First RV

[Control_Freak]

My spouse and I are looking at purchasing our first RV, he grew up camping, I did not....

We have a 2019 Chevy Silverado 6.2L with max trailering, manufacturers tow rating of 12,200 pounds and are looking At travel trailers, the two models were specifically interested in are prime time lacrosse 3311rk and outback 341rd, we both prefer the floor plan of the outback, but have heard the quality isn’t all that great but we e also heard that pretty much all brands can have significant problems.

I’ve read the horror stories and they seem to be pretty even around the board, how to I protect myself from buying a “lemon?” Or what pitfalls should I avoid. I REALLY don’t want to jump all in to be riddled with a huge headache.

Any advice for this potential newbie is welcome and appreciated!

[Jebby14]

There will be others. don't get discouraged. glad you were diligent and avoided a lemon

[SoonerWing03]

Good on you. Divine intervention settles the “too much camper for your TV” discussion. ;);)

[Control_Freak]

ChuckV1 wrote:

Control_Freak wrote:
My spouse and I are looking at purchasing our first RV, he grew up camping, I did not....

We have a 2019 Chevy Silverado 6.2L with max trailering, manufacturers tow rating of 12,200 pounds and are looking At travel trailers, the two models were specifically interested in are prime time lacrosse 3311rk and outback 341rd, we both prefer the floor plan of the outback, but have heard the quality isn’t all that great but we e also heard that pretty much all brands can have significant problems.

I’ve read the horror stories and they seem to be pretty even around the board, how to I protect myself from buying a “lemon?” Or what pitfalls should I avoid. I REALLY don’t want to jump all in to be riddled with a huge headache.

Any advice for this potential newbie is welcome and appreciated!

Do a good Pre Delivery Inspection (PDI)I can't say it enough or if they will let you take it to a good RV repair shop for inspection if buy from a private owner or hire someone to look at the trailer who knows what they are doing ....

There is allot of talk about weights but I believe more than weights you should think about what condition the trailer is in, your weight may be good but if the trailer falls down around the wheels who cares about the weight ...

PDI PDI PDI I can't say it enough

Here is a list I made up below, there are other lists all over the internet, use one so you are an informed buyer !!!!!!

http://kzfamilyforum.com/thread/1903/pdi-list

Holy cow that’s one hell of a list! Kudos and thanks to you for putting it together.

It’s funny that you talked about the importance of the PDI, we picked out the unit we wanted a couple weeks ago, worked the deal and before I said yes I told them I wanted to go look at it once more ( it had been raining buckets and I wanted to see if it leaked) low and behold there was water in it, tried to give me the song and dance about the slides, called ******** and found the seal was caught in the slide not protecting it from water. Told them it was a no and settled on a different unit, same model.

Made our appointment to PDI and pickup, found a bunch of minor stuff...missing light cover, no battery in the smoke detector, no shoreline, dirty, missing gasket in a water hookup, severely underinflated tire. Said they would take care of it while we signed paperwork. We were annoyed since they charge 1500$ for prep, but okay no big. Sign our papers, buy some parts which include a backup camera they’re going to install while we wait 90 min later they say they’re having an issue with the camera pairing and are going to try another unit, 90 more minutes they say they’ve tried everything and 5 different cameras, they can’t get them to work and it’s the factory cameras on the truck interfering. Long story short ( posted details in pet shop camping with Dobermans) the camper had an electrical issues, they tried everything to make us believe that wasn’t the case but my husband knew better. Told them to unhook it and cancelled the financing and walked away.

So no camper for us, at least for this year maybe forever after such a bad experience. It sucks but I feel good that we didn’t go through with it....I’d rather be disappointed today than sorry tomorrow.

[ChuckV1]

Control_Freak wrote:
My spouse and I are looking at purchasing our first RV, he grew up camping, I did not....

We have a 2019 Chevy Silverado 6.2L with max trailering, manufacturers tow rating of 12,200 pounds and are looking At travel trailers, the two models were specifically interested in are prime time lacrosse 3311rk and outback 341rd, we both prefer the floor plan of the outback, but have heard the quality isn’t all that great but we e also heard that pretty much all brands can have significant problems.

