OPINION: Dont buy an RV until you have been to an RV SHOW

[JayLo]

Wow, I got super lucky with my first RV. I did a ton of research, but obviously it doesn't matter much which RV brand you buy. I happened to get a "good one" and I say that having fixed a bunch of initial issues just like the rest of you. BUT, I went to an RV show with my wife this weekend and was just blown away at the disparities between brands. You could feel and sometimes smell the crap quality in some brands and the better build and smell of others. (The smell things is no joke, I could barely be in some of the more toxic trailers...Passport...Coleman...etc.)

- Being able to see and touch EVERY brand of trailer all at the same time was AMAZING. I couldn't help but think of all the emotional first time RV buyers who don't get exposure to all the brands to make good comparisons.

- I was VERY surprised that I thought I was going to be gaga over EMBER, but ended up going "meh.." and barely spent any time at all in that section.

- The best Bank in our area was sponsoring with a discounted RATE and was doing loans onsite.

- All the RV dealers are there and ready to deal. I was able to hop back and forth between dealers to get Midwest pricing (I live in WA where everything is way more $$) and a trade-in at nearly what I bought for.

We ended up trading our JayFeather Micro 171BH for a Flagstaff 21DS.

If you are in the market for an RV and you have never purchased before. Take if from me, you NEED to go to a show. Plus, it is a total blast!

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by JayLo

If you are in the market for an RV and you have never purchased before. Take if from me, you NEED to go to a show. Plus, it is a total blast!

And the good dealers will carry-over show pricing after the show if you want to "sleep on it"..

[Marcm157]

Originally Posted by Grumpy

And the good dealers will carry-over show pricing after the show if you want to "sleep on it"..

I have walked away from so many "Deals" in the past over this pricing is "Today Only" - whether it be cars, boats, RV's etc. I call BS - If you can give me this price today, you can give me this price next week after I have had time to do my research....

[JayLo]

100% BS.

I was at a dealer before the show and the guy used every used car sales tactic that exists. I was like “do you have a booklet of sales clichés?!” Hahaha.

[Cincinnati Kid]

I agree. We go to a lot of shows, and learn a lot about RV's, and a lot about what might be a good fit for us. We get the best information from other rv'ers at the show. What do you own? Why do you like it/ hate it? What will you get next? etc.
It would never occur to me to buy one at the show. We don't work like that. We study for months.

[JayLo]

Yes! The bank approval is good for 30 days, so no rush for new buyers. I am years into research so buying at show was more to my advantage than theirs as I was able to work deals against each other in real time.

[Kim Gass]

We went to one show.. Not worth it as there are not many local dealers. And only one show within two hours. We buy for service if needed. Glad we did. We have not needed many repairs over six years but always promptly scheduled and completed when we did.

What we did do before moving from tenting was to go around trailers in campgrounds we were at and ask the owners if we could take a peek and asked what they liked and disliked about their units. This took a year.

Then we went to our local dealer and took four hours to go through their lot and check out many models.. With that info in hand we made a priority list of must haves and must not haves. They did not actually have the unit we wanted but we in our campground snooping had toured one. Ordering was quick for Maine and we knew it would be a couple of months as we are in the eastern most part of the delivery train.

[JayLo]

Originally Posted by Kim Gass

We went to one show.. Not worth it as there are not many local dealers. And only one show within two hours. We buy for service if needed. Glad we did. We have not needed many repairs over six years but always promptly scheduled and completed when we did.

What we did do before moving from tenting was to go around trailers in campgrounds we were at and ask the owners if we could take a peek and asked what they liked and disliked about their units. This took a year.

Then we went to our local dealer and took four hours to go through their lot and check out many models.. With that info in hand we made a priority list of must haves and must not haves. They did not actually have the unit we wanted but we in our campground snooping had toured one. Ordering was quick for Maine and we knew it would be a couple of months as we are in the eastern most part of the delivery train.

