conditioner works well, we can get cleaned up, fix our meals (or eat out if we want, but we usually make home food), and then we spend most of our time outside of the camper. It works for us.

AS you can see, my parents and I have very different campers at very different price ranges. We are both happy. I do not think my parents would like mine, and not only is their unit out of our price range at this time, but I think I would be intimidated by all the gadgets and the size of their unit.

Join irv2, rv.net, and some other message boards and some of the facebook groups. They are incredibly helpful as you prepare to buy and as you start your adventures.

Take your time. Consider all your variables. Inspect your unit well before you hand over a check. And happy trails.
 
... I've seen on past threads that many really like their Jayco. Does anyone own a model by Forest River? Thanks for your time and i look forward to getting to know everyone on the boards!

Love4Villains, Back in the "day", Jayco was a premier builder of TT's and Pop-ups". Not so much anymore. The fact of the matter is, there is only a handful of companies that own all of the RV brands. Jayco is owned by Thor as of about 2 years ago. We have a 2017 Jayco FW. The unit has had a few problems, mostly quality control problems that I was able to fix. If you're going to get an RV, hopefully you are mechanically inclined and can do minor repairs yourself. It really doesn't matter what brand you buy, they are all run through the building process expeditiously and with little quality control. Don't get me wrong, we love our Jayco.

And, as another poster said, make sure your tow vehicle is up to the task. Do not rely on the sales person to tell you that you have enough tow vehicle. Do some research through various forums concerning your tow vehicle and the RV you choose.
 

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