New Travel Trailer Purchase - Any makers to stick with?

Looking at a new travel trailer.  21' bunk house.

I am considering buying new from another state and having it delivered as the pricing in other states looks better. 
Are there any makers that have more problems than others?  Or perhaps a reviews web site? 

One I am considering comes from a dealer that offers a lifetime warrantee.  The manufacturer has been around 50 yrs. 

My use is just as weekend/vacation lodging while my vacation home is being constructed.  I'll sell it or keep for guests when my home is finished sometime in the spring or summer. 

I found 2 review sites.  One has good reviews and one has HORRIBLE reviews.  Any thoughts? 

No matter the make, if you are going to buy it new, then sell it next year you are gonna lose a ton of money if that is important to you. A well cared for used one seems like it makes better sense, but that?s just me. As far as brands, they have all bought each other out so much recently I?m not sure it makes that much difference.

Thanks for the response.  It makes sense that used would be a better price value but in Texas right now I'm not seeing the value of used.   
Perhaps due to the hurricane. 

I'm looking at 21' bunk house trailers in the 9500-10,200 range, new, or 5-8 yrs old for >$8.900

I have not seen any local used trailers to compete. 

Be careful buying new out of state unless you are a short distance from the dealer you buy from. Unlike automobile dealers who honor warranties no matter where you purchased your car, RV dealers, at least the majority of them, will not honor the warranty. We live in Delaware and purchased our TT in Michigan. None of the dealers in Delaware, Pennsylvania or Maryland would do any warranty work on our TT. Of course, if you buy used, you won't have to worry about warranties not being honored.

Thank you for that tip!! 

I was not aware of that.  Sorry to hear.  I see some listed at literally -close to 50% premium here in recently flooded Houston. 

newb2trailer said:

Thank you for that tip!! 

I was not aware of that.  Sorry to hear.  I see some listed at literally -close to 50% premium here in recently flooded Houston.

Click to expand...

Yeah, be careful there. With all the flooding this year there must thousands of flood damaged RV's on the market.

A lifetime warranty on what,exactly?  And new RVs seem to need some things fixed right off the lot.  You can't easily take it back to the dealer.  Local dealers might get around to it but their buying customers get first priority.

A lifetime warranty on what,exactly?

Click to expand...

The place is out of state for me.  I won't be going there, ever, but here's what they offer below: 
I'm just trying to educate myself and plan to roll the dice somewhere within the next week or so. 
For example- I see a 2018 locally for $14,995, and the same model in several other states for $9,995.  But if I can't get it serviced if needed locally I won't buy and ship. 

SUSPENSION COMPONENTS
Leaf and coil springs, shackles and bushings, and rubber suspension springs.

BRAKE COMPONENTS
Wheel cylinders, calipers, electric brake magnets, and hydraulic tubing and metal fittings.

WATER SYSTEM COMPONENTS
Hot water tank, burner assembly, thermostat, thermocouple, gas valve, electronic ignition assembly, PC board, heating system, shower, assembly, toilet, sink, holding tanks, gate valves, macerator pump, water pump, faucets, traps, fittings, and water lines.

AIR CONDITIONING COMPONENTS
Compressor, evaporator, condenser, capacitors, relays, expansion valve, control module and panel, reversing valve, blower fan and motor, and PC board. Coverage does not apply to motorhome chassis AC system.

KITCHEN CENTER COMPONENTS
Range/oven burner assembly, burner valves, refrigerator/freezer, microwave, convection oven, thermostat, thermocouple, burner, igniter, and PC board.

LP GAS SYSTEM
Gas regulators, gas tanks, gas valves, tank gauges, and LP lines and fittings.

HEATING SYSTEM COMPONENTS
Furnace igniter, burner assembly, gas valve, gas leak detector, thermostat, thermocouple, blower motor, and PC board.

DELUXE APPLIANCES
Icemaker, trash compactor, built-in coffee maker, built-in food processor, in-sink disposal, ceiling fan motor, and smoke detector.

INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR COMPONENTS
Door handles, latches and springs.

MANUAL LEVELING JACKS
Factory or dealer-installed bolt on and welded scissor jacks.