Yeah, if the show sucks than that won’t help, but your campground method is also super important! That is how I learned that Airstreams are super over rated and they have all the same issues as everyone one else.

[Joey55]

I totally agree about going to one of the BIG Rv shows to see all the models available. You'll see the "show only pricing" tags but just ignore them. I went after a show and the dealer didn't really want to give the show price so I said "well, I'll just wait till the next show". He quickly changed his mind and I got the show price.

[Murff]

I love RV Shows! Mostly for what Jaylo stated. Comparing everything in one location has some benefit.

In our early days of RVing, back in the 1980s, SWMBO and I were shopping for a used travel trailer and had visited the then, numerous RV lots in the Seattle are. We had one picked out and the Mrs. had to use the restroom. As I waited for her, some old fart saleman asked how I was doing and I said pretty good just looking at what they had for sale.

His reply really set me off when he said, "well hang in there young man, maybe you will be able to buy one some day."

SWMBO then stepped out and asked if we were going to talk to a saleman about buying the trailer we chose. Old fart saleman heard her and did a 180 degrees just in time to hear me tell the wife, "well, I guess we aren't buying one here today. But that saleman told me if 'I hung in there' someday, we might able to buy one!" Looking dead at him, I said, "but it won't be here!!!"

We departed the lot and bought from another dealer!

Murff

[JayLo]

Originally Posted by Murff

I love RV Shows! Mostly for what Jaylo stated. Comparing everything in one location has some benefit.

In our early days of RVing, back in the 1980s, SWMBO and I were shopping for a used travel trailer and had visited the then, numerous RV lots in the Seattle are. We had one picked out and the Mrs. had to use the restroom. As I waited for her, some old fart saleman asked how I was doing and I said pretty good just looking at what they had for sale.

His reply really set me off when he said, "well hang in there young man, maybe you will be able to buy one some day."

SWMBO then stepped out and asked if we were going to talk to a saleman about buying the trailer we chose. Old fart saleman heard her and did a 180 degrees just in time to hear me tell the wife, "well, I guess we aren't buying one here today. But that saleman told me if 'I hung in there' someday, we might able to buy one!" Looking dead at him, I said, "but it won't be here!!!"

We departed the lot and bought from another dealer!

Murff

Rv salespeople can be brutally bad. I always go to the receptionist and ask them who their favorite salesperson is, then ask for them. Typically the horrible salesperson is also horrible to their peers.

[Tony from NJ]

I wouldn’t recommend any Jayco products to anyone especially if it has a Norcold refrigerator in it.

Jayco really has cheaped out on the basic product, larger holes than needed for plumbing and wiring, defective switches - poor central ac installation - I can go on and on.

If your looking for an RV, my recommendation is find an older unit, gut it and do a rebuild.

As the saying goes “they don’t make’m like they used too…”

[dustyww]

Originally Posted by JayLo

Wow, I got super lucky with my first RV. I did a ton of research, but obviously it doesn't matter much which RV brand you buy. I happened to get a "good one" and I say that having fixed a bunch of initial issues just like the rest of you. BUT, I went to an RV show with my wife this weekend and was just blown away at the disparities between brands. You could feel and sometimes smell the crap quality in some brands and the better build and smell of others. (The smell things is no joke, I could barely be in some of the more toxic trailers...Passport...Coleman...etc.)

- Being able to see and touch EVERY brand of trailer all at the same time was AMAZING. I couldn't help but think of all the emotional first time RV buyers who don't get exposure to all the brands to make good comparisons.

- I was VERY surprised that I thought I was going to be gaga over EMBER, but ended up going "meh.." and barely spent any time at all in that section.

- The best Bank in our area was sponsoring with a discounted RATE and was doing loans onsite.

- All the RV dealers are there and ready to deal. I was able to hop back and forth between dealers to get Midwest pricing (I live in WA where everything is way more $$) and a trade-in at nearly what I bought for.

We ended up trading our JayFeather Micro 171BH for a Flagstaff 21DS.