I’ve read the horror stories and they seem to be pretty even around the board, how to I protect myself from buying a “lemon?” Or what pitfalls should I avoid. I REALLY don’t want to jump all in to be riddled with a huge headache.

Any advice for this potential newbie is welcome and appreciated!

Do a good Pre Delivery Inspection (PDI)I can't say it enough or if they will let you take it to a good RV repair shop for inspection if buy from a private owner or hire someone to look at the trailer who knows what they are doing ....

There is allot of talk about weights but I believe more than weights you should think about what condition the trailer is in, your weight may be good but if the trailer falls down around the wheels who cares about the weight ...

PDI PDI PDI I can't say it enough

Here is a list I made up below, there are other lists all over the internet, use one so you are an informed buyer !!!!!!

http://kzfamilyforum.com/thread/1903/pdi-list

[Control_Freak]

drsteve wrote:

CFerguson wrote:
If you mean Pigeon Forge TN, realize what you are getting into. A wall-to-wall-traffic tourist trap. I advise staying outside the area and visiting early morning if you Must see it.

Gatlinburg is the same. We were there around Easter, well ahead of the peak tourist season, and it was already more crowded than we like. I can't imagine what it must be like in the summer. Never seen so many T shirt shops.

Ugh, kinda sounds like mackinaw, T-shirt, popcorn and fudge shops galore!

[Control_Freak]

philh wrote:
If you're that close to Monroe, then Cabelas has a HUGE parking lot to practice backing up with.

There’s also a Kmart that went out of business, so the parking lot is completely empty!

[drsteve]

CFerguson wrote:
If you mean Pigeon Forge TN, realize what you are getting into. A wall-to-wall-traffic tourist trap. I advise staying outside the area and visiting early morning if you Must see it.

Gatlinburg is the same. We were there around Easter, well ahead of the peak tourist season, and it was already more crowded than we like. I can't imagine what it must be like in the summer. Never seen so many T shirt shops.

[philh]

If you're that close to Monroe, then Cabelas has a HUGE parking lot to practice backing up with.

[Control_Freak]

CFerguson wrote:
If you mean Pigeon Forge TN, realize what you are getting into. A wall-to-wall-traffic tourist trap. I advise staying outside the area and visiting early morning if you Must see it.

Really?!? That’s discouraging I thought it was more of an outdoor attraction.

[CFerguson]

If you mean Pigeon Forge TN, realize what you are getting into. A wall-to-wall-traffic tourist trap. I advise staying outside the area and visiting early morning if you Must see it.

[Control_Freak]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions! We live in Monroe, so those are all great, I forgot about Sterling. Harbortown is about 15 min, with pull through so I figured that would be a good start, but Sterling would be even better because they have trails we could explore with the dogs. I’m not really into the camping just to sit outside and chill by the fire, honestly I can do that at home, I really want to be able to get out an explore with my pups. I suggested Maumee Bay but hubby turned his nose up, since he spent a lot of time there as a kid. I figure at least a few close by camps before going to far, I really want to go to Pigeon Forge but it might be too far for the first year. I’ve already been planning open parking lot for practice backing up and parking, it’s going to be a tight squeeze getting into the driveway bc we live in a caldesac ??. But we have a 24ish foot boat trailer that we get in fine so we’ll see how it goes.

[Jebby14]

congratulations on the purchased. Campt driveway is a good start. a large empty parking lot and some cones is worth the time if you aren't comfortable backing up. enjoy

[drsteve]

Matt_Colie wrote:

philh wrote:
How could I forget about fairgrounds???

Sterling State park is another nice campground

That would be easy in my book.
I think Sterling is very forgettable too. It is largely a shadeless parking lot. Half of it is FHU and the other is Eonly. The beach is OK.

There are others, but she should decide what she likes and work RVpark (now Campground) reviews to think about them.

Matt

Sterling is also notorious for the spring mayfly hatch, and for the Lake Erie algae blooms that occur later in the summer.

[Matt_Colie]

philh wrote:
How could I forget about fairgrounds???

Sterling State park is another nice campground

That would be easy in my book.
I think Sterling is very forgettable too. It is largely a shadeless parking lot. Half of it is FHU and the other is Eonly. The beach is OK.

There are others, but she should decide what she likes and work RVpark (now Campground) reviews to think about them.

Matt