Well we finally made our decision. It's the 2010 Forest River Rockwood Signature Ultra Light Travel Trailer 8315BSS that we decided on with saddle interior and cherry wood cabinets along with the stainless steel appliance package. It comes with electric jacks and most all of the other horns and whistles that's offered. We have 3 places that we're dealing with to see who finally comes up with the best price between RV Direct, RV Wholesalers and Crown RV Center. So far RV Wholesalers has come back this afternoon with the best offer at $22,263 vs RV Direct at $22,563. Crown is a local RV dealer and price wise they can't compete but they do have a new 2010 Rockwood Windjammer they got from a bank due to another dealer that went out of business with basically the same floor plan that they are to give us a price on Monday. I'd rather buy from a local dealer but the $4,000 or so difference in price will pay for a lot of repairs if I can't find anyone to do warranty work.
Thanks again for your responses they've been very helpful.
I have owned both, my current Jayco Jay Flight 19BH and a Forest River Rockwood 2290 Pop Up.
Unfortunately, both have had many many problems. I would definitely say that quality control is none existant on both.
The difference, which it makes makes or breaks a product, in the customer support.
Forest River offered none. Essentially, after you bought it, you're on your own. If you do have a warranty issue, be prepared to go through a lot of hassle. Both dealers I was using stated with Forest River, they had to keep the vehicle while parts were on order, so the repair could be done. This caused the Rockwood in be in the shop about 2 months one time. I'm guessing if I didn't return for the completed repair, Forest River wouldn't refund the part cost or their labor cost. With both the Starcraft Pop Up and the Jayco, I can use my trailer when parts are on order without the camper being held hostage. The Starcraft dealer was the same dealer I had for the Rockwood. They were the ones that stated to me how bad Forest River was with warranty work compared to Starcraft and Keystone. Also, if you run into a bad dealer service repair shop, good luck. Forest River will do nothing to help you out. Jayco on the other hand, wants to make sure you're happy with their product. I also had a part that was sent back to Forest River for them to repair. It came back more damaged then it went in, and then I had to fight with them to repair it right! I will never buy another Forest River Piece of Garbage again!!
Jaycos customer support has been the best I've seen from any company, even none RV related. They have made getting my trailer in the condition it should be in, a personal matter. They have worked with me personally to make sure I was happy with the repairs and made any correction that were needed. They had to take over repairs that an incompetent dealer struggled with. Starcraft also did this as both are excellent companies. Side note: As of now, the people of Starcraft are most gone as the plant was shutdown from the economy. Jayco owns Starcraft, but Starcraft was allowed to operate independantly and as a competitor to Jayco. As of now, Jayco has picked up all production of Starcraft campers as they are clones of Jayco models. Forest River on the other hand made ownership a nightmare with their refusal to back up their product and refuse to help after dealing with one of their incompetent "AUTHORIZED" dealer repair shops!
I'd buy a Jayco again but never ever, a Forest River piece of garbage!
HappyTrails2U2 wrote: Well we finally made our decision. It's the 2010 Forest River Rockwood Signature Ultra Light Travel Trailer 8315BSS that we decided on with saddle interior and cherry wood cabinets along with the stainless steel appliance package. It comes with electric jacks and most all of the other horns and whistles that's offered. We have 3 places that we're dealing with to see who finally comes up with the best price between RV Direct, RV Wholesalers and Crown RV Center. So far RV Wholesalers has come back this afternoon with the best offer at $22,263 vs RV Direct at $22,563. Crown is a local RV dealer and price wise they can't compete but they do have a new 2010 Rockwood Windjammer they got from a bank due to another dealer that went out of business with basically the same floor plan that they are to give us a price on Monday. I'd rather buy from a local dealer but the $4,000 or so difference in price will pay for a lot of repairs if I can't find anyone to do warranty work.
Thanks again for your responses they've been very helpful.
Greg
If you buy from a wholesalers that not within a drive to fix warranty repairs, you may have a hard time.
All dealerships in our area will not do warranty repairs on RVs not purchased from them. I know, I have gone through this. That 2nd Forest River dealer (that I didn't purchase my camper from) did my warranty work after a family friend who worked there, talked to the service manager. Didn't realize that family friend worked there until I needed them to do my warranty repairs.
Forest River will not help in any matter if you need a shop to do the work. They could care less after you spend your money. So before you buy from a wholesaler, make sure you can find a service repair shop to do warranty repairs, that's within driving distance. You sure wouldn't want to find out that all warranty repairs would come out of your own pocket. And there will be a lot from my experiences!
Good luck in you adventure. Hope it all comes out in your favor.
Looks like I'll just have to accept the fact that there will be no warranty work done on my trailer and I'll use the $4000 that I save up front and pay for my own warranty work. Is there anyone here that's ever had over $4,000 worth of warranty work done to their trailer?
But then on second thought it's starting to sound like I probably just need to take the hint and give up on the idea of buying any kind of trailer period! It sounds like no matter what brand you buy they're nothing but junk made by crooked manufactures that won't stand behind their products and sold by people that are not much better.
