Dirty Frank
Well-known member
Just wow.
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Fancy a RV?
- Thread starter Dirty Frank
- Start date
Most mainstream RV's are absolute junk now. 20-30% depreciation on many towables inside the first year is common. 50-70% after 4-8 years is also common depending on the make and model. The quality is absolute and total garbage, warranties are almost impossible to meaningfully claim on as dealers will sit on repairs for months in some cases (burning away your camping season), and they all have the longevity of a carboard life raft in an Atlantic winter storm.
All that aside, a huge majority of the dealers that sell them are scummy, putting profit before anything else, even safety in many cases. Listening to that video as soon as I heard "camping world", I knew it was going pear shaped. They're notoriously terrible.
There ARE quality RV's out there, but they are not cheap. And people want cheap. So they buy garbage from garbage dealers.
If I had a dollar for everytime people looked at our current tiny RV and their jaw hit the dirt when I told them how much they sell for, well, it would take us on some nice trips. But it's an insanely high quality RV that will still be around in 25-30+ years whereas most mainstream RV junk will either be rotting away in a field somewhere at that age, or will already be landfill.
All that aside, a huge majority of the dealers that sell them are scummy, putting profit before anything else, even safety in many cases. Listening to that video as soon as I heard "camping world", I knew it was going pear shaped. They're notoriously terrible.
There ARE quality RV's out there, but they are not cheap. And people want cheap. So they buy garbage from garbage dealers.
If I had a dollar for everytime people looked at our current tiny RV and their jaw hit the dirt when I told them how much they sell for, well, it would take us on some nice trips. But it's an insanely high quality RV that will still be around in 25-30+ years whereas most mainstream RV junk will either be rotting away in a field somewhere at that age, or will already be landfill.
Indeed. We're headed to the London RV show tomorrow. We have a 98 Roadtrek that we absolutely love. I joked that maybe at the show we would see something and want to upgrade. The Squeeze was having none of that. She immediately started in on how the FB group for newer RT owners was full of people complaining about various problems.
New is always new. It's not always better.
New is always new. It's not always better.
Yeah, the RV industry in North America needs a total flush and reset, but unfortunately as long as people keep buying ****, the factories will produce **** and push it out the door for consumers to snap up.
The industry was in a massive bubble during Covid and is now collapsing as was expected, but even when it rebounds in 3-4 years the manufacturers will be still pushing out the same absolute trash.
There was grumbles that dealers were pushing back against the **** they were being sent to sell, but yeah, years later, same ****, dealers still selling it.
There was a fifth wheel rv with obvious water damage and bulging walls on someone's front lawn that I drove past frequently. Started at 5000, 2000, 1000 and got to free if you haul it away. A few weeks later there was a suspiciously similar shaped trailer frame where the garbage rv had been sitting. They couldn't even give it away.
People strip them down to the frame thinking that it might be worth something, or they can use it to build a utility trailer or something, only to discover that even the frames are flimsy pieces of junk.
AllistonGT
Well-known member
We are looking at getting a class b once we retire in the next 3 - 4 years. Pull the bike behind and head south for a month during the winter. More local camping during the warmer months. We tent camped for over 30 years but I'm done with sleeping on the ground. Good RV's aren't cheap. My research has led us to a Pleasureway Ontour 2.2. Built in Canada on Ford Transit chassis. No one pays MSRP for new.
Quality Class b's seem to hold value better than most.
Quality Class b's seem to hold value better than most.
Super happy with our RoadTrek (class B). Bought it for exactly the same reasons as you (but I still sleep in a tent when moto camping with the guys). We bought ours just before covid so it wasn't priced goofy.
I've heard the horror stories about toy haulers through the roadrace community. I sleep in my van at the track. Vans that have been built up seem better than the RV trailers, at least you don't have the issues with roof and seams leaking etc., but of course there is less space to work with. A few have built out their cargo trailers themselves.
The van is also made mostly of metal instead of glorified cardboard.