$5,000 cheaper and all that for a lifetime?  Sounds too good to be true to me.

Whatever you go with, I hope it goes well for you.

There's probably a caveat that says they have to inspect the unit at specific intervals. I'm sure they won't be doing the inspection for free. Then they specify maintenance items that aren't covered by the warranty. If you don't do the maintenance as specified, they will void the warranty.

What you have to do is weigh the difference between unforeseen warranty work and paying $5000 less out of state. A warranty period only lasts a few years and you might only end up with a few minor things needed fixed under warranty. If something major came up you could always take it back to the dealer or to the factory. We had a couple of windows leak. One window was replaced at the factory under warranty. The other window continued to leak so I made a deal with Winnebago; since the unit was now out of warranty they would pay for a dealer in my area to diagnose the problem and if need be send a new window or just send me the new window and I would be on my own. I chose option #2. I have the window and will replace it soon.

Our story might help you.
Two years ago we were all set to buy a new travel trailer from a dealer in Florida right close to where we were.
My wife happened to go on line and found the same new trailer at a dealer in the middle of the country for $3000 less.
Then we looked into the shipping of it, and it would have been the same price as the local one was, so we bought local.
After we bought it, I told the local dealer about it, and he said he new the cost of this same make and model at almost every dealer in the US, but wasn't about to influence us in any way. He went on to say if we had opted to get it from the far away dealer that if we ever needed warrantee work we would end up on the bottom of the scheduling list.
It turned out that we did need warrantee work and got it on several occasions immediately.

So, the grass isn't always greener !

Jack L

One other option is to buy new from the distant dealer and forget the warranty.  Most, but not all, dealers will repair the camper if you are paying for it, or you can call a mobile RV tech.  The problem comes when you say Warranty.  If something really big comes up, then you may wish to take it back to the factory or dealer, as mentioned above.

How far away is this dealer?  At $1.50 per mile one way (or thereabouts), how much are you really saving?

Thanks again for the input folks. 

After more days of research my local dealers are in fact close to 50% higher on sales prices of these trailers.  That is unreal and likely worth it to me to roll the dice with an out of state purchase and then be the squeaky wheel in my demands for timely warranty work locally should the need arise. 

I'm only looking at 9,600-$10,600 - 21.5' - 5 bed bunk houses.  All over the US they are 10-11k.  Locally, they are 14.9k. 
That price difference is just not worth it to me for the "promise" of better service if I buy locally. 
I've heard the same thing about equipment for my business from local dealers but I can't get past that mark up from them either and it's worked out for me there. 
We'll see.  If I have some sort of lemon nightmares I'll be sure to post up! 

Something to be aware of is the "out the door" price. Some dealers will advertise a low unit price, and then get their money by the add-ons such as dealer prep/PDI, processing fees, etc. Before traveling to do a deal, a phone call, or better yet would be an email asking for the "out the door" price.

How far out of state are we talking? If its just a few hours and you plan to go get it yourself,  you could always drive it back and stay at a local campground while they service if needed. Im not sure of your situation. If it helps I bought brand new and only had one warranty item that needed to be handled, my converter blew and they replaced it for free. The particular dealer I bought from also offers free service calls if you bought at the dealer, but again thats a small perk.

Ask about the length of the warranty on the RV you want as well...mine was only a year so basically useless. There is definitely caveats to the "lifetime" offer they are making I would find out what they are first.

On another note is that considered price gouging with the increase in RV costs? Or just a response to an increase in demand?

I think you'll find that the lifetime warranty will require you to bring the RV in for routine maintenance and inspections.  This will be an annual thing to maintain your warranty.  It won't take long to figure out who's making and who's losing money.

Some manufacturers will pay for warranty work done by mobile RV repair people and other non-dealer resources.  We've had quite a bit  of warranty work done that way.

Thanks for the input everyone. 
I ended up going slightly larger and more expensive with a Forest River Cruise Lite 230BHXL    This will just sit on my vacation property until my river house is constructed.  Hopefully finished by summer when I'll sell this or rent it. 
It is a 2016 and from a reputable dealer in town.  Ironically though, they participate in the same Warranty Forever program.  Hopefully the thing will be solid to sit in place for 6 or 8 months.