Not sure I would buy other peoples problems buying used.
Jayco has 2 year warranty and yes that warranty is useless unless a Jayco dealer is very close. I saved a lot by driving 1000 miles and suffer on warranty service. If I had it to do over again I would have brought that issue up and squeezed the dealer more on price. However, think about what you are paying for a TT. Less than $15,000 for a TT about 19 ft loaded with all of the extras. My repairs that were denied cost me $500. I am still way ahead on what I saved on my TT and I would buy again from the same dealer 1000 miles away. So far I am fairly happy with Jayco although I am sure there are many good brands out there. Since you are mechanically inclined you can fix many of the little things that go wrong.
I think it is tough building a TT, making a profit, shipping it to a dealer, who also has to make a profit and still selling them for the prices they are getting.
Bottom line: Squeeze the dealer on price because of poor manufacturer warranty service and fix as much as you can yourself.
I was in construction also for 30 yrs. Retired fron the carpenters union 3-1/2 yrs ago. I know exactly what your talking about. Our 1st TT (new) was a mess. Looked good everywhere untill we started doing some things to it and realised the construction was terrible. Our 2nd (also new) is head and shoulders above the 1st. But still had some issues. Although nothing I can't fix my self easier than taking it to the dealer. It's really a shame when you buy something that lists for $30,000 and the quality is sub par. You buy a $30,000 car and you don't go around fixing little things on it. I guess when people stop buying RV's because they are built with less quality then maybe the manufactures will build better RV's. Won't happen, but sounds good.
donn0128 wrote: If you are scared, then DON'T buy. Get off the new kick and buy used. Save the extra cash and depreciation for repairs and go camping. Unless you are totally excited to make a purchase it is crazy to jump into it.
X10 Buying new is for folks with too much money on their hands. Get it wrong the first time as many do and you will eat 40 to 50 percent when you trade for something more to your liking. We looked at new to find what we really wanted and then found it on the used market. Our 22' 2008 Pioneer Spirit was as new (used 4 times with less than 3,000 miles). We bought for 50 cents on the new dollar and have had zero problems in 2 years and 12,000 miles. Came with a nice Reese WDH w/anti sway, sewer/water hoses etc. Good Luck!
Personally, I would be less concerned with the make of RV, and more concerned with the reputation of the dealer. All brands of RV have their lemons, and you could get one in even the highest priced TT with the best record. However, it's how the dealer handles the warranty issues that's important. Contact the Better Business Bureau, check through this forum for issues the dealer may have had, go to RVservicereviews.com and see if it's listed, etc. And don't buy from a dealer that's hundreds of miles away just to save a few bucks on the purchase price, or you will find yourself driving that far every time you have a problem. Finally, if you're actually scared, not just the normal level of apprehension you get when you buy something expensive, then DON'T buy it. Wait until you KNOW that you're doing the right thing. Yes you can buy a used one, but are you getting one with the bugs removed, or are you buying someone else's grief? Many times, relatively new rigs going on the market are there because of the problems the owner had with it. And how do you know?
Why would the dealer discount because the seller can't use the manufacturer's warranty? The warranty money generally goes to the manufacturer. Is the manufacturer going to let a dealer sell a unit with no warranty?
I don't agree with those that say you have to settle for poor quality. Just like in your trade there are the good and the bad. We watch Holmes on Homes and believe me, a lot of contractors do a poor job.
If I were you, I wouldn;t buy new at all, find a low milage one so if there are issues you will have the money to fix it. If you can find the original owner, call and talke to them and ask if the rig had any issues, and how many miles are on the tires etc. Sometimes you can find their name in the Owners Manual paperwork
I bought new and I am glad that I did. All the things that are important to me have never been used by someone else. I don't have to worry about how well it was taken care of by a previous owner.
I wish the construction was better - screws used instead of staples, for instance.
But, my daughter's mobile home has the same issues. I can compare the construction in her home to my son's 100 year old house or my 1940's built house and see a world of difference in the construction. But when I compare her 5 year old mobile home to my TT, there are a lot of similarities.
Laura, Rodney, and Elfie the Schnoodle
2012 Dutchmen 814RB; 2011 Dodge 1500 Hemi; 2012 Sun Dolphin Sportsman; 2003 Tracker Targa V-18
You will ALWAYS hear a lot more from folks who have lots of problems than from folks where everything works as it should. Obviously some BRANDS may have more problems than others but as for the components (third party manufacturer) there should be little difference from brand to brand as they are all made by the same folks and merely INSTALLED in the RV.
For what it's worth, we had a single warranty concern during the two year factory warranty with our Rockwood and it WOULD have cost around $35.00 had it not been a warranty issue. We towed the trailer over 50,000 towing miles before we had our first incident that cost more than mere pocket change. Had to replace the converter at a cost of around 350.00, while on our way home from Alaska. I'm sure there are MANY others who have had good experiences in buying trailers.
By the way, it would APPEAR you are selecting your trailer based on the floor plan or visual inspection which is NOT a good way when you're concerned with reliability and trouble free operation. Spend some time and research (not from the salesman) the history of any brand you're interested in. Not in any way knocking your selection but this would be my advice to ANYONE selecting any brand. Remember you can learn to love a LOT of different minor variations in floor plan but it's very DIFFICULT to love an RV that doesn't perform as you expect it to.
Good luck / Skip
2011 F-150 HD Ecoboost 3.5 V6. 2550 payload, 17,100 GCVWR - 2004 F-150 HD (Traded after 80,000 towing miles) 2007 Rockwood 8314SS 34' travel trailer
US Govt survey shows three out of four people make up 75% of the total population
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