If just used for track, something like AllistonGT is looking at could probably take a bike up the middle for transport but it would need to be removed for the RV to be useful. Obviously there would need to be some reconfiguration of the bed to let the bike past.
And this is why I did mine myself (9 years ago). I built a platform across the van behind the seats out of wood, high enough so that the front wheel of a motorcycle will go underneath it, and put a foam mattress on top. Done. Not fancy but it works. Generator, tires, toolbox, camping stove, folding table go underneath the platform. Leathers, helmet, suitcase with clothes for the weekend go on top while travelling. Folding canopy, chairs, stands, etc go alongside the bike in the back. Mine isn't even a high-roof model. If you want something for two (or more) people, you would have to start with a longer one which also means high roof. Friend of mine who saw what I did, did just that. He did a much fancier job than I did.
You'll never get a motorcycle inside with any of the pre-built ones unless they're specially designed for it. Their floor plans always tie up too much of the available space to do that.
Here's some inspiration ...
Not exactly a small vehicle ...
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Any trailer built with anything other than fibreglass clamshell construction is going to leak. It's absolutely, positively inevitable.
There's a reason that there's still a ton of vintage Bolers and Trillium trailers from the 70's and 80's still on the road and in use today, it's because not only were they highly impenetrable to water, even if some got in around windows, there wasn't a traditional sticks-and-twigs wooden frame to rot to pieces.
The modern day equivalents of these trailer are things like the Casita, Oliver, Bigfoot, Helio/Evo, and a few others.
None of which are cheap.
But you'll see some of the same construction styles from the 70's that means that, just like the 1975 Boler pictured above that are now at or over 50 years old, these other quality modern options will also be around at 50 years of age.
Our stick and twig trailer is approaching 17 years no leaks yet aluminum siding not laminated sides and I had the roof rubber coated. It also lives inside when not in use but spent every summer outside for the first 10 years.
Sent from the future
A friend took a used Dodge high roof conversion to a mechanic for a safety and it failed as soon as the mechanic saw the rusted out frame cross member. What do you expect for $2500?
Friend was planning to use it to tow a drag car on a trailer for weekend meets.
The mechanic didn’t like the idea. The long rear overhang gave the trailer too much leverage if it became necessary to brake hard in a turn.
The front end on the doge vans is very rust prone they can look great outside but the subframe rots I had a 01 van like Timtunes and the subframe rotted and collapsed leaving the suspension no longer attached. Just something to look at very carefully on those vans.
Sent from the future
AllistonGT
Well-known member
Assuming you checked out the Pleasureways at the show? Your thoughts?
I'm going to the RV show at the international Centre at the end of the month.
Have you owned it since new? Don't get me wrong, if an owner is fastidious with staying 110% on top of maintenance, it's possible to keep things watertight, but that level of maintenance is hard to accomplish, especially if the trailer moves a lot and there's constant flexing. Unfortunately the reality is the way they build most trailers there's thousands of screw holes in areas subject to water intrusion, and all they use to stop that water intrusion is butyl, dicor, and silicone which over time cracks and fails, often in places where it can't even be replaced like under screw rails and such.
And then you get absolute stupidity like this where there's major joints where water will literally flow in (sometimes / often unseen), relying on giant pools of sealant which never last the life of the unit.
This is exactly where our 5th wheel leaked, right on the nose - woke up one morning to wet pillows in bed only to find out a serious leak had started overnight after this gong-show of a seal along the nose cone had apparently failed on our trip to the campground the day before and then it rained all night. Glad we found it fast at least.
Unfortunately, there's so many other areas that are just completely stupidly designed, like this.
Rubber roof up against the side rails with a lower height on the roof than the rails themselves, so water literally pools in these sorts of places, and once that sealant dries out in the sun and cracks, boom, water intrusion.
Another good example of just plain dumb roof and seal design.
Anyhow, you have lucked out, and storing inside out of the UV and everything has certainly contributed to things, but keep on top of that maintenance for sure.
Some of those Dodge camper conversions with the rear extensions had crazy long overhangs, indeed....and yes, certainly not ideal for towing.
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