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A little Fun
I had two appointments today that were spaced a couple of hours apart. I happened to be on RV row in town (or very near it) so to kill time, I decided to RV shop. It's been six months since I purchased my 2019 30' Classic and I am pleased with it. Sure, there are a few rough spots, a few things that needed some attention and a few frustrations that went with it, but I decided to put some perspective on it.
I went to four dealers, and all four dealers had very similar responses to the one I'm about to describe. I was dressed for business and driving the family car, so the dealer had no real indicator of what I already owned or what my financial capabilities were. Here is the first encounter:
I drove up, parked in front, and walked in. A salesman met coming across the floor to meet me at the door, asking what he could do for me. I replied that my wife and I wanted an RV. We were not going to RV full time but would spend a reasonable amount of time traveling during the Spring, Summer, and Fall. He then asked about the type I was thinking about. I said a travel trailer, though I might look at a fifth wheel, I preferred the travel trailer because of how I configured my truck with "Decked" storage drawers and a high-top topper. His next question was how big my truck was. I told him that it didn't matter because I would buy a new truck to pull my choice of RV since the current truck was 13 years old. He then asked how much I wanted to spend, and I said: "keep it under 150k".
I then told him that I wanted a "luxury" feel to whatever I bought. I didn't want something that looked like my home, but something much better - Like I was on vacation and living a life I usually don't. He smiled and said to follow him.
The first trailer we went to was marked $38k. He climbed up, and as I climbed up, I felt the stairs bend and wiggle under my feet. I called his attention to it and said this would never do. My wife is disabled, and while six stairs (yes six stairs in a travel trailer! It seems that most SOBs are built above the wheels instead of between them) were navigable to her, they had to be rock solid. "No problem," he said and took me to the second trailer.
The second trailer had stairs that pulled out and then were braced on the ground, making them suitably solid. When we entered, The first thing I saw was the sloppily trimmed particle board laminate counters not even a molded edge on them. Just squared off and covered with laminate which had been unevenly applied. I told him I needed to see solid countertops. Corian or something like that. He replied: "Sure" and took me to see the next trailer.
The third trailer had solid countertops, but the couch was like sitting on a rock. It turns out that most of these used a hide-a-bed type couch for a spare full/queen bed. It was not particularly comfortable in either mode, but it was the only type they had. He suggested I sit on the cushions of the dinette to try them. As I slid into the dinette, I barely fit (I'm a big guy at 260lbs), and the whole table wobbled about three inches when I bumped it. I grabbed the table and deliberately wiggled it as I looked at him. He didn't even lose a step. "Follow me," he said again.
The fourth trailer had a much more solidly built table and other things, but the wood was a ghastly brown/gray color. It was downright ugly. I tried to envision it in a better tone, and while doing so, I leaned on a wall. The wall happened to be curved and was a corner of the bathroom. It gave and temporarily dented at least two inches. While he was busy trying to tell me that it was a decorative wall and wasn't supposed to be sturdy, I noted that it was right next to the entryway and was likely to be leaned on by my wife (and anyone else) as they steadied themselves to remove their shoes. I also noted lots of sawdust and screws laying around in the nooks and crannies where cleaning them would be difficult. I can look past that because I know who things are built and you can't build without making a mess. At this point, I let him know that nothing I had seen exuded "luxury." They all looked like houses from the 70s and 80s complete with cheap wallpaper. All they were missing was the popcorn ceiling. This trailer was listed at $87,000.
He then took me to a fifth wheel that had real wood cabinet doors. Everything had a solid feel to it, but the fridge was only 5ft. I'd say the wood trim was on par with that of the Classic, but everything else was well below. The 5th wheel was listed at $145k and weighed in at 14k lbs. It still looked like a house. I told him I didn't want a 5th wheel and he reluctantly said that I was at the top model they had.
He took me to one more trailer, which I rejected because of the ghastly black/gray color of the wood and the cheap feel of particle board cabinets in the kitchen. I noted that there were no advanced electronics in any of these trailers and you could easily have had this level of trim 20 years ago. In fact, they looked like they had been designed more than 20 years ago. Some might like the absence of advanced features, but I kind of like it.
As we exited the trailer, he turned to me and said: "I'm sorry we don't have anything you are looking for. You really need to ego visit the Airstream dealer down the road. They'll have exactly what you are looking for."
He's right. The other two dealers had very similar experiences, but they didn't suggest I look at the Airstream. They would have happily kept showing me things I would reject. I guess they were hoping to wear me down or compromise on what I wanted. I looked at items priced to $170k and never saw anything even in the same ballpark as my 2019 Classic or even my friend's 2017 30' FC.
For all those who complain about the airstream, you really should get out and look at similarly priced trailers. There is no comparison.
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