I'll have to drive further to work but renting an apartment is starting to sound better all the time. I hate getting ripped off and at my age it's not worth the hassle of getting upset with my high blood pressure. I don't take getting ripped off very well and I can read the writing on the wall this is not going to be a very good experience.
Thanks again I really am glad I checked here first before making my decision.
Greg
* This post was
edited 11/15/09 02:02pm by HappyTrails2U2 *
I have a friend who bought a heartland Northtrail through LakeshoreRV (another online retailer), he has had NO issues getting warranty work done locally through a local inspendent RV shop.
If you contact the manufacturer and get prior authorization your usually going to have no issues getting a local independent shop to work on your rig.
HappyTrails2U2 wrote: Looks like I'll just have to accept the fact that there will be no warranty work done on my trailer and I'll use the $4000 that I save up front and pay for my own warranty work. Is there anyone here that's ever had over $4,000 worth of warranty work done to their trailer?
But then on second thought it's starting to sound like I probably just need to take the hint and give up on the idea of buying any kind of trailer period! It sounds like no matter what brand you buy they're nothing but junk made by crooked manufactures that won't stand behind their products and sold by people that are not much better.
I'll have to drive further to work but renting an apartment is starting to sound better all the time. I hate getting ripped off and at my age it's not worth the hassle of getting upset with my high blood pressure. I don't take getting ripped off very well and I can read the writing on the wall this is not going to be a very good experience.
Thanks again I really am glad I checked here first before making my decision.
Greg
Don`t give up so quickly! Many RV`s never ever need warranty service. We hear about all the problem cases but there are thousands and thousands without all these nightmarish problems and warranty scenarios. If they were all that bad, no one would ever get time to go camping, their rigs would always be in the shop. They really are not all junk. Last time I went a few weeks ago campground was full of happy campers. So take a deep breath and continue on your quest. Good luck.
HappyTrails2U2 wrote: Looks like I'll just have to accept the fact that there will be no warranty work done on my trailer and I'll use the $4000 that I save up front and pay for my own warranty work. Is there anyone here that's ever had over $4,000 worth of warranty work done to their trailer?
But then on second thought it's starting to sound like I probably just need to take the hint and give up on the idea of buying any kind of trailer period! It sounds like no matter what brand you buy they're nothing but junk made by crooked manufactures that won't stand behind their products and sold by people that are not much better.
I'll have to drive further to work but renting an apartment is starting to sound better all the time. I hate getting ripped off and at my age it's not worth the hassle of getting upset with my high blood pressure. I don't take getting ripped off very well and I can read the writing on the wall this is not going to be a very good experience.
Thanks again I really am glad I checked here first before making my decision.
Greg
"IF" you can find a reasonably priced trailer with the floorplan you want, that is in working condition with 'no leaks', you may be better going with used.
Let the first owner do all the warranty work and deal with the hassles. Just make sure you do a completely inspection of everything and make sure it's working correctly. If you can find a fair priced used trailer in the floorplan you like, you'll likely come out ahead.
Unfortunately in the Chicago area, everyone has huge trailers that usually don't travel, just sit permanently in a park. So I could never locate a used trailer in good condition, at a fair price, that had a floorplan that I liked. Usually all used campers were damaged from water leaks or were priced more than what I could buy new.
So while I didn't expect to have such problem, I had many problems with the Jayco and Forest River. The Starcraft was the best but then again, that's probably why they were shut down. They simply put more of their profit back into the unit so it could have better build quality.
While I said I'd buy another Jayco, I really think I'd just buy a Springbar tent or Kodiak canvas tent instead. RVs are constant maintanence and trouble from what I've experienced. Jayco and Starcraft are the only makers I'd trust to buy from because Forest River isn't the only maker I've heard customer support/warranty horror stories from other members here.
BUT you do have to consider that these RVs are dirt cheap in comparison. Think of how much a economy car is. They are usually just under $20,000. And they don't even have the best build quality. Most trucks are between $29,000 and $39,000 but you can't live out of them, or even take a shower or go to the bathroom in them. To get the quality that we associate with automobiles, I think you'd start in the $30,000+ range. Since I wouldn't spend that much money on a TOY, it is either getting the inexpensive poorly made campers to work, or just go back to tenting.
I think I've had more fun camping in my tents than in the RVs because there was nothing to break in a tent. Unfortunately, using a tent for a vacation spot to do other things besides camping, doesn't always mean comfort. That's where the RV comes in, for extended stays while vacationing tourist attractions. I thought about just staying in hotels or cabins, but many places don't have either that are close. If they are even offered in an area, they are usually very VERY expensive for the close location next to the tourist spots.
Since the Financee wont' tent camp and we use the camper to vacation in, I'm going to keep fighting to use it and hopefully the fight will end very soon.
