Best Manufacturers / Those to Avoid

Hi all!  Brand new to the forum and looking to buy our first TT very soon.

We have found what we believe to be the best 27' floorplan for us and have found it in Heartland North Trail, Forest River, and Coachman models.

Is there any of those 3 that really tend to stand out and or any you would steer clear of?  I've read reviews and have information overload so I thought I'd ask some of you folks with real world experiences.

Thanks!

Unfortunately, all RV manufacturers let lemmons slip through, and that fact extends from basic travel trailers to luxury Class As. The short answer is no, there is no brand that I'd recommend not buying, but you usually get what you pay for. RV manufacturers like to install bling in place of stronger structures and higher quality materials, because that's what buyers see (especially new buyers.)

The one thing I would recommend is, make sure that everything works to your satisfaction before you pay the dealer a dime, or take delivery. New RVs often have new RV problems. It's an industry disease. A lot of dealers are notorious for putting buyers on a long waiting list to get warranty items fixed. Good luck.

Kev

(By the way, welcome to the RVForum!)

So the takeaway there is that the dealership is really more important than the specific manufacturer?

A good dealer, or authorized warranty repair center is important if you need warranty work done, but not so important if you don't. Some new RV buyers get lucky and have very few new RV problems - others are fit to be tied with long lists of problems. Once you've paid for the RV, dealers have very little incentive to make you happy if you start needing repairs, but some are better than others. That's why it's so important to make sure everything is in good working order before paying any money.

Our close friends recently bought a brand new Class A that had so many major and minor problems, that the dealer couldn't fix them all. The RV manufacture ultimately bought the RV back at full price, but our friends went through nine months of hell in the process. In my opinion, It's inexcusable, that a $150,000.00 RV could make it off the manufacturer's line with so many problems, but equally as inexcusable that an authorized warranty repair center couldn't fix everything. But it is what it is.

A travel trailer is a much less complex RV than a Class A motorhome, so there are fewer things to go wrong, but it really helps to know what to look for when RV shopping. New RV buyers usually don't know what to look for, so it's a good idea to take someone with you who does when you've found an RV you like. That may mean paying someone to go with you, but in my opinion, it's money well spent.

Kev

Have you looked at Northwood or OutdoorRV web sites?  Both offer models that IMHO would be better than the mass produced sruff your looking at

Coachman is a subsidiary of Forest River so not a whole lot of difference in manufacturing.  Forest River is owned by Berkshire Hathaway.  Heartland is owned by Thor, which also owns numerous other RV makers.  They're all made in northeast Indiana pulling from the same labor force pool and generally following the same manufacturing practices.  I've seen film of the Amish workers in these factories and they are litterly running from position to position with a staple gun and not necessarily looking at where the gun goes and running to get wood sheets etc.  It was a frantic scene, and I dont know how anyone could keep up such a pace for 8 hours.  Ive been in hundreds of factories auditing manufacturing processes and I had never encountered anything so frenzied.

Although it depends on how you plan to use the TT, occasional weekends or extended multi-month trips, how long you plan to keep it, and what kind of investment you're willing to make, there are better brands out there, such as Lance, Northwood Mfg., and Outdoors RV.  They use thicker insulation, with insulated slides and compartment doors, dual pane windows, heated underbelly just to name a few standard features.  They are generally regarded as simply being better built.  As already mentioned, even dealers make a difference for these brands as well.

I live in Indiana and bought an Outdoors RV knowing full well I'd have to travel west of Denver to buy it.  While thousands of people use and enjoy Indiana made RVs,  I'm not convinced the quality is what it was 10+ years ago.

Linda

We purchased a 2018 Coachmen 246RKS Ultra Light and we really like it.  Guess we got lucky.  First trip we took the only issue we had was smoke from the oven.  Everything else worked as advertised.  Everything is a compromise and this model was the right size and had the price, floorpan, storage and max weight we were looking for.  After we looked and researched other trailers, we purchased the Coachmen.  We really liked the Lance also.     

I had a Forest River Rockwood TT at one time. I have no complaints about it. Worked well for us.
I do agree with previous posters though.
I think Northwood MFG makes a very fine TT indeed.

best manufactures/those to avoid....thats like asking which truck mfg is the best and which mfg to avoid.
Do a google on any brand or a line within a brand will show they all have issues of some sort.

We had a lady some years back come on another rv website came on the forum and blasted her new Teton which was the holy grail at that time of all 5th wheel trailers. Her problem was the dealer....and he was over 300 miles away and too pig headed to find a closer/better dealer

Same with the brands mentioned.

    However part of the problem is a person may buy the cheapest  line within XXX brand.  Then blast XXX brand ignoring for poor quality  ignoring  better quality lines  XXX has to offer.

Just choose the brand/floorplan you like that fits your budget and your tow vehicle size and enjoy camping.

Welcome to the Forum!

As others have said, no brand is significantly worse than any other.  There are a couple better and more expensive brands, as also mentioned.  You get what you pay for. 

For ANY RV purchase the most important thing is FLOOR PLAN.  It appears you have already addressed this.

IF you buy new, a quality customer oriented dealership (NOT just sales) is important.  As stated, some dealerships are much more responsive than others to warranty repairs.  Family owned, local dealers are generally better than corporate dealers.

I suggest gently used.  The factory warranty issues are resolved.  Some one else pays the huge up front depreciation.  If / when you trade the loss on this unit is less.

You can seriously get a lot more bang for the buck by shopping used.

Give it a try.  ;D

If you are new to RVing, do what we did. We found the unit we liked, then rented a similar model for a trip to the Ozarks. You learn a lot in short period of time. Before you spend the big bucks.

You also learn a lot about your tow vehicle and you can cross the scales for an accurate weight reading, before you buy.

As stated TTs are built to a price. Those with a better reputation generally cost more because they are lower volume. There is no maker that is a beacon in the wilderness.

There are different niche options such as the shell types and if course Airstreams.

Good luck

Don't  disregard the Winnebago line  of towable's .  We also looked at different manufactures for months and got bummed out reading All the negative reviews everyone posted about their rigs once they purchased them.  Not that Winnebago doesn't have their fair share of complaints as well, but a few years back they bought out the Sunnybrook line of travel trailers  which was one of the top manufacturers at the time. We  recently purchased our 2018 Minnie and really love it.  I was fortunate to find a used 2018 and saved a bundle  letting someone else take the first year depreciation.  Anyway, the moral here is take your time, do your research and when you find that perfect one negotiate, negotiate,negotiate!

It is a real pain but when you buy your TT makes it clear to the salesperson that you are talking the price out the door. It includes all taxes, fees, prep charges etc. They have the right to get these fee, you have the right to know them when talking cost.

It take 3 or 4 repeats whenever cost is mentioned but they generally catch on.

Good luck