If you are in the market for an RV and you have never purchased before. Take if from me, you NEED to go to a show. Plus, it is a total blast!

If you purchase a trailer from a show, you’ll usually get a deal as many people have walked through said coach. Broken things fixed but in general, trailers built for a show tend to get more attention to the details.
I will never buy another trailer that wasn’t a “show” trailer.

[ltnunes]

As with so many purchases, a trailer buy can be a crap shoot. All of the important things have been pointed out in this thread. I agree with the campground method. Also looking at your camping style. We have a small Jayflight and know we can’t dry camp for more than a couple of days, but it fits our storage and towing needs. I second the option about Airstream. The beds are for midgets unless you get a long trailer. Plus, tall people can only stand up in the middle.

[Johnynorthland]

I love RV “shows” too, but that’s how I treat them, their a “show”, I won’t say I would never buy at a show, but when I start getting the “business “ it’s a real turn off! Especially when the salesperson doesn’t know what the heck their talking about, which I find happens way too much!

You know the saying, “if you can’t dazzle them with brilliance baffle them with BS”!

[gotoworkfromanywhere]

Bought my greyhawk 31ds at a dealer after extensive online shopping. Found what I wanted 30 miles from my home.

Went to an RV show a year later, and boy, did I pick the right rig. The ones at the show were laid out so poorly. Sofa beside the dinette instead of across. TV in a spot where nobody can sit comfortably to watch. Curtain divider for bedroom. Shower over toilet. Ick.

Here's mine https://www.jayco.com/rvs/class-c-mo...greyhawk/31ds/

[Johnynorthland]

Originally Posted by gotoworkfromanywhere

Bought my greyhawk 31ds at a dealer after extensive online shopping. Found what I wanted 30 miles from my home.

Went to an RV show a year later, and boy, did I pick the right rig. The ones at the show were laid out so poorly. Sofa beside the dinette instead of across. TV in a spot where nobody can sit comfortably to watch. Curtain divider for bedroom. Shower over toilet. Ick.

Here's mine https://www.jayco.com/rvs/class-c-mo...greyhawk/31ds/

It’s a matter of preference and needs. My wife and I are on our 3rd RV, we don’t like the dinette across from the sofa as much, especially with the slide in, makes it too cramped.


We have a 2019 Redhawk 25R now, with the sofa and dinette next to each other, and we have huge 55 inch TV across from the sofa which can be viewed from the dinette also. When the slide is in the whole entire RV is usable, every single aspect of it, and we’ve had a few nights where we had to have the slide in! Then With the slide out it’s like a mini apartment! Also not having a second slide gives us close to an extra thousand pounds of cargo carrying capacity, as compared to other models of our size and class with the second slide. Something else to consider when shopping, CCC, most people don’t realize the importance of it!


Like I said, it’s a matter of preference, and just because you didn’t see any rigs with the floor plan that you have, doesn’t necessarily mean they weren’t there, or don’t exist, they might have just not been available at the show or most likely sold.


Glad you are happy with your layout, that’s very important when buying an RV, Second too “CCC” in my opinion!

[ltnunes]

As with most purchases, it’s a matter of preference. We are not TV watchers so don’t care where a TV is placed. I need comfortable laptop workspace.
Our trailer purchase has the constraints of our off street parking and we want to be able to get into all national and state parks., so we have a shorter rig.
Wet rooms can be great if the alternative is no shower at all.

[Johnynorthland]

I didn’t mind my wet bath in my class B, it was narrow but about 6-6.5’ long, wife hated it! But I’m with ya Itnunes , it’s better then nothing!

[Jopopsy]

Originally Posted by Johnynorthland

Something else to consider when shopping, CCC, most people don’t realize the importance of it!

Glad you are happy with your layout, that’s very important when buying an RV, Second too “CCC” in my opinion!

This. If you can't really 'use' it, nothing else really matters (to me at least). I've seen MH's with less then 1200 pounds of cargo. Remember, in a MH YOU count as cargo too !