As far as $4000 warranty work done, I don't really know but I'd have to say pretty darn close with the Jayco. Hek even the tarp bunkends on the Starcraft Pop Up were replaced due to leaks, so that could had been over $1000. Yep, my financee has seen the issues with the Starcraft and the Jayco and just can't believe how they break ( or leak with the Starcraft Pop Up). So I see needed warranty repairs being the norm. I have to think that people that don't need any, are the minority with exceptional good luck. I've owned 3 new campers and all needed warranty work.
BTW, I had structural problems with the Forest River. Since they put up such a fight for other things, I just traded the headache away. It "may" have needed 'more' frame repairs or replacement which would be very expensive. I had a lot of damage to cabinets and linolium. I feel this all was caused by floor flexing or expanding and contracting. That could only happen if it didn't have adequate framing. I had one frame cross member repaired under the warranty. It was so weak it bent under the force of misplaced factory screw.
It was one repair after the other with the Rockwod, and the real problem never did get fixed, that was causing the issues. Like I said, I have to think the frame but try reasoning that with a manufacturer. They'd likely just drag you on and wear you down until the warranty was over. So this could had been well over $4000 if I could had gotten the real problem cause repaired.
Now if you went with a Jayco, I can say from experience that they will not let you down. They will fix it right or keep at it until YOU ARE HAPPY. I can't say how happy I am with the people at Jayco. I believe any RV will need repairs but Jayco will make it right when you have it repaired, just beware of dealers. I have had 3 dealers and I think a 11 year old could do better repairs. Stay away from dealer repair shops and try to go to the factory or a none dealer, authorized 'RV Specialist' repair shop.
Good luck and have a good one.
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BTW, RV Direct does carry Jayco. They were only about $1200 more than what my wholesaler dealer charged me.
Now remember to be a Jayco dealership in good standing, they must do warranty repairs on campers that weren't purchased from them. Now my local dealer has broken this policy and as far as I know, is in poor standing with Jayco. However, there are usually at least 2 Jayco dealership within 2 hours so you should be able to find one.
So if you can deal with getting repairs, I think Jayco would be a 'safe' way to go.
I believe the Eagle line has that same floorplan even though I don't care for laminated fiberglass wall construction. I believe in the tried and true stick and tin that kept my Dad's Shasta going for 30 years until he gave it to Kars for Kids.
Jayco Eagle 322FKS
It should be $25,100 plus delivery at 70% of MSRP. I think this was the percentage that RV Direct quoted me on the 19BH.
OK guys here's the latest. I took somebody's advice here to take a deep breath and then with a day of rest and not thinking about a TT for a while I began doing some more research and finally ordered a Rockwood Signature Ultra Lite 8315BSS late this afternoon. I ordered from RV Wholesalers in Lake View, OH. They beat RV Direct's prices. I like to add that Kelly the salesman there is a really nice guy with a lot of patients and very knowledgeable about trailers and was very helpful.
Before I ordered the trailer I wanted to confirm what the RV Wholesalers managers were telling Kelly the salesman about the delivery date being on Dec. the 18th and if it could actually be met. I'm going to be needing a place to live in MS before the end of the year and I don't want to have to pay to live in a motel while I'm waiting on a trailer to be delivered. I searched around on line and found the telephone number to Forest River, the manufacture, and left a message for the manager to call me back. He actually returned my call which surprised me! I asked him if they could actually get it built in time to have it delivered by Dec. the 18th with the options that I was wanting on it. He said they could do better than that because he had one on the assembly line today that had a few different options than what I was wanting and that they'd make changes on it and it would be ready to be delivered to RV Wholesalers before Dec. the 4th. Now that gave me a lot of confidence in the people at Forest River. They didn't have to call me back and they could just as easily not went to any extra trouble to change out any options. That's great and the way it should be done! I like these guys already.
And not all of these local dealers are bad guys either I found out today. I called a place in Jackson, MS called Turning Wheel RV Center to see if they'd do warranty work on a Rockwood that they didn't sell. I told the guy there named Ron my story about being afraid to buy a TT out of state because I'd heard that I'd probably be on my own once I bought one from another dealer and not able to get any warranty work done on it. He said they'd be more than happy to do any work I needed done on my trailer no matter where I bought it at and he said we won't put you on the back of the list or anything like that either. He said they want the business no matter who's it is or what kind it is. Now that's the kind of place I like. Sounds like my Grandpa and my Dad's philosophy when they were in business many years ago. They'd bend over back wards and take a loss if they had to in order to get a new customer or keep an old one coming back. Turning Wheel didn't sell Rockwoods or I would have priced one from them to.
Well today has been a great day it made up for all my frustrations the past couple of weeks and restored my faith in RV manufactures and dealers. Hopefully I'll continue to have good luck with these guys.
And now one more time...thanks again guys for all of your suggestions. Now you gotta put up with me for the next few years asking dumb questions. :-)
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Unfortunately, using a tent for a vacation spot to do other things besides camping, doesn't always mean comfort. That's where the RV comes in, for extended stays while vacationing tourist attractions. I thought about just staying in hotels or cabins, but many places don't have either that are close. If they are even offered in an area, they are usually very VERY expensive for the close location next to the tourist